Adding Beeswax to Soap

Beeswax is a wonderful ingredient to add in your cold process soap.  It is incredibly moisturizing and soothing, and can give you a harder bar of soap. Beeswax is also high in vitamin A, which is great for the skin.  It has anti-inflammatory and anti-allergenic properties which is often soothing to easily irritated skin, and especially helpful for some skin conditions like eczema and rosacea. 

When we add beeswax to soap it does result in a harder bar of soap, but here are a few things you should keep in mind while making your soap or formulating your recipes. 

1. Adding too much beeswax can kill the lather in your soap. So try to keep it about 1 oz for every pound of soap. 

2. Beeswax can cause the temperature of the soap to increase in the mold.  So look out for soap volcanos. It's also a good idea not to insulate soap made with beeswax.  Increased temperatures can also flash off (burn-off) your essential oils, and result in a less fragrant bar of soap. 

3. Adding Beeswax can reduce or eliminate soda ash.

4. Beeswax doesn't expire.  And it is best to store it away from heat in sealed plastic bags or containers to keep it clean from dust. 

5. Beeswax does not clog pores and it's absolutely ok to use in facial bars.

6. Beeswax should be added to soap at a maximum %7 of the recipe.

Why does some beeswax smell like smoke?

Beeswax can absorb odors easily.  So if the beeswax has been exposed to other chemicals or stored near them, that could be the reason.  Another reason could be poor quality beeswax, or that which has been over heated. 

Beeswax fresh from the hive has a warm, almost sweet (like honey), smell. But because it's a natural product, its smell will depend on where it came from and on what types of flowers the bees were feeding on.

What's better white or yellow beeswax?

Beeswax comes in many colors, ranging from almost white to brown, and between many different shades of yellow. It's natural color depends on the purity, the region from which it came from and from what types of flowers it was made.  When purchasing beeswax you are most likely buying filtered beeswax., The yellow beeswax has been heated and filtered, while white beeswax undergoes pressure filtration.  White beeswax is preferred in skincare and soap making when you are looking for a white end product, or you are planning to color your soap and you need a white base for the colors. 

Each country has a different way of grading beeswax, but there are generally 4 main types:

1. pharmaceutical/ cosmetic grade

2. general use/ industrial grade

3. Organic (cosmetic and general use)

4. Raw

Do Vegans use beeswax?

Most vegans don't. Vegans avoid consuming or using any animal products or byproducts, and since beeswax is a byproduct of bees like honey, most Vegans will not use products that contain beeswax.  

I hope you found this article helpful. Do you like using beeswax in your recipes?