Beeswax in
my home is irreplaceable thing, one of my favorite materials not just for
candle-making, but also for home-made remedies and beauty care products. It has
many amazing uses even if you have it in very small amounts, so, let me share
what I know. I hope you can use this knowledge in your home as well! Here is
your little guide to using beeswax – cleaning it, mixing it with other
ingredients to DIY your own products and gift ideas! Do not throw away any
piece of beeswax – it’s usable, even if it’s just leftovers from a burned out
candle.
The most
natural form of beeswax is yellow/brownish
beeswax – it’s just like honeybees have created it – unbleached and
aromatic. Rarely bees make also white beeswax, but don’t get fooled – white
beeswax you can find in shops is bleached, not found naturally made by bees. Support
your local beekeepers - buy from them and you will be sure you get the best
possible option of beeswax!
Properties of Beeswax
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Beeswax also
has been proved to be superior to other natural base materials for skincare products. It has anti-inflammatory, antibacterial and
anti-allergenic properties. It helps to protect the skin from stressing
environmental factors and keeps the moisture in your skin. It nourishes,
protects and softens the skin.
In medicine
it is used to lower cholesterol and relieve pain, for inflammation and ulcers,
and even for polishing pills. I use it only externally, although nothing bad
will happen if beeswax from your lip balm gets in your mouth. It’s generally
safe taking internally or applying on skin externally. For internal use you
have honey, for everything else – beeswax J
Cleaning and Melting Beeswax
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The best
method for melting beeswax is doing it in a water bath or double boiler. Pour
water in a pan or pot , place it over the heat and put in it an empty
heatproof bowl. The fire will heat up the water, the water
will heat the bowl and beeswax in it will slowly melt, ensuring that it doesn’t
boil or scorch to the bottom of the bowl. You can check beeswax melting methods
here on WikiHow http://www.wikihow.com/Melt-Beeswax
.
Remember
that overheating the beeswax might result in discoloration – it will lose the
bright yellow tone. As soon as it gets liquid, stop heating and use it.
So here is
what you can do with beeswax:
DIY Lip Balm
Making your
own beeswax lip balm is the easiest thing on Earth. You need just beeswax and
oil of your choice – olive or almond oil are great because of their properties,
but you can check the properties of other natural oils to use in your lip balm.
Melt a teaspoon of beeswax, mix it with a teaspoon of oil of your choice, pour
it in a lip balm container and wait until it gets solid. That’s it. (Beeswax
alone is too hard, so you need to add oil about 1:1)
DIY Beard Wax/ Bear Balm/Styling Wax
For bearded
men in your life – making beard wax to give them as gifts is easy. Read here (opens in a new tab).
DIY Sunscreen
This
probably isn’t for everyone, but for me – a person whose nose is always the
first one to burn so that the skin is peeling off, this is a great sunburn
remedy and sunscreen. Mix beeswax with lavender essential oil + some other
healing natural oil to make your sunscreen softer and easier to apply.
Make Your Own Healing Salves
Any kind of
them, including Tiger balm. For essential oil users: mix beeswax with essential
oils to
make salves that are safe and easy to apply any moment without caring
for diluting oils every time you want to apply them. Second option – make herb
infused oils and mix them with beeswax for additional healing benefits, for
example, calendula salve – with beeswax you can easily make this at home.
DIY Solid Perfume
Basically,
it’s the same as making healing salve just without adding oils, except essential oils – mix beeswax with essential oil of your
choice – the one you truly enjoy aroma.
Make your shoes waterproof
Polish your
shoes with solid beeswax, then heat them using hair dryer and let them rest for
some time. While heating the beeswax will melt covering your shoes with tiny,
even layer and then solidify to stay in place.
Make
candles
Of course,
you already knew it. I’ve previously posted about candle-making here (but not
about beeswax candles): read here (opens in a new tab) Well, some time has passed and I
have learnt a lot more. Now I make candles only from beeswax, and they look
stunning (yeah, I’m bragging a bit now J ).
Here are a few of my hand-sculpted beeswax
candles made without silicone molds or plastic containers:
You can
check my hand-sculpted beeswax candles on my freshly opened Etsy shop -
SiltiCrafts
... or follow my latest creations my Facebook page here: SiltiCrafts (opens in a new tab)
I haven’t
tried it all yet, but you can find some other uses of beeswax here:
A few words about saving the bees
As a
beginner beeswax candle seller (and maker) I’ve faced people who are genuinely
sad that I’m using beeswax – animal produced product. The main argument in this
case is “The bees around the world are dying and you are taking from them the
last they have… You are encouraging killing the bees.” Huh, I don’t know where
to start explaining from… Let’s start from the beginning. Why bees are dying?
Mostly because of using chemicals in farming. What can save the bees? First
thing, of course, the world should stop poisoning the Earth with chemicals.
Secondly, the greatest bee saviors and protectors are beekeepers. Beekeeping is
doing exactly the opposite of endangering the lives of the bees:
Firstly,
caring for bees has nothing to do with animal cruelty. Bees aren’t tied down or
locked up into small chambers without a freedom to go. They are free to go and
that’s what they do every day gathering honey. They also have a freedom to
leave and never come back to the hives beekeepers provide, yet they return.
In the
world where forests are cut down and meadows turned into fields for farming
with chemicals it isn’t easy to find a place for bees to stay. Beekeepers are
offering home for the bees.
When the
family of the bees is getting too big for one living place, bees kill a part of
their family to get more space. When a responsible beekeeper sees bee-family
growing too big, he/she offers another hive for the bees, so a part of bee
family can move to another hive. Isn’t that ensuring the living of the bees?
As
beekeepers earn money or use for their own needs the honey and beeswax, they
are really interested to take a good care of their bees. Both involved sides
are benefitting from the beekeeping. Bees aren’t left without food and what is
especially important in the North, beekeepers take care of the bees surviving
cold winters, because not always they actually survive on them own.
Beekeeping
is a long-term process and beekeepers often are those who are taking quiet
actions to save the bees and care for the nature without loud slogans. They
plant trees that will flower for their bees, they seed flowers for their bees and
they plan where they are putting the beehives to make the work for their bees
easier shortening the distances bees have to travel for gathering honey. And
bees don’t run away, they survive, reproduce and live if they receive genuine
care. I don’t think that beekeepers are taking too much for what they are
providing and doing for the world. The key is into giving to nature we are a part of and taking respectfully.
If you meet
people who are protesting beekeeping, please, be kind and tell them what beekeeping
is and why it’s important for all of us. Support your local beekeepers!
How do you use beeswax?
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