“This ingredient has become quite the bees knees throughout the past years,” a man says to me in a thick Kiwi accent, charming even while spouting a terrible pun (that I obviously love). I’m on the phone with Russell Cowley, a former top chef in New Zealand in the ’80s who has partnered with a molecular medical microbiologist named Dr. Fernanda Da Silva Tatley to launch a skincare “range,” as they say down under, called Manuka Secrets.
He says that one of the ingredients that caught his eye throughout his cooking career was manuka honey: “It seemed to have just a magical touch.”
“New Zealand is very aware of Manuka, most households use Manuka as a first aid kit in the cupboard. If they have a cut on their arm, they reach for the Manuka jar. It’s only just reaching the states in any significant way, those who are followers of natural are aware of tea tree oil and manuka oil, but not the way it works,” he says. Tea tree oil is produced from the leaves of a very similiar plant of the same species.
Medical-grade Manuka is indeed recognized as a powerful antibacterial salve. As defined by WebMD:
Another antibacterial component in manuka honey is methylglyoxal (MG) … MG is thought to give manuka honey some of its antibacterial power. The higher the concentration of MG, the stronger the antibiotic effect.
Honey producers have developed a scale for rating the potency of manuka honey. The rating is called UMF, which stands for Unique Manuka Factor. The UMF rating is thought to correspond with the concentration of MG and other compounds. To be considered potent enough to be therapeutic, manuka honey needs a minimum rating of 10 UMF.
The medical grade is sterlized, so not what you’re eating on your PB&H sammies. But this new—and entirely affordable—Manuka Secrets skincare line uses 18 UMF grade honey. They just launched in Ulta stores across the U.S., in a new category Ulta calls masstige (not quite prestige costmetics, not quite mass cosmetics). Prices in the eight-product collection range from $9.99 to $49.99.
The products are cleanser, exfoliant, day creme, night creme, mask, serum, hand creme, and lip treatment. They’re in minimalist packaging designed to look good on a bathroom counter (in subtle orange and white, I tend to agree).
The recommended regimen? “There are two areas: cleansing and exfoliating. What we’re hearing back loud and fast is that it’s great to have a natural cleanser that works. The exfoliant and mask are designed to encourage skin regeneration. There’s a hand cream we call the purse pump seems to be a snappy little product you can just keep around. The scents work for different times of day, wearing with other perfumes.” Though he himself uses the products, Russell says that they are designed for women 30+. Other users include royalty (he declines to name who) and Elle and Vogue cover models.
Part 2 of this post is coming with my thoughts on the line, and a giveaway!!
“It started in a bush in the forest and it doesn’t end until there’s beautiful packaging.”