Veiled: Medway Candle Creates Our First Natural Perfume

There was a time when perfumes were made of plant oils, resins, animal products (such as musk and ambergris), flower petals and spices. When Chanel #5 came out containing an aldehyde--purely not from nature but smelling (in my opinion) like Heaven--things changed. Since then, scent producers learned that synthetic fragrances are a lot cheaper than the real deal---pressing oil from roses takes a ton or work--and modern perfumes are more chemical than anything else. It wouldn't matter--except have you noticed that more people than ever are sensitive to scents?

The"nature-identical" synthetic chemical  fragrances are often made of toxic substances, such as coal tar derivatives. They are carcinogenic; they aggravate asthma and create digestive upsets. They might SMELL like the real thing, but they act in the body and organs in entirely different ways. No wonder we're all "allergic"!

So, here's what. Medway Candle is getting into perfumery--colognes, to be exact. Plant oils, resins, flower petals, spices. (No animal products) Totally natural.

Our first perfume debuts very soon. Think tropical, think summer and warm and sexy. Think India, Istanbul and Key West. Orange flower oil (called neroli) and patchouli. Bellydancing and nights in the harem...
We are calling it "Veiled".

Thank you author and artist Mary Ediger for naming our cologne!

Sunny Bee Sunscreen Changes to Shady Bee

Dear Customers--and Friends!
Our one-year-old sunscreen has changed its name. It's the same simple recipe--grapeseed oil, zinc oxide and beeswax, with or without essential oil of lavender--with a brand-new branding handle.

Meet Shady Bee Sunscreen, SPF 30.  Basic goodness without the chemical scariness and weird stickiness of "modern" products. Rub it on wherever the sunshine hits you---and you've got it made in the shade!

The Sun is Shining!

Oh Spring--you are so welcome! And sitting in Annapolis Royal's Bistro East yesterday, in front of a plate-glass window, wearing the layers of clothes we'd donned to weather the melting snows of Keji National Park, I felt the blaze of sun on my face and neck and suddenly recalled that we closed the autumn with only two tins of Sunny Bee sunscreen.

It's time to make some more!

Like all our products, Sunny Bee is all natural; made with the classic skin-protector zinc oxide, blended into beeswax and vegetable oils. The research on the new chemical sunscreens is all bad--they contain ingredients toxic to humans and the environment, they wash off--and the ones that resist water often create allergic reactions in wearers. When I couldn't wear sunscreens (they gave me a rash), I started using diaper creams, which contain zinc oxide in sufficient quantities to act as very good sunscreens. But nearly all of them are also based in petroleum products--mineral oil, petroleum jelly--or contain lanolin, which, of course, I'm also allergic to. They were also heavy and greasy--not ideal skin coatings for a sun-deprived, pale-skinned northern dweller.     

So Sunny Bee was born! All -natural, vegetarian (not vegan, as we do use beeswax), simple and good. SPF 30. We made it affordable, too. We'll be selling it at local farmers' markets and very soon, online. If you want some before we make the transition to Internet Sales, drop us a line through this blog and we'll mail you a tin.

Mike Bienstock & Lori Covington
Medway Candle