Found: The Only Hack You Need For Smooth, Honey Skin All Over
Your full body deserves to to be honeylike, too, no?
Image by ohlamour studio / Stocksy August 15, 2023 There is no shortage of quippy metaphors to describe skin. Dolphin skin, glass skin, dumpling skin, glazed donut skin…I’m not exaggerating when I say I could go on and on. The majority of these monikers refer to skin so silky smooth it reflects light (you know, just like a slippery dolphin or pane of glass). But what if you don’t want to introduce megawatt shine? What if you want your skin to look plump and juicy, without appearing reflective? Oh, well that’s honey skin—and here’s a hack to achieve it all-over.
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Why you need a lightweight body oil for honey skin
The key difference with honey skin is texture: "Glass skin and dumpling skin are reflective and multidimensional looks, whereas honey skin appears semi-glossy, plump, and poreless, like a baby's skin," makeup artist Alexandra Compton, product development manager at Credo, previously told mbg.
Like most innovative beauty trends, it originated from the Korean beauty space, meant to evoke the supple texture of honey rather than the radiance of glass or the three-dimensional feel of a dumpling.
Just imagine the dewiness of a dollop of honey. Notice how it looks “wet” without appearing too oily or shiny? That’s the skin care goal here, and it’s easier to achieve than you think.
First thing’s first: Grab a humectant rich cream or body serum. See, humectants draw moisture from the environment into your skin and give you that fresh, honey skin look. You could use ingredients like hyaluronic acid, aloe vera, glycerin, or even actual honey.
But the next and equally important piece is to seal in all that moisture with a good occlusive. If you don’t lock in those humectants, they can actually pull moisture from the dermis instead of the atmosphere, drying your skin further.
We’re partial to body oil for this moisture-locking step, since it glazes the skin and gives it that healthy, “wet-looking” shine. After all, hairstylists recommend using oil to slick back the hair and make it look “wet,” as opposed to using actual water (which, you know, dries). It’s the same logic here with honey skin: A generous coat of oil makes the skin appear plump and juicy all day long.
You might even want to select a dry oil, as it will absorb into the skin quickly without leaving behind a sticky residue. So your skin will appear glazed with honey yet won’t have that thick, honey-like viscosity. Win-win.
If you really want to elevate the shine, you can even mix your body oil with a pump or two of liquid highlighter (ideally a non-glittery formula) before massaging it into your skin. It’s a red carpet body care trick makeup artists swear by to help certain features catch the light; it might technically read more “body gloss” than “honey skin,” but there really are no rules when it comes to these metaphors. The possibilities are endless—and so are the clever names, it seems.
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The takeaway
Ever wanted your skin to resemble glossy bee nectar? You’re not alone, as “honey skin” is very much a popular K-beauty trend. Most tutorials focus on the face, but your full body deserves to to be honeylike, too, no? Simply apply your humectants of choice, then glaze your skin in dry body oil from head to toe. Extra highlighter optional but highly recommended.