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Get your glow on.It takes 24 full hours to get to Pohuenui Island, New Zealand, from New York City. First, there’s the 17-hour flight from JFK to Auckland, followed by a 2-hour flight to Wellington and a 45-minute helicopter ride across the Marlborough Sound. The 5,000-acre land mass is so remote that cellphone service is non-existent, and getting the WiFi to work requires standing in one spot while waving your laptop around with a hope and a prayer. But what this tiny paradise lacks in connectivity, it makes up for in its abundance of one of New Zealand’s most sought-after natural resources: manuka honey.

The island is home to thousands of manuka plants, and thanks to New Zealand-based wellness brand Manuka Health, an entire ecosystem of bees take their nectar and turn it into the most potent honey in the world. The manuka flower only blooms for six to 12 weeks out of the entire year, which means that while those of us in the northern hemisphere are spending the winter months in hibernation, the bees (and eventually, their keepers) are readying their supply for international distribution.

But this year, that process looks a little different because, for the first time, the Manuka Health bees are making skincare—and honey is just one of the power-packed ingredients they’re bringing to our routines. I had the pleasure of learning about the benefits of manuka honey for skin firsthand in New Zealand, which you can find more of ahead. 

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What is manuka honey?

The manuka plant thrives in climates with mineral-rich, acidic soil, which is why New Zealand’s “ring of fire” is such a hotbed for its growth. “When the manuka tree met the honey bee, a love story ensued,” says Pia Rampling, Manuka Health’s Global Marketing Manager. As with all honey, the bees harvest the nectar from the plant and use natural enzymes in their honey sacs to break it down into simple sugars. Then, they use beeswax to seal it into honeycombs within the hive to ripen into honey before it’s extracted and sent away for processing.

What makes this particular type of liquid gold so unique is its high concentration of Methylglyoxal (MGO), a compound that makes its wellness-enhancing properties a whole lot higher than the honey you get at the local farmer’s market (which may contain trace amounts of MGO, but more likely has none at all). So, while all honey offers similar benefits to some degree, the manuka variety is the best in class.

For starters, it’s antibacterial, which means that when ingested, it can help balance your gut microbiome by killing off bad bacteria. It’s also rich in antioxidants, which can help boost immunity from the inside out and contains trace amounts of essential nutrients (namely iron, magnesium, copper, and zinc). Because of these benefits, manuka honey tends to be more expensive—the higher the MGO grade, the pricier it will be—but it’s well worth the premium price, especially knowing that it can serve double duty as part of your beauty routine.

The benefits of manuka honey for skin