Problem Hands and Surplus Beeswax; A Recipe for a Hand Cream Business

Apparently, when you get lemons, you make lemonade. But when you get beeswax, you make hand cream.

Find out how one of Tree Bee’s founders found answers to her dermatitis by developing her own range of beeswax-based hand creams.

Recognise this cycle?

Do you suffer from skin problems on your hands? Have you fallen into the continuous cycle of ‘sore hands, prescription, recovery - sore hands, prescription, recovery?’

Lots of people do. Their hands become dry through what life throws at them, then they take some kind of prescription hand cream treatment which puts things right for a time. After that, just as they get their hands sorted, they go back to their old routine. Pretty soon, their hands become sore again. 

The whole cycle starts over.

We all have to do things that are bad for our hands; washing dishes, washing clothes, working in harsh environments. And I’m not just talking about ‘domestic’ tasks here. Builders, farmers, mechanical engineers; they all expose their hands to extreme conditions and the odd dose of chemicals causing problems for their skin.

There must be a better way.

One solution is to ‘manage’ your skin. Set up a regime that protects your hands from what you routinely subject them to.

Gail’s hand care problems

Gail, one of the founders of Tree Bee had suffered a long time with her hands. Her skin was dry, cracked. Alongside using over the counter products, she’d been prescribed lots of different medicated creams over the years. The creams always seemed to work for a short time, but eventually, Gail’s Dermatitis returned, and she was back to square one. 

Gail realised, not only did these prescriptions ultimately fail, but they also seemed to thin her skin and make her hands increasingly vulnerable.

When Tree Bee started its mission to save bees, lots of beeswax and honey suddenly became available. A great resource from nature that shouldn’t be wasted.

Gail wondered if these could help with her hand care problems?

Ionian Enlightenment

As her interest in the qualities of using beeswax and honey in skincare grew, Gail took a course with the University of Athens in Herbs and Honey. Through this, she learned about the ancient history of bee products and how they could be beneficial in skincare, especially when used in hand creams. 

Gail realised the qualities within the beeswax and the honey could be the answer to her skin problem.

She found some simple recipes for hand cream on the internet, then began to experiment with different butters and oils alongside the beeswax and test the mixture on her hands. 

Gail found the beeswax hand creams she produced were soothing her sore and dry hands and were leaving her with long-lasting benefits. Very soon, with regular use, Gail’s hands were soft, supple and free of painful cracks. Friends and neighbours volunteered to try out these beeswax hand creams, and soon Gail became inundated with requests for them. 

The Start of Tree Bee Beeswax Hand Cream

Gail realised there might be other people with similar skin complaints who could benefit from her beeswax products. 

Friends and family loved Gail’s hand creams, so she decided she wanted to sell them to the public. Gail wanted to make sure that her beeswax hand creams would be okay to sell online. She took her formulations to labs to be tested and made sure they met all the necessary regulations.  After successful laboratory analysis, Tree Bee had a set of beeswax skin products they could sell.

Customers using Tree Bee’s beeswax skincare products have reported an improvement in skin conditions such as relief from Psoriasis and Eczema with the Tree Bee Beeswax Hand Cream proving a popular product choice. 

Tree Bee has added to their range of beeswax and honey skin care products to now include Body Butter, Lip Balm, Body Scrub and various soaps (these could be linked directly to products) and their product range continues to grow. 

If you'd like to take a look at Gail's range of hand cream, please head over to our shop where you can view our full range.

---