It’s below zero and you’re headed out for a run. You grab a tin of All Purpose Balm and dip in a finger. The texture is soft but occlusive. The scent is earthy and a little sweet from frankincense and beta-carotene-rich carrot seed oil. You apply it to one cheek, then the other, some on the forehead and a bit on the chin. A quick coating on your lips and you rub the extra into your hands. Now you’re ready to face running on a freezing, Upstate New York morning. Pretty soon, every time you use All Purpose Balm on your hands or as an emergency lip balm, that scent takes you back to your pre-dawn runs in the extreme cold. For a moment, you feel the icy air in your lungs and ache in your legs as you head up that last hill. And you smile. Product Size 1.5 ounce tin Ingredients Rice bran oil, beeswax, mango butter, carrot seed essential oil, frankincense essential oil, tocopherols (vitamin e) How to Use Apply to lips and rub more into your hands Product Origin: Made in Ithaca, NY, USA About Avital’s Apiary It all started with honey bees. In 2010, I was a beekeeper who used her bees’ honey, beeswax, and propolis in lip balms and lotion bars. Just as a hobby, to start with. Then there was the occasional fair. Then a wholesale account happened. And became a dozen. Nearly a decade later, the hobby is a business and my honey bees are helping me make a lot more than lip balm. In my spare time, I’m still keeping bees, of course. I like to travel with my family, bake bread from scratch, and I’m learning to play the mandolin.
