Want to hear something ridiculous?

I run a skincare business… but I somehow managed to fry myself into a lobster in the Hamptons this summer. Not quiiiite the type of lobster roll I was looking for that day, ha!

Here’s how it went down:

I was there for an event at the Hamptons Vintage Flea and another at the Freaks of Nature Hero Beach event that our showroom Van Pelt was putting on. I was also celebrating our recent launch in nearby Glass Collective in Montauk. 

Everything was going great—right until the awful moment I realized the sunscreen I’d grabbed from Wilhelmina’s diaper bag and slathered all over myself was expired. As in expired since 2022 :) 

Cue me turning bright tomato-red.

I ended up stuck in traffic for six hours trying to get home, radiating heat from my chest, shoulders, and arms. Good, good times.

Did I want to crawl out of my own skin? Yes. 

BUT did I not have to cuz our glorious Oh, Honey hand cream saved my lobster-y self? Also yes! 

While Oh, Honey is a hand cream, it has SO many healing properties for real burns and sunburns because, well. . . mānuka honey and tallow. Need I say more???

Together, they really are an incredible natural remedy for sunburn. And as it turns out, my Hamptons sunburn put me in some pretty good historical company. . . 

Way back when, ancient Egyptians used animal fats like tallow to soothe burns and heal wounds, believing it sealed and protected damaged skin. Roman soldiers carried tallow balms into battle for everything from cuts to sun-blasted skin under Mediterranean skies. Even the Greeks included animal fats in medicinal salves for skin healing.

Meanwhile, halfway across the world, the Māori of Aotearoa (New Zealand) were working with a completely different natural powerhouse: the mānuka tree. For generations, Māori healers practicing rongoā (traditional medicine), using mānuka leaves and oils for fevers, wounds, and infections.

Then the bees joined the party –

In the early 1800s, Mary Bumby, a British beekeeper and missionary’s sister, introduced European honeybees to New Zealand. Those bees discovered the mānuka tree’s delicate white blossoms and started producing a honey the world had never seen before.

At first, beekeepers didn’t think much of the honey. They gave it away to dairy farmers, who fed it to their cows. When the farmers noticed their cows were less prone to infections, people began to realize mānuka honey was something special.

Fast-forward to modern science, and we now know why. Mānuka honey contains high levels of methylglyoxal (MGO), a compound proven to have significant antibacterial activity. [Source: NCBI study on Manuka honey antibacterial effects]

So why are tallow and mānuka honey pretty much the skin healing dream team together? Let’s break it down –

• Tallow — Grass-fed, grass-finished tallow is rich in Omega 3s and Vitamins A, D, E, K2, B12,
and Choline, making it the ideal substance to clean, nourish, and moisturize our skin. It’s also packed with fatty acids that make it nearly identical to those in human sebum (your skin’s natural oil). That’s why it sinks in beautifully, restores your skin barrier, and calms irritation without leaving you greasy. 

•  Mānuka Honey — As noted above, high MGO mānuka honey is scientifically proven to reduce bacteria in wounds and lower inflammation.

Which is why when I doused my chest, shoulders, and arms with our Oh, Honey balm after that Hamptons sunburn disaster, my skin breathed the world’s biggest sigh of relief. 

So if you’re planning beach days, hikes, or backyard BBQs this summer, here’s your friendly suggestion to consider tossing some sunburn-healing Oh, Honey into your bag. 

Because trust me—nothing ruins a lobster-roll outing faster than turning into the lobster.

[Check out our Oh, Honey Manuka + Tallow Hand Cream here.]

Hudson Valley Hills 

Rolling hills in golden light,

Beasts roam softly, day to night.

Bees hum sweet
where wildflowers stand,

Life breathes deep
in this cherished land.

- HM