Oxfordshire’s Neve’s Bees buzzing after launching new lip balm and hand salve ranges

Oxfordshire’s Neve’s Bees buzzing after launching new lip balm and hand salve ranges

  • Neve’s Bees launches premium beeswax lip balms and hand salves using 100% natural and organic ingredients
  • Eynsham-based company wins contract to supply Blenheim Palace shops

An Oxfordshire beekeeper’s newly-launched skincare product range has received a welcome boost after winning a contract to supply Blenheim Palace’s retail shops.

Neve’s Bees was launched in April by ‘deputy Queen Bee’ Julie Macken, aged 48, who has created a range of high-quality lip balms and hand salves. The company is named after Julie’s daughter Neve who, at the age of nine, asked if the family could keep bees.

With a degree in chemistry and a 20-year career in pharmaceutical marketing, Julie had long been pondering a need for more products made from pure, natural ingredients. She began to make products for presents for her friends and family and they proved so popular that in April, she made the business her full-time job.

From her garden and kitchen table, Julie has created a lip balm range and a hand salve range with further products in the pipeline.

She said: “Neve’s Bees products are 100% natural with no paraffin, no parabens or other artificial preservatives or emulsifiers, just pure beeswax from our bees here in West Oxfordshire, natural plant and seed oils and precious essential oils which make our products smell great!”

The lip balms are in slider tins and cost £4.50 (including postage from www.nevesbees.co.uk ) with flavours including the best-selling Sweet Grapefruit plus Honey Vanilla, Rosey, Chocolate Orange, Lemon & Lime, Buttermint and Original. Each flavour is made with natural ingredients including organic shea butter; organic jojoba oil, organic coconut oil and organic essential oil of vanilla. Each one, of course, includes 100% natural beeswax which helps to naturally seal moisture into the skin. All have a natural SPF of 15.

The hand salves cost £8.50 (including postage) and flavours include Grapefruit & Bergamot, Lemon & Lavender, May Chang, Ylang Ylang & Patchouli, Vanilla Musk and Rosey and are available in 30ml screw-top tins

Julie adds: “The oils we eventually selected for our hand salve are not only very effective skin moisturisers but they absorb quickly – this is why your skin feels nourished and soft but not greasy. Many beeswax hand salves contain mostly olive oil which, whilst a good moisturiser, stays greasy on your skin for a much longer time. We also use organic Jojoba oil, almost identical molecularly to skin’s natural sebum, and Natural Vitamin E, all of which combine to create a super soft, rich hand balm that absorbs quickly to leave your skin feeling supple and nourished but not greasy.”
Neve’s Bees beat more than 100 other local firms to be selected as the winner of Blenheim’s ‘dragons-den’ style competition and the process has proved to be the catalyst to make Neve’s Bees a favourite among consumers who really want something a bit different.

“We pride ourselves on being just a bit different to the norm – using cute (but not plastic!) packaging, bright cheerful designs and amazing natural fragrances,” continued Julie. “We’re now working on building relationships with more retailers to stock our skincare range.”

All products are made under EU licence and are available at a selection of shops across Oxfordshire as well as online at www.etsy.com and www.nevesbees.co.uk