Recipes supplied by Maureen Conquer

Kānuka beauty products

Honey has long been used in beauty products, and kānuka honey, with its antibacterial and anti-inflammatory properties, is an excellent addition to homemade skincare products.

Kānuka honey cold cream

Cold cream has been around for a very long time and I just don’t mean when a jar of Pond’s® cold cream was standard issue in every bathroom. There are plenty of recipes for removing make-up and smoothing skin that around that date back to the Egyptian, Greek and Roman times.

Here’s a variation I have used. Rose is the traditional fragrance, but you can play around with it a little by adding different oils and essential fragrances. For a night cream, add a couple of Vitamin E oil capsules to beef up the richness. Light-coloured oils like macadamia or almond and light-coloured honeys and wax will change the colour of the finished product. The squeaky white stuff our mums used was made with paraffin wax and light mineral oil like baby oil. The choice is yours.

  • 75mls olive oil,
  • 10 mls glycerine,
  • 10 mls honey (I recommend kānuka)
  • 30 mls beeswax,
  • 20 mls rose water,
  • A few drops of essential oil, optional

I use a double boiler or Pyrex® jug over a saucepan of hot water. Melt beeswax and oils together. When melted add honey, glycerine then warmed rose water. Stir slowly. Remove from heat, add essential oil to perfume and continue stirring gently until cool.

Moisturising kānuka honey body oil

The feel of summer sun on our skin is luxurious but to moisturise and soothe at the end of the day with honey is both wise and blissful. Try mixing up this simple remedy to massage into your skin in the shower or pour a tablespoon into your bath and soak.

  • 3 tablespoons raw kānuka honey
  • 1 tablespoons rose or lavender oil,
  • 3/4 cup of mild oil like almond, macadamia or avocado

Warm honey very gently until just soft and then slowly add oils, blending by hand to smooth and emulsify. Pour into a bottle and shake before using. Rub onto wet skin, concentrating on dry areas like feet, knees and elbows.