It’s no secret how important bees are to our ecosystem, our health, our very survival, really.
Beyond their crucial status as pollinators in the food system, people have long since recognized the medicinal healing properties of bee venom, as well as a number of worker bee byproducts like raw honey, propolis, beeswax and royal jelly.
But have you heard the buzz? Bees are also beneficial for beauty.
I recently had the chance to try some Bee Magic products from Medicine Mama Apothecary (read my whole review here) —products that are handcrafted to mimic moves made by bee colonies to nourish their Queen and keep their hive healthy. Natural ingredients make up a protective, nourishing, and vitamin-rich Sweet Bee Magic skin cream that fights aging and promotes healthy collagen regeneration by using the body’s own immune system.
Bees For Health
“Bee Sting Therapy” or Apitherapy has been practiced for centuries, using bee venom to manage or cure a number of ailments including multiple sclerosis, arthritis, wounds, pain, gout, shingles, tendonitis, burns and various infections. Bee venom is reported to have been used way back to ancient Egypt, Greece and China and Hippocrates, the Greek physician known as the “Father of Medicine”, recognized the healing virtues of bee venom for treating arthritis and other joint problems.
Today there are a number of bee-related healing agents available including apitherapy treatments as well as products using raw honeys, propolis, pollen and royal jelly. A growing community of users and researchers stand by the abilities of bee byproducts to improve circulation, decrease inflammation, and stimulate a healthy immune response—and now, to do the same to your body’s external.
Medicine Mama creator Donna Steinman was inspired by the healing properties of pure honey bee ingredients and her knowledge of natural oils as beauty aides; she combines the two in her Bee Magic products as a means of delivering natural anti-septics and wrinkle-fighters to the skin’s surface:
- Antimicrobial honey, a gentle anti-septic and anti-bacterial ingredient
- Propolis, the most biologically active tree resin and a powerful, natural antibiotic
- Bee pollen, called “nature’s multi-vitamin” and a natural stimulant for cell renewal
- Royal jelly which contains gelatin, essential for collagen production
- Beeswax, full of anti-inflammatory, anti-allergenic and germicidal properties that keep skin healthy and strong.
“My goal is to deliver the healing properties of what the bees create to us, without interfering with nature’s intelligent design. Every raw material has a relationship; how we combine them together is what makes the product work. We’re coaxing each ingredient back to its original form and providing a delivery system for the magic that is naturally there.” –Donna Steinman, Medicine Mama Apothecary
Learn more about bees for health and wellness, including facts, products and recipes at Goop.com
