Burt’s Bees, one of the longer-established natural body-care companies, has been introducing new products at a fast and furious pace lately. As a companion group to the popular Baby Bee line for infants and small children, the Mama Bee line has recently emerged. Although they are ostensibly tailored for expectant and new mothers, the Mama Bee products are suitable for adults of any parental or non-parental status, and gentle enough for children themselves.

My pick from this line, the Mama Bee Nourishing Body Oil, offers a simple and self-explanatory list of ingredients: sweet almond oil, lemon oil, wheat germ oil, vitamin E, and rosemary extract. The blend is 98.50% natural, according to its label. I am already happily familiar with Burt’s Bees Baby Bee Apricot Oil. I’ve been using it for several years, and it reminds me of one summer in particular when I applied the oil to my arms and legs every morning and walked to work breathing in the scent of ripe apricots. The Mama Bee is not as exuberantly scented as the Baby Bee, perhaps in keeping with her more responsible spirit. This oil’s mouth-watering fragrance of freshly cut lemons rises and fades quickly, leaving the wearer free to tend to business around the hive.

I tend to enjoy citrus-scented products more in warmer weather, and I’ve been using my Baby Bee oil on a regular basis. When I apply it after a morning shower, it sinks rapidly into my dry elbows and knees, living up to its “nourishing” promise. On my arms and legs, it requires more time to absorb, but it leaves the skin feeling smooth and moisturized, with a healthy-looking sheen. I wish the energizing lemon-rind smell would cling a little longer, but on the other hand, it’s a good option to have an oil with such concentrated effectiveness that doesn’t force its scent on my senses for the rest of the day. It definitely won’t “clash” with any other fragrance that I might apply afterwards.

Mama Bee Nourishing Body Oil may also be used as bath oil or massage oil. I haven’t tried it either way yet, but I have been rubbing just a few drops into the ends of my hair in the evening, as a while-I-sleep conditioning treatment. It helps to keep those ends soft after being exposed to sun and heat, and its smell is the olfactory equivalent of a few last minutes of daylight at the end of a long summer day.

Mama Bee Nourishing Body Oil sells for about $8 for 120 ml at the Burt’s Bees website and at drugstores and health stores nationwide.