Beeswax in Skincare

Beeswax is a natural wax secreted by worker honey bees from wax-producing glands. When beekeepers harvest honey they also remove honeycombs, made of beeswax. You may have noticed that a significant amount of our products thus far incorporate locally sourced, organic beeswax. In natural skincare products, beeswax is mainly used to thicken and harden balms and salves. Beeswax also creates a barrier on the skin and thus locks in moisture. When used in body butters/lotions it prevents moisture loss and repels water making it more resistant to being washed off. It is antibacterial and anti-imflammtory and offers relief from dry, itchy, skin. Because beeswax is anti-allergenic, it is also easily tolerated by all skin types.

Although beeswax is an animal-derived ingredient and therefore not vegan, it can be classified as cruelty-free depending on how it's harvested. In many large commercial bee farms, bees are killed or have their wings and legs torn off because of careless handling. These farms also supersize the hives tricking the colony into thinking it needs to produce more honey to survive, often working them to their deaths. The farms may also replace the honey, which bees produce to get through the winter, with a cheap sugar substitute that lacks nutrition. The queen bee's wings are often clipped so she doesn't leave and she is artificially inseminated, making the arising colony more susceptible to parasites and diseases. This is why if using beeswax or consuming honey it is important to support your local, organic bee farm.

Smaller, local organic bee farms support ethical beekeeping and sustainable practices. These farms wait until spring to harvest any excess honey that the bees didn’t use during the winter. The bees live as closely as possible to how they would in the wild, foraging from a variety of flowers and exercising their natural behaviours including mating in flight. The beeswax is collected at the same time as honey and often used by the farming family; the excess is sold. You can rest assured that no bees were intentionally harmed from harvesting the beewax used in our products.