Humanity’s oldest anti-aging treatment… here’s the science behind this sacred trio of hive products.

Bees may be the most generous of all God’s creatures. Their pollen supports 80% of the world’s flowering crops, they help maintain & protect invaluable ecosystems…

And they can help you reach your skincare goals.

Honey… Beeswax… Propolis… These essential hive products overflow with Vitamins A, B-complex, C, D, & E, antioxidants, enzymes, moisture, key amino acids, minerals (such as potassium), and RICH bioactive compounds.

Simply put, this is skin food. Nourishment that leads to a healthy, hydrated, “ditch the makeup because you are BEAUTIFUL” complexion. 

And all the bees ask in return? A little “thank you.”

A decade ago, we formulated our anti-aging Moisturizer with deep reverence & gratitude for our friends, the bees. Since then, Raw Organic Wilelaiki Honey, Organic Bee Propolis, and Organic Beeswax have been a key component in our Gold Serum, Night Cream, and Body Lotion. 

Note: Not all hive products are created equal. In this article, we’ll give you an inside look at the Hawaiian Bee Hive that organically, ethically & sustainably produces our healing, skin-revitalizing bee ingredients…

But first, here is EVERYTHING you need to know about skin-healing hive products.

 

Skin Benefits of Honey

This highly bioactive ingredient is rich in B-complex vitamins, essential minerals (such as Calcium, Copper, & Magnesium), and unique organic compounds like Methylglyoxal (MGO, a powerful antibacterial).

When used as a regular part of your skincare routine, Honey can:

• Help maintain skin’s youthful appearance w/ powerful enzymes & antioxidants

• Help support collagen production and reduce wrinkle formation

• Help promote cell turnover to brighten radiance

• Help fight acne-causing bacteria to reduce & prevent breakouts

• Help naturally remove impurities (exfoliation) without stripping natural oils

• Help regulate pH and nurture a healthy, balanced skin barrier

• Help deliver critical moisture for all-day hydration

• Help soothe & reduce inflammation

 

Skin Benefits of Beeswax

The brick & mortar of the bee world, beeswax is the fundamental building block of a honeycomb.

The same nutrients, compounds, and properties that keep the hive’s honey, pollen, eggs, & larvae safe from the outside world ALSO have much to offer our skin.

The major esters, fatty acids, and hydrocarbons in beeswax can:

• Help create a semi-occlusive barrier that prevents moisture loss 

• Help form a protective barrier against environmental stressors

• Help support healthy, natural skin barrier function

• Help promote cellular reconstruction & skin regeneration w/ Vitamin A

• Act as an emollient to help soften & soothe the skin

 

Skin Benefits of Propolis

Propolis is the glue holding the hive together. Much like we’d use duct tape, bees consider this resinous natural ingredient to be the “fix-all” – whether there’s a hole in the hive or some “expired food” that needs to be embalmed.

To make propolis, bees gather resins from buds, sap flows & other botanical sources… mixing it with beeswax and their saliva (hey, you've got to make do with what you have).

The end result is RICH with over 500 identified compounds, including Vitamins A, B-complex, C, and E, essential minerals (like zinc, magnesium, and iron), amino acids, and other nutrients.

It’ll seal up your beehive… and it will also:

• Help reduce wrinkles and enhance collagen synthesis

• Help slow skin aging w/ powerful flavonoids & phenolic compounds

• Help stimulate skin regeneration & can even help accelerate wound healing

• Help neutralize free radicals & protect against environmental stressors

• Provide natural antibiotic effects that may help prevent skin infections

Now, to explore the science behind these transformative natural hive products…

Let’s dive deeper into their healing, radiance-inspiring benefits.

Common Skin Concerns Solved By Hive Products

Hive products are “good for what ails you.”

Here are 3 reasons you may want to incorporate honey, beeswax, & propolis into your skincare routine.

#1 - Reduction in Wrinkles & Fine Lines (Hive Products as an Anti-Aging Treatment)

Honey

Found in ancient Egyptian, Greek, Roman, and Chinese cultures, hive products are one of the oldest anti-aging treatments known to man. Honey helped our ancestors age gracefully… and it has much to offer us today.

One study from 2024 clearly demonstrated honey’s effectiveness in topical anti-aging creams, with participants seeing a reduction in mean wrinkle depth, a reduction in wrinkle area after just four weeks of use, and improved skin smoothness by up to 21.3%.

How is this possible? It all begins with glucose oxidase…

The glucose oxidase in honey converts glucose stored in our body into gluconic acid. This process causes our skin cells to release controlled amounts of hydrogen peroxide (H202), which induces extracellular calcium entry into cells.

This H202 release has been shown to enhance fibroblast activity (aiding our skin cell’s ability to repair damage), increase keratinocyte migration, and help improve wound closure. All of these benefits help reduce the appearance of wrinkles while promoting revitalized, youthful-looking skin.

