New Zealand-Sourced

What Is Manuka Honey?

Mānuka honey is made by bees gathering nectar from mānuka, Leptospermum scoparium, a shrub native to Aotearoa New Zealand and southeastern Australia. Like other honeys, it contains concentrated sugars, organic acids, amino acids, minerals, and plant-derived phenolic compounds. What sets it apart is its unusually strong non-peroxide antibacterial activity, much of which is associated with methylglyoxal, or MGO.

In our formulas, we work mānuka honey into the oil base and slowly reduce its natural water content. This creates a concentrated honey ingredient within the balm. Its hygroscopic sugars bring a humectant quality, while the surrounding tallow and oils soften skin and help slow moisture loss.

Traditional Use and Cultural History

Honey has been applied to skin and wounds for thousands of years, with records reaching back to some of the earliest civilizations. Ancient Egyptian, Greek, Roman, Ayurvedic, Chinese, and other healing traditions all found ways to use honey topically. These traditions were not using modern mānuka honey, but they show how long people have valued honey as a soothing, protective material for skin.

Mānuka has its own history in Aotearoa New Zealand. The plant has long been part of rongoā Māori, the living Māori healing tradition, with preparations made from parts such as the leaves, bark, ash, and gum. Mānuka honey came later because European honeybees were introduced to New Zealand in 1839. We appreciate that distinction. The plant’s relationship with Māori healing is ancestral, while honey from its blossoms developed after beekeeping arrived.

Why We Love It

Mānuka honey is one of those rare ingredients where longstanding topical use and modern skin research meet beautifully. Its chemistry is complex, and that is part of its appeal. MGO matters, but so do the honey’s sugars, acidity, phenolic compounds, and the way they work together.

It Brings a Distinctive Antibacterial System

Mānuka honey is best known scientifically for MGO, a compound that develops from dihydroxyacetone naturally present in mānuka nectar. In a 2008 laboratory study, six New Zealand mānuka honeys contained 38 to 761 milligrams of MGO per kilogram. The honeys inhibited Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus when diluted to 15 to 30 percent, and the researchers identified MGO as the dominant source of that antibacterial activity.

The whole honey contributes more than MGO alone. Its concentrated sugars create osmotic pressure, its natural acidity makes the environment less welcoming to many microbes, and other small compounds add to the overall effect. In a separate laboratory study, mānuka honey disrupted established biofilms of S. aureus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Streptococcus pyogenes and reduced their ability to adhere to human skin cells and structural proteins. That is a fascinating level of activity for an ingredient that begins as flower nectar.

It Has Encouraging Evidence for Eczema-Prone Skin

One of the most directly relevant human studies followed 14 adults with atopic dermatitis. Each person applied mānuka honey overnight to one affected area for seven days while leaving a matching area untreated when possible. The honey-treated sites improved significantly compared with both their starting point and the untreated sites.

The researchers also looked at possible mechanisms in skin and immune cells. Mānuka honey reduced IL-4-induced CCL26, an inflammatory signal associated with atopic skin, and inhibited mast-cell degranulation. The study was small, but it is especially interesting because the human results and the cellular findings pointed in the same skin-calming direction.

It Supports Barrier-Related Skin Signaling

A 2023 study found that mānuka honey activated the aryl hydrocarbon receptor, or AHR, in keratinocytes. AHR helps skin interpret environmental signals and take part in barrier and inflammatory regulation. The researchers also found increased expression of filaggrin, a protein that helps form and maintain the outer skin barrier.

This was mechanistic research using skin cells and an experimental skin model rather than a finished balm. Even so, it is a compelling match for the way we think about dry, reactive, barrier-stressed skin. It suggests that mānuka honey may be doing more than simply sitting on the surface and feeling soothing.

Its Sugars Work as Humectants

Honey’s humectant quality comes mainly from its high concentration of hygroscopic sugars. These sugars naturally attract and hold available water. Slowly reducing the honey’s own water during our process does not remove that basic property.

Once the balm is on skin, the honey sugars can help hold moisture near the surface, while the tallow and oils provide emollience and help slow evaporation. This humectant, emollient, and occlusive pairing is one reason honey fits so naturally into a rich balm. Cosmetic literature also describes dried and intermediate-moisture honey ingredients as useful in skincare, which makes this benefit relevant to our preparation rather than only to liquid honey.

Its Wound-Care Evidence Is Hard to Ignore

Honey has earned a serious place in modern wound science. A Cochrane review examined 26 trials involving 3,011 people and found high-quality evidence that honey dressings helped partial-thickness burns heal about four to five days faster than the conventional dressings used in those studies. It also found moderate-quality evidence that honey outperformed antiseptic washing followed by gauze for infected postoperative wounds.

Those studies involved purpose-made medical dressings rather than everyday skincare, but we find the research meaningful for the ingredient as a whole. It shows that honey’s topical biology has been studied far beyond tradition and cosmetic feel, and it helps explain why this ancient material continues to hold the attention of modern researchers.

Quick Answers

What makes mānuka honey different from regular honey?

Its best-known difference is its concentration of methylglyoxal, or MGO, which contributes to a distinctive form of non-peroxide antibacterial activity. Mānuka honey also contains concentrated sugars, natural acids, and plant-derived compounds, so we value the whole ingredient rather than treating MGO as the only part that matters.

What does MGO 50+ mean?

The mānuka honey we begin with is rated at least MGO 50+, which means it contains at least 50 milligrams of methylglyoxal per kilogram. We like knowing there is a defined minimum rather than relying on the mānuka name alone. MGO is one meaningful marker, while the whole honey also contributes sugars, acids, and plant compounds.

Can mānuka honey help eczema or rash-prone skin?

The most encouraging direct evidence is a seven-day study in 14 adults with atopic dermatitis, where honey-treated areas improved more than untreated comparison areas. Its humectant action and newer barrier-signaling research are also relevant to skin that feels dry and reactive. Because rashes can have many causes, we think of mānuka honey as a supportive ingredient for everyday dryness and irritation rather than assuming every rash needs the same approach.

Is mānuka honey antibacterial?

Yes, mānuka honey has strong laboratory evidence against several bacteria, including S. aureus, and it has also disrupted bacterial biofilms in laboratory models. The strength of that activity depends on the honey, its concentration, and the finished formula, so we let the evidence speak for the ingredient without assigning a medical strength to a skincare balm.

Is it comfortable for sensitive skin?

Honey-derived cosmetic ingredients are widely used as skin conditioners, and the combination of moisture support and skin-calming research makes mānuka honey especially appealing for dry, delicate-feeling skin. Anyone who already knows they react to honey or other bee-derived ingredients may want to try a small patch first.

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