Caroline Cavill is one of the original founders of Bee Good. Here she tells us what inspired her to begin making cosmetics with ingredients from her family hives.
What inspired you to start making cosmetics with honey?
“After having so many cosmetic products sitting in my cupboard, used only once due to not working with my skin plus not understanding what was in them, I wanted something that was more natural. Helping my husband with the honey harvest and cleaning the wax made me think about using them in cosmetics.
I came across some old recipes when looking in a vintage book for cake recipes with honey. Keeping it simple I researched ingredients to compliment the hive; products such as botanicals from native plants that bees would forage.”
What was the first product you made?
“I made lip balm first as it had only 3 ingredients plus the flavour. Starting simple gained my confidence to move on to more complex recipes such as the creams”
What do you believe is the biggest threat to bees at the moment?
“Beekeepers like ourselves can easily breed Honeybees, but the big concern is the huge decline in Bumblebees and especially Solitary Bees which are incredibly efficient pollinators, vital for many key crop plants and vegetables that make up to a third of our diet. Here in the UK, we have lost 97% of our wildflower meadows since the 1940s as well as vast miles of hedgerows, ancient woodlands and other habitats that provide food and refuge for these our precious pollinators.”
How do you select packaging for Bee Good?
“As well as natural products it is important to us to have sustainable packaging. Cosmetics can’t just be placed in any container as it is important the product reaches the customer as good as the time it was made and some containers could react or contaminate the products. The products are simple and the simplicity of the package design needed to reflect that. We start with the question, what’s the least we can use and can it be recycled?”
What can we all do to help bees thrive?
“We can all plant bee-friendly flowers in pots or flowerbeds and encourage councils and other landowners to plant wildflower meadows in public spaces, verges and roundabouts, as well as lobbying them to stop using pesticides.”
What is your current favourite product in the Bee Good range?
“It is difficult to choose just one as they complement each other, but if I had to put one at the top of my list it would be the Plump & Firm Moisturiser. I love the silky softness it gives my skin which leaves it looking hydrated. After all, anything that helps you feel younger as the skin gets older is worth shouting about.”
