Beeswax question

[Reg]

I have a brick of Yaley beeswax. On the package it says, "100% natural and free of impurities." Later it says, "...provides bright flame...", which made me believe this was meant for candle making. So I called up the company and asked if I could use it in lip balms or lotions, and the customer service said, "No it's not cosmetic grade. The beeswax needs to be purified to be a cosmetic grade." But their packaging does say "fee of impurities". So can I use it for lip balms and lotions?

[simplybeelightful]

I'm a beekeeper. I have used just plain, filtered beeswax in my lip balms, lotion, etc. for several years now. No problems. I think unless you are going to go into making lip balms in a huge way, like maybe Burt's Bees or Chapstick, you're fine.

By the way, I don't use white beeswax either.

[Reg]

I'm a beekeeper. I have used just plain, filtered beeswax in my lip balms, lotion, etc. for several years now. No problems. I think unless you are going to go into making lip balms in a huge way, like maybe Burt's Bees or Chapstick, you're fine.

By the way, I don't use white beeswax either.

By the way, I don't use white beeswax either.

I am only making this stuff for myself. I was not sure how true their statement about "natural and free of impurities" was. I thought there might be something they add to it to "improve" performance in candle making. Just like natural hennah is not natural most of the time, because it has some metal salts added to it to produce a sertain color (like borwn hannah, auburn hennah).

I also bought a small peice of wax from a healthfood sotore, and it seems that it is softer then this Yaley brand. Does beeswax become harder over years?

[simplybeelightful]

That would be my only concern too. Not sure how you could find out about anything being added to the beeswax. Does the wax say "for candle use only", or something to that effect?

To answer your second question, beeswax is a very hard wax that will get a little brittle over time but I think that still takes many, many years to occur. We have wax that is several years old that still looks like it did when we first poured it. If you're getting beeswax that is soft, it most likely has something added to it.

My best advice would be to get some beeswax from a local beekeeper to make sure you are getting good wax with nothing else in it.

[Reg]

That would be my only concern too. Not sure how you could find out about anything being added to the beeswax. Does the wax say "for candle use only", or something to that effect?

To answer your second question, beeswax is a very hard wax that will get a little brittle over time but I think that still takes many, many years to occur. We have wax that is several years old that still looks like it did when we first poured it. If you're getting beeswax that is soft, it most likely has something added to it.

My best advice would be to get some beeswax from a local beekeeper to make sure you are getting good wax with nothing else in it.

The package didn't specify that it was for candles only, it just mentioned something about brighter flame. And I got it at Michaels in the section with candle making supplies.

[simplybeelightful]

Personally, I would probably use it. I wouldn't, however, make lip balms to sell from it until you at least test it. I can't think there would be anything in the wax. Yaley is a pretty good company as far as I know and unless they it says there are additives...

[Reg]

Personally, I would probably use it. I wouldn't, however, make lip balms to sell from it until you at least test it. I can't think there would be anything in the wax. Yaley is a pretty good company as far as I know and unless they it says there are additives...

I made a lotion with it, so far no problem. I'll just use this slab for my own recipe testing.

Yaley didn't know much about this wax, they get it from some supplier, and they would not give me the name of this suppier, it happens to be their "trade secret" (yeah, those were exact words).

On the other hand I found a local person who'd sell me some beeswax. Well, not exactly local, maybe 60 miles away, but still in the same state, and I know it's going to be pure wax.