Honey, Beeswax Moisture Cream Recipe

Kitchen Cosmetics: A Taste of Honey
By Jan Norn, Nelson Daily News (Canada), 4/26/2006

Honey has been used for healing for thousands of years and is now being re-discovered by the medical world, as it is more effective than antibiotics in the fight against some infections, both external and internal. For chapped fingers or lips, a little honey applied under your salve works wonders.

However, this must be natural honey, just as it comes from the hive - once it is pasteurized, many of the essential enzymes are destroyed. So find someone who has bees in your area, and buy directly from them. This is a powerful natural medicine, and one that has been ignored for years, probably because the majority of the honey you can buy commercially tastes good but has had a lot of the life processed out of it.

I have just finished a book by a farmer's wife who tells how her husband was terribly allergic to his surroundings when they moved onto their land 20 years ago. They ate honey from their own hives, honey that was made from the same plants that caused the allergies, and gradually he noticed, "No more allergies." Nature's antidotes!

Beeswax has it's own healing magic as well. It contains much of the goodness of honey, plus propolis to boost the healing, preservative and antibiotic qualities…

Last week I gave you a recipe for a simple gardener's salve. Today's recipe is more complex and serves a different purpose. Simple salves are for soothing and healing. Recipes that incorporate water are more effective because oil does not moisturize - only water moisturizes. The tricky part comes when you ask the oil and water to blend - they hate that! There are a few ways to outwit them, however, and in this recipe temperature is the vital tool. Get it right and you will have a lovely cream for dehydrated hands and feet.

Smart Moisture Cream

- Two ounces of beeswax
- One cup of sweet almond or your favorite oil (macerated with calendula, elderberry, etc. if desired).
- One cup of distilled or boiled water.
- One teaspoon raw honey.
- Your choice of essential oils.

1. Melt beeswax and oil until beeswax dissolves.
2. Warm water and honey, stir until dissolved, and put in blender.
3. Cover blender and turn on to 'whip'.
4. Slide blender cover over and pour in melted oil/beeswax mixture slowly and evenly.
5. Add essential oils as you wish.
6. If the gods smile on you, the warm oil mixture will blend into the cooler water and you will have a creamy mixture ready to pour or spoon in to pots.
7. If not, you will be scraping beeswax of the sides of your blender and re-whipping it a few times. Persevere, the cream is worth it!
8. This cream is quite durable and does not need to be refrigerated.