Our Story
Most skincare has more ingredients working on the label than on your skin
Pick up almost any jar at the pharmacy and read past the first few ingredients. You’ll find fragrance to cover the smell of the base, thickeners to make it feel substantial, and preservatives to keep the fillers stable. The ingredients doing the real work are often near the bottom. You pay for all of it.
It started with Mark's hands
Mark’s hands crack every winter, and nothing on the shelf felt worth the money. Evelyn had spent years validating product claims for a living, and even longer as the one who wanders off the beaten path: combing beaches, walking fields, learning plants from field guides, herbalists and foragers. So instead of buying another tube, she went outside.
She picked dandelion, the plant most people pull out of their lawns, infused it into oil and reworked the balm batch after batch until it worked and felt right. Mark still uses it every night. For the hardest critic we know, that’s the highest endorsement there is.
How we make everything
Start with one everyday problem. Find the plant that suits it, and grow or pick it ourselves near Ottawa. Infuse it by hand. Add only ingredients with a clear job. Write a label you can actually read.
No proprietary complexes, no mystery blends, no synthetic fragrance. We make everything in small batches in Ontario. Evelyn forages and formulates. Mark runs the operation and signs off last. Every formula is tested for safety and meets Health Canada’s cosmetic regulations.
What we're not
We’re not a lifestyle brand, and we don’t have a routine to sell you. No ritual required. We’re not a substitute for your dermatologist either. If you have a skin condition, see a professional. We make skincare for everyday dry, rough, weather-worn skin.
If you want a ten-step routine or a celebrity endorsement, there are plenty of good options out there. If you want to know exactly what’s in the jar and why, you’re in the right place.
About the bee
No, we don’t sell honey. Bumblebees look like clumsy, fuzzy flyers, but they’re among the best foragers in the garden, and they know which flowers are worth the trip. So do we.
— Evelyn & Mark
Founders, BumbleBalm
Ottawa, Canada