Have you ever tried a hand cream with beeswax? If you have, you and your skin will immediately know the difference from between that cream and a cream made with synthetic wax.
What’s so special about beeswax?
Beeswax – one of nature’s great moisturizers and healers. It can be used for more than just candles! It has the amazing ability to protect the skin while still allowing your skin to breathe unlike synthetic chemicals which just coat your skin with a layer of plastic, letting nothing in or out. Under a microscope beeswax has a mesh-like structure, so that when it meets your skin, which is also mesh-like, it works with your skin to fill in the gaps, cracks, etc. Neat eh?!
Why don’t more skin care companies use it if it’s so great? Generally because it’s more expensive than a petroleum based ingredient like synthetic wax. Beeswax is flammable too, so you have to know what you are doing and take precautions when using it. i.e. eyes on the stove at all times!
I love the smell of beeswax. The scent immediately brings back memories of harvesting honey on our farm as a child. I’m always in awe at all the unique things my parents taught me and exposed me to at such a young age. I appreciate them more and more every day. Beeswax when used in a hand cream leaves a beautiful scent, and makes for a slightly heavier feeling cream, giving it an almost buttery consistency. A couple of years ago, my mom was kind enough to give me her treasured beeswax hand cream recipe. She always made us kids cream growing up, and being someone who has to take special care of my skin to prevent infections, it was a blessing to have such a high quality cream freely available! Of course, I didn’t truly appreciate this knowledge until years later, but I’m grateful for it now!
I have taken my mom’s recipe and added my own little elements to it, such as using a herb-infused olive and grape seed oils, which helps add extra healing and therapeutic properties. For example, in my face cream I use a wild rose hip infused oil that I have made. Rose hips are a natural source of vitamin C and grow prolifically here in Edmonton’s river valleys. I have also used flowers such as calendula petals in my herb oils, which help reduce inflammation and redness. Great for people with eczema and/or irritated red skin.
Being a small business, I like to also support other small business and keep my money local when I can. For these reasons, I buy my honey from a local beekeeper and honey maker: Lola Canola Honey.
Products I make that contain beeswax:
- Beeswax lip butters
- Beeswax hand creams, foot creams, and face creams
- Men’s moustache wax
What other eco-products have beeswax?
A new favourite of mine are a food storage company called Abeego. I love these! They are so handy to use, actually form over bowls so you can use them instead of siren-wrap. wahoo! and…they are reusable, washable, and smell like beeswax! For more information on the story of this great Canadian company, click here.
