Handmade Beauty Connection
July 9, 2001
A Publication of The Handmade Beauty Network
ISSN 1530-9630
July 9, 2001
Vol. 2, Issue 27
This Week's Sponsor: ---> The
Scent Shack <---
We sell quality, soap-tested fragrance oils and soapmaking supplies at reasonable prices. There is never a minimum order
and we have sizes ranging from half an ounce to one pound (and up!). Cold-process and melt & pour testing results for
all of our fragrance oils are listed on our Web site.
Our newest scent is Citrus Linen at $19.95 per pound! This wonderful scent smells just like laundry taken in fresh from
the clothes line! Holds beautifully in CP soap.
We offer discounts for orders as small as $40. Try these great scents for summer: Lily of the Valley, Raspberry Cream, Secret
Garden and Sweetgrass. Now offering ultramarine and oxide colorants. New products are arriving monthly, so check us out
at The Scent Shack!!
The Scent Shack
10 West State St, Geneva, IL 60134 | (630) 845-8931 (phone)
Email: info@thescentshack.com
1. HBN Update: Welcome New HBN Members & HBN Members On The Move!!
2. Editorial Note: Response To Reader Feedback
3. HBN Member Success Spotlight: Irish Hearth Soaps
4. Handmade Beauty Trivia Question: no answer from last week!
5. Create The Life you Love Business Tip: "Something Good Is
Happening!!"
6. Donna Maria & HBN Present Sunday Brunch With Jeanne
Rose!!
7. Handmade Beauty Product Review by Donna Maria
8. Create The Life You Love Audio Tapes Available!!
1. HBN Update: Welcome New HBN Member & HBN Members On The Move!!
~ HBN members!! Check your mail box this week for HBN's Member Update, featuring:
1. information on reserving your business name in the new ".biz"
top level domain
2. summary of new landmark Supreme Court decision on copyright law
3. tips on responding to magazine requests for product information
~ Welcome New HBN Members!
Acqua Vita | Suzanne Catty | Canada
* organic hydrosols and education, Suzanne authored the new book,
"Hydrosols: The Next Aromatherapy"
Dropwise Essentials | Donya Fahmy | California
* aromatherapy products that promote healing and well-being
Chesapeake Scents | Fabienne Nichols | Delaware
* bath salts and bombs, etc.; goodies to help you enjoy your bath
C & N Industries | Carole Gregornik | Illinois
* handmade soaps, milk baths, bath salts, shower bags, etc.
Homebody Soaps | Tom McGowian | Washington
* handcrafted bath soaks, aftershaves, bubbles, salts, perfumes, etc.
~ HBN member Aromaleigh is featured in this month's DaySpa Magazine for her line of aromatherapy products. While the focus
of the feature is on Aromaleigh's pet products like "Bay Leaf Bow Wow" and "Lavender Love Puppy," there's an additional mention
of their wonderful aromatherapy products for us humans too! Check it out on page 94, and congratulations to Aromaleigh and its owner Kristen Leigh Bell. Kristen will be the guest
on July 12 on HBN's Beauty Call™! For details about our Beauty Call™, click here.
~ HBN member Chelmsford Herbal Soap Co. was featured in the spring 2001 issue of Better Homes and Gardens Special Interest
Publications!! Check out page 67 for an article entitled, "Bedroom and Bath" and the feature on Chelmsford's products,
especially their Baby Bug Line. Congratulations Chelmsford! You can read more about Chelmsford in their HBN Member Success Spotlight
here.
Learn more about our members and their exciting products and activities by visiting
their Web sites through HBN's Online Member Directory.
2. Editorial Note: Response To Reader Feedback
Dear HBC:
When you post your recipes (which are wonderful!!) to the newsletter, would you include instructions on
preservative use?
AW, Texas
Dear AW:
Thank you for your suggestion. The reason preservative proportions are not included in the recipes is because I feel it is best to
leave the preservative selection and amount up to the individual.
Preservatives can be harmful if they are not properly incorporated into a product. They can also be totally ineffective unless they
are used in the proper quantities and also, unless they are added to the product at the proper time during the production process.
Preservatives are manufactured and/or supplied by companies that will provide you with proper percentages and instructions on using
their particular preservative in a specific formulation.
Using clean utensils, storing products in the refrigerator between uses and refraining from sticking fingers and hands
into products all help to minimize bacterial growth, and these precautions should be taken whether a preservative is used or not.
To find preservatives and/or cosmetics chemists who can assist you in choosing the preservative that is best for a
particular formula, visit the "Chemicals," Preservatives & Anti-oxidants" and "Professional Services" categories at
MangoButter.com.
