Beauty lovers have heaped praise on edible bee pollen, claiming it clears spots and hormonal acne, combats wrinkles, and much more, with a beauty expert offering insight on its real benefits
A beauty expert has dished the dirt on the viral online obsession with edible bee pollen – and it seems many of them actually work.
Edible beauty products, also known as ‘nutri-cosmetics’, are dietary supplements or everyday foods that can be included into your daily routine in a bid to enhance the look and health of your skin, hair, and nails.
The concept of putting goodness into your body to achieve exterior results has been around for a while, but Hailey Bieber’s $17 Erewhon ‘Skin Glaze’ smoothie has recently reignited interest in it.
Franchesca Villar, beauty editor at Cosmetify, has delved into edible supplements which can be added to your daily lifestyle to enjoy similar benefits. One popular ingredient making the rounds is bee pollen.
A number of beauty and skincare enthusiasts have praised the natural product on social media platforms like TikTok. A mixture of flower pollen, enzymes, honey, wax, and bee secretions, it’s considered a superfood with numerous health benefits.
According to Franchesca Villar, bee pollen can help with anti-ageing because it’s rich in antioxidants such as flavonoids and carotenoids, which protect the skin from free radical damage caused by environmental factors like pollution and UV rays. The expert added: “Ultimately, bee pollen can help combat fine lines, age spots, and wrinkles.”
For TikTok user Marissa Crowley, incorporating bee pollen into her daily routine proved to be a “saving grace”. Sharing a video of her experiences, she said: “This is specifically for my girls that struggle with hormonal acne and cystic acne – I have been struggling since I was a teenager and could never find any solution for it.
“I accidentally stumbled upon my saving grace,” she then held up a bottle of bee pollen and explained how she takes it each day. In addition to clearer skin, Marissa said it seems to have helped with many of her stomach issues.
Often, she’ll put it on top of granola but if she’s in a hurry and wants to take it quickly, she gets a few granules onto a teaspoon and takes it like you would a pill, with sips of water.
Fellow TikTok users rushed to the comments section to share their thoughts. One person said: “It fixed my pollen allergy, I only took it for three weeks”. Another said: “Girl same, nothing helped with my stomach aches until I started using this, gone!”
Another added: “I LOOOOOVE BEE POLLEN! has so many health benefits too!”
Beauty guru Franchesca Villar also praised bee pollen for its help with collagen production. The beauty expert said: “Collagen production naturally declines in our mid-twenties, but bee pollen can stimulate its production due to the amino acids it contains. An easy way to incorporate bee pollen into your diet is by adding it on top of porridge, fruit, or yoghurt.”
Some social media users have experienced another unexpected result after using bee pollen – an increase in cleavage size. There appears to be no scientific evidence of bee pollen increasing breast size, and research has shown it doesn’t interact with oestrogen receptors in human or yeast cells.
There’s also no indication of bee pollen having a direct impact on breast tissue growth or size, but some TikTok users profess otherwise.
