Most "botanical" skincare claims come from essential oils or commercial extract — concentrated, fast to use, and the same ingredient every brand can buy from the same three suppliers. We use infused oils instead, which take longer and cost more to make, because they let us control exactly what ends up in the jar.

An infused oil is a carrier oil — we use grapeseed, fractionated coconut oil (the liquid, no-scent version), jojoba, sunflower, and avocado oil — left to slowly absorb the fat-soluble compounds from a dried botanical over time. No solvents, no shortcuts. It's a gentler, slower process than an essential oil extraction, and it's also the only way to use a plant's whole-botanical profile rather than an isolated, standardized compound.

We grow and forage six botanicals ourselves, near Ottawa, and infuse all of them in small batches:

Dandelion, for its beta-carotene, vitamin C, and anti-inflammatory flavonoids — the ingredient BumbleBalm started with.

Yarrow, for azulene (a strong anti-inflammatory) and tannins (an astringent) — two effects in one plant, which is unusual.

Horsetail, for more usable silica than almost any other plant, which is why it's in formulas aimed at skin firmness and stronger-feeling hair.

Red clover, for isoflavones and coumarins with antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activity — used in our mature-skin formulas.

Plantain, for mucilage and allantoin, which calm skin that's just been through something — windburn, shaving, everyday roughness.

Peony, for paeoniflorin, which calms the kind of inflammation that shows up as chronic redness.

Every other ingredient in our formulas — the carrier oils themselves, butters, waxes — comes from Canadian suppliers and manufacturers we've checked ourselves.

If you want the full breakdown of where each compound comes from and what it does, the Botanicals page has all six in one place.

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