When it comes to skincare lines, there are so many to choose from. Whether you’re looking for a quick pimple fix or a rejuvenating mask, searching “best skincare brands” on Google will leave you with thousands of options. If you’re like me, however, you’re always on the lookout for smaller, indie brands to support; brands that are making huge leaps in this competitive industry. One of these brands is Waxing Kara.
Based in Owings Mills, Maryland, Waxing Kara is the brainchild of Kara Brook, a former artist with a love for nature. After experiencing success at a web development business, Brook left her career behind for a passion that was building strong within her: helping the bees.
After a failed experience with encaustic painting, a beeswax-based paint, Brook felt bad about wasting the material. She decided to make her own beeswax, though she had never done it before.
“I had never done anything related to beekeeping and I didn’t even think much about whether I knew or didn’t know what I was doing,” Brook said.
What began as simply making beeswax for paint has now turned into a new business and Brook’s third career. With 102 acres of land gifted to her by her husband’s side of the family, Brook bought a hive and began researching and reading up on all things bees and sustainability. A skincare aficionado herself, she soon decided to use the honey to make amazing products.
“Have you ever put honey on your skin?” she joked. “It’s a little miracle worker!”
“I changed my goals. Rather than looking for wax to paint with, I wanted to do a play in this space that would make a difference in the life of bees. I knew that honey and beeswax are both natural protection and barriers for the skin, so I wanted to make a honey and beeswax lip balm—no synthetics.”
After six months of development, the lip balm was a hit and is, to this day, one of her most popular skincare items. Also available are a honey scrub, sweet body balm, honey soap, natural deodorant and much more. But aside from the skincare products is Brook’s mission of sustainability.
“You have to treat your bees, not just go into the hive and say hello. There’s a lot of discipline that goes into this. Every Sunday morning at 9 a.m., instead of going on bike rides with friends like I used to do, I’m at the hive.”
Devoting the entire property to the bees, Brook has planted a collection of different clovers as well as some meadows full of wildflowers. In everything she does, Brook makes sure to reduce her carbon footprint, giving back to both the bees and Mother Nature.
“I’ve taken away so much from this process that my head hurts,” she laughed. “This is like my third career. Personally, from an inspirational perspective, I think the best thing I’ve taken away is that you can be at any point in your life and change what you do and have good results. Whether I’m long-term successful, whether this turns into a big company or amounts to a whole lot or not doesn’t matter as much as my taking personal responsibility for my involvement with the future of our farm, our region and our bees.”
– BY GIANLUCA RUSSO
Gianluca Russo is a New York-based freelance writer whose work has been published in Teen Vogue, INSIDER, BUST Magazine, Brit+Co, Romper, Byrdie, Playbill, Paste Magazine, Dance Spirit Magazine and more. Visit www.GianlucaRusso.webs.com for more of his work and follow him on Twitter and Instagram @G_Russo1.
Read more Beauty articles on ClicheMag.com
This Beauty Line Will Save Your Skin And The Bees At The Same Time: Photographs courtesy of Waxing Kara
