Hey Bees! I can scarcely believe Humblebee & Me is seven—if this blog were a wee person she’d be able to read and tie her own shoes and would probably be planning on going as Laura Ingles Wilder for Halloween so she had an excuse to wear a starched bonnet to school. This year has been a really fun one of learning, travelling, meet-ups, and more!
Travel wise, I visited Vancouver, Seattle, New York, New Zealand, Australia, Toronto, and Albany/Portland! I hosted Humblebee & Me meet-ups in Vancouver, Sydney, Hobart, Melbourne, Calgary, Toronto, and Portland, and I’ve got more planned. I am absolutely loving these meet-ups—they are such a fun, casual way to meet amazing, creative people all over the world! I also went on my first designated Humblebee & Me trips to speak at the Mother Earth News Fair! I’ve already been to Albany, OR and Seven Springs, PA, and I’ve got a trip to Topeka, KS in October. Stay tuned for more talks in more places—I’m really enjoying presenting and introducing new people to DIY!
I moved house (and studio) and finally gave you all the studio tour you’ve been asking for! It is amazing having the studio all in one room—not only for ease of making things, but also so I can shut the door and ignore the mid-project mess 😝The Humblebee & Me YouTube channel is now about 2.5 years old, and is growing really well! As of this writing it’s at about 37k subscribers, many of whom found Humblebee & Me on YouTube rather than through the blog, which is so cool!
In late January I finally started my coursework for Formula Botanica—they’ve gifted me two of their courses in exchange for reviews. I’m still not done the first one (that’s all on me!), but I am really enjoying the coursework so far, and am definitely still learning lots despite not being a new formulator.
I attended my first conference! In June I flew to Toronto for the HSCG/HBBG 2018 Annual Conference, and had so much fun. I met so many amazing makers, including Ariane Arsenault and Zahida of Handmade in Florida! I’ve got two more conferences coming up as well—I’ll be at the Formula Botanica conference in London, England in early November, and SCS Formulate in Coventry, England in mid November. I can’t wait!
Now for some lists of some of the best things from the last year 🙂
5 Most Popular Posts
- A Guide to Carrier Oil Substitutions
- A Guide to Essential Oil Substitutions
- Winter Wonderland Bath Bombs
- A Quick Guide to Beeswax and Liquid Oil Ratios
- Mermaid Silk Shampoo Bars
5 Most Popular Videos
- How to Make a Basic DIY Lotion (from scratch!)
- Cocoa Butter vs. Shea Butter vs, Coconut Oil: How are they different?
- What happens if you use beeswax instead of emulsifying wax
- Don’t make this beginner DIY mistake
- How are Bentonite Clay and Kaolin Clay Different?
My 5 Favourites from 2018
- Snowy Dawn Cream Luminizer
- Super Concentrated Lemon Dishwashing Paste
- Ginger Oak Moss Solid Facial Cleanser
- Creamy Stick Lip Tints
- Rose Micellar Water
My 5 Favourite Innovations/New Things I Tried
- Stick lipsticks!
- Hyaluronic acid ❤️
- Cleansing conditioners
- Conditioners in body butters
- Cold processing body butters (thanks, Formula Botanica!)
My 5 Favourite Gifts
- Creamy Stick Lip Tints
- Super Concentrated Lemon Dishwashing Paste
- Lemon Rose Facial Cleansing Drops
- Lavender Spruce Bath Bombs
- Conditioning Super Nourishing Hair Balm
My 5 Favourite DIY Purchases
- Micro-Mini Mixer
I love this little blender—it’s amazeballs. I use it all the time for little batches of toners, foundation, liquid lipstick, and more. I also got another mixer from Lotion Crafter that has more kick, but sadly they have discontinued it due to quality control problems 🙁 - Proper shelving & storage
Since moving I’ve been able to get my entire studio and all my making stuff into one room, and it’s been amazing. I had to purchase a bunch of shelving in order to make it fit, but it’s been a massive upgrade. I Kijiji’d a lot of it, and the rest is from IKEA—you can learn more here. - Washi Tape
I didn’t buy the tape this year, but I started using it to differentiate between experiments and decorate bottles and jars, and I love the bit of colourful whimsy (and clarity) it adds! - TKB Trading’s Thickening Clay
I have been having so much fun playing with this stuff in all kinds of different cosmetic recipes; I’m currently experimenting with liquid lipstick recipes using it! - White Circle Dot Stickers
I use these to label the caps of my bottles of essential and fragrance oils so I can store them in a drawer. Huge space saver!
My 5 Favourite Non-DIY Purchases
- The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing by Marie Kondō
I bought the e-book as it seemed silly to buy another physical item to teach you about paring down the amount of items you own. It was a good read, but the general “have less stuff and make sure all your stuff has a place to go so your home doesn’t generate into panic-attack inducing levels of clutter” has been brilliant. - Down Blanket
This fantastic, super-warm, uber-packable blanket is absa-freaking-loutely amazeballs. If you are a cold person like me, get yourself one. Bring it everywhere. You’re welcome. - Dyson Handheld Vacuum
I scooped up a V6 on Kijiji and it is wonderful. I use it all the time to clean up random clumps of dog hair and to tidy up the studio after I’ve scattered dried herbs and poufs of clay everywhere. - A super comfy La-Z-Boy sofa
This was an awesome Kijiji score and it’s a massive upgrade over the previous sofa. It’s got a recliner end and a lounger end! Lottie also loves it. - Bar Keepers Friend
We’ve got white stone countertops now, and this stuff has been amazing and keeping them sparkling when I do something silly like smudge lipstick experiments on them.
