If Eye Cream isn’t a solid step in your skincare regimen yet, that’s okay. While it’s a good rule of thumb to preventatively incorporate anti-aging products before you need them, it’s never too late to start.
It can be challenging to navigate the “must-haves” and essential ingredients when shopping for an effective eye cream. We’re proud of each ingredient in our hyperclean formulation, but these three pack the biggest punch in our Eye Cream.
Thanks to its high content of vitamins and antioxidants, blood orange is a go-to ingredient in skincare products.
Blood orange contains a large amount of vitamin C, folic acids, and anthocyanins. Vitamin C protects your skin and helps to re-energize collagen production. Folic acid helps protect your skin against sun damage and reduces signs of aging. Anthocyanins AKA “super antioxidants” are effective at fighting against free radicals and slow down collagen breakdown.
Blood Orange has natural anti-inflammatory, antiseptic, and antibacterial properties, all of which make it effective at eliminating germs and bacteria. It’s also great at stimulating blood circulation.
{Photo Credit: 52Kitchen Adventures}
Sunflower seed oil is a core component of many milk + honey bath and body care products. Today, we’re shining a brighter light on what makes sunflower seed oil an essential ingredient.
Photo credit: torange.biz
What Is Sunflower Seed Oil?
Compressed from sunflower seeds, it’s a fast-absorbing and moisturizing oil that’s rich in linoleic acid, an Omega-6 essential fatty acid, and oleic acid, an Omega-9 fatty acid. Sunflower seed oil is used as an emollient and helps to keep skin soft, balanced, and healthy.
Benefits of Sunflower Seed Oil
Given the high content of fatty acids, sunflower seed oil is packed with natural antioxidants and vitamin E, which maintain the skin’s health and minimize a range of health conditions. Among these benefits? Sunflower seed oil improves heart health, boosts energy, regenerates skin cells, strengthens the immune system, lowers cholesterol, and reduces inflammation. With time and regular usage, many see a reduction in scars, quicker wound healing, and glowing skin. In a sense, this oil is a miracle worker!
Which milk + honey Products Feature Sunflower Seed Oil?
Not so surprisingly, sunflower seed oil can be found in some of our most nourishing, healing products, including the milk + honey Arnica Balm and all three Bath & Body Oil blends. Shop these sunflower seed oil-infused products now:
Arnica Balm (in our new 1 oz. size!)
The U.S. honeybee population has been dying off in droves and the impact of this has a rippling effect on both our economy and on the global food supply. At the commercial beekeeping level, beekeepers are experiencing 30 to 50 percent hive loss (on average!) due to the not-so-mysterious Colony Collapse Disorder. Additionally, there have been major declines in native bee populations, which hold serious consequences for our native landscapes.
Let’s put it in everyday life perspective. Here’s what a meal without honeybees might look like, pictured below.
Consider that 90 percent of the wild plants you see around your neighborhood and 35 percent of the produce section in your local grocery store require bees to survive. Without bees, there will be a significant reduction in the quality and length of our planet’s health and human existence. Scary, right?
This is where our own story began in June 2015.
Alissa Bayer, milk + honey founder and owner, wanted to find a way to help the bees in the most direct way possible. So, in the winter of 2014, she reached out to Anna Gieselman. You may recognize Anna’s name from her gorgeous bee-inspired jewelry line, Bee Amour, which we sell in most of our locations. Or perhaps you know Anna as one of our original massage therapists. She has been a part of the milk + honey since our earliest days in 2006 and she also happens to be an experienced beekeeper.
Together, they partnered up to create an urban apiary, BEES by milk + honey.
Under milk + honey’s sponsorship, Alissa and Anna sourced bees from fourth-generation beekeepers at Bee Weaver, who have been raising bees without the use of chemical interventions for more than 15 years. Our small, but growing, urban apiary started as 10 hives in total — six were hosted on some beautiful land off of Bee Cave Road and four hives are located on a rooftop near 5th Street and I-35 (the old Progress Coffee spot!) — and today, we have more than a dozen thriving hives located in East Austin.
At our apiary, we practice “organic” beekeeping, meaning we choose not to use chemicals to treat the bees for pests. We raise our bees with the intention of supporting them through non-aggressive beekeeping techniques and with the goal of raising healthy strong hives for our environment. We have also started a beekeeping apprenticeship program for milk + honey employees, in the hopes of educating even more people about the importance of bees.
Ultimately, we hope to see the apiary continue to thrive and expand in the coming years, as well as use the bees as a tool to keep the conversation going about the role humans must play in cultivating a healthy ecosystem.
Wondering how you can help, too? Here are a few tips on how to start:
You can follow milk + honey and Anna’s beekeeping adventures on our Instagram as well as on Anna’s Instagram and Facebook page. Plus, stay tuned for more blog posts about what we are up to right here!
We’re big fans of honey bees at milk + honey. Case in point: to bring awareness to the decline in the honey bee population and do our part to help save them, we created an urban apiary called BEES by milk + honey in 2015. Today, we have more than a dozen thriving hives in Austin, TX, all of which utilize organic, sustainable beekeeping practices.
In honor of National Honey Bee Appreciation Day, we’re sharing the top 10 reasons honey is good for you.
During an important meeting, workout, or even on a first date, there’s one question you don’t want to be asking yourself: “Is my deodorant still working?” Our 100% aluminum-free Cream Deodorants make sure that question is off the table.
