Honeybees give your skin a unique touch!
The desire to improve aged skin has led to the emergence of many dermo-cosmetic products to enhance the appearance of the skin. With the aging process, there is a decrease in collagen production, leading to a reduction in skin elasticity, the collapse of fibroblasts, and the formation and deepening of wrinkles. Bee venom has also found a vast place in dermo-cosmetic products due to its unique composition, which shows an anti-aging effect on skin tissue.
What is Bee Venom ?
The bee venom produced in the poison glands of worker bees (Apis mellifera) and stored in the poison sac is used by the bees to protect themselves from dangers.
The valuable composition of bee venom has an anti-aging and wrinkle-reducing effect.
Bee venom contains melittin, apamin, adolapine peptides, phospholipase and hyaluronidase enzymes, and dopamine, and norepinephrine amino acids. Due to its content, bee venom is known to help the skin look tighter, increase its elasticity, reduce wrinkles, and give a brighter appearance. It also helps to prevent the formation of skin spots, providing an anti-aging and anti-wrinkle effect.
What Do Scientific Publications Say ?
A scientific study at Duzce University in 2022 aimed to develop a skin care product containing bee venom, propolis, honey, beeswax, and royal jelly. This study prepared a prototype cream formulation with 0.1% bee venom, 0.3% propolis extract, 0.45% honey, and 1.0% royal jelly and analyzed it for stability, antioxidant activity, dermatological response, and cytotoxicity. In addition, a panel test evaluated its effects on skin smoothness, nourishment feeling, hydration, skin tone, luminous appearance, and skin wrinkles with healthy women volunteers aged between 33-70. According to the results, the formulation caused the skin to become silky smooth, contributed to hydration, brightened and nourished the skin, evened the skin tone, reduced the visibility of wrinkles, improved skin elasticity, and smoothed the wrinkles. In addition, the anti-aging effects of the product containing bee venom were successfully confirmed by over 90% of the subjects. In conclusion, the cream formulation containing bee venom and other bee products has a positive effect in removing the signs of skin aging.
So, what makes bee venom so valuable ?
Newly emerged bees from the hive have deficient venom production, reaching their highest production capacity when they are 12 days old. However, they lose their ability to produce venom when they are 20 days old. An adult bee can make between 0.15 and 0.3 milligrams of venom. The venom is stored in the poison sac, and the gland enters the degeneration process, which is completed around 30 days after emergence.
References:
- 1. Tanugur Samancı AE, Kekeçoglu M. Development of a cream formulation containing bee venom and other bee products [published online ahead of print, 2022 Mar 2]. J Cosmet Dermatol. 2022;10.1111/jocd.14891. doi:10.1111/jocd.14891
- 2. Han, S. M., Hong, I. P., Woo, S. O., Chun, S. N., Park, K. K., Nicholls, Y. M., & Pak, S. C. (2015). The beneficial effects of honeybee-venom serum on facial wrinkles in humans. Clinical interventions in aging, 10, 1587–1592. https://doi.org/10.2147/CIA.S84940