by The Nourished Life 85 Comments | Updated: August 14, 2023 | This post contains affiliate links

Honey Mask For Acne: 4 Easy Face Mask Recipes for Skin Concerns

The best face mask for acne can’t be purchased at a pricey department store. In fact, it only contains one ingredient and it’s probably already in your pantry! It’s one of my personal favorites: the raw honey mask.

Honey for your skin is basically nature’s miracle, and these four raw honey face mask recipes are some of my favorite homemade recipes for nourishing my skin. These four honey face mask recipes use different additional ingredients, based on your skin type. They are all made with food-based ingredients that are probably in your kitchen right now. Easy and practical!

I love skincare you can eat! And the raw honey face mask is one of my favorite homemade recipes.

Why?

Raw honey was prized for its healing properties in ancient civilizations. In Egyptian And Ayurvedic traditions, honey was used to treat skin wounds and disorders (read more about the ancient uses of honey here).

Raw honey by itself is lovely, but you can also mix and match other food-based ingredients to tailor your mask to your unique skin type.

Instructions for a Basic Raw Honey Mask for Acne

One of the reasons I think honey makes the best face mask for acne is that it’s so simple:

Use about one teaspoon of high quality raw honey.
Gently spread it over the entire face.
Leave the honey face mask on for about 15-60 minutes.
Rinse with lukewarm or cool water and pat face dry.

Tip: Don’t be tempted to use too much honey. About one teaspoon is plenty. Any more than that and you’ll be dripping honey all over the place!

I had a problem with dripping at first, but once I cut back on the amount of honey I used, the problem resolved itself. Not to mention that it’s a little more economical that way, too!

Question: What honey is best for a honey face mask?

Answer: Any honey will do, but I highly recommend using raw, unfiltered honey for your face mask because it retains more of the potent healing properties.

I can even tell the difference between raw honey brands I use for my honey mask. A high quality local raw honey made my skin glow in a way I didn’t notice with the other raw honey I tried. You can find a great source of high quality raw honey HERE.

How Often to Use a Honey Face Mask

I use a raw honey mask several times a week (sometimes every day), and I’ve noticed a definite improvement in the tone and softness of my skin.

I love it even more for the fact that it’s totally edible and doesn’t expose my skin to the chemicals found in most beauty products.

Now, some of the recipes below are more powerful and should only be used 1-2 times per week. Others you can use daily.

I’ve made notes for how often each mask should be used.

Budget-Friendly Beauty

Plus, each honey mask is super budget-friendly! Even if you use a premium quality raw honey, the cost per mask is extremely low.

Buh-bye overpriced department store facial masks. It’s time to get back to nature.

My 4 Honey Face Mask Recipes:

Here are my four recipes for honey face masks designed with specific skin types in mind.

They are completely food-based and you probably have most of the ingredients in your kitchen right now. Hurray for easy!

Check the recipes out below:

1. Honey Mask for Acne

3 teaspoons raw honey
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

Mix honey and cinnamon together, and apply to your face. Leave the mask on for 10-30 minutes.

The antibacterial properties of both honey and cinnamon make this honey mask perfect acne-prone skin.

Do you have sensitive skin?

Cinnamon can occasionally be irritating if your skin is really sensitive, so you might want to do a patch test on the back of your hand first.

Because cinnamon is so powerful, I would recommend only using this honey mask once a week at most. You can use one of the other, gentler honey masks on other days if you’d like.

I was doing some research on using honey for acne, and I came across this article. Here’s an interesting quote:

“Clinical trials have shown that honey is an effective broad-spectrum antibacterial agent. It’s got so much oomph that it can even stop the ‘superbug’ MRSA from growing. (MRSA is methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, a ‘staph’ infection that is resistant to antibiotics and kills more people annually than AIDS).

According to the BBC, a man by the name of Sam Edwards from Wrexham, Wales credited honey with saving his leg! After being cut by a koi carp, he became infected with Mycobacterium marinum and developed a rare skin condition. After applying honey compresses for eight days, he found the bacteria had completely disappeared without his taking a single antibiotic.

If it can lick Mr. Edwards’ nasty bug, imagine what it can do to acne, which stems from inflamed sebaceous glands in the skin that can become infected by bacteria. It turns out honey also naturally absorbs excess oil, which helps prevent acne – and that means one of the benefits of honey on skin is you can use it in place of many chemical-laden over-the-counter acne creams and ointments.” – from Honey Colony

I personally find that honey completely calms my acne-prone skin. In fact, that’s the reason I started using the honey mask in the first place!

2. Honey Face Mask for Dry Skin

1 teaspoon mashed avocado
1 teaspoon plain whole milk yogurt
1 teaspoon raw honey

Mix ingredients in a small bowl until smooth. Spread the mixture over your face and let it sit for 20-30 minutes before washing it off.

The fats in the avocado and whole milk yogurt are deeply moisturizing to the skin, while the lactic acid in the yogurt smooths your skin, refines pores, and stimulates collagen production.

This mask is rich in B vitamins, vitamin E, vitamin A, vitamin D, calcium, zinc, copper, manganese and magnesium.

It’s basically nutrition for your face!

You can use this moisturizing mask several times a week if you’d like. It’s very gentle on this skin.

3. Honey Face Mask for Sensitive Skin

2 teaspoons raw honey
1 teaspoon aloe vera gel

Stir the aloe and honey together and apply over your face. Leave it on for about 10-20 minutes.

Why aloe?

Aloe soothes inflammation and calms your skin, perfect for those with sensitive, irritated skin.

It’s well known for it’s sunburn-soothing benefits, but aloe vera can also provide support for rashes, blisters, dry skin, eczema, minor burns, and scrapes. It’s even claimed to speed healing and prevent scarring.

This mask is safe to use every day if you’d like.

4. Honey Mask for Scars and Dark Spots

2 teaspoons raw honey
1/2 teaspoon lemon juice

Combine the lemon juice and honey, and apply the mixture to your face. Allow it to sit for 20-30 minutes. Lemon juice exfoliates your skin, brightens dark spots and fades scars.

How long will it take to notice a difference?

Your skin will feel smooth and soft right away, but it may take a few applications to notice a real difference in scars and spots.

Over several weeks and months, you may see a striking difference in the appearance of your skin.

Lemon juice is a stronger ingredient, so depending on your skin time, you might want to limit the number of times you use this mask to 1-2 times per week.

Q: What honey is best for a honey face mask?

Answer: Any real honey will do, but my personal favorite is raw, unfiltered honey because it retains more of its potent healing properties. I can actually tell the difference between the types of honey I’ve used for my honey mask.

A high quality local raw honey made my skin glow in a way the others didn’t! So for the real benefits of a honey mask, use the best quality honey you find.

And that wraps up our honey masks for acne and other skin types recipes.

Of course, along with your skincare regime, remember to eat clean, drink lots of water, exercise regularly and get enough deep sleep so your body can repair itself – our skin is our largest organ!

Have you tried a variation of the honey mask? What are your favorite food-based ingredients to use on your skin? Comment below!