Beecology Review

A few weeks ago I was approached by Amy Rzepka regarding her family business, Beecology.  On their family farm they raise bees, and that is the source of the natural bath and body products they make.    Color me intrigued.

Amy and her husband David have been married for 23 years and have three *almost* adult children.  They began beekeeping about six years ago on their family farm, and needed to figure out what to do with the extra bees wax.  They decided to try making body products, and Beecology was born.

They sent me a few samples to try out, and first let me say I was skeptic.  So many products out there either don't do what they say they're going to do or greenwash.  These products passed my tests with flying colors.

First I got out the lip balm and compared it to what was in my pocket.  I was immediately impressed with how few ingredients there were compared to the other "bee" product.  Their very first ingredient was bees wax, not oil like their bee competitor.

There were a few more tests for me though.  First, would it melt in my pocket.  After driving thirty minutes to take my kids to swim class, the lip balm was unchanged.  WIN!  It was lavender lemon, would it be gross?  Would it taste like soap?  Actually it reminded me of lemon drops, and I think I'm sold.  I'll never choose the other "bee" product again.  It's soul purpose is to protect my lips, and it does a fabulous job.

Next up to the test was their hand soap.  Again, I compared it to what I had at home already, and I'm almost embarrassed to show it.

The soap I had at home (other than the stuff I made from castile soap the other day) was the whole foods generic foaming soap.  Click on the picture to the left, and look at the mind boggling list of ingredients.  Why did I think this stuff was ok to have in my house?  I think it was probably a thoughtless purchase from a store I want to trust.

Now, their soap had a much smaller list of ingredients and it was easy to see what they all were.  However would it foam up well?  Would it smell good?  Would it dry out my hands?  It did foam up well, and it smells like soap (imagine that).  The smell honestly reminds me of handmade bar soap, not a perfume smell.  I can't say that it dried out my hands either, but their hand and body cream...oh I'm in love.  How did they know I love lavender this much?

They also sent me their bar soap to try.  I love using bar soaps, it's such a greener alternative to shower gels.  Their soap left my skin feeling clean and smelling great.  It too has a small list of ingredients and I love that it's handmade.

So here's the love list:

• I love that they're a family company who raises their own bees!  They do this work themselves.
• Their products are proudly made in the USA.
• They're made from natural ingredients, and you won't find some long list of chemicals.
• 10% of their profits go directly to a charity of your choice, and you can choose them at sweetyear.org.

Next week will begin a giveaway featuring these products I was lucky enough to review.  I know my readers will enjoy them as much as I did.  I will be a repeat customer for sure.