Putting Nature Back In Natural: the power and beauty of all natural skincare

The skin, our body’s largest organ, is the primary physical barrier between our essential internal workings and a wide variety of external microorganisms and pollutants trying to attack and impair those works. What we put on our skin is absorbed and metabolized into our blood stream, then processed into and through our internal organs. While many health conscious people are very thoughtful about what they put in their bodies through their mouths, they don’t put quite so much thought into what they put into their bodies through their skin, which can be just as important to overall health and well being.

Not that long ago plants and plant-based oils were our only medicinal and topical skincare treatment options. Plant based oils have literally been in use for thousands of years. Every culture in the world developed its own localized treatments derived from the plants and herbs growing in those regions. In Egyptian times, plant-based oils were so revered they were used and traded for other goods and services in lieu of currency. When it comes to skincare treatments, plants provide exceptional benefits. Plant based oils act as an occlusive (or protective barrier) helping the skin retain essential moisture. Many plant oils also offer very high bioavailability, meaning the skin has an easy time absorbing and retaining their most important properties in contrast to chemical synthetic alternatives. The benefits of topically applied natural plant based oils and butters are many and varied and include but are not limited to: skin moisturizing, nutrition and elasticity, anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties, wound healing, damage repair and overall youthful appearance.

Over the past 100 years our society and culture has consistently moved away from plant-based natural skin treatments to an increasingly convoluted array of commercial skincare treatments that rely primarily on chemical preservatives and synthetic additives to mimic the power and beauty of the natural products they replaced. Today, the majority of commercially available skincare lotions are mostly water and chemicals. Water makes these products inexpensive, easy to produce and easy to market because of the volume of the containers and associated perceived value. In other words, low cost water is used to create volume and fill the container, but simultaneously dilutes the active ingredients that provide any actual benefits to your skin.

While that sounds benign enough, there is a serious downside to using water as the base for any skincare treatment. Water naturally contains and provides an ideal growing environment for microorganisms, i.e., viruses and bacteria. Those microorganisms can be very unhealthy and can only be controlled with preservatives. Some of the most common preservatives used in skincare treatments to control water born microorganisms are chemicals like parabens, which are known to cause developmental reproductive toxicity and are known endocrine disruptors, and Quaternium-15, which is a formaldehyde-releasing preservative also known as a skin toxicant and allergen. Most commercial skincare treatments also use chemicals to artificially synthesize natural fragrances. Other chemicals are used for color (i.e., to create a more pleasing color than the actual color of the chemical ingredients) and still more chemicals are used to control texture (i.e., to make it easy to apply). The cumulative long-term effect of these chemical combinations is poorly studied. But if you stop and truly consider and research these ingredients, you will quickly realize we have all become guinea pigs for a thinly disguised chemistry experiment marketing lotions to promote health, but which may actually cause as much harm as good over time. All of this chemistry and for what? To provide a cheaper, synthetic and diluted version of the natural moisturizing and healing properties already found in plants and herbs? My personal philosophy is that water should go in the body for moisturizing purposes, not on the body.

Botanical Bee Apothecary was founded to provide all natural artisan skincare concentrates that do not use chemicals to synthesize the healing and restorative properties of nature or rely on chemical preservatives to compensate for the unnecessary use of water as a dilutant and volumizer. We directly harness the natural power and healing properties of carefully selected plants and herbs by concentrating those properties in plant based oils and butters. BBA's artisan skincare concentrates are naturally long lasting, easy to use and highly effective. In concentrated form, our skincare treatments retain the most important natural moisturizing, restorative and healing properties of the plants and herbs they are infused with, requiring no chemical substitutes to synthesize those properties. Because no water is added to dilute and disrupt these inherent natural qualities, our concentrates look, smell and perform better and also require no chemical preservatives. Skincare products are only as good as the ingredients they are made with and we believe in good ingredients.

Botanical Bee Apothecary is a farm to face, botanic to body natural skincare company. We use only virgin, cold pressed, hexane and solvent free plant based butters and plant based oils for all of our products unlike most “natural” skincare lines on the market. You don’t need an excessive amount of different butters and oils in your products, just the right ones. We take great care to hand pick our butters and oils for the highest quality and most beneficial natural properties. We thoughtfully formulate each of our skincare concentrates with herbal infusions and essential oils, making each by hand in small batches to ensure quality and consistency with you and your family in mind. We will never make or sell a product we wouldn’t use on our own skin or on our children and grandchildren. Botanical Bee Apothecary believes skincare can and should be natural and simple. Our mission is to provide highly effective all natural skincare at a reasonable price. We are putting nature back in natural. Feel the difference. Come check us out.

Botanically Yours,

Dena S.
Founder, Botanical Bee Apothecary

 info@bbaskin.com