April 29, 2002
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A Publication of The Handmade Beauty Network
ISSN 1530-9630 |
Vol. 3, Issue 17
This
Week's Sponsor:
The Handmade Beauty Network
The only trade organization serving the handmade toiletries industry, including soaps, cosmetics, candles and aromatherapy products!! Join HBN today to take advantage of our newest members only benefit: The HBN Monthly Media Blitz!!
May's Media Blitz sends HBN member products to The Today Show in New York City!!
Other HBN member benefits
include access to cost effective legal and business counseling services, discounts
on raw materials and products, inclusion in our Beauty
Calls and more. For a complete listing of member benefits, click here.
To see what our members have to say, click here.
Join
today
to take advantage of this unique opportunity to expose your
business ... Email your questions to Donna Maria at info@handmadebeauty.com!
1. HBN Update: Welcome New & Renewing HBN Members
2. New At MakeYourCosmetics.com
3. Handmade Beauty Trivia Question: win a copy of the audio taped Beauty Call™ with public relations expert Katherine Hutt
4. Handmade Beauty Product Review by Donna Maria
5. Create The Life You Love™: Saving Your Business Before It Starts
Question No. 7: Am I Ready To Fly??!!
1. HBN Update: Welcome New & Renewing HBN Members
~ Welcome New HBN Members!
Texas Sunshine Soaps | Kristine Hons | Texas
* Soap by the bar or
loaf; also buttermilk soap, fragrance bars, tub salts, lotion bars, shave
mugs and gift baskets
Wild Rice
Farm | Sher Rice | Wisconsin
* Goat milk soaps
featuring farm fresh goat milk and the purest vegetable oils; no synthetic
or petroleum-based detergents
Hunter
Handcrafts | Christina Hunter | Ohio
* specializing in handmade
cold-processed soaps and lip balms for retail and wholesale
Muileh
Skincare | Vivian Dawson | Connecticut
* Handmade,
aromatherapeutic products created from the exotic oils, butters and waxes,
locally grown flowers, etc.
Queen Esther's Soaps &
Body Creations | Diane Buono | North Carolina
* All-natural, handcrafted,
therapeutic soaps and body products
Da Shiznit! | Debra Landis |
Indiana
* "The Best!" Body care
products made with essential oils, herbs, clays, butters, hemp & more;
homemade accessories available
Green Valley Aromatherapy |
Emma Payton | Canada
* leading wholesaler of top quality essential oils, hydrosols, floral
waters, skin care products, books, perfume oils, diffusers, bottles, etc.
Aunt Wally's | Jacque
Riella | California
* specializing in natural soaps, salts, scrubs, butters, and more
TrueSoaps | Debbie
Trueblood | Alabama
* We want to be in your bath! Soaps and
toiletries that feel good on your skin, smell incredible, and are quite
luscious!
Burgett Creations |
Margaret Burgett | Alabama
* Using herbs and botanicals we have many
different varieties to soothe your senses; something for everyone.
66-40
Productions | Marc Bates | California
* natural handmade toiletries
... the perfect way to relax and give yourself a little break from the world
BC Art, Inc., dba BC Bath & Body Experience
| CA Bruno | Texas
* Poodle balm
AllyKats
| Robyn Sessler | Maine
* Bath and body gifts for little girls
ages 4 to 10
Levis Lathers
| Michelle Davers
|
Indiana
* Homemade lye soaps made the ~old fashion way~
and using soybean oil
Learn
more about our members and their exciting activities by visiting their Web sites through HBN's Online
Member Directory, now with 4 ways to search: (1) by state/country; (2)
by member business name; (3) by keyword search; or (4) using our new alphabetical
listings!
2. New
At
MakeYourCosmetics.com:
Lemon Ice Foot Butter
This week's recipe for Lemon Ice Foot Butter was submitted by HBN members Rosanne Tartaro of SunRose Aromatics and Diane Buono of Queen Esther's Soaps. They tell me it's a really easy recipe to make and you'll love the way it makes your feet feel. Plus there's the great Lemon-Ice Aromatherapy Blend available only from SunRose. When you visit MakeYourCosmetics.com to get this and other recipes, it's easy to buy the ingredients you need to make your goodies by clicking on our Partner links:
Essential
Wholesale: pure essential oils, base carrier oils such as avocado,
sweet almond, jojoba and shea butter and specialty packaging supplies!
Bramble
Berry, Inc.: over 75 different fragrance oils
(including their exclusive "Relaxing" and "Rosehip
Jasmine"), all soap tested, soap molds and unscented soap bases!