I’d love to hear from you! What have you been loving making? What have you learned and loved in the last year?
Dear Marie
I simply love everything you make.
You are an inspiration to me.
Someday I wish to live in a farm and live in an organically and making stuff with so much love like you.
Can’t wait for more amazing stuff coming from this blog.
Thank you for sharing your recipes and tricks.
Thanks so much, Trisha! 😀
Hi Marie
Congratulationbs on your 7-year anniversary! Your site was one of the first I found and learned so much from. Have had a few soap and lotion disasters but since then I’ve made lots of soap and lovely body butters- modifying recipes to make them my own (so very rewarding). I was able to do this from the generosity of bloggers such as yourself who so readily provide the benefits of their intensive research. Thanks so much and good luck in all your future endeavours!
Thanks you so much, Wanda! 🙂
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, Marie
Barb
Thanks so much, Barb! 😀
Happy 7th anniversary Humblebee and Me! It’s amazing to see how much you’ve grown through the years. Thank you for inspiring me in my own creative journey!
Thank you, Belinda! And thank you for being here for so much of MY journey—your support and input mean the world!
Happy 7th anniversary Marie, thank you for all your hard work and some great recipes. Enjoy your day 😀
Thanks so much, Pauline! 🙂
Hi Marie! Happy Birthday! I have literally learned so much from you over the past year. I have been doing DIY’s for awhile now but I was doing so many things wrong. Thanks to you, I was able to educate myself about preservatives and other formal ways of creating my creations. I now share that information with my subscribers who are extremely grateful. Thank you for all that you do. I still have so much to learn!
Thank you, Ayana! I’m so glad I can play a part in your DIY adventures 🙂
Hi, Congratulations, and Thank you!
I’d love to enter your give away, but the contest engine won’t let me. It keeps rejecting my birth date. Lol – I can understand that – I’d be happy to shave off a few years, myself!
Congrats, again!
Carla
Thanks so much! I’m betting you are entering the month and day in the wrong order—the error message has a the DD-MM-YY order indicated 🙂 You aren’t the only one to switch that around and make it mad, ha.
Congratulations Marie!! I love reading your recipes and the discoveries you make along this ever-so-addicting journey of making stuff haha. Reading your blog is always a pleasurable experience:)
Thanks so much, Kelly! 😀
Happy Birthday, Marie!
Thank you for all your amazing posts, videos and of course recipes!
Stef x
Thanks so much, Stefania! Happy making 😀
Happy blog birthday, Marie! :] I have loved learning with you and am excited about the next 7 years (and more) to come. This is always the first place I go when embarking on a new project, or trying to perfect an old one, and your generosity with the knowledge and skills you have gained is really unparalleled. Thank you for everything :]]]
Thank you, Ashley! Happy making 😀
Happy blogiversary!!! I’ll be forever thankful that I found your book and site. <3
I've only been making my own beauty products since this January, but the things I've fallen in love with are sweet almond oil, kaolin clay, cetyl alcohol, and emulsifying wax. And of course, my DIY-specific grinder from Krupps.
Been in love with herbal vinegar hair rinses, cleansing oils, and a creamy clay cleanser I made just last week. And the combination of rose and tangerine as a fragrance.
Cheers!
— Sarah
Thanks so much, Sarah! Your loves are all very wonderful and worthy of your affection 🙂 And I must try rose and tangerine, it sounds DIVINE! Thanks so much for reading & DIYing with me 🙂
WOWEE! It feels like only yesterday you were celebrating your fifth anniversary!
Well done on everything you have accomplished to date and especially this past year! It is a hug accomplishment! Keep up the amazing work!
Thank you for encouraging me to try out new ingredients and being a huge inspiration on my own adventure!
Thanks so much, Barb! I am so stoked to meet up in Dublin, WHEE!!! Guinness, here we come!
You bet your carmine tinted cheeks we are drinking some Guinness in November! We just need to drag Belinda over!
Yes! And I am always available to consume any excess Guinness. For, uh, vitamins. Yeah. 😀
Happy 7th anniversary Marie. You are my inspiration and distanced mentor. With your tutorials I remain lots stuff which I learned in University. Long Live Humblebee and Marie
Thanks so much, Evrim!
Happy blogiversary Marie!
I just want you to know that I LOVE following your blog and channel.
Your channel especially! I love seeing you grow through there and I simply enjoy every content in it!
I just went through my wedding last week and I am planning on giving some dearest families and friends a thank-you gift. Your London fog lip balm is on its way in the making!
Keep growing, Marie. You rock! xx
Thank you so much, Dian! ❤️
Happy Anniversary Marie!! Have loved diying with you. You’ve given me some courage to try all sorts of different things. Hope the next 7 is just as amazing!!
Thanks so much, Laurie! ❤️
Marie, Congratulations on SEVEN! Thank you so much for your inspiration and keeping things ‘real’. I truly like the balance between keeping formulas as natural as possible but also realistic, safe and effective. When people ask me “Is this all natural?”. I answer that it is as natural as possible while being scientifically correct and safe. After all, bad bacteria and mold are natural–but I don’t think we want those on our faces, hair and bodies!
Thanks so much, Charlette! I find the “Is this all natural?” to be an increasingly difficult one to answer—I usually reply with “what do you define as ‘natural’?”, which then often ends up in the person realizing they don’t have a particularly solid working definition, and who can blame them! It’s safe, and effective, and I used lovely natural things where I could—and banished icky natural things as well! 😛