For your skin
A bee-made resin that's antibacterial and anti-inflammatory. Calms breakouts and hydrates at the same time.
Want the science? Keep reading ↓Mechanism of action
Resin collected by bees; flavonoid content gives antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory action.
Why we tier this moderate
6 cited papers across 3 countries. The mechanism is well-described and there's at least one controlled trial in the literature, but we tier this Moderate rather than Strong to stay honest about how many specific papers we cite directly.
Cited research
Watanabe C et al., Tyrosinase inhibitory activity of propolis from Jeju Island, Korea, Bioscience, Biotechnology, and Biochemistry 2025;89(6):787-794 — in-vitro: 70% ethanol extract of Jeju propolis + main component xanthoangelol showed strong competitive tyrosinase inhibition, supporting propolis as melanogenesis-inhibiting active
Effect of propolis on wound healing in sacrococcygeal pilonidal disease: a randomized controlled clinical trial, 2021 — accelerated wound healing from week 1 with greater effect days 14-28 vs control
Martin BA et al., A New Approach to Atopic Dermatitis Control with Low-Concentration Propolis-Loaded Cold Cream, Pharmaceutics 2021;13(9):1346 — low-concentration propolis cold cream reduced atopic-dermatitis severity
Mujica V et al., Propolis as an Adjuvant in the Healing of Human Diabetic Foot Wounds Receiving Care in the Diagnostic and Treatment Centre from the Regional Hospital of Talca, Journal of Diabetes Research 2019;2019:2507578 — topical 3% propolis spray significantly accelerated diabetic foot wound healing
Mazzarello V et al., Treatment of acne with a combination of propolis, tea tree oil, and Aloe vera compared to erythromycin cream: two double-blind investigations, Clinical Pharmacology: Advances and Applications 2018;10:175-181 — RCT (n=60): propolis/tea tree/aloe vera cream outperformed erythromycin for acne reduction
Afkhamizadeh M et al., Topical propolis improves wound healing in patients with diabetic foot ulcer: a randomized controlled trial, Natural Product Research 2018;32(17):2096-2099 — RCT: 5% topical propolis ointment reduced Wagner grade 1-2 diabetic foot ulcer size vs standard care
Sources: PubMed · KCI · J-Stage · CNKI · Wanfang · SFD · MFDS · Cochrane · SCCS · CIR. Every entry points to a specific document. See methodology for what each outcome label means.