A Propolis Infused Lip Oil

Nectar Melissae

$145

Description

A lip treatment oil, handmade by slowly infusing fresh jojoba seed oil with Sonoran Desert propolis and rare Mexican vanilla pompona beans. This gradual, cold infusion draws out the skin-beneficial properties of the propolis without potentially damaging exposure to heat, and imbues the lip oil with the soft, marshmallow sweetness of the vanilla. An aromatic resin made by bees, propolis has long been prized as a healer for dry and compromised skin, helping to repair, protect, and create a resilient, balanced skin barrier on the lips. Part of your daily skincare ritual, apply Nectar Melissae to the lips as often as desired or in the morning and evening after cleansing.

How To Use

Part of your daily skincare ritual, apply Nectar Melissae to the lips as often as desired or in the morning and evening after cleansing.

Ingredients

Simmondsia Chinensis (Jojoba) Seed Oil*, Tocopherol (Vitamin E), Vanilla Pompona Fruit, Propolis Cera.

*Organic

Sizing & Info

Approx. 15 ml / 0.5 oz
Store in a cool, dry place away from heat and direct sunlight. As with any of our Slow Beauty, please spot test this oil for adverse reactions before use and discontinue use if irritation occurs. Please consult a physician before using if pregnant or breastfeeding. We recommend using this product within a year of opening. Opened Slow Beauty products are final sale.

The Bottle

Each bottle is a distinctive work of art, hand blown by a master glass artisan in New York, and shipped using the ancient method of cork and wax sealing.

Shipping & Returns

Free standard shipping on orders over $150 within the United States. Orders under $150 ship for a flat rate of $10. Expedited options are available, more info here.

Items purchased on kindredblack.com are eligible for return provided that they are returned within 14 days of the ship date and in new, unopened, unused, and undamaged condition. Opened products and custom orders are final sale.

Propolis is an aromatic resin made by bees, a blend of sticky plant resins and pollen that they collect from tree buds and bark and mix with beeswax and enzymes back at the hive. They use the propolis that they make to seal and reinforce the hive and to coat surfaces that they want to keep sterile. The scent, color, and composition of bee propolis will shift depending on the climate and surrounding habitat, so a desert propolis is quite different from one gathered near a forest.

Naturally antimicrobial, one of propolis’s primary functions in the hive is to protect against bacteria, fungi, and other pathogens. It is rich in antioxidants, flavonoids, and phenolic compounds known for their anti-inflammatory properties, making it soothing and restorative for the skin. With so much anecdotal and written documentation of its efficacy across the centuries we chose propolis for its ability to protect compromised lips, supporting repair, reducing dryness and micro-cracks, and helping to restore a more resilient, balanced barrier.

Our propolis comes from a small family owned and operated apiary in the Sonoran Desert of Southern Arizona, where bees move through a wild and varied landscape of mesquite, palo verde, and ironwood trees, flowering cacti, brittlebush shrubs, fairy duster plants, and nearby orange groves. The hives are kept on an eight acre rural property, where the bees follow the rhythms of late spring and early summer blooms, gathering resins and nectar from the surrounding desert and making their honey.

Vanilla pompona is rare and highly prized, grown in small quantities due to its labor-intensive cultivation and long curing process. Its short, thick pods are rich with glossy oils and dense with seeds, yielding a scent that is more perfumed and floral than traditional vanilla, layered with notes of cherry, fig, clove, and a soft, almost marshmallow-like sweetness. Sourced from Totonacapan on Mexico’s eastern Gulf Coast, where the indigenous Totonac people first cultivated vanilla almost 1,200 years ago and revered it as a sacred plant, the beans carry a deep cultural lineage and are part of a local commitment to preserve the trade of this ancient crop.

In ancient Egypt, honey and propolis were used in unguents, salves, and skin preparations, applied to wounds, and used for the ritual preservation of the dead. Bee products were valued not only for their healing properties but for their ability to protect and condition the skin in a harsh desert climate. It is said that the Greek physician Hippocrates, often called the father of modern medicine, used propolis to heal sores, reduce inflammation, and support tissue regeneration, while the Roman scholar Pliny the Elder wrote that it “heals sores when it appears hopeless for them to mend.” During World War II, it was even known as “Russian Penicillin,” widely used in Soviet clinics before antibiotics became broadly available. An ancestral ingredient that has never disappeared, propolis endures as a natural agent of repair and defense.

Each amber vanity bottle is a distinctive work of art, hand blown by a master glass artisan in New York, and shipped using the ancient method of cork and wax sealing.

The Backstory

The Melissae were ancient Greek priestesses whose name means “bees.” Serving goddesses like Demeter and Artemis, they were seen as keepers of sacred knowledge, embodying the bee’s role as a conduit between the physical and spiritual worlds. In ancient Greece, bees were revered, believed to impart knowledge, eloquence, and inspiration by anointing the lips of philosophers and poets with honey.