Oh my goodness, Humblebee & Me is eight! My little blog is a third-grader, and if it takes after me, it’ll be learning and forgetting long division (for the first time, at least) this year. This last year has been full of making things, learning things, and meeting Bees all over the world!
Check out the video announcement for my new #BeeBetter series!
I hosted Humblebee & Me meetups in London, Dublin, Prague, Austin, and Asheville. I spoke at Mother Earth News Fair events in Belton (TX), Topeka (KS), Seven Springs (PA), and Asheville (NC), and I gave two talks at the 2019 Handcrafted Soap & Cosmetic Guild Conference in Dallas! Next month I’m heading to Topeka again for another Monther Earth News Fair event, where I’ll be giving talks on creating your own skincare products.
I attended the Formula Botanica Annual Conference in London, England, as well as SCS Formulate last fall, and I finished my Diploma in Organic Skincare Formulation from Formula Botanica, earning 100% on my final project! In London, I met LisaLise, saw Robert Tisserand speak, and re-connected with my uni roomie Jumana, who now runs a fabulous skincare brand in Australia called Herbs & Heart.
The Humblebee & Me YouTube channel is now about 3.5 years old, and has continued to grow! Last year’s birthday post had the current subscriber count at about 37k, and now we’re north of 62k! Thank you so much to everyone for your support 😊
I also moved again in June; that was not my favourite part of the year, but I’m in love with my new space and very happy to be settled in my “treehouse”. Here’s hoping there are no more unexpected moves on the horizon!
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 & 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?
- How to Make DIY Cleopatra’s Secret Body Balm
- Let’s Talk About Fragrance Oils and Essential Oils
- How to Make DIY Lipstick in a Lipstick Mold
My 5 Favourites from 2018
- Mango Mango Shampoo Bar
- Silky Cream Foundation
- Micellar water for waterproof makeup
- Formulating & DIYing with Spreadsheets
- Pemberley Hand Lotion (& series)
My 5 Favourite Innovations/New Things I Tried
- Pressing things with my new Bath Bomb Press (I haven’t shared anything yet, but I’m having a blast getting to know it and will share some stuff soon!)
- Working with higher concentrations of glycerin (again—haven’t shared anything yet, but I’m loving it!)
- Whipped surfactant scrubs
- Hydroxyethylcellulose
- All kinds of gelled things, mostly with Aristoflex AVC
My 5 Favourite Giftable DIYs
- Rosé Lip Balm
- Sugar Plum Body Butter Bars
- Mango Mango Shampoo Bars
- Soothing Cleansing Balm
- Rose Aloe Body Cream
My 5 Favourite DIY Purchases/Gifts
- Canon 80D + lenses
I picked up a new-to-me DSLR on Kijiji that’s much better suited to filming; it has facial-tracking autofocus! It has made filming much easier. - Bath bomb press + air compressor
The press was a gift, I purchased the compressor to power it. I’m having so much fun pressing all kinds of things and I can’t wait to share those things with you! - Modern Cosmetics book
This was also a gift; it’s been a fabulous resource for both information and inspiration! - Stainless Steel Lab Spatula
I bought two of these, and I love them to bits. I tend to use them a lot for mashing up viscous, high-pigment cosmetics. - Disposable plastic condiment cups
I have a bad habit of leaving experiments sitting in whatever it was they were made in, for lack of having somewhere to put them. I didn’t want to waste a proper jar or container if it was going to be a total flop, but leaving it in the beaker rendered the beaker useless. Enter disposable plastic condiment cups with lids! I now use these for storing many types of experiments and they’re great.
My 5 Favourite Non-DIY Purchases
- My amazing new (used) club armchair
I found this beauty on Kijiji for $150 and it’s like sitting in a cozy leather hug. - Clothing steamer
Another Kijiji find that I’m in love with—this beauty pumps out copious amounts of steam, leaving my clothes/hats/curtains/etc. looking fabulous. - Sweater shaver
If you like polishing silver, you’ll like shaving sweaters. Seriously. It nips off all the little pilled-up bits on your sweaters so they look new again. I’ve used mine a ton on sweaters I’ve thrifted to restore them to their former glory. - Oxi-Clean
I am kind of embarrassed by how much I love Oxi-Clean. I bought a giant box of it at Costco several months ago and have since spent far too much time seeing what happens if I Oxi-Clean things. They usually end up astonishingly clean in a way that feels like cheating (though they aren’t kidding about the “don’t use it on silk” thing… whoops). I bought a coffee-stained white shirt from a thrift shop (they sell for $130 new, I paid $3)—Oxi-Clean got the coffee stain out with just soaking. DAYUM. - So many amazing thrifted clothing finds
I’ve been thrifting a lot this year in a quest to upgrade my wardrove on a budget, and I love it. I am especially loving thrifting while I travel! I’ve been sharing some of my finds on Instagram with the hashtag #ThriftedThursday—check ’em out!
