“Let’s get stung by a bee” – no one ever said. Purified bee venom in skincare however has proven to be a very popular anti-aging treatment in Korea and surrounding Asian countries for years now. In Western cosmetics, the buzz around this bizarre-sounding substance started with the wedding day of Kate Middleton...
As the world was watching her every step, her wedding glow was -apart from the bottom of her sister Pippa- noticed by many and heavily speculated upon. According to 'reliable sources', the secret of the duchess’ flawless and glowing complexion were facial treatments with bee venom.
Apart from facial treatments at salons, many different skincare products with bee venom are available; anything from daily moistrizer to rejuvenating eye serum or anti-wrinkle masks. Some critics marvel bee venom to be the holistic answer to Botox we’ve all been waiting for, and treatments with the venom or regularly labelled “Natural Botox” or even “Beetox”. So how does this work? In order to treat your skin with bee venom it is fortunately not necessary to voluntarily be stung by a bee.
As skin ages, it loses its naturally-occurring collagen. This results in slack, sagging skin and everything from fine lines to deep wrinkles. Bee venom works as an anti-aging agent by encouraging the stimulation of natural collagen and elastin: when small amounts of bee venom are applied to the skin, the skin is tricked in believing it has been stung. Our skin’s reaction is to send blood to the affected area, which consequently stimulates the production of collagen and elastin. This strengthens body tissue and helps the skin to stay firm and look youthful.
Moreover, a bee sting causes our skin to swell, hence small amounts of bee venom in skincare are said to plump up the skin, resulting in a firm and smooth look similar to treatment with Botox (when used in moderation for a ‘relaxed’ look; not talking about the paralyzed puppet-like foreheads and frozen upper lips of the ladies who tend to overdo their treatment). According to regular users other benefits include the reduction of pores, fine lines and wrinkles, and reduced pigmentation and sun damage.
Venom Harvesting
The venom used in facial is ‘harvested’ from the bees by using a small metal plate which is placed inside the bee hive. It carries a very small electrical charge that doesn't harm the bee but makes it feel threatened so it releases its venom. As opposed to our soft skin, this plate is hard so the bee retains its sting and survives, which is not the case when they sting humans or animals. The venom is scraped off the plate to be processed for usage in beauty products.
Don't Squeeze the Beezzz!
Now don’t get all excited and go catch a bee to squeeze the venom out of its bottom to dab on your wrinkles; the big difference between ‘pure’ bee venom from a sting and bee venom as ingredient in skincare is the dosage. Beauty products contain a very low-dose of bee venom, so we won’t experience the discomfort associated with a real sting.
PRODUCT REVIEW: CLIV’s “Bee” Character Mask
Time to put this ingredient that is so popular in Asia to the test! I tried CLIV’s “Bee” Character Mask, that promises to be a “nutrition supply mask for pale skin to become healthy”. At the moment, my skin is anything but pale as I just returned from a short trip to Thailand, during which I did nothing but enjoy the Thai food and sun.
In addition, the mask promises “Dual Function Whitening & Anti-wrinkle”. Not a big fan of the whitening, but the whitening agents that are legally allowed to be used in Asian skincare won’t bleach your skin when you use the product just once.
The mask is a so called ‘character mask’, which I have seen around a lot in South East Asia (never in Europe, for that matter). The sheet mask (100% pure cotton according to the label on the pack) has a print on it that makes you look (somewhat…) like a bee. Like most sheet masks I’ve tried the past months, my nose is too prominently Caucasian for the mask which makes me look even more ridiculous.
Typical for sheet masks, the product comes in a sachet. The product that the tissue is drenched in, is transparent and has a fresh scent to it. The mask doesn’t stick well to my skin and I continuously need to adjust and put in place the sheet on my face. After a minute or 5, the product starts to sting. I think. Maybe it is in between my ears, but I would swear that I do feel some stinging and tingling. Not unpleasant or painful though. I’m supposed to leave the mask on for 10-20 minutes and decide to take it off after 15 minutes because it is annoying me - I’m working on my laptop while wearing the mask and my keyboard is getting all sticky from readjusting the mask in between typing.
The result? Nothing earth-moving or major, but my skin glows and looks very fresh. After an hour or so, I feel like the two fine "yup I'm almost 31 years old" lines on my forehead are a bit less visible. Tried to capture it in a picture, but on image the result seems minor. I do however FEEL that the lines are a bit less, which is also a great result even when it's just my imagination (a.k.a. the placebo effect)! As said I don't like the way this mask fits and how I need to keep readjusting it throughout the usage. I'm interested to see what happens if I use a product with bee venom for a longer period of time in another easyer-to-use formula, like a face cream. If anything interesting happens I promise to report on it!
CLIV "Bee" Character Sheet Mask, 20 g
Price: 3,90 SGD
Available at Selektiv by Sasa (find stores here)
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