Luxury brand formulation secrets for expensive-feeling lotions
Even though I make most of the skincare products I use, I still enjoy perusing the skincare departments at Sephora and airport duty-free shops—paying extra attention to the luxury brands. I sample, sniff, and examine ingredient lists like a lotion detective. If a...
Ultra-Light Summer Face Cream
If you've been looking for a lightweight summer facial moisturizer with a gorgeous, powdery, expensive-feeling finish, you can stop looking. This is it! I'm currently obsessed with this cream—I can't get over how lightweight and fancy it feels. It smells softly of...
Natural Oil-Free Turmeric Face Lotion
Today we're formulating up a cheery, sunshine-y bottle of Natural Oil-Free Turmeric Face Lotion. This slippy, lightweight lotion is heavy on the hydration and features anti-inflammatory turmeric extract and brightening niacinamide. Let's get making! Want to watch this...
Goji & Açaí Superfood Face Cream
As winter drags on, my skin needs all the hydration and love I can send its way. This formulation pairs two superfood ingredients with a couple fabulously hydrating ingredients and some potent antioxidants to help my skin stay soft and moisturized in the face of dry,...
Frosted Cranberry Face Cream
If you subscribe to Humblebee & Me on YouTube you'll know I've been working on my first-ever glycerite (cranberry!)—and today I am incorporating that beautiful bright pink liquid into a moisturizing and soothing Frosted Cranberry Face Cream. Swoon! Want to watch...
Soothe and Glow Facial Gel Cream
This beautiful gel cream delivers a double dose of glow—both from boosted skin health and a touch of softly shimmering mica. This formulation includes some of my favourite skincare goodies to deeply hydrate the skin and support barrier function, and a coloured mica...
Winter Solstice Oil-Free Facial Moisturizer
Today is the winter solstice in the Northern Hemisphere—the shortest, darkest day of the year, but also the turning point towards longer days (tomorrow will have a whole 5 seconds more daylight than today!). I've shared several winter solstice themed projects over the...
Ice Palace Ceramide Glow Gel Cream
This Ice Palace Ceramide Glow Gel Cream is packed with great-for-skin actives and just a hint of mica for skin that positively glows. I was inspired to create a complexion-enhancing moisturizer by products like Charlotte Tilbury's Hollywood Flawless Filter and...
Brightening Gel Serum
I first developed this cream last autumn under the title "ultra gel cream". When you look at the ingredients you'll know why—it's pretty darn "ultra". It is positively packed with things that are bomb-diggity awesome for the skin, helping to brighten, hydrate, soothe,...
Winter Solstice Facial Gel Cream
It's time for another Bee Better project with a revamp of my first-ever face cream—2014's Winter Solstice Face Cream. This new version uses several newer skin-loving ingredients to create an even better facial lotion that is designed to deeply hydrate and strengthen...
Cranberry Orange Facial Gel Cream
I've had several requests for a gel-cream this year, and I'm excited to share this Cranberry Orange themed one with you today! This cold-processed cranberry orange facial gel cream is focussed on hydration and barrier support, helping our skin be its best self through...
Soothing Facial Lotion
Today we're continuing our soothing series with this beautiful Soothing Facial Lotion. It's a fairly lightweight facial lotion, positively packed with potent moisturizers, skin-soothing actives, and ingredients that help strengthen barrier function so your skin can be...
Sugar Plum Facial Lotion
I start planning out Christmas recipes in the summer and typically have everything more-or-less nailed down by the end of September. This formula wasn't in the original plan, but I am so in love with plum oil right now that I couldn't not make some sort of decadent...
Frankincense Facial Lotion
This delightful lotion comes from a recipe request from Ashlie, who loves the Frankincense Intense line from Neal’s Yard Remedies. I love Neal’s Yard; their formulations are solid and their corporate ethos is both environmentally and socially responsible. I’ve visited...
Lemon Rose Facial Lotion
This lightweight, hydration-packed facial lotion is one of my formulas from my Formula Botanica coursework, and it also happens to be the first recipe I'm sharing using hyaluronic acid! I tested this lotion through some of Calgary's driest winter months and found it...
Forest Facial Lotion
In the last week I've been on some utterly stunning hikes, really soaking up how beautiful Canada is and squeezing the last drops of good weather out of our waning summer. I love a lot of things about the mountains—their beauty, the solitude, the babbling brooks and...
Green Tea Face Cream
Rich in antioxidants and all kinds of fresh and citrussy, this face cream is rather brilliant for summer. It's got a thick, almost balm-like consistency, but it spreads over the skin beautifully in a thin, fast-absorbing layer that you wouldn't typically expect from a...
Orange Blossom Face Cream
Now that I've fallen in love with face creams for winter skin hydration, I'm afraid I'm finding myself on a slippery slope. I caught myself drifting off to sleep the other night thinking about orange blossom water in face cream, and evening primrose oil. Some silk,...
Winter Solstice Face Cream
I've had a lot of requests for a straight-up face cream, but for some reason or another, I haven't really strayed into that territory too much until now. That's mostly because I adore oil-based serums; my skin loves their potency, and when a serum is 100% oil based...
Houdini Anti Acne Creme
I've had a few requests for a lotion similar to LUSH's Vanishing Creme, so this is it. The idea is the creme will make your acne vanish, so with that in mind, I set out to make my very own Houdini Anti Acne Creme—something worthy of the great Houdini. I took some cues...
Immortelle Primrose Facial Serum
Helichrysum (also called Immortelle or Everlasting) is one of my favourite essential oils. I love its soft, herbal/floral scent and its wonderful healing properties. The pretty yellow flowers of the Helichrysum italicum plant give Helichrysum its nicknames as they...
