Body Care Products

We are proud of our skincare and strive to bring the highest quality natural ingredients wherever we can. We use our Stradbroke Island Organic Jellybush MGO1000+, Propolis and Beeswax  with other ingredients you've likely heard of and some you might not be familiar with. In this section we offer simple explanations to what we use and why. 

As far as possible we support Australian made and owned ingredients.

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Oils and Butters

Soaps and moisturisers generally need a mix of oils and butters to work correctly as fats, fatty acids, and lipids can interact in different ways leaving undesirable residues, heaviness or greasiness. There are products that might be great for your body but not suitable for your face. Finding the balance for the perfect ingredients to make products that condition, apply smoothly and feel amazing has been an interesting adventure.

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• Coconut oil: Hugely popular in the last decade or so coconut oil is an effective barrier against the elements and we use this to soften beeswax. Although its often claimed to be amazing for hydration this isn't actually true. Coconut oils hydrocarbons are to large to penetrate human skin, effectively only hydrating the top layer so that it feels nice when applied but has no lasting effect. We use coconut oil in our soaps as when saponified (mixed with lye water) it makes a highly effective yet gentle cleansing soap we can add other oils for moisturising and conditioning.

• Vegetable shortening: Fats from homogenated vegetables such as corn. soybean, or cottonseed. It's used similarly to coconut oil, is considered very low allergen and works as an emollient - something that naturally binds oils and waters. As honey is not soluble is oil this helps to combine our ingredients.

• Canola oil: Full of essential fatty acids that greatly moisturise and rich in Vitamin K which may help with acne

• Castor oil: Trigylcerides help dry skin, especially for the scalp. We use this in our shampoo bar only, as it can be heavy on facial pores.

• Sunflower oil: Non-comedogenic means it won't clog pores, sunflower oil is also high in linoleic acid which helps inflammation, hydration, reduce water loss and is easily absorbed. Rich is Vitamin E and A for effective moisturising.

• Olive oil: Many of the benefits of canola and sunflower oils, olive oil also has oleic acid is similar to linoleic acid but thicker, richer and known to be a texture enhancer making our products smoother.

• Cocoa butter: Vitamin E, phytochemicals, and fatty acids help to moisturise and hydrate skin and may improve elasticity.

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Active Ingredients

Along with the benefits of our Jellybush and Propolis we research and source ingredients that will help with common skin and hair conditions.

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• Eucalyptus oil: Reduces redness and helps skin strengthen its natural moisture barrier to prevent dryness, flakiness and irritation. The fresh scent is an added bonus

• Pine Tar: A form of wood tar, its known for a long time to reduce dandruff and relieve itchiness, and may help with eczema, psoriasis, and rosacea

• Activated Charcoal: Helps to remove impurities, dirt and dead skin cells. Some anti fungal properties have also been noted in studies

• Zinc Oxide: Used to naturally thicken our Medibalm zinc also has well documented antibacterial qualities

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Binding Agents

As far as we can keep products natural we will but sometimes we have to add an ingredient to help emulsify and bind ingredients, or disperse ingredients evenly (such as the activated charcoal in our shampoo bar)

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• Sodium Lactate: Helps disperse dry ingredients as well as smoothing textures. Sugars from beets and corn are fermented and sodium lactate is the salt from the remaining lactic acid. It's considered very low irritant and is an organic compound

• Cetearyl Alcohol: Used to blend oils and water - honey including Jellybush and propolis perform as water based ingredients, they do not naturally blend with beeswax or oils. A mix of fatty alcohols, cetearyl alcohol is often used in products that are labelled "alcohol free" due to its chemical structure and the fact that it doesn't behave like an alcohol - its not dehydrating or stripping, it nourishes and moisturisers. We typically use this in measurements of 1-2% of the final product.

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