Vegan Belly Butter

I ran out of Beeswax!  What???

It’s a staple ingredient, after all.  How could I let that happen?

(Honestly, I don’t actually know how that happened at all…I just realized one day I was completely out!  Yikes!)

Out of Beeswax

I was left with two options, use the other waxes I had on hand or frantically try to get my hands on some beeswax.

Of course, not having the energy to be frantic, I did some research and decided to try out the other waxes that I had on hand.

Other Wax Options

After a wee bit of research, I learned that you use about half of the amount of “other” wax as compared to beeswax.   In other words, where you would use 2 tablespoons of beeswax, you would substitute 1 tablespoon of “other” wax.  Other waxes tend to be harder than beeswax, so you just need a little less of it.

Candellila Wax

I settled on trying out some of the Candellila wax.  I was charged with making some belly butter for a good friend who is quite pregnant.

I used exactly half of the amount of wax I would normally use.  I melted all of the ingredients together and then poured the butter into the jars.  I love the colour of this wax.  It’s a light yellow and it didn’t darken up even after it cooled off.  I was a bit worried that the mixture didn’t have enough wax because it didn’t start to harden for quite a while.  I ended up leaving it overnight and, lo and behold, it had turned into a beautiful butter by the morning.  I tried some out for myself and it was great.  It was soft enough to easily smear onto your skin and it was hard enough not to be runny in the jar.

Vegan Belly Butter

That’s exactly how I stumbled on the art of making vegan belly butter.  I used some different oils and of course, the candellila wax.  However, the process was the same in that I simply melted everything together, added some essential oils, and then poured the liquid into jars to set.

I tried this butter out myself and thought it worked wonderfully.  However, sadly, it did not work out so well for my pregnant friend.  Something in it, either the different combination of oils or the wax itself (or that very combination of wax and oils) didn’t agree with her skin.  Fortunately, I got my hands on some beeswax in the interim and whipped up a batch of the regular stuff.  Phew!

Mind Your Own Beeswax

If you read my last blog post, you’ll know that I recently discovered a company that makes skin care products which advocates against using natural waxes, such as beeswax, so as to avoid ingesting the same. It was the first time I’d heard that there could be a problem in using beeswax in skin care products, like lip stick or lip balm, and, as promised, I have spent the last few days researching it.

Beeswax is largely considered safe, provided it is used in limited amounts.  It is an inert substance, meaning that it does not interact with the human digestive system at all.  In other words, it would pass through the body unaltered.  Beeswax can be used to create a non-allergenic protective film on the human skin.  In this way, it protects against moisture loss.  That’s at least part of the reason that you see beeswax as an ingredient in many skin care products.  We see beeswax is lip balms, soaps, candles and other products.  It is generally considered non toxic.

It’s true that beeswax can cause a serious intestinal blockage.  However, you would have to ingest it in large amounts.  This would cause symptoms such as stomach upset and swelling or nausea.  (Don’t worry – the amount of beeswax that you would ingest inadvertently from your lip balm should not lead to a serious intestinal blockage.)

As far as I’m concerned, I am comfortable in using beeswax in my own skin care products or buying products that include this ingredient.  Unless you plan to eat a large chunk of it, I think you’ll be safe!  If you want to read more, check out these links.  They provided great information for my research project.

http://www.ehow.com/about_6598510_beeswax-toxicity.html

http://www.pharmainfo.net/reviews/beeswax-its-good-bad-and-ugly

http://www.livestrong.com/article/225602-does-beeswax-have-side-effects-in-humans/