Yep, gazing out of the window at the “weathervane” of Hobart -the wonderfully picturesque and majestic Mount Wellington in Hobart (have a look here live on this local school webcam which has some fab live images of our little city) the winter is really here at last. We hang on to the last balmy Autumn days here with a tight grip, hoping that they will not be the last, because we know that reluctant hibernation looms.

I discovered when I emigrated from the Big Smoke of London that Tasmanians, just like furry little animals in their pre prepared cosy burrows hibernate for a long time over winter, emerging for vital supplies such as natural honey skincare, beer and food!

Being a nation that quite literally lives outdoors ,having fine weather most of the time, there is a sense of resignation that the fire has to be lit, fleecy garments dug out of the back of the wardrobe, along with the Slow Cooker for all those fab stews, tagines and soups.

I recently discovered the joys of sensuously plump, gelatinously tender,Beef cheeks, from Mundy’s Meat supply in Lindisfarne-one of the last real butchers in Hobart who actually selects his steers from the sale yards himself-and REALLY knows his stuff -after 40 years as a country butcher he should! The enticing aroma of a Beef Madras with coriander is just too sexy!!!

Am missing my Kaffir lime ( one of the essential oils that we use in our delicious Lavender citrus twist real soaps) tree like mad ( for my curry pastes)having recently moved house and, whilst I dug it up and transplanted it lovingly to a pot on the balcony, the woody stump of it is glaring balefully at me whilst being blasted  by icy souwester wind gusts…7 degrees today so survival is unlikely.

We are lucky enough in Hobart ( and Tassie in general!) to be within 10 mins of fabulous wild windswept deserted beaches, and one of the other signs of winter are the wild seas which throw up large quantities of kelp seaweed, from the deep sea kelp forests on the Peninsula of Tasmania- Georgie, resident Doggie Diva, loves investigating the fabulously glossy, tangled kelp thickets of beached weed – I’m always amazed at how big it is, and how massive the roots are!

Such pongy explorations mean that a bath once home with her very own Gorgeous Georgie’s Gloss Pet Shampoo bar is a must ..

Not only does kelp taste great- I just love it in all it’s forms, sushi,tastes great in soups too- it has the most fabulous qualities for the skin- moisturising, firming, silkening- and having a great local source at Marrawah on the North West Coast who harvest it from the beaches there and supply it to us.

We use seaweed – just one of the food ingredients we use in our edible skincare products- in, for example,  Seaweed Honey and Herb Polishing scrub ( which, we are told, also makes great scones by the way) Seaweed, Green Tea Scrub Soap and it is included in all of our Natural Soap Shampoo Bars and real handmade soap bars, to which it lends an unparallelled  silkiness and moisturising quality, and creamy slippery lather….Jeez ( throws bucket of cold water over self, narrowly avoiding Mac keyboard) I should take up writing erotic fiction!!!

By the way, happy clients on the independant web feedback site  WOWMOW are posting some fabulous about our products, particularly the Leatherwood Honey Moisture creams…. “This cream is an absolutely amazing product.  I don’t think I knew what actually feeling ‘moisturised’ was until I used this cream “( Leatherwood Honey and Olive Ultrarich Moisture cream)  Hina B which is particularly pertinent as winter arrives- providing your wind buffeted skin with a rich nourishing moisture retaining barrier- ours is quite simply the best around so our clients tell us.

Wrap up tight and watch this space for some new products soon!

5 words…buying a house and moving, hence my absence from the ethersphere for the past few months!

I’m sure that you are all familiar with housemoving, a nightmare that I have been told is up there in terms of stress with childbirth, and whilst I have not experienced that, it sure was something I’d equally rather forget!

But 4 weeks on I’m very glad that I did it, as I now have a very modest dwelling, but a BLINDING view, as you can see.

It is hard not to have a view in Hobart however, but our (myself and the mutt, Georgie of Gorgeous Georgie’s Gloss (Pet Shampoo) Bar fame)  fave walking track  with natural bush, many smells and little meandering paths to investigate is directly behind the house on Natone Hill reserve.

No excuse now in the winter months to not walk after dark, I bought her an LED light up collar (nice!) and a fetching strap on bushwalking head lamp light for me, I look like a fat miner !

the view from the deck is worth the pain!

It is interesting how “lies and damn lies” to quote somebody famous whose name escapes me, have simply become an accepted part of our culture, led of course by the original lying barstewards, politicians…who can forget Slippery Johnny Howard ( king of the Baby Overboard saga in Australia’s electioneering in the recent past)

As someone who was told as a child that their tongue would drop off if I told lies, it all horrifies me.

He introduced the increasingly employed concept of “core and non core promises” which means that you can lie shamelessly  when promising something, only to claim when pressed that “it was a non- core promise” and now does not have to be honoured/implemented. I often wondered if he now consults for the mainstream skincare industry, whose promises,claims and ingredient lists are shameless lies!

