Honey has been used in medicine and health products for more than 8,000 years and in hair rinses for centuries to help control dandruff, and as an emollient to smooth and soften, a humectant to add moisture to your hair and scalp from the air.
Although honey does contain hair healthy nutrients like niacin, iron, and potassium (which has started to show potential for hair growth), it is not a sufficient amount to help you get to your daily recommended amounts. That’s why topical applications in hair masks, conditioners, and moisturizing treatments are the best option.
Fun fact: If you eat honey, it contains a tiny bit of protein which your body can use with the other proteins you eat to produce new strands of hair.
Although honey is sticky, the carrier oils (oils used to nourish the hair and scalp) and even eggs mixed into hair masks reduce the stickiness so the honey washes out easily. It is a perfect complement to coconut, almond, olive, or argan oils whose hair benefits can be matched to your specific hair needs.
Here’s how honey helps you get a healthy scalp and head of hair, then we share a DIY honey hair mask recipe.
Hair and Scalp Healthy Nutrients in Honey
Honey is made up of multiple compounds like amino acids that can promote healthy hair and skin, including your scalp. Overall, bees tend to be consistent with the ingredients that go into the mix.
- Oligosaccharides (including fructose and glucose) - Emollient and humectant, gives Prebiotic and antimicrobial properties.
- Amino Acids (proline, arginine, alanine, glutamic acid, aspartic acid) - Humectant.
- Organic acids (gluconic, lactic and citric acid) - Humectant.
- Glucose Oxidase - becomes hydrogen peroxide, gives antimicrobial properties.
- Phytocompounds - the phenols give antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties.
Honey contains natural acids, making it slightly acidic with a pH that can range from 3.5 to 5.0 (average 3.9). This is comparable to the pH of the scalp pH (5.5), and the hair shaft which has a pH of 3.67 making it easier for honey to penetrate the hair and skin of the scalp!
Honey also contains vitamins and minerals, but they are present in amounts insufficient for our daily intake and are considered micronutrients and trace elements. However, they do contribute to honey’s benefits for hair and the scalp when used topically.
- Minerals - Thiamine, Calcium, Potassium, Phosphorous, Copper, Iron.
- Vitamins - biotin, Riboflavin, Folic acid, Vitamin B, Vitamin C.
A Natural Moisturizer
Honey has natural humectants and humectants absorb water from the air or deep within your skin and lock that moisture into dry strands. This is why they’re found in shampoos and conditioners. Humectants help replenish dull and dry locks while working with occlusives on the scalp and strands of hair to create a barrier that prevents moisture from escaping.
Soft and Smooth Hair
The combination of honey's humectant and emollient compounds helps rehydrate, soften, and smooth hair. The humectants help attract water to the follicle, while the emollient properties lock in moisture.
The acids and sugars play the role of humectant. Then, the sugars combine with water to penetrate the hair follicle and the outermost layer of your scalp. The acidic pH of honey helps seal the hair follicle, locking moisture into your hair. The acidity also reduces the friction between hair follicles, leaving hair softer and less frizzy!
Anti Microbial and Anti-Fungal Properties for Scalp Health
Honey’s fungicidal and antibacterial properties help to reduce dry and itchy scalp. Itchy, dry scalp conditions are often due to an imbalance in the number of bacteria and fungi that live on your scalp.
The acidity and thickness of honey make the environment of the scalp less friendly to the growth of some bacteria and fungi, like yeast. This combines with the anti-inflammatory phenols in honey, which soothe the skin.
The result is you’re scratching less helping to reduce the likelihood of creating wounds on your scalp and ripping out hairs prematurely, causing unnecessary hair breakage and loss.
A Quick and Easy DIY Honey Hair Mask Recipe
Making your own Honey Hair Mask is easy and only requires a few ingredients! This one uses both eggs and olive oil with the honey to keep it simple and amplify the benefits.
We recommend doing this mask before you shower as it can get messy and it’s important to completely wash out all raw egg.
Ingredients
- 1 whole raw egg
- 1 tablespoons of Honey
- 1 tablespoon of olive oil
How to Make a Honey Mask
- Whisk together the egg, honey and olive oil until they’re combined.
- (Optional) You can also add a tablespoon of hot water or your favorite conditioner!
- Apply to damp hair (wet but not dripping), starting at the ends and working your way up to massage into your scalp.
- Place hair into a shower cap or high bun to keep it out of the way.
- Leave in for at least 20 minutes.
- Rinse out the mask with lukewarm or cold water.
- Wash your hair with your regular shampoo followed by conditioner.
This mask uses a 1:1 ratio of honey to olive oil, so if it's not enough to coat your hair and scalp, increase the proportion of honey and olive oil used (2:2, etc.). If you want to add a second egg, we recommend only adding in the yolk to help maintain the consistency of the mask. You can also substitute olive oil for coconut oil in the same ratio.
And now you know the history of honey and its role in hair care as a moisturizer and in keeping scalps healthy.