SunRose Aromatics: pure essential oils (many organic), carrier oils and other aromatherapy products, each carefully selected for quality. Check out their new Perfumer's Emporium.
The Scent Shack: fragrance oils and soap supplies. Fragrance oils are tested in cold process, melt & pour soap, and candles, and test results are listed at their Web site. Scents tested by soapers for soapers!
Coming soon!! A Canadian partner for our users north of the border!!
3. Handmade Beauty Trivia Question: Last week's winner was HBN member Tina Wagner of Beloit, Wisconsin. Tina won a generous sample of shea butter courtesy of HBN member BioChemica and a bar of PlayTime! soap, handmade by HBN member Celebrate Life .... naturally!
Last
Week's Question: A 19th century French physician coined the a term
referring to the benefits of the sea. He advised his patients to get plenty of
exposure to sea air and salt water to maintain good health.
Last Week's Answer: The physician
is De la Bonnardiere and the term he coined is "thalassotherapy".This Week's Question: I have been called the flower of the Incas. While I have no known essential oil to speak of and don't even really have a scent, there are millions of bottles containing fragrant liquid bearing my name. It is said that I sprang forth from the limbs of a beautiful Greek water nymph who died of heartbreak when the object of her affections cast his affections toward another. What am I?
Be the first to state my botanical and common names and win a copy of the audio taped Beauty Call™ with public relations expert Katherine Hutt. (To view a description of the tape, click here.)
Please read the contest rules here before submitting your entry. Put "TRIVIA CONTEST ANSWER" in the subject line or your answer will not be considered.
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.
4. Handmade Beauty Product Review: Cleopatra's Desire Bath Brûlée by Bubbles 'N Brews
1 Brûlée
(about 2 ounces) | $4.50As many of you on the east coast know, we have had some scorchers around here lately! Temperatures soared into the 90s a few weeks ago, and when they did, I took full advantage by taking a trip to Annapolis, Maryland for the day with my hubby and little Vanessa Grace (who turned 6 months old yesterday!!). We strolled around some of the bays and inlets and enjoyed sweet, warm breezes and the invigorating aroma of sea air.
As we were driving through one of the narrow cobblestone streets, my handmade toiletries addicted nose sniffed out a little shop called Bubbles 'N Brews. Ever the understanding husband, mine quickly threw on the brakes as I announced we simply had to stop for "a few quick seconds" so I could go in and have a sniff around.
Bubbles & Brews does not have a huge selection of products, but they do have two products that I like a lot. One is a massage bar (which I'll review later this season) and the other is Cleopatra's Desire Bath Brûlée
which I absolutely could not wait to use. This little tart contains the usually fizzy ingredients (citric acid and baking soda), but it also contains a healthy dose of cocoa butter. The sales lady told me to break it in half so I could use it twice. HA!! Not me! I want it all, so I dumped the whole fizzy in the tub. It slowly fizz/melted and began to scent my whole bathing area with fragrance oils of patchouli and orange. I smelled it for 3 more days! My husband thought it was a bit much but I rather liked it and will return again to get some more! As I emerged from the tub, I could feel the benefits of the cocoa butter ... my skin felt soft, smooth and moisturized.Cleopatra's
Desire Bath Brûlée
is neatly packaged in a plastic
cup with a re-sealable lid. I rinsed it out and used it to make some of my own
goodies! You can get Cleopatra's
Desire Bath Brûlée
and
other tasty treats at Bubbles 'N Brews by contacting Laura Shelton at bubbsnbrew@aol.com
or (410) 295-6600 (they don't have a Web site) or by visiting their store in
Annapolis at 47 Maryland Avenue. My series of articles on "Saving Your Business Before It
Starts" continues!
If you missed the prior articles in the series, you'll want to go back and
make sure you get them so you can have the whole set:
Question
No. 1: Do I Have Enough Money?
5.
Create The Life You Love™: Saving Your Business Before It Starts
Question
No. 7: Am I Ready To
Fly??!!
Question
No. 2: Do I Have Enough Stamina?
Question
No. 3: Do I Have Enough Emotional Support?
Question No. 4: Do I Have A
Business Plan?
Question No. 6: Do I Have An Open Mind?
This weeks' question is Am I Ready To Fly??!!
