Honey body butter is a cosmetic product designed to moisturize and protect the skin. In most cases, the term “body butter” is just a fancy way of saying “skin cream” or “rich lotion.” Products in this category include dense oils and emollients that penetrate the skin’s outer surface, leaving it feeling smooth and looking refreshed for longer than most standard lotions. Body butters made with honey are often among the most moisturizing, as honey usually carries great skin restorative properties.
Raw honey is a humectant, which means that its chemical composition helps it to retains moisture. It usually passes these benefits on to skin and other surfaces with which it comes into contact. Honey has long been prized as a cosmetic ingredient for this reason and has been used in beauty products like facial masks, hair treatments, and skin rubs for centuries. Usually, honey body butter contains only small amounts of honey, but the moisturizing properties usually carry over even with minimal exposure.
The primary difference between body butter and regular body lotion is moisture content. Most standard lotions contain a lot of water, which helps it smooth onto the skin and absorb quickly. Water moisture does not often last, however. A honey body butter usually takes longer to soak in, but the honey helps the skin hold onto moisture from the inside.
Many different manufacturers make honey body butter, and there are very few standards that govern exactly what a product labeled “honey body butter” must contain. It is usually understood that honey is a main ingredient, but this is not always the case. Luxury brands sometimes disclose how much honey is in their body butter cream, but this is usually uncommon, even at the top echelons.
In part, this silence is because not much honey is used, and manufacturers do not want to discourage purchasers. Honey is a sticky, tacky substance that can only be applied in small quantities if it is not intended to be washed off. Shampoos and facial rubs can often carry high concentrations of raw honey without incident because they are meant to be but temporary. In a body butter, too much honey would create an oily sheen to the skin that many would consider undesirable.
Most of the time, honey adds to the moisturizing capabilities of a body butter, but is not itself solely responsible for them. Honey body butter products that smell strongly of honey often do so because of scent enhancements. Extracts that contain no moisturizing capabilities are often added in to boost a product’s appeal. Honey is frequently blended with other scents and extracts as well, particularly almond, orange, and shea.