When making organic, non-preservative laden soaps and balms, a key ingredient that helps with the beneficial qualities of moisturizing and healing is beeswax. Beeswax is produced by worker bees which use it to build comb within their hives. The comb is used for rearing young, and for storing pollen and honey. But after the honey is extracted, the comb itself contains the wonderful wax, which itself has many anti-allergen, anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidant benefits for the skin.
Beeswax Solar Processing Technique
At Monte-Bellaria, we take the old comb from the beehives and melt it in a solar wax melter. This is a natural process using the sun to heat the wax just to its melting point (about 155°F) which is then passed through a sheer nylon filter.
This technique allows us to capture the pure, bright yellow wax and separate all the other, blackened bi-products that are less attractive. Sometimes it takes several melt cycles to remove all the unwanted elements.
The resulting wax is then cut, by weight, into exact amounts needed for our various balms and soaps. These are then re-melted into small bricks and stored for future use.
One of the benefits of using relatively low-heat to melt the wax is that it preserves some of the natural qualities that are lost if the wax is heated more directly in ovens or over double-boilers.
Beeswax, as a component of lotions and balms, both moisturizes and acts to seal in the body’s natural moisture levels. This makes it a perfect substance for lip balms—aiding with dryness and chapping and preventing further damage from wind and sun. It is also useful for treating minor burns.
By including our beeswax along with estate-produced lavender oil and olive oil in soaps, lip balms and moisturizing skin balms; the three natural products combine to complement each other’s healing properties.
