Burt's Bees Mama Bee Belly Butter - what's in it?

A question that came in:

"Hello, I’m interested in some of your products. My wife is 6 months pregnant and I was looking into belly butter…what is your version of this and is the price comparable?"

He attached a photo of Burt's Bees Mama Bee Belly Butter (with the tagline "Be Good to Your Bump" - ahh, love that tagline!)

What a great question to research.

At first peek, their first ingredient is water, which makes it completely different than ours. We purposefully avoid water because it introduces the need for other ingredients, like these:  glyceryllaurate, sodium stearoyl lactylate, sucrose polystearate, phenoxyethanol (I looked it up on their website).  Those aren't all just preservatives and stabilizers, but they are additional ingredients used to emulsify the product as water and oil don't mix otherwise.  But, water is cheaper than oils and butters, and so that's why you can purchase this product so cheaply.  For sensitive skin, those ingredients can irritate the skin, so it's good to research which can act as an allergen.

Some of the other ingredients they use are fantastic, and those are what we use, too: coconut oil, shea butter, cocoa butter.
We just know that because we have so many customers who are sensitive to ingredients and have to watch the ingredient listing religiously, having fewer, but more effective ingredients, is better. Yes, more expensive, but the lotion lasts much longer in the skin so there's no need to re-apply as often compared to when you use a water-based product.
My choice of our products for your wife would be the Au Chocolat lotion bar, because the cocoa butter is so soothing and nourishing for pregnant bellies, and they say (although I can't say for sure) that cocoa butter reduces or prevents stretch marks. It has a natural chocolate scent, however, so if she's extra sensitive to smell or doesn't like chocolate, she should opt for our Beesilk lotion bar, which works similarly, but with only a natural beeswax scent.  
A family size lotion bar should last hear at least a month if used often. It will greatly reduce itchiness associated with pregnancy. 
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