When I started the business nearly 20 years ago, natural and organic skincare quite literally did not exist, we were pioneers.

For the first 12 years at least we were a “voice in the wilderness” ( literally as it happens!) and people clearly thought we were nuts telling them that their skin “eats” what is put on it and therefore we only used food ingredients to be sure and safe, and listed ALL our ingredients, certified organic where possible, and if not, totally raw, clean, and “un-messed-about-with”.

People still don’t get that we refrigerate our fresh, food based products to extend shelf life instead of using toxic paraben preservatives!

Jon Entine wrote Greenwashing in 1995, clearly showing how one leading “natural” skincare chain was anything but, and was vilified for his efforts.

16 years later, and despite wide coverage of toxic contents of the big/fake “natural brands,STILL misleading consumers by adding a very small percentage of natural ingredients to the chemical cocktail, in order to make labelling claims, it is very frustrating to see thousands of new “natural” products flood the market every year, with ingredients that make us all blanch, but that are readily accepted by the consumer as being truthful, despite now thousands of websites enabling labelling to be demystified.

We had a mail recently from an individual who only used her initials, which really made the point:

“I would also like to mention, I love love love your products……I was  a sales rep for a cosmetics company in South east melb until recently – and let me tell you, Everyone wants products like yours….always asking for true organic natural products. Some of the products they sell as natural and organic are an insult to companies like yours, obviously the regulations on what they can and cant state on there packaging need to be refined.” VM

Unfortunately authenticity is now a commodity which seemingly has no traction ( especially if you claim it) so I guess we just quietly do what we do, and let our client say it for me!

“in 2010 I decided to “re-embrace” chemical products-often cheaper and more convenient ( especially as I had moved out of Tasmania and found it difficult to find a good stockist in Vic)

I used Beauty and the bees products for years and while I liked them for all the environmental reasons,I wasn’t convinced that there was anything “extra” they were doing for my skin .

BOY WAS I WRONG!!!!!

After a year of using “other” ie: chemical products, my hair and skin look tired and worn, my skin is dull and flaky and just doesn’t have the same vitality it used to.

So I’m welcoming myself back to Beauty and the bees- my favourites are the unscented moisturisers ( for face and body) and the  Beer Shampoo Bar ( followed with a good old fashioned vinegar rinse)- can’t wait to have healthy glowing skin again”

From “joy 281″        as feedback on our website, so we can’t even get back to her and thank her!

If Joy is out there please contact us in order to do so!

I’m back. The run up to Xmas for us in the business as a small artisan producers who quite literally handmake everything, is really hard work! but rewarding, so apologies for absence from the webosphere but we are working our perfectly formed heaving bosoms off down here to get your Xmas goodies out to you!

Lani Budiman ( my esteemed, savvy, buoyant, perennially positive Sales manager…you would have met her instore in Hobart) has been slaving long and hard over a hot rewards system for all our loyal clients- we have many who have been with us for 18 years since the inception of the business-wow! Shows that good stuff that works survive all the passing fads..

All this geekery has has become possible through the wonders of technology and our new website…and TaDaaaaa! Our new shiny Bee Beauty Club!!

All of our business ( for 18 years)  comes by word of mouth or referrals as, like all small businesses who make good stuff, we have zero marketing budget, spending on good ingredients instead.

…..It’s a loyalty club for everyone, where members get rewarded for their purchases, and for introducing Beauty & the Bees healthy fresh skincare to their friends and family.

How does it work?

*When you make a purchase online, please register if you haven’t already done so.

Your points will then be recorded automatically.

*When you refer a friend, you and your friend will receive 15 points each when your friend makes the first purchase.

*When you make a purchase in the shop or market, please remember to write down your name & amount of purchase. The amount will then be entered in your “Bee Beauty Club”

Read all about the Bee Beauty Club on our home page and start rewarding yourself!

In addition, we now have Gift Certificates online so that you can give our luscious fab stuff to those starved of it’s Tasmanian goodness anywhere on the globe…check it out on our home page…

Talking of which we are trying to get one of our star products – our Tasmanian Beer Shampoo bar- on the telly. A Current Affair Sunrise and other morning/evening shows on commercial channels in Aus, are typical  tabloid magazine format programmes- an aquired taste- but spruik all sorts of stuff  and we need to reach a wider audience. If you use and love this product or any of our other quality goods, give them a call and lobby for us….tell them how fab it is and you want to see it on air!

You will earn the thanks of an old Media Tart from way back ( sold advertising space for 25 years before this incarnation as a small business toiler)!