3. HBN Member Success Spotlight: Irish Hearth Soaps
This week's Success Spotlight shines on HBN member Irish Hearth
Soaps, an Illinois-based manufacturer of handmade soaps with a booming wholesale business.
Member Success Spotlights are one of the many benefits of HBN membership. To
learn more about Irish Hearth Soaps and all of the other HBN members
profiled in HBN's Success Spotlights, click here.
4. Handmade Beauty Trivia Question: There's still no winner from last week. Here are some of the good (yet not correct) guesses we received to the question submitted by Jan Salko: Avicenna, Drs. Daniel Penoel, Linus Pauling, Hauschka, Royal D. Rife and Edward Bach, Hippocrates and Jean Valnet. Submit your entry today ... this question is obviously a toughie, but the gallon of Bulgarian rose hydrosol is more than worth it!!
Question: Who was the doctor that discovered treatments for 32 diseases, including heart arrhythmia, gallstones and circulation disorders, using rose essential oil alone?
Be the first to correctly answer this week's question and win
a gallon of organic Bulgarian rosa damascena hydrosol, courtesy of Sensory Essence. Jan Salko of Sensory Essence provided this
week's Handmade Beauty Trivia Question!!
Before submitting your entry, please read contest rules.
While time does not permit me to respond personally to all
entrants, the winner will be notified by email and their name
posted at HBN's home page.
5. Create The Life You Love Business Tip
"Something Good Is Happening!!"
by Donna Maria
Matthew "Mattie" Stepanek is 10 years old. He lives in the same county as me, and his perspective on life is nothing short
of remarkable. At the tender age of 10, Mattie has already fulfilled one of his life's dreams - to publish his first book
of poetry. The collection of poems in his book, "HeartSongs" reveal that Mattie is wise beyond his years. In his poem,
"Leaf For a Day," Mattie writes about how it would feel to be a leaf, free to sway in a breeze and float on the wind. In his
poem, "When My Feet Itch," he writes about all of the pleasant thoughts he has to divert attention away from his feet when they
begin to itch.
Reading Mattie's story in a newspaper recently reminded me of what a blessing it is to have a dream come true. Those of us
who are struggling to keep up with the details associated with running a growing business should always remember what a great
blessing it is to even have a business of our own ... to be at the helm of a dream taking shape before our very eyes. True,
we have all seen entrepreneur after entrepreneur featured in television shows, business magazines and even here in the
Handmade Beauty Connection. Their stories inspire and motivate us to reach new heights, even as we conjure up even more of our
own dreams to pursue.
But Mattie is an inspirational horse of a different color. You see, Mattie suffers with a rare disease called dysautonomic
mitochondrial myopathy, a condition that disrupts the body's breathing,
processing of oxygen and heart rate. He moves through each day in a wheelchair and has met dozens of medical
challenges and procedures with courage and grace. What's more, he lives with the knowledge that 3 older siblings, all born
with the same disease, eventually died of it.
Says Mattie, "I know I'm in the hospital and it's sad, but something good is happening."
What a remarkable response to what most would see as a tragedy of epic proportions! Since reading Mattie's story a few weeks
ago, I have often found myself recalling his courage and exceptional attitude about life's challenges. I've been remembering
in the midst of some little "trauma and drama" business experience of my own that, if Mattie can find a way around his
challenges to continue pursuing his dreams, I have absolutely nothing to complain about, and what's more, I have no excuse not to
do everything in my power to make my own dreams become reality.
So the next time you are at the end of your business rope, wondering whether the dream is even worth your time ... whether
it will ever become the reality you want it to be ... remember Mattie and find
something good to concentrate on. It may be "trauma and drama" for the moment, but no matter what, it you are
moving forward toward your goals, "something good is happening."
6. Donna Maria & HBN Present Sunday Brunch With Jeanne Rose!!
Meet and interact with author, master aromatherapist and herbalist Jeanne
Rose and your fellow aromatherapy, herbal and cosmetics
professionals at DC’s premier brunch location!!
* bring your own books for personal autograph by Jeanne
* purchase selected autographed books by Jeanne
* develop new business relationships | strengthen existing ones
Date: Sunday, August 26, 2001
Time: 11:00am - 2:00pm
Where: Bambulé Restaurant, Chevy Chase Pavillion, Washington, DC
Includes: choice of dozens of brunch menu items including cereals,
breads, assorted egg dishes, fruit salad, veggies, waffles and pancakes,
fish, lamb, pasta, salmon, tiramisu, choice of non-alcoholic beverage and
more!
