Wednesday, May 29, 2013
Summer Doings at Medway Candle
Summer
is here and Mike is busy making simply everything! Top on today's list--our
Sunny Bee, a mineral sunscreen, SPF 30, a safe, natural way to repel harmful UV
rays.
And speaking of repelling things, folks are all abuzz with the anticipation of wearing our essential oil-based insect repellant, Bug Bee Gone. Now, nothing can keep you totally mosquito-free if you insist on going outdoors in the summer, but you can minimize the close encounters of a buggy kind by remembering to apply it BEFORE you leave the house!
This summer, don't let the sun play havoc with your skin and don't let creatures of havoc dull their tiny teeth on your tender skin.
And watch this space--rumour has it that before very long, you'll be able to buy Medway Candle products right from the pages of this blog...
Friday, June 15, 2012
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!
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!
Friday, April 27, 2012
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!
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!
Sunday, March 18, 2012
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
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
Friday, September 16, 2011
Medway Candle Crosses the Pond--for Research Purposes
We're putting on our travellin' shoes and taking to the road. England--the home of traditional, hand-made bee skeps, fields of lavender and centuries of herbal and gardening lore, calls out to us. Ok, it's calling in a sort of funny accent, but we're used to that, having spent a lot of time watching BBC.
We're going to do a couple of things on this autumnal venture down the lanes and hedgerows of the Old Country. We're going to check out the landscapes and botany of the place (much of which is similar to our own) and see if we find any eye-opening medicinal herbs that may also be growing under our noses right here at home. We're going to meet some beekeepers (we hope) and learn from them. We may even eat a scone or two, and sample some farm-made cider.
It's an exciting time here at Medway Candle--and for those of you who buy Mike's candles and Lori's creams at the local farmers' markets, don't you worry. After a short hiatus, Mike will be returning to at least one winter market and sometime this winter, you'll even be able to buy candles and essentials from us online. But don't worry: if you run out of beeswax candles or Bee Balm, Bee Serious or Bee Cool before our website's up and running, you can call or email us and we'll make sure to get you the products you need.
We're going to do a couple of things on this autumnal venture down the lanes and hedgerows of the Old Country. We're going to check out the landscapes and botany of the place (much of which is similar to our own) and see if we find any eye-opening medicinal herbs that may also be growing under our noses right here at home. We're going to meet some beekeepers (we hope) and learn from them. We may even eat a scone or two, and sample some farm-made cider.
It's an exciting time here at Medway Candle--and for those of you who buy Mike's candles and Lori's creams at the local farmers' markets, don't you worry. After a short hiatus, Mike will be returning to at least one winter market and sometime this winter, you'll even be able to buy candles and essentials from us online. But don't worry: if you run out of beeswax candles or Bee Balm, Bee Serious or Bee Cool before our website's up and running, you can call or email us and we'll make sure to get you the products you need.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)