Beeswax is an old popular beauty ingredient. Did you know that beeswax was used as an ingredient in China as far back as 5,500 years ago?
Beeswax Benefits
Some of the benefits of using beeswax in beauty products are:
-Hydrates the skin
-Soothes and heals cracked skin
-Reduces the effects of eczema
-Soothes and reduces acne
Beeswax Ethical and Environmental Costs
While beeswax has excellent benefits, it raises questions about the ethics of harvesting beeswax from an already stressed bee population.
Honeybee numbers are declining for several reasons, most of which are man-made issues. The use of pesticides and genetically modified crops are distressing the bee population.
On top of this, a poor diet from when beekeepers collect honey for human consumption and replace it with cheap sugar water to nourish bees can stress them. Honey provides bees with vital nutrients not encompassed by the replacement sugar water. This practice leads to malnourished bees that are more susceptible to disease. Around three-quarters of the different crops grown for food depend on pollinators to some extent. When harvesting beeswax, the entire beehive may be melted down, inducing stress in the bees.
