Apicare Manuka Therapy 30% Honey Crème Review

Unique and effective

New Zealand is well known for its innovation and integrity and Apicare New Zealand, created by Pam and Chas Reade, brings together these two great kiwi characteristics. Apicare is a skincare brand that uses UMF 15+ Manuka Honey from New Zealand in its products. We often write about the health benefits of Manuka Honey and how you can utilise the medicinal benefits so we were excited to see one of our favourite New Zealand ingredients in skincare. We were also interested to find out what a skincare product that contains 30% honey is actually like.

Apicare source Manuka Honey from their own hives so they can be sure of the source and integrity. Using the UMF rating shows that the honey that they use is quality controlled and graded by the Unique Manuka Factor Association. You can find out more about what UMF means in Manuka Honey here. The brand was created more than 21 years ago and has a very clear and strong philosophy – genuine products using effective, active ingredients.

Experience

The product is sealed with a tamper evident seal so that you can be sure your product is safe and fresh.  The crème is thick, rich and divine to apply and is naturally coloured caramel by the honey content. It is easily absorbed and leaves the skin looking noticeably more radiant and moisturised. Interestingly, once the crème is fully absorbed you are left with a very slight sticky touch to your skin. This is not uncomfortable and is very subtle. Considering that the manuka honey is at a 30% level I would expect this to be even more sticky than it actually is. It is quite ingenious to have created a treatment that delivers this amazing ingredient to the skin at a concentrated level yet is pleasant to use. The product has no added fragrance but smells of natural honey. The honey scent lingers on the skin and is very warm and comforting.

Performance

The crème contains 30% UMF 15+ Manuka Honey to repair the skin and soothing plant oils to calm and replace lost moisture. Once applied the crème provides instant relief to dry skin that is really quite incredible on the first application. I think this makes a great foot cream where skin is often dry and damaged. The manuka honey has the added benefit of having natural antibacterial properties as well making it ideal for feet. However, it certainly is not restricted to this area as it is a multipurpose cream that can be used on any area of the body that needs some extra TLC. If using this on your hands I would recommend applying it at night before you go to bed so that you can get the benefits and avoid any stickiness during the daytime. The ingredient list is full of natural ingredients and the product was actually awared a ‘Free from’ skincare award in 2014.  I would use this on my kids to treat rashes as I think this would be great at relieving itchiness. We were also interested to see the addition of bee propolis in the ingredients list. You can read more about the benefits of bee propolis in skincare here. Having used the product on a stubborn area for a couple of weeks now I have really seen a great improvement.

Price

The product comes in a 50g tube and costs $NZD 17.90. This is a very reasonable price point for this unique, innovative product from New Zealand. It contains one of our world famous ingredients, Manuka Honey at a 30% concentration yet is reasonably priced, beautiful to use and delivers exceptional results.