Price: $35 if register by August 10 | HBN Members Enjoy 10%
discount!! Checks and credit cards accepted (MasterCard, Visa, Discover).
Advance registration is required.
For Directions, Information & To Register, Contact:
Donna Maria at HBN at (301) 464-4515 (phone) | (301) 464-2719 (fax)
Email: donnamaria@handmadebeauty.com
7. Handmade Beauty Product Review by Donna Maria
~ Handmade Goat Milk Soaps by Alabu, Inc.
$3.25 per 3.5 ounce bar
Ahhhh! The silky smooth feel of goat milk soap ... nothing can match it! Last month, I had the pleasure of enjoying my first
bars of goat milk soap in several months, thanks to HBN member Alabu, Inc. Alabu's soaps are shaped in perfect hand cut ovals
to fit neatly and comfortably into my palm, and each has a variation on the brownish/tan theme that is a hallmark of
any handmade goat milk soap. Bars are individually wrapped in white tissue paper, gathered at the center and topped with
a label containing the name of the soap and the ingredients. But the best part about these bars is simply the smooth,
luxurious feeling of the lather and the gentle aromas lent by the wonderful essential oils used in the delicious bars I tried.
Lavender Fields - The clean, fresh aroma of lavender essential oil, mixed with the exotic flair of ylang ylang and the sweetness of
sweet orange make this bar at once soothing and somewhat tropical. Of the two scented bars I tried, this one was my favorite.
Buttermilk - There's something about the richness of buttermilk that adds a denseness and texture to soap that nothing else does.
This unscented bar is made even more rich due to the addition of cocoa butter. It feels wonderfully soft and the lather is creamy
and frothy.
Oats 'N Honey - Also unscented, this one is my favorite of the 4. I love the way the finely ground oats feel on my skin and
these are fine enough not to be scratchy, yet visible throughout the bar. While this one is unscented, I can swear I smell some
honey anyway. Oh, the power of suggestion perhaps, but good enough for me. I'm coming back for more of this one!
Tea Tree Bar - tea tree is definitely not one of my favorite aromatics, but this bar is done nicely because it's not to
heavily infused with it and has a bit of lavender to soften the edge so it doesn't smell "medicine-y." This soap also
contains castor oil, cocoa butter, shea butter, emu oil and aloe.
You can find all of these soaps and so many more (gingerbread, baby me, sweetgrass and more) at Alabu's easy to navigate
Web site, which you can visit through, which you can visit through HBN's Online Member Directory.
8. Create The Life You Love Audio Tapes Available!!
Designed to inspire, encourage and coach you to create the life you love! Tapes Now Available:
1. Legal & Regulatory Challenges Facing The Handmade Toiletries Industry Today: Applying Yesterday's Laws To Today's Marketplace. Includes the latest on cosmetics, trademark and Internet law. Perfect for online toiletries and aromatherapy businesses! 2 90-minute tapes.
2. Planning NOT To Fail: Preparing A Business Plan That Positions You For Success!! Handmade toiletries/aromatherapy centered business planning tape with tips for making the most of your small business. Selected by the College of DuPage for use in their continuing education aromatherapy course!! 1 60-minute tape.
3. Audio Tapes Of Several HBN Beauty Calls™ are now available, including Aubrey Hampton (preservatives & the FDA inspection process), Melody Upham (transitioning from manufacturer to supplier, general business tips) and Craig Van Doren (products liability insurance). For details on these tapes and how to order them, click here.
Visit The Handmade Beauty Connection Archives.
Visit our suite of Web sites serving the handmade toiletries industry:
HandmadeBeauty.com: the leading industry trade organization
MangoButter.com: 360+ suppliers of raw materials and packaging, updated weekly!
MakeYourCosmetics.com: ingredient encyclopedia & original cosmetics recipes
DonnaMaria.com: sound advice for your small business, We2We Success Seminars
HandmadeBeauty.com: e-greeting cards coming soon!
Handmade Skin Care.com: secure online shopping coming soon!
Advertise With Us!! Have your ad seen by over 2,150 subscribers! Click here to see why Essential Wholesale says that the returns from their newsletter ad "just keep on coming" and why the Aromatherapy Connection says HBC "is one of the most efficient and cost effective marketing tools we have."
The Handmade Beauty Connection
Donna Maria, Editor-In-Chief, DonnaMaria@HandmadeBeauty.com
Jenn Givler, Associate Editor, Jenn@HandmadeBeauty.com
The Handmade Beauty Network | www.HandmadeBeauty.com
© Copyright 2001 Donna Maria and affiliates. All Rights Reserved. For important legal information, click on this link:
http://www.HandmadeBeauty.com/legal.asp