I saved this question for last since it really is the ultimate inquiry. Once you've saved up some money (or borrowed some), have a plan in place, have rallied your emotional support team, are physically fit enough to withstand the demands of small business ownership, have opened your mind and are thinking big, you'll need to be prepared to fly! Are you ready? Are you ready to rise above the mediocre and soar with the eagles, perhaps where no business like yours has ever soared before? Before you answer, perhaps it would be helpful if I provided a backdrop for the question.
1. Being Ready To Fly Means Being A Leader. Business owners who are determined to make a mark are in a constant state of readiness. Like a general leading the troops, they are always prepared to make the tough decisions, and they make no bones about expecting those who work with and for them to fall in line with their vision. For example, if you set up a particular procedure for accomplishing a specific goal for your business, you will sometimes find that not everyone will agree with your particular method of doing things. Yet, you will have to be prepared to follow up your decision with action. This means you may have to weed out those who do not fall in line with you. So, you will not always be popular ... but what leader is? A leader is a navigator. This means that once you have examined all available options, made up your mind and charted a course, you stick with it. Of course, there may be times when, even though you've made up your mind, a person of influence will convince you to change it. But those occurrences should be the exception to the rule. For the most part, as the leader of your business, you will politely listen to others' opinions and then proceed as you have decided. You will receive the accolades if your decision was a good one. Likewise, you will get the "grief" if it turns out badly. Either way, you have to continually rally the troops to move forward in pursuit of your vision. That means making the tough decisions that you feel will take you closer to your goal. If you don't demonstrate your belief in your vision by following your decisions with action, not only will you demonstrate that you don't believe in yourself, you will not inspire others to believe in you either.
2. Being Ready To Fly Means Having Single-Minded Focus. If your business (and you!) are going to fly, you must have the ability to focus on your vision and not be strayed from it. This means, for example, that you will have to cut friends off in friendly phone conversations so you can get back to work. You will have to forego some of your leisure activities in order to accomplish your goals. Keep your eyes on your prize and don't allow anyone to steal the valuable minutes you have in each day to move toward it. My friend, Patricia, taught me the importance of doing this years ago. If I happened to call her to chat during the 2 hours she had set aside to devote to her nutritional supplement buisness, she would politely tell me that she had set aside that time for that particular purpose. She continued to let me know that if my call was urgent, she would take a break, but if not, she would try to catch me after the 2 hours were up. This single-minded focus is what helped her build her business successfully. But she had to risk hurting my feelings to do it. If you're not ready to take the same types of risks ... to make the tough decision to put people and things on the "back burner" so you can accomplish your business goals, you may not be ready to fly.
3. Being Ready To Fly Means Ruling Your Emotions. If you want your business to fly, you will quickly learn to rule your emotions. That is, the "highs" won't take you too high and the "lows" won't take you too low. I call this staying in the "emotional stability zone". You know you're in the emotional stability zone when you refuse to allow your emotions to rule your business day. I remember when I was contacted about writing a book by my first publisher in 1988. I was swinging from the chandeliers, hoping from one end of the house to the other. A few days later (because, unfortunately, that's how long it took me to get back to work!!), I set my sights on following up with a potential new wholesale customer who was interested in carrying my handmade soaps in her shop. Well, she had changed her mind. Down in the dumpster of life I went ... splat!! Those were a few roller coaster days! Today, I remain in the emotional stability zone. I don't get too excited about the good things, and I don't get too out of whack about the bad things. That way, I am better able to deal with the FACTS and am not tossed and turned on the winds of life's everyday occurrences. Sure, I get down, but only for about 5 seconds. And when I'm excited, I always enjoy the moment (usually for a little longer than 5 seconds), but I don't get so carried away that I lose sight of everything else I'm twirling around on my plate(s).
So there you have it ... 7 questions you can ask yourself that could help save your business before it starts. Do you have money, stamina, emotional support, a plan, think big, have an open mind and ARE YOU READY TO FLY!!?? Good luck!!
Next Week: On Being A Mom & A Business Woman ... tips to help you survive both!!
Visit The Handmade Beauty Connection Archives.
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HandmadeBeauty.com: the
leading industry trade organization
MangoButter.com:
over 400 suppliers of raw materials and packaging, updated weekly!
MakeYourCosmetics.com:
ingredient encyclopedia & original cosmetics recipes
DonnaMaria.com:
sound advice for your small business, Create The Life You Love™ Lectures
& Workshops
Handmade Skin
Care.com: secure online shopping for HBN member products!
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Donna Maria, Editor-In-Chief, DonnaMaria@HandmadeBeauty.com
The Handmade Beauty Connection
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