Beauty From Bees: a guide to the Canadian beeswax skin care brand

Beauty From Bees makes body serums, face oils, shampoo, lip serum and baby care with short ingredient lists, and beeswax turns up in a lot of them. If you want simple, Canadian-made skincare for yourself or the whole family, here's what we carry from the range, how the body serum works, and how to pick a first bottle.

Is Beauty From Bees a Canadian company?

Yes. Beauty From Bees was started by Michelle Sayers, a mother of four who spent about ten years making products for her own family before turning it into a natural skincare business. Today a team of women makes and bottles everything in the company's own facility in Alberta. About 90% of its supplies come from other Canadian companies, and nothing is bought from outside North America.

The brand's motto is "Nothing hidden, nothing harmful." In practice that means ingredient lists that are usually under ten items, no synthetic fragrance, parabens, phthalates or fillers, and a probiotic ferment (Lactobacillus) paired with antioxidants to help keep products fresh.

The antioxidant is elderberry extract rather than vitamin E, and you'll find it in the face oil, body wash and bubble baths. Antioxidants help protect the oils in a product, and in skincare they're widely used to help skin cope with everyday environmental stress. Face skincare is pH-balanced differently from body products, because the skin on your face and your body needs different things.

Beeswax skin care: what beeswax does

Beeswax is a natural wax that forms a light protective layer on skin, which helps hold moisture in. That's why you'll find it in balms, butters and creams rather than in light, watery products. In the Beauty From Bees skincare range it appears in the body serum, body creme, eye creme, mascara, the shampoos and several bubble baths.

It's a heavier ingredient, so it suits dry skin, hands, elbows and lips best. The face products use lighter oils such as olive squalane, which absorbs quickly, helps skin stay soft and hydrated, and leaves a silky finish.

The body serum, and how to use it

The Beauty From Bees body serum isn't a lotion. It's a waterless, concentrated blend of avocado, castor and coconut oils with shea butter, beeswax and rosemary extract, and you use it in the shower rather than after.

1. Turn the water off. Leave your skin wet; don't towel off yet.
2. Use a small amount. Smooth a little body serum over wet skin. Less is more, and a bottle lasts a long time this way.
3. Pat dry. The oils seal in the water already on your skin, so it doesn't feel greasy, nothing transfers to the towel, and skin stays soft and supple through the day.

The benefit of a waterless formula is that a small amount goes a long way. In our experience, most people use far less than they expect. The formula is the same in every bottle; only the scent changes.

Want something richer to rub in after the shower? The Lavender Nights Body Creme adds cocoa butter and glycerin to the oils. Try alternating it with the body serum.

Beauty From BeesBody Creme, Lavender NightsAvocado oil, cocoa and shea butters and probiotics, scented with lavender and cedarwood.Shop →

Face oil, serums and the rest of the face line

If you only try one face product, make it the Face Oil (Moisture Absolute). It's olive squalane, marula, pomegranate and argan oils with elderberry extract, and a few drops morning and night cover eyes, face and neck, so you can use it around your eyes and as your moisturiser.

Hyaluronic acid helps skin hold on to water, so it feels plumper and more hydrated. Lactic acid gently exfoliates, which leaves skin smoother and brighter-looking. And the oils in the face oil, marula and argan especially, help dry skin feel comfortable and look healthy and glowing.

Lip serum for a natural shine, plus mascara and lashes

People often look for a Beauty From Bees lip balm. What we carry is the Lip Serum: a peppermint-infused, non-sticky layer with a healthy, natural shine and a hint of colour, in three shades. It's designed to go on top of your favourite lip balm, not to replace it.

For a beeswax balm to wear underneath, we like Anointment's Honey Lip Balm. Anointment is a woman-owned skincare company in rural Atlantic Canada that got its start selling soap at the Halifax Farmers Market. The balm is unflavoured, made with Canadian beeswax from Manitoba and organic sunflower oil grown in Quebec, and the faint honey note comes from the wax itself.

Anointment Natural Skin CareHoney Lip BalmSix ingredients, including Canadian beeswax; no added scent or flavour.Shop →

Shampoo, conditioner and hair care

The hair care is made in Canada like the rest of the range. The shampoos clean with coco glucoside, a mild cleanser from coconut and fruit sugars, and condition with shea butter and beeswax. There are no sulfates, so expect a softer lather: wet your hair well and add a little more water rather than more shampoo. The scented conditioners are silicone-free and built on olive and pumpkin seed oils; the unscented one uses jojoba oil and glycerin. There's also a lavender vanilla leave-in conditioner, a natural detangler for brushing out wet hair.

Beauty From Bees baby and bath time

Beauty From Bees began with a mother looking for simpler products for her own babies, and the baby items are made for use from birth. The Baby Oil is just four oils, the Baby Wash is a two-in-one shampoo and body wash, and the powder is talc-free. The bubble baths come in lavender vanilla, orange vanilla, eucalyptus and unscented, in 8 oz and 32 oz bottles, and they bubble even in hard water. Orange + Vanilla smells like a creamsicle, and in our experience children love it.

Flip the bottle: if you can read the whole ingredient list in one breath, you know what you're putting on your skin.

How to choose your first Beauty From Bees product

For more on lotions, creams, butters and balms side by side, see our guide to body lotion, cream or balm for dry winter skin. If you're comparing face products, our guides to natural face moisturizers and tallow balm cover other rich options.

Questions we get a lot

Is Beauty From Bees made in Canada?

Yes. Beauty From Bees makes and bottles its products in its own Alberta facility, and most of its supplies come from other Canadian companies.

Are Beauty From Bees products good?

We think so. The ingredient lists are short, you can read every item, nothing is hidden, and there's no synthetic fragrance. The oils, butters and beeswax do what they're known for: they help dry skin hold moisture and leave it soft and smooth. The body serum is the one we recommend starting with, and many people find they don't need a lotion afterwards.

Is the body serum the same as a lotion?

No. Lotion is mostly water. The body serum has no water at all, just oils, shea butter and beeswax, so you need much less, and it works best on wet skin.

Is beeswax good for your face?

Beeswax helps hold moisture in, which is why it's used in eye creams and balms. It's on the heavier side, so if your skin is oily or breaks out easily, a lighter face oil may suit you better.

Does Beauty From Bees help crepey skin?

Many people with dry, crepey-feeling skin like the body serum and creme. Both are rich moisturisers, and well-moisturised skin looks smoother and feels softer and more supple. Used every day on damp skin, the body serum is an easy habit to keep.

Where can I buy Beauty From Bees in Canada?

We offer the range at both Luminate Co stores in Bedford and Dartmouth, and online with delivery across Canada.

Beauty From Bees is in the personal care aisle at both stores: 486 Starboard Drive in Bedford and 590 Portland Street in Dartmouth, open seven days. In HRM, order by 11 am with Luminate Express for same-day delivery, or choose pickup. Anywhere else in Canada, orders over $80 ship free. Browse more natural beauty and personal care.

Sources: Beauty From Bees, About Us; Beauty From Bees, FAQ; Anointment, About Us. This article is general information, not medical advice.