Manuka Honey
Part of our Ingredient Glossary — educational information about raw materials we may use in our products. We don't sell raw ingredients.
This is part of our Ingredient Glossary, where we explore what goes into our products and why. We do not sell raw ingredients.
Not all honey is created equal. Regular honey is wonderful, but manuka honey is something else entirely.
Manuka honey comes exclusively from New Zealand, where bees pollinate the flowers of the manuka bush (Leptospermum scoparium). What makes it different isn't marketing; it's chemistry. Manuka honey contains methylglyoxal (MGO), a compound that gives it antibacterial properties far beyond what regular honey can offer. It's why manuka is used in medical-grade wound dressings. It's why it costs significantly more. And it's why we use it in products where we want that extra level of skin-soothing power.
For skincare, manuka honey does double duty. As a humectant, it draws moisture from the air into your skin, helping with hydration. But it's the bioactive compounds that make it special for sensitive or irritated skin. The antibacterial action, the anti-inflammatory properties, the gentle acidity that supports your skin's natural barrier. Regular honey can moisturize. Manuka honey can help heal.
We use manuka honey in our Oatmeal, Milk & Honey Bath Soak, where it joins oats and goat milk in a triple-salt blend designed for sensitive, eczema-prone skin. The manuka adds antibacterial benefits and that subtle sweetness to the scent, but more importantly, it's doing real work for compromised skin while you soak.
Is it more expensive than regular honey? Yes. Is it worth it for products targeting irritated skin? We think so. When your skin is struggling, you want ingredients that actually help, not just ingredients that sound nice.