Some treatments try to replicate this by directly applying H202 to your skin (rather than creating a controlled release with honey); these treatments, however, can’t replicate honey’s polyphenolic components which counteract oxidative stress, a controlled release that maintains optimal H202 levels, and the natural antioxidant properties that help protect the skin. 

On all levels… the natural route is better!

Beeswax

Beeswax excels at helping keep your skin moist & hydrated, which is essential for maintaining dewy, fresh, and youthful-looking skin. We’ll touch on this aspect more in a moment.

If you’re already a skincare enthusiast, the abundance of vitamin A found in beeswax will be the most exciting discovery. Vitamin A has taken over the beauty industry for a reason… and this is one of the purest, natural sources of this key nutrient.

According to this review of prior research, vitamin A found in beeswax helps reduce wrinkles by supporting collagen production, promoting cellular reconstruction, and enhancing skin regeneration processes.

Propolis 

Much like with honey, propolis can help stimulate fibroblast proliferation & activation, enhance collagen synthesis & protection, and provide antioxidant protection through flavonoids. One clinical study from 2022 saw “significant wrinkle reduction” — much thanks to increased collagen production and reduced collagenase activity.

Put together into one formula, these three hive products can help provide comprehensive wrinkle reduction through multiple complementary pathways:

1. The Support of Cellular Regeneration

2. Moisture Retention

3. Barrier Protection

We touched on #1 heavily here. Now for those with dry skin… let’s talk about moisture.

#2 - Balanced, Long-Lasting Hydration (Hive Products as a Natural Moisturizer) 

Honey

This study from 2024 found that honey increased skin moisturization by up to 29.7% after only four weeks of use. For those who struggle with dry skin, honey can create immediate hydration correction through additional water provision… but the moisture doesn’t stop there. Honey helps you hold onto and retain optimal hydration levels through enzymatic activity.

Honey contains free hydroxyl groups that attract water through hydrogen bonding. This helps increase the water content in our stratum corneum (the outermost layer of our skin) and helps sustain our hydration levels throughout the day.

And when we add beeswax into the mix, we can make the most of honey’s hydrating effects…

Beeswax

Beeswax’s initial purpose is to shield the hive… and it can have a similar impact on our skin. When applied topically, beeswax can form a semi-occlusive barrier that helps prevent moisture loss. This barrier can even help soften our skin, and its semi-occlusivity means that our pores are left protected… but not clogged.

In the end, we have moisture coming in through increased stratum corneum water content (SCWC)... but less moisture coming out through decreased trans epidermal water loss (TEWL). 

To further support this process, enter propolis.

Propolis

Propolis adds an extra layer of moisture protection by strengthening our skin’s natural moisture barrier. This creates a protective moisturizing environment that can help keep skin dewy and fresh for longer (if you’ve ever had to reapply your moisturizer throughout the day… propolis may be the answer).

The support of skin cell regeneration that we covered earlier can also aid your complexion in maintaining optimal hydration levels. Stimulated keratinocyte formation is not just helpful for wound healing… it ALSO helps with moisture production.

All of this extra hydration can help keep skin plump & balanced, helping reduce the appearance of fine lines & wrinkles. 

But what about natural skin barrier support & protection? Wait till you hear about this…

#3 - Supporting Your Natural Barrier (Hive Products as the Key to Optimal Skin Health)

Honey

Honey is a friend to your natural skin barrier. The controlled release of H202 and natural humectant properties we covered above contribute to skin renewal and a stronger natural barrier.

One thing we haven’t touched on yet? pH levels.

Honey maintains a pH between 3.2 and 4.5, which aligns with our skin’s natural acid mantle (which requires a pH between 4 and 6 for optimal function). In layman's terms:

“This is a match made in heaven.”

This optimal pH level helps our skin maintain a healthy antimicrobial environment, enhance the integrity of our natural barrier, and improve our barrier’s ability to recover from stress & damage.

This antimicrobial environment helps support:

• Optimal enzymatic function in cornification

• Improved lipid synthesis and metabolism

• Nurture optimal β-glucocerebrosidase activity

• Increase ceramide production

• Promote ideal lipid bilayer structure

The end result of this support? Healthier, more resilient skin, with improved barrier function, hydration, and cellular turnover, leading to a more youthful and protected skin appearance!

Beeswax

The semi-occlusive barrier created by beeswax helps form a protective film against environmental stressors & external irritants.

Beeswax also provides deep antioxidant protection, scavenging harmful free radicals, chelating metal ions, and preventing LDL oxidation. A 2024 double-blind study demonstrated this, showing that Beeswax:

• Reduces serum malondialdehyde by 25%

• Decreases total hydroperoxides by 27%

• Enhances total antioxidant status by 22%

To counteract oxidative stress, beeswax can help improve mitochondrial functionality, supporting our dermal fibroblasts and the skin barrier as a whole. Meanwhile, the activity of key protective enzymes is also enhanced by this friend to our natural barrier.

Under the loving protection of beeswax, your complexion will be clear of impurities and ready to glow!

