Raw ingredient profile: Beeswax
Bee house in our biodynamic medicinal plant gardens
Each and every one of the ingredients in our products contributes to their overall effect. Careful thought goes into the selection and sourcing of our raw materials as well as the way in which the individual ingredients are combined to form complete Dr. Hauschka products. We also adhere to the highest quality standards.
Why is organic beeswax an ingredient in many Dr. Hauschka products?
A burning beeswax candle reveals a great deal about the special features of beeswax. It emits a warm light and fills the room with a pleasant and comforting fragrance.
Beeswax represents warmth and structure, created from a living being. It is a highly energy-packed construction material that bees produce and, with the aid of heat, use to create their highly regular honeycombs: cells that provide the space and protective shell for new life (breeding cells) and storage (honeycomb cells).
Beeswax transfers these enveloping and warming properties to Dr. Hauschka products. It gives structure to products like the Lipsticks, provides a kind of breathable protection against external influences, retains moisture and enhances the skin’s elasticity. The skin feels protected and cared for.
Lip Care Stick, Lip Balm and Eye Balm are obviously beeswax hero products, but did you know Hydrating Hand Cream formulation is also supplemented with beeswax? This protectively envelops the hands and potentially gives its vibrantly warm structure. Blackthorn oil extract supports the enveloping effect with extra warmth, while an extract of moisture-regulating bryophyllum is revitalising and almond oil is nourishing.
A rapidly absorbed, highly nourishing hand cream, that doesn’t leave a greasy residue for hands that are silky soft and wonderfully smooth.
Raw ingredient profile
Beeswax is a miraculous substance. Honeybees (Apis mellifera) feed on large amounts of nectar and pollen and use the nutritional value obtained to do things like create wax – a substance with an extremely high energy content. The bees consolidate the energy in their food and secrete wax scales measuring about 1 millimetre from their abdominal glands. These are then used to construct honeycombs. The wax scales are translucent like mountain crystals and as light as a feather, weighing just 0.0008 g. It takes 125,000 wax scales to produce 100 grams of beeswax.
Newly constructed natural honeycombs are almost snow white in colour. The beeswax only turns the well-known shade of yellow once the bees start to use the honeycomb structure. The wax is dyed by flavonoids from propolis and carotenoids from pollen. Overall, beeswax consists of more than 300 different substances.
The honeycomb itself is a masterpiece of lightweight construction. It provides maximum interior space with minimal use of construction material. The bees create cylindrical cells from the insalivated wax scales and then use the warmth generated by their muscles to heat the wax to over 40°C. The wax becomes malleable and automatically takes on a hexagonal form with a thickness of just 0.07 millimetres. The heat activates enzymes in the saliva, which solidify the wax through a chemical reaction.
The completed honeycomb is formed from the combination of an ingenious construction material and heat, both of which are produced by the bees through great energy usage. To create a medium-sized beehive with 100,000 cells and some 1.2 kilograms of wax, the bees need the energy contained in 7.5 kilograms of honey.
Incidentally, all of the honeycomb cells made by a bee colony are of almost identical size. Variations are only found from colony to colony. This is an expression of a bee colony’s individual personality.
Origin and processing
Dr. Hauschka Skin Care products are solely made from organic beeswax sourced from ecological beekeeping practices in Germany. The producers are subject to the strict regulations established by Demeter or Bioland, the association for organic farming. Demeter and Bioland specify, among other things, that bees must live in a natural beehive made from wood, straw or clay. Only natural dyes without wood preservatives can be used for weatherproofing purposes and no chemical/synthetic medication can ever be used to treat the bees. Demeter furthermore stipulates that bee colonies can only be multiplied through the natural process of swarming. The associations continually review the compliance with the regulations in cooperation with state-certified inspection bodies.
The beeswax is obtained by being melted out of the honeycomb. WALA/Dr. Hauschka purchases this wax in blocks straight from the beekeepers and has it carefully processed to form pellets, which are easier to use.
We have a tradition of protecting bees. Bee colonies have been at home in the Dr. Hauschka biodynamic medicinal plant garden since the start of the 1980s. The bees are kept in line with Demeter regulations and allowed to swarm. The 150 medicinal plants as well as bee-friendly plants such as species of phacelia (scorpion weed) provide the bees with great nutritional variety.
We also believe it’s important to support local beekeepers. As a result, it financially and scientifically supports the HOBOSPhere project run by Prof. Jürgen Tautz in Würzburg, which focusses on the development of a new kind of beekeeping. This is based on the honeybee sphere, a beehive that replicates bees’ natural home.
Humans first began to use products from bees over 9,000 years ago – primarily honey. Beeswax was used for medicinal purposes, in skin care products, as fuel and for sealing containers.
Bees use muscular tremors to maintain a constant average temperature of 35.5°C in the beehive, they have social skills and the ability to communicate.
Beeswax is contained in all of the following products…
After Sun, Coverstick 01-02, Daily Hydrating Eye Cream, Defining Mascara 01-03, Eye Balm, Firming Mask, Hydrating Cream Mask, Hydrating Hand Cream, Lip Balm, Lip Care Stick, Lip Gloss 00-06, Lip Line Definer 00, Lip Liner 01-05, Lipstick 01-18, 21-26, Liquid Eyeliner 01 & 02, Quince Day Cream, Regenerating Day Cream Complexion, Regenerating Day Cream, Regenerating Eye Cream, Regenerating Neck & Décolleté Cream, Rose Day Cream, Rose Day Cream Light, Rose Nurturing Body Cream, Sheer Lipstick 01-06, Soothing Mask, Tinted Day Cream, Volume Mascara 01-03.
Dr. Hauschka skin care and make-up
Natural, organic, biodynamic and wild harvested.
Effective.
Unique, experience the difference.
Dr. Hauschka skin care has over 50 years of pioneering work in authentic holistic skin care, creating what we believe to be the most pure and effective natural and organic skin care products available today.
Formulations are created using the highest quality natural ingredients with a preference for high vitality biodynamic, organic or responsibly wild harvested botanical ingredients.
Product efficacy is based on our unique skin care philosophy, application techniques, rhythmic processes, daily skin care rituals and care concept, plus our unique oil-free night care concept to wake with revitalised and refreshed skin in the morning.
Luxurious and performance skin care that delivers results while encouraging and supporting a healthy functioning, balanced, toned and radiant skin.
Dr. Hauschka has an extensive range of face care, including the Regenerating range to provide specific support for maturing skin, and also a substantial body care range.
Get back to nature - your skin will thank you for it!
Dr. Hauschka Quality
Truly 100% natural and/or organic skin care and make-up, NATRUE certified. What does NATRUE Certification mean for you?
Free from synthetic chemical fragrances, colours and preservatives
Free from mineral oils, silicone and PEG
Dermatologically tested for sensitive skin
No animal testing
Wherever possible, all raw materials come from controlled organic or biodynamic cultivation, and are recovered under fair conditions