Tasmania is turning on it’s show for Xmas with temperatures rising ( we made 22 degrees the other day! GASP! but a stiff breeze and a downpour soon fixed that) and all the stupendous produce  that we are famous for ( cherries, berries, salmon,olive oil all sorts of yummy stuff) is in stores here now, including the increased  Spring/Summer flow of rich creamy goats milk for our fresh goats milk soap….see below. Sigh, what a life these little creatures have!

Sandy Green's happy goats in the beautiful Huon Valley

Most appealingly the  roadside stalls mushroom along Tassie’s country roads groaning with fruit, jams and produce with their “honesty boxes” for payment…something that “mainlanders” and visitors from the big island to the North (Australia) are stunned by in these turbulent times. It’s just the way we are,our down home country -style thang, y’all.

All this fabulous produce makes it’s way to our annual monster food festival the Taste of Tasmania, held from 28th of December through to the 3rd of January, on the wharf at Salamanca, with over 300,000 visitors annually feasting on all that good stuff…. and this year we will be there with a stall in the new Retail Alley just outside, with our famous Beer Shampoo, which we are cranking out as fast as we physically can.

Come and say hello!

Well, have a Cool Yule wherever you are and “talk” again in the New Year…Toodlepip!

It’s spring….officially. But you wouldn’t know it in Hobart today which is blanketed in thick white rainclouds leaking a miserable steady rain- and very chilly to boot!

However having had such a dry winter, it is wonderful to see the plants, trees and grass burst out into a verdant carpet virtually overnight- little green buds on my quince ( oooer Missus, I’d get that seen to!)

I have to say that is one of the things that enchanted me when I first came to Tasmania on a motorbike all those years ago (seems like yesterday!) and one of the reasons that I like it here…the intense palette of greens that compose the landscape,the bush and paddocks- a million hues, which shift and change with the light.

What blew me away when I first saw them ( remember I was just newly arrived city gal rubbernecking at everything) and still does, was the incredible apple orchards in the Huon Valley, which, when massively laden with thick clots of glossy ruby apples in season, are simply mouthwatering, visually….the sheer fecundity of the soil, the colours, abundance…it looks like every apple has been individually airbrushed by Disney’s Pixar studios, too perfect to believe to believe that they had not been “Photoshopped”!

The cows in the malachite green spring paddocks are the same, so clean and white against the intense verbiage…amazing, and no, I have not been hitting the apple cider that the region produces in order to wax lyrical! We do get our fabulous natural apple cider for our Apple Cider and Herb Conditioning Rinse from here however, and apart from bringing gloss and shine to your hair after using our natural soap shampoo bars could make a very fine salad dressing too!

One of the endearing things too, in Tassie, is the roadside apple/veggie/jam stalls, or my favourite- the fridge at Lucaston Orchards filled with their mouthwatering cloudy fresh apple juice- relying on honesty boxes ( admittedly these days much sturdier in construction, and bolted down securely) from which you can claim your prize and drive off happy.

All this produce speaks of one root and branch activity ( forgive the pun) which is a mystery to me…gardening.

Tasmania has some of Australia’s most fabulous gardens I gather,but I’m afraid this arcane art form is lost on me..all I can produce is twitch ( couchgrass for northern hemisphere readers I believe) these days on my little quarter acre suburban plot, due to lack of activity/interest.

Unfortunate really, since my grandmother produced a massive crop of veggies that fed us all when I was little, and a remember hours pleasantly spent in a companionable silence shucking ( and surreptitiously eating) sweet, crunchy peas.

I began well, and upon buying the house 15 years ago, enthusiastically planted an apothecary garden, with a particular emphasis on bee attracting plants, an obvious choice given my interest in and use of herbs in the business, but soon found out that apart from the fact that weeds ALWAYS win, that constant maintainence was required.

Boring, boring boring.

I just don’t get it…all that backbreaking weeding, it is relentless, and quickly buggers your hands, if like me you have the beginnings of arthritis from screwing the lids onto a million jars of face cream!

I therefore only planted those things that I use a lot of like Kaffir lime, lemon savory ( DIVINE with fish/chicken) bay and rosemary, which are all very hardy and require NO attention.

My pomegranate tree has struggled in the cold, but produced small fruit despite the inattention, and I have to say I am just stunned by my quince tree, which produced a whole 12 ( count ‘em!) quinces last year ( WOW!)….I had never tried the fruit until I moved to Aus, but it is simply the most delicious thing in the whole world gently stewed in a slow cooker with star anise and cinnamon for 8 hours to a rose blush/ruby red succulent tenderness….and slathered with thick creamy Greek Yogurt topped with pistachios and sumac…Oh. My. Gawd.

I definitely enjoy looking at a well maintained garden, but just don’t want to engage with it physically ( too time poor) but can see that if you had time, it would be very rewarding, and also produce a fine crop of veggies…and luckily we produce a very fine range of Gardener’s products to erase the traces of your labour and soothe the dry scratched hands of those that enjoy it

Our Gardener’s balm has been reported to have myriad soothing uses, and many mechanics swear by our Gardener’s scrub to clean deep seated dirt. Have a look at our Gardener’s special on for spring right now, and treat yourself or someone you love!

