Why do so many dry skin mask preparations contain honey? How does it work?
I can see why it would help acne, honey kills bacteria by causing them to burst when their water is sucked out by the high sugar, low water syrup (osmotic lysing).
But how does it moisturise skin? Or does it just act as an exfoliate?
I can't find an answer on Google - just sites telling me it's better to know what you put on your face rather than, 'some hard to pronounce chemical' at least I know how the chemicals work...

Honey contains natural antibiotics which can kill germs and heal the skin. It's also rich in vitamins and minerals, and will moisturize the skin. Some people prefer to use honey masks for the healing of dry skin.

Ahh, thank you, I didn't think about the vitamines or nutients at all. It's funny how sometimes you just can't see the answer even when it is right in front of you.

I just read that people are trying to isolate the antimicrobial compuonds at the moment Antimicrobial activity exhibited by bacteria isolated from honey. - Journal, Magazine, Article, Periodical (http://goliath.ecnext.com/coms2/summary_0199-1303168_ITM). I have to say I find honey very scientifically interesting.