Propolis

Propolis offers nourishment, healing, and protection to our natural skin barrier. It can help you restore essential barrier proteins (including filaggrin & involucrum) while helping support skin barrier function for those with atopic dermatitis conditions.

The importance of hydration to our overall skin health cannot be overstated. The deep cellular hydration we get from propolis can create a protective moisturizing environment — one that supports matrix metalloproteinase regulation (which in turn assists the formation of new blood vessels through angiogenesis). 

This works alongside propolis’ clinically demonstrated ability to help promote skin cell proliferation and enhance collagen synthesis… to help improve the structure & integrity of your natural skin barrier. 

Research shows that Propolis can also be helpful for inflammatory regulation, helping maintain barrier integrity through: 

• Suppressing TNF-α-induced interleukin production

• Reducing inflammatory chemokines like MCP-1 and MDC

• Modulating immune response in the skin

With this can come soothing relief… and to help add another layer of protection? 

Healing, bioactive substances like Caffeic acid (CAPE), quercetin, flavonoids, & polyphenols (all found in propolis) work synergistically to provide comprehensive antioxidant protection…

Making propolis a powerful natural defender against oxidative stress & cellular damage.

With these three dynamic hive products at your side, you are well on your way to optimal skin barrier health (in addition to having a well-hydrated, youthful-looking complexion).

Now… isn’t it time we met the incredible creatures behind these healing, beauty-enhancing ingredients?

 

Meet the Bees!

The primary hive products we use at Alitura are Raw Organic Wilelaiki Honey, Organic Bee Propolis, and Organic Beeswax… all harvested from ethically managed & organic certified bees in the Northshore of O’ahu, Hawaii.

Click below to meet the bees & beekeeper… and enjoy the lush, botanical-rich vistas of the “Aloha State.”

If you look closely… you’ll even see the birth of a new bee!

Only The Purest Hive Products Allowed…

Bees travel far & wide to gather their pollen…

So to get organic certification, the hive must be inside a “buffer zone” (this ensures that ZERO toxins enter the finished product).

A 3 km radius around the hive needs to be free from:

• High-density housing

• Golf courses

• Garbage dumps

• Industrial complexes

• Busy roads

• Commercial non-organic greenhouses

In addition, hives must be made of non-synthetic materials like wood & metal (untreated with prohibited substances), and every comb must be drawn out under organic management.

All bees need to be organically fed… if there ever is a time when supplemental honey is needed, this must also be organic.

When you’re looking to use hive products in your skincare routine, or trying out new products that include honey, beeswax, or propolis… look for that organic certification.

Not only does purity maximize the healing, rejuvenating benefits we’ve covered already… it also ensures you’re NOT treating your skin with harmful chemicals, toxins, and pesticides.

And if you ask us what’s the best way to treat your skin to EVERYTHING that the world’s greatest bees have to offer…

Well, we’re just a little bit biased.

 

The Gold Serum:

Our ancestors used a sacred blend of pure hive products & fresh botanicals to breathe new life into their complexion… 

We’ve perfected this time-tested tradition… synergizing ancient ingredients with avant-garde clinical actives like GHK-Cu (Copper Tripeptide-1), Co Q10, & Marine Collagen. 

Every golden drop of this revolutionary elixir supports skin that Radiates Health.

Try The Gold Serum

 

The Night Cream:

Raw Organic Wilelaiki Honey, Organic Beeswax, and Organic Propolis can work wonders on your skin. But what if we added regenerative Edelweiss Stem Cells, nutrient-rich Organic Sea Buckthorn, soothing German Blue Chamomile, & Vegan 10% Hyaluronic Acid? 

Meticulously blended into one delectable evening ritual, The Night Cream conditions, repairs, and hydrates while you sleep… for skin that feels soft, dewy, and fresh in the morning.

Try The Night Cream

 

The Moisturizer:

Alitura’s first exploration into the transformative power of hive products, this anti-aging formula is a 95% organic Hawaiian waterfall of hydration.

Organic Cocoa Butter, Organic Aloe Vera, & other skin-beautifying essential oils blend seamlessly with Raw Organic Wilelaiki Honey, Organic Beeswax, and Organic Propolis… providing all the nutrients & moisture your skin needs to glow.

Try The Moisturizer

 

The Body Lotion:

Why stop at your face and neck? Our Body Lotion will treat your arms, legs, & feet to the full wonder of Raw Organic Wilelaiki Honey, Organic Beeswax, and Organic Propolis.

Enjoy all-day hydration, antioxidant-rich protection, and the soothing scent of Organic Ylang-Ylang, wildcrafted Madagascar Vanilla & Organic Australian Sandalwood. The perfect post-shower ritual… your skin will savor every lavish drop.

Try The Body Lotion

 

Disclaimer: Statements contained herein have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. These products are not intended to diagnose, treat and cure, or prevent disease. If you have a pre-existing skin condition, please consult a physician prior to use.