Refugees are in the always in the news, usually being unfairly demonised by the appalling untalented shysters that pass for politicians ( particularly pertinent today before the election!) but we are noticing a different kind of refugee.. a definite and significant influx to our website and store of clients returning to quality,  having realised that most commercial skincare is all about packaging and has no substance!

We employ 12 women and they all started off ,when they joined the business thinking that- for example-one of the largest global “natural” beauty chains was a truly natural, authentic product, until we educated them on reading a label, and they realised the massively chemicalised, industrial nature of these products.

Indeed what we are always horrified by is the sickly, hugely overscented goo that passes for so called “natural” products, but unfortunately that is what people think is “natural” because they may have not encountered an authentic, subtly scented product such as ours.

As a client, Jenna wrote to us recently “The difference the Beer and Honey shampoo has made to my hair is simply astounding – I do not get dandruff any more, and my scalp doesn’t get that dandruff itchiness either! I had never thought that I’d be free of either of those things! I’m fairly sure now that it was the chemicals in commercial shampoos, specifically the sulfate foamers and cleansers that have been irritating my scalp, as it simply doesn’t happen anymore. Paired with the apple cider vinegar rinse, this is the best shampoo/rinse combo I think I will ever find – no more itchiness, scabby piles of skin building up on my scalp, bad smelling shampoos, or that dreaded ’snowflakes’ covering my shoulders! I can’t really express in words the difference the Beer and Honey shampoo has made to my hair  - just thank you!!!! Also in Hobart, there is one other store that states it sells “fresh, safe “products. But if you merely walk past “Rush” ( you can guess who she means!)  you can smell that horrible, chemically stench wafting out the door. I love that when I open my drawer in the bathroom what I can smell is a light hint of honey, with a dash of rose geranium (that’s the scent I have in my moisturiser – heavenly!), and I’m not knocked off my feet by that obvious chemical smell.”

The new clients tell us that they are amazed by the quality and outstanding value for money ( which is very heartwarming, all say aaahhh) and the returning refugees from overpriced overpackaged mainstream products tell us that nothing works as well, and importantly in these straitened times, are very economical.

Indeed our Baby Bee Baby  products have been around for 20 years, long before chemical free baby care was thought of,and we are now seeing teenagers who were brought up on it, and have continued their love affair with our products, which is warm and fuzzy.

The way I look at it, and the reason I started the business, is simple- naively perhaps- I LOVE authenticity and honesty in all things- people, products, movies..and wanted to make something I was proud of.

It is a bit like eating handmade good bread, or beautiful locally grown neon green pungent olive oil, CWA rhubarb and rosepetal jam,homemade pesto with sun hot basil from the garden ( not that commercial crap filled with sawdust cheese, and in one brand, cabbage???!!!)  or a beautiful solid piece of handcrafted furniture glowing with effort, all are a pleasure to use or consume.

it is the realness of it, the untainted, unadulterated, unmessed with nature of things in the that I love….you can see that someone has carefully made it by hand, and you can taste the effort, and in our case feel it.

Luckily we have an abundance of all of the above in Tassie, which is in itself a very REAL place to live, indeed mainland refugees come here all the time seeking a refuge- quite literally- in a place that has a slower, quieter more authentic existence, where community is important, and the noisy external stimuli are exchanged for the tranquillity of nature- navel gazing!

A good example of REAL is one of our ingredients raw,direct expeller pressed ( cold pressed) coconut oil.

Remember frying yourself in the sun in your teens ( we all did it, even in sun starved Britain!) using coconut oil for suntan oil?

I LOVED the smell of that, of course all “coconut”mainstream skincare products are synthetically scented.

Most coconut oil such as copha, is deodorised for commercial use, but in recent years we have been proud to source the most fantastic, yummy intensely coconutty oil from the South Pacific, which has the most fantastic health benefits, externally and internally.

I would highly recommend the book on their site by Bruce Fife ” Saturated Fat May Save Your Life” which offers fascinating insights into the health benefits of coconut oil.

We use it in all our Moisture cream, Body Creams, Cream Cleanser  and Balm products, and the natural true coconut oil scent is just wonderful….I am currently making some delicious curries, muffins and laksas with it too!

Best of all these people have brought social and economic benefits directly to the island people, enabling them, by developing their Direct Expeller Method machinery, to press their own oil on site instead of having to take a poor price dictated by the multinationals that owned the giant pressing plants, and in addition preserving all the fabulous lipsmacking, skindrinking goodness of the oil.

Have a look at their site which is very informative..

It’s all good