I’d love to hear from you, too! What have you been loving making lately? What have you learned and loved in the last year?
As always, thank you so much for your support—it truly means the world to me ❤️
Congrats to 8 YEARS! You have inspired me!! Thanks❗️❗️
Thank you so much, Micol!
Happy Birthday!
The bestest thing to happen to me from your blog, has been soap. You gave my life long wish to make my own, a start. You gave me confidence to try that most intimidating craft and it was life changing.
I wonder how many people had life changing experiences after chancing on this blog? I believe I was looking for a recipe 5 years ago when I found Here. Scrolled around, loved what I saw….made soap, after wringing my hands and pacing the floors for a few months.
I use some sort of product from this blog, every single day. Plus soap of course.
Thank you! So glad your own life has changed, because it has since I’ve been around. Did you have any idea your life would look like this today?
Thank you so much, Cristine! Your comment has put such a massive smile on my face 😀 I’m beyond stoked to hear I helped you overcome that initial soap terror (I had it, too!). I had no idea my life would ever look like this—when I launched Humblebee & Me I knew I wanted to write a book at some point in time, but I thought it would be a cookbook, and I figured I’d be a full-time graphic designer and… yeah. Not a clue! I’ve always had websites (launched my first one when I was 11), so I figured this one would just hum along in the background of my life like all the other ones. I never could’ve dreamt it would turn into the adventure that it has 🙂 Thank you so much for being part of it!
Congratulations on 8 years. I also want to say thank you for sharing your recipes with everyone. Me and my daughter in law enjoy creating your recipes together. Me and my daughter in law have created a charity that helps disadvantaged women with finding a good job and so we use your creations to help them look their best when interviewing for a job. We also use you as an example of what women can do and become with a little self confidence and determination. You have also inspired me to try new things. I have always loved cosmetics but because of gender norms I never followed my dreams. Now I am following my dreams to create cosmetics. I started with nail polish but didn’t have the confidence to try other cosmetics until I found your website. You made things simple and easy to understand. I am having more fun with my dreams than I ever thought I would. Thank you for everything.
Oh my goodness, thank you so much Todd! You’ve put such a massive smile on my face 🙂 I’m so glad I can be a part of you following your dreams, spending time with your daughter in law, and helping others 😀 Thanks for DIYing with me, and happy making 🙂
I like others stumbled upon your web page looking for a “how to do it”
and am sooooooo happy I did! Can’t thank you enough for all the time and effort you put in to perfecting your recipes for us.
I especially love your Cleopatras beauty cream. So soft, smooth and silky on my skin,
Thank you again and please keep up the good work.
Here to many more wonderful, informative years!!!!!!!!
Yvonne
Thank you so much, Yvonne! I love hearing about which projects really stick with people 😀 Thanks for DIYing with me, and happy making 🙂
happy birthday humble bee! always love your content. Forever a supporter.
Thank you so much, Bianca! 🙂
Happy Birthday 🙂 Long may HB and you continue to help us to age more gracefully
Thank you so much, Linzi! 😀
Happy birthday and many happy returns! I found this site 4 or 5 years ago and it has truly changed my life for the better! I had made one half-hearted attempt at making a lotion from a book that was very disappointing. Then I found this fabulous site and a great new hobby was born. My skin has never looked better. I have successfully formulated my own serums and lotions, but my absolute favorite recipe is your Pemberley lotion. I am also loving Aristoflex AVC. I made the rose ceramide serum. It is amazing! And hyaluronic acid…..I’ll never be without it. I love your book! I wear your foundation every day and NEVER break out (a first!) Thank you so much for your time, your talent and your generosity. You are fantastic! <3
Thank you so much, Theresa! I’m so stoked to hear that Humblebee & Me has helped improve your life—that puts such a huge smile on my face 😀 Thanks for DIYing with me, and happy making 🙂
Happy blog birthday! I have been using the lip balm from the Sugar Plum series and absolutely love it (can’t bring myself to give out tubes yet, it’s too good), and your favorites round-up reminds me that I need to try making other things with plum oil. It’s divine. Thank you for your continued inspiration always, your blog is the main one and usually the only one I always end up going to before embarking on a new project :]
Thank you so much, Ashley! Definitely make allllll the things with plum oil—SWOON! Thanks for DIYing with me, and happy making 🙂
Congratulations to 8 fabulous years!! This blog has truly been my go to for searching on any ingredient, I love how in depth you go on the topics. I love so, so many of your recipes. The Hyaluronic acid serum is the 1st product that I’ve made that I’ve really seen a difference in my skin. Thank you for all you do for everyone!! Happy Birthday <3
Thank you so much, Christine! I’m so thrilled to hear that you’re loving making things and your skin is loving it, too 😀 Thanks for DIYing with me, and happy making 🙂