Beetox versus getting a jab to relax your frown?
You want to look your best. But you’re not quite ready for anti-wrinkle injections, and you’ve heard about creams working the same way? Bee venom comes to mind. And, you ponder? If the claims are true, bee venom could be a more natural alternative.
Bee venom has been around for a while, but is it a replacement for anti-wrinkle injections? The short answer? Well, no, not really, but then again, there’s more to this story, and it’s still worth looking at.
Why all the fuss about bee venom?
Indeed, with all this talk of bee venom, there must be some truth.
Sure, celebrities have been reportedly using it; why even royalty are in favour of a bit of bee venom?
Alas, bee venom may not single-handedly give you a more relaxed expression, but is it still worthy of a spot in your bathroom cabinet?
So, if bee venom won’t give you the same result as a visit to a cosmetic doctor, then why bother at all?
If it’s the relaxing appearance that only botulinum toxin type A can give you, you might want to give bee venom a miss.
But wait, before we throw the bees out with the beehive, it seems only fair that I try a bee venom product on my skin to be sure.
Skin Doctors sent me a jar of their bee venom cream known as, Beetox by Skin Doctors. I used it for six weeks. I resisted using other active products like vitamin A, vitamin C, or any AHA formulations for the trial to see the outcome without any other interventions.
Six weeks later?
From a purely sensory point of view, I liked Beetox. Beetox is a creamy textured serum formulation and felt quite lovely to apply. But did it do anything for my skin?
Manuka honey gave the product an organic and natural scent of wait for it. Yep, it smelt like honey. If that bothers you, then you should probably skip this product altogether. But I enjoyed the scent of honey, so I continued until the end of the product.
Every day as I applied my Beetox, I pondered what it might be doing for my skin, knowing in my heart it probably wouldn’t make too much of a difference.
With all this pondering and wondering, I concluded: If you had very damaged skin needing attention, then using a serum cream like Beetox would feel fantastic, and the manuka honey would feel very soothing.
But, if, like me, you’ve been using active ingredients for quite some time, then you may not see much difference in your skin’s appearance.
After six weeks? From a purely sensorial point of view, I liked Beetox. Beetox is a creamy textured serum formulation and felt quite lovely to apply.
How did bee venom find its way into cosmetics?
The idea behind bee venom is this; If you apply bee venom every day, you’re getting something similar to a bee sting, but ever so gently. Unlike the painful memories of my childhood after accidentally tramping on a bee, the light tingling you’ll get from Beetox feels nothing like a bee sting. Not. At. All.
But we’re all different, and the condition of your skin will determine how intense it feels.
When your skin is damaged, almost everything stings.
Perhaps if my skin had an underlying weakness or damaged protective barrier, it might have felt more like being stung. But, for me, it barely rated.
Other active ingredients and facial devices are more likely to give my skin the necessary ‘sting’ to boost my anti-ageing enzymes.
I talk in detail about other ways to boost your youth enzymes in these articles:
6 Daily essentials for great skin at any age.
5 Cosmeceutical Skincare Brands giving your skin a workout.
Vitamin A for your skin – Activate your youth enzymes!
But why is the ‘bee sting effect’ helping?
When a product like Beetox activates inflammation, the wound-healing growth factors of your dermis take action. Wound healing is activated, and there will be collagen synthesis. However, while this is true, I’m doubtful the product has enough bee venom to create an adequate ‘wound healing response’ to stimulate new collagen.
And what about manuka honey?
There are reports that manuka honey can assist collagen stimulation; it is also antibacterial and has antioxidant properties. And, of course, it smells delicious, and I found it very soothing.
But is it enough to make a significant change in your skin? The makers of Beetox suggest manuka honey contains enzymes that stimulate cell renewal.
Despite this claim, Skin Doctors don’t provide any supporting evidence to back this up.
So, I looked and found this research, which suggests there is some science to support the use of manuka honey for cell renewal and wound healing in the skin.
There’s some merit, but the quantity, formulation and delivery will play a significant role in the effectiveness of Beetox or any other product containing manuka honey.
Does bee venom skincare work?
Products like Beetox containing Bee venom would only be beneficial if used with other treatments. For example, if you embark on a series of facial peels, then perhaps bee venom infused into the skin via a mask treatment may benefit.
The chemical peel’s action would allow greater penetration of the bee venom into the dermis, where the venom might activate the venom wound healing.
But, if you decide to use a bee venom product like Beetox as your only answer to reducing fine lines and wrinkles, although the surface of your skin may improve, you will ultimately be disappointed.
On the other hand, if you have youthful skin with no signs of visible damage? Then committing to long-term usage may help. However, including other active ingredients like niacinamide, retinol, and vitamin C in your skincare regimen will make a much more significant impact and a positive difference in your skin’s longevity.
Would I use Beetox again?
I enjoyed using this product, but would I rely on it to treat lines and wrinkles? Probably not. I saw no real change in my skin.
It felt nice on my skin, and I liked the soothing sensation. Perhaps I’d use it in addition to other more potent and scientifically proven formulas. But, as a stand-alone product? I wouldn’t hang all your hopes on bee venom as a quick fix.
My trial was for six weeks, and as I’ve already mentioned, a leap of faith and lifelong commitment may bring you results.
Quickly refresh your appearance.
Suppose you can’t commit to a lifetime. In that case, something more ‘instant’ like anti-wrinkle injections will be a far more effective and relatively safe way of refreshing your appearance and relaxing your furrowed brow.
But of course, just as bee venom will probably not relax a contracted muscle (the cause of dynamic wrinkles), nor will anti-wrinkle injections resolve the harshness of dry, dehydrated or sun-damaged skin.
You’ll need medical-grade skincare for that and a commitment to your skincare routine.
Neuropeptides in skincare.
An alternative to bee venom is neuropeptides which are becoming increasingly popular and provide the relaxing effects of botox without the sting as is experienced with a bee venom serum or cream.
One such serum from Environ might be worth considering if being stung by bees is not appealing to you or if a vegan option is your preference.
An innovation from Environ Skincare. Seriénce Night Cream is a lightweight serum that reduces oxidative stress while providing facial relaxation while sleeping.
Seriénce Night Serum has an interesting list of the key ingredients making it a truly unique serum. This is what skin serenity looks like.
Finally, what about the bees?
Most brands will confirm no bee comes to any harm in extracting their bee venom. Despite this assurance, I’d still prefer to find other ways to stimulate my collagen. But it’s a personal thing, I guess.
For me, micro-needling is a better place to start, and I wrote an article about it here, which you may find helpful if boosting collagen is your goal.
See you next time,
