Beauty Buzz

By MiNDFOOD

Beauty Buzz
Wild Ferns is harnessing the power of bee venom to create a skincare range that helps rebuild a youthful complexion.

What is bee venom?

Bee venom is a defensive toxin produced by bees, which is excreted via the bee’s stinging apparatus when it feels under threat. It is a unique complex that contains 18 biological active compounds, including enzymes, peptides, amino acids, phospholipids and volatiles. Honey and bee venom have been used medicinally since ancient times, but it’s only recently that modern skincare has recognised the potential bee venom holds for rebuilding a youthful complexion.

What’s the beauty buzz around bee venom?

Wild Ferns has harnessed the power of ethically and humanely sourced New Zealand bee venom in its Bee Venom skincare collection, which includes extensive offerings to rejuvenate skin. Bee venom does share some of honey’s antibacterial and antioxidant-rich properties, but it’s the unique peptides and enzymes that make bee venom a supercharged skincare ingredient. Powerful peptides and enzymes, including phospholipase A2 and hyaluronidase, help support optimal skin health.

As we age, the skin becomes tougher and skincare has a harder time penetrating the skin barrier. Phospholipase A2 and hyaluronidase found in the Wild Ferns Bee Venom collection enhance the penetration of ingredients into the skin’s cells so the product is able to work more effectively. Additional peptides, including melittin and apamin, boost circulation, stimulate cell regeneration, and activate elastic and collagen production within the skin. 

How is bee venom collected?

Bee venom is produced in the bee’s gland and the amount that any single bee carries depends on its age. When a bee stings the skin, the bee’s defence mechanism – the sting apparatus – is activated and the apparatus pulls out of the abdomen of the bee. As the sting ruptures the abdomen, the bee dies shortly after.

Wild Ferns uses bee venom for its products from VENZ (Venom New Zealand), which has developed an innovative bee-friendly venom collection device that doesn’t harm the insects. To collect venom, a glass sheet that conducts a gentle electric current is placed at the bottom of a beehive. The current is then turned on and bees that land on the plate activate their stinging mechanisms. Venom falls onto the glass where it is then collected, and the bee is left unharmed by the process.

The best of both worlds

To create the most efficacious formulation possible, Wild Ferns has combined bee venom with the skin-boosting, youth-restoring properties of manuka honey. Antioxidant-rich and antibacterial manuka honey can neutralise free radicals to restore skin health.

Please note: People with allergies to bee stings and bee by-products should not use bee venom products. Patch testing is always recommended for new users to ensure there is no irritation or unknown allergy.

Visit wildferns.co.nz to learn more about the bee venom range and to shop the collection online, or phone 0800 69 44387 to place an order. 

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