Natural Product Review: Savannah Bee’s Royal Jelly Body Butter

Reader Contribution by Gina Debacker and Associate Editor
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Every winter my skin becomes super dry, which is really no surprise. With winter comes low humidity, stripping our skin of its natural moisture and leaving it cracked and more susceptible to damage. So I am constantly slathering my face, hands and feet with some kind of moisturizer. Fortunately I found a great little tub of body butter from the Savannah Bee Company and I’ve been using it to hydrate my skin most of this winter.  

Located in Savannah, Georgia, this company manufactures a luxurious line of beeswax-based body-care products. I’ve tried a few of their other products, and while I enjoyed them they didn’t impress me quite as much as this body butter. Rich and creamy, it’s everything you could ask for in a body butter—and it makes an excellent moisturizer for dry skin. Plus, it’s loaded with propolis.

Photo courtesy Savannah Bee Company

The Benefits of Propolis

Propolis is essentially the glue that holds a beehive together—it’s a combination of beeswax and other secretions with resins from the buds and barks of certain trees. For centuries people have turned to propolis for minor skin ailments such as wounds and itching, as well as other illnesses including cancer, osteoporosis and tuberculosis. Today, old-school beekeepers have been known to chew on a piece of propolis to relieve sore throats. This may sound strange, but it makes sense based on the research—propolis has been shown to have antibiotic and antiseptic properties, and maybe even antiviral and anti-inflammatory properties.

Savannah Bee’s Royal Jelly Body Butter

In this body butter, propolis is used to help nourish and moisturize the skin. The product is also full of royal jelly, a milky secretion produced by worker bees that is rich in lipids, amino acids and proteins; honey, a natural moisturizing humectant; and skin-softening beeswax. Here is its full list of ingredients:

Purified water, organic aloe vera leaf juice, isoamyl laurate, cetearyl alcohol, babassu butter, hydrogenated cocoglycerides, glycerin and raw royal jelly, glyceryl stearate citrate, cupuacu butter, cocoa butter, ethylhexyl olivate, d-panthenol (provitamin b5), sodium behenoyl lactylate, lauryl laurate, olive oil unsaponifiables, propolis extract, fragrance (“blackberry aromatic extract”), pecan oil, shea butter, natural beeswax, orange peel wax, chondrus crispus extract and glucose, sodium levulinate, kaolin (natural rose clay), natural alpha bisabolol, glyceryl caprylate, cetyl hydroxyethyl cellulose, sodium anisate, honey, allantoin, tocopherol (natural vitamin e), sea buckthorn fruit oil, and sodium phytate (naturally derived from rice bran).  

My Thoughts

What I like best about this body butter is how rich and creamy it is. I’ve been rubbing it on my feet every night before I go to bed, then putting on a pair of socks to trap the moisture—I don’t know if this actually does anything, but it’s what my mom always taught me and it seems to work!

Best of all, every ingredient listed in this product shows zero to very little (1) concern, according to the Environmental Working Group’s Skin Deep Cosmetics Database. Its top-billed ingredients are sourced from bees, and the butter’s light berry scent comes from its naturally derived—not synthetic—blackberry aromatic extract. (My husband even noticed the fruity aroma!)

Do not use this thick product as an everyday moisturizer. As most body butters, this is best for areas of your skin that really need that extra dose of moisture such as heels and elbows. Thankfully it doesn’t leave your skin feeling greasy, making it even more versatile than other body butters. If you want to keep this product on your nightstand, buy it online for $25.


Gina DeBacker is the associate editor at Mother Earth Living. She loves that part of her job entails testing beauty products enriched with natural ingredients.  

  • Published on Jan 17, 2014
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