buy it!
Honeybee Gardens is better than the pricey stuff at dedicated makeup stores! I learned of Honeybee Gardens by finding some of their products at Earthfare and being impressed with what I'd gotten (the foundation and mascara). Googling them, found the website and even more products. I have always had issues with breakouts, frequently damage my skin barrier in the fight for clear skin, and might have a clear face for one week across several months (guaranteed hormonal acne and the race to clear up before next month... frequently don't win that race or, like I said, maybe a week just to start again). I had seen dermatologists (different ones) for ten years, but none of their stuff worked (not even medicines, pills, balms, ointments, a radiation therapy...) so I gave up. Strange that skin won't clear up even in one's 30s (but all my female friends seem in a similar boat). Seems to be a matter of learning the best combo of concealer and foundation. With the pandemic, I hadn't worn makeup in two years, and yet regular blemishes remained. Also, I only kept trying moisturizer since everything regularly harps how important it is, but decades of trying different ones just yields the same: causes those deep acne (but moisturizer helps with spreading foundation, so necessary evil for makeup days). Enter Honeybee Gardens and their toner, serum, and hydrogel. I wish I had found out about yall years ago! The toner is amazing. I use it after washing my face in the morning (plus the hydrogel) and then throughout the day, whenever I feel icky I'll wash my hands (rinse off soap completely) to splash my face with water and re-spray myself with toner. Even with a damaged skin barrier (the ultra mega shiny, inflammation acne, tightness, redness) this has helped me heal AND prevented anything new from appearing. I hope Honeybee Gardens keeps making this toner forever! I have oily skin and was concerned about a serum made from oils, so I don't use it daily nor regularly, BUT I intend to always make sure I have some. When I first tried the serum, I let it sit a bit and then washed it off - I did really like how my face felt afterward, so thought I'd use the serum as an occasional mask (though I think it'd be perfect for daily use for people with dry skin). Then one night when I intended to only wear it a bit, I fell asleep. Next morning, no breakout, beautiful face... how?! I'm still too scared to try it daily myself (because of my breakout prone oily skin) but I do now include the serum before bed if my skin feels dry or stressed (like having overdone it with a cleanser, sun exposure, etc) and it doesn't break me out... it's like it sets my face back to "normal" after using something too harsh to save me from inflammation acne. Hydrogel is the first moisturizer I've found IN DECADES that doesn't break me out. I use it daily, sometimes both morning and night. I'd tried everything, including stuff that claimed to be gentle, claimed to be for oily sensitive skin, things with salicylic acid or other stuff to help breakouts but no matter what moisturizer always caused those deep acne things and daily usage of Hydrogel does not. I wish I had discovered Honeybee Gardens in my teens or early 20s! If you're on the fence about getting this, GET IT!
