I recently got the opportunity to take an online behind-the-scenes tour of Medicine Mama’s apothecary and got the inside scoop on how their products are made! Leading the tour was the brand’s creator, Donna Steinmann. Medicine Mama’s products are made with so few ingredients and I find that reassuring since I’m always on the hunt for natural and organic products. I also love that I can read the ingredient list and recognize every single item. The majority of Medicine Mama products only have six ingredients: honey, propolis, beeswax, bee pollen, royal jelly, and olive oil. Five of these ingredients come directly from the beehive at the apothecary. Best of all, the brand was recently certified as being organic!

As I mentioned, five out of the six ingredients in the products come directly from the beehives. I was thrilled to learn during the online tour that Donna believes that the bees should just be left alone to do their thing. They essentially create almost all of the ingredients in the beehives in the yard. There is no human interference in unnatural ways. I loved learning about how natural the process for creating the ingredients was.

I also learned that Donna got started by making batches of the products in her kitchen. Within 24 months, she had managed to get her products in over 1,000 stores in the country. Even though her brand has expanded, Donna is still heavily involved in the production and the majority of the work is still done by humans. They make batches of different sizes, but the typical batch is for 600-700 jars. All of the products are melted and then mixed together and then poured in jars. After that, they are left to cool and cure. Once again, Donna emphasized how she believes in the natural process of things and she lets the product naturally cure in the jars without any human interference.

The brand has multiple products for healing and beauty. There is the Sweet Bee Magic, V Magic, Baby & Mama Magic, and Sweet Bee Magic Wand. These products will moisturize your skin, heal your skin, help chapped lips, help burns, etc. Medicine Mama’s products are available in various natural stores across the country such as some Whole Foods (you can check the retailers here: http://sweetbeemagic.com/retailers.html) or you can buy the products online at http://www.medicinemamasapothecary.com/view-all/. I am definitely interested in the products now after seeing how they are made and seeing how natural and organic the entire process is. I’m glad I got the opportunity to see the apothecary of such a seemingly great brand!

Cheyenne Headrick is the Style & Beauty Editor at Chic Galleria. She is a recent graduate of the University of Washington with a degree in English. She likes interior design, watching comedies, and reading. You can follow her on twitter at @cnheadrick.

Tags: bees, moisturizer, natural, Organic