Markets

[penelopejane]

Went to a market today where a friend told me she'd found a "100% bees wax hand cream" but she thought it was a bit oily and didn't smell quite as she expected. So I went back to the stall with her and checked it out.

The top of the can said "100% bees wax". The label on the bottom was more honest with "ingredients: Bees wax, jojoba oil and sunflower oil".

Why do people selling do that? It doesn't help them in the long run.

 

[Lin19687]

It would have been better for them to put . " made with 100% local Bees wax" or something along those lines

 

[penelopejane]

It would have been better for them to put . " made with 100% local Bees wax" or something along those lines

But that would have been misleading too because it wasn't 100% bees wax. It might have been 50% bees wax or less.

It was really oily and the oil stayed in your hands so it wasn't good.

 

[shunt2011]

I see so much false information and claims that I just throw my hands in the air and think WTH. It's so out of control.

 

[amd]

I'm sure the seller's thinking was that the wax is 100% beeswax - not say, a mix of beeswax and e-wax - and they are not referring to 100% of the recipe. It could be a 'confused about math' thing, or just the desire to highlight the beeswax.

 

[penelopejane]

I'm sure the seller's thinking was that the wax is 100% beeswax - not say, a mix of beeswax and e-wax - and they are not referring to 100% of the recipe. It could be a 'confused about math' thing, or just the desire to highlight the beeswax.

Oh maybe. I hadn’t thought about that.
My friend expected “100% beeswax” meant no additives.
She couldn’t read the bottom of the can because the typing was tiny.
At least the seller had a tester there.

 

[soapmaker]

I'm sure the seller's thinking was that the wax is 100% beeswax - not say, a mix of beeswax and e-wax - and they are not referring to 100% of the recipe. It could be a 'confused about math' thing, or just the desire to highlight the beeswax.

That's a good way of looking at it, but nonetheless, totally confusing while you stand there trying to figure out what they mean. I once saw a container of lotion at my aunt's house. It was in a round flat tin. The label on the top was a picture of almonds and the benefits of almond oil. The ingredients on the back didn't list one drop of almond oil! It was a commercial product.

 

[earlene]

In my estimation it's like 100% CO soap. Well of course, the soap itself isn't made only with CO, there is water, lye, colorant, fragrance, maybe salt, EDTA, etc. in there, too. It only means to me and other soapers, that the oils are only CO. But I can see how that would be confusing to the consumer. No soap is going to be 100% anything except maybe 100% Soap.

 

[The Efficacious Gentleman]

But in that example, the soap (a fatty acid) is 100% soap made from coconut oil. The other things do not actually become soap, so the soap is 100% co soap. The bar will have other stuff in there, but that is not the soap

 

[amd]

Right, so using that example... the balm will have other stuff in there but that is not the wax. Of course, we know as makers that a balm with only 100% bees wax is not a balm so there has to be other stuff. Before I learned about making my own personal products, I probably wouldn't have thought twice about the 100% bees wax label. (and honestly, I still wouldn't think about it. I would read the label and think "Oh, that's the only wax in it in addition to the other stuff that makes balm ... balm." and move on.)

 

[Frits]

I'm a beekeeper and render my own beeswax. There's always traces of honey and pollen in the final product, but worse are traces of propolis (people can develop allergies for it and it'll leave a rash). If someone uses a poor method to clean the wax, you can even find traces of bees (legs, wings) in the wax. So really, what is 100% beeswax? It seems like a lie, 100% of the time.

There's actually gradations of purity. When we harvest honey, we need to uncap the cells for the honey to come out. These wax cappings are the best, purest form of beeswax. It's white and pretty much uncontaminated. Perfect for lipbalms and such. Ofcourse there's very little of the stuff. The wax from an older frame is usually much darker and I wouldn't use it in cosmetics, but it's perfect for candlemaking.

I could go on about beekeepers that use chemicals that are solvent in lipids, or poor methods of wax extraction (you can overcook it easily), but I've ranted enough. 100% beeswax products are misleading, it ticks me off.