Handmade Beauty Connection A Publication of The Handmade Beauty Network
March
15, 2004
ISSN 1530-9630 | Vol. 5, Issue 11
To subscribe, click here.
-->This Week's Sponsor <--
 Baby BouquetTM Natural Skin Care for Babies Natural skin care for babies and young children 10% off any Retail order! Just enter coupon code BBHMB10 under Specific Merchant Instructions at Checkout (Does not include shipping. Valid thru 3/31/04) Baby BouquetTM Wholesale Orders |
: Welcome New & Renewing HBN Members!
2. Unleash The Power Of Your Beauty Business at dM's Beauty Business Boot Camp!
3. Handmade Beauty Recipe Of The Week: Peppermint Cucumber Whipped Body Cream
4. Beauty & The Business Trivia Question: win some unusual base oil
5. The Lifestyle CEO™: Are You Or Aren't You? That Is The Question! Part 3
6. The Big Beauty Breakdown: The Body Shop's Coconut Body Butter
7. Handmade Beauty Product Review: Suite Of Products From HBN Member Baby Bouquet
1. HBN Update: Welcome New & Renewing HBN Members!
Mint Meadows |
Theresa Billy | New York
* renewing member; goat milk soaps and herbal sundries made on
the farm; wholesale/retail
Provincetown
SoapWorks | Lynne Davies | Massachusetts
* renewing member; bath
and body products blended & packaged by hand; soaps stamped with a view
of the harbor
Dragonfly
Soaps | Jacquelyn A. Barth | Pennsylvania
* renewing member; products that are kind to your skin and to the environment
Lush | Canada
* fresh handmade cosmetics
Healing Angel
Therapies | Lakenda Wallace | California
* aromatherapy / flower essence blends to promote mental, emotional & spiritual healing
Dreamers Candles |
Maryann Darr | Texas
* bath oils, body scrubs, and
soon, soaps and body and hand creams
Aromaceuticals | Katharine
Koeppen | Texas
* superior quality essential
oils from the most reputable distillers in the market
Garden of Wisdom | Markey
Martin | Arizona 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. 1. Branding Your Business: How To
Maximize A Key Competitive Advantage
* raw materials and supplies to
make your cosmetics
2. Unleash The Power Of Your Beauty Business at dM's Beauty Business
Boot Camp!
I'm delivering a high energy, informative series of workshops
designed to help you Unleash The Power Of Your Beauty Business!!
2. Using An Email Newsletter To Promote, Market & Grow Your
Business
3. How To Get Inexpensive Media Attention For Your Business
Only $1
80 for all 4 information packed workshops, held March 27, 2004. Includes valuable networking opportunities! Don't miss this chance to benefit from business growth tips and camaraderie with fellow entrepreneurs!Early Bird Registration closes Friday,
February 20 and will not be available at the door!
HBN Members Enjoy Discount!!
Spaces are limited so sign up early to reserve your spot! Sponsored by Kim Lutz Isenhour of Lutzy's Lather! To register, click here or email Kim at LutzysLather@msn.com or (717) 226-1530.
Register online, by phone or by email!3. Handmade Beauty Recipe Of The Week: Peppermint Cucumber Whipped Body Cream
Peppermint Cucumber Whipped Body Cream is
a hard working cream for hands, body and all rough areas. Massage it
liberally into hard working hands and feet.
When you visit MakeYourCosmetics.com, it's easy to buy the ingredients you need by clicking on our Selected Supplier links:
Essential
Wholesale: pure essential oils, over 200 cosmetic bases, hundreds
of carrier/fixed oils such as meadowfoam, cranberry, jojoba and shea
butter plus a new Short Run Private Labeling Program!
Bramble
Berry, Inc.: over 105 different fragrance
and essential oils (including their exclusive "Energy" and
"Relaxing"), 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 pre-tested in cold process, melt & pour soap, and candles, and test results are listed at the Web site. Scents tested by soapers for soapers!
From Nature With Love: over 1,600 ingredients and supplies, including cosmetic ingredients, spa supplies, bath accessories and packaging supplies!
4. Beauty & The Business Trivia Question: the winner of last week's contest was Lara Omaljev of Venice, CA. Lara won some delicious essential oil from my private stock!
Last Week's Question: I founded the California Perfume Company in the late 1800's, and sold the Little Dot Perfume set including these fragrances: violet, white rose, heliotrope, lily of the valley and hyacinth. I could never have imagined that my small New York company would, after generations of transition, become one of the largest and most successful cosmetics companies in the world with $6.8 billion in net sales in 2003.
Last Week's Answer: David H. McConnell
This Week's Question: I am an oil which is produced in large quantities in the US, especially in California, one of the largest producers in the world of the nut from which I am extracted. I am rich in fatty acids that moisturize and soften the skin. I am a member of the same botanical family as the cashew and the mango and an extremely high investment of resources and land is required in order to cultivate the nut from which I come. A grower has to wait at least 7 years to see a return on the initial planting investment! What am I?
Be the first to correctly answer this week's question and win some of the exotic oil that is the answer to this week's question!
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's name will be announced in the next newsletter!
5. The Lifestyle
CEO*™: Are You Or Aren't You? That Is The Question!
\Life.Style
CEO\n. A person who owns and manages a business, not
solely for financial gain, but also to enjoy the personal rewards of
entrepreneurship, independence, flexibility and fun.
This series takes a look at the qualities that seem most useful and prevalent in successful Lifestyle CEOs. If you missed the previous two installments, you can view them here:
1.
Flexibility
2.
Supportive Family Members & Friends
This week, we take a look at the role of energy and stamina, and the most
successful and happy Lifestyle CEOs have a lot of it! And why do they need so
much energy and stamina? Because while owning your own business may be fun and
rewarding, it's also a lot of plain old fashioned hard work!
Stamina has been defined as enduring
strength and energy and you need lots of it to prosper in business. To have
be a
successful Lifestyle CEO, you have to work smart of course. But there's no way around it:
you have to also work hard. And to work hard, you have to have
stamina. So this question, and the answer to it, will tell you a lot about
whether you are destined for success as a
Lifestyle CEO.
How many of you can testify to the fact that owning your own
business rivals running an Olympic marathon in terms of the energy and stamina
needed to make it work??!!! (I see all of those cyber-hands going up!!) A high
energy level is an essential characteristic of a successful small business
owner. Our businesses often take on our personal characteristics. Some people
are naturally high energy so their businesses will be naturally high energy.
Others have to work harder than others at maintaining the level of enthusiasm
necessary to stick out their venture. If you have a high energy level, more
power to you! You will probably have relatively few problems harnessing the kind
of stamina needed to make your enterprise a success.
But if you are not naturally high energy, adding a small business
to an already full life may be difficult for you. I am a naturally high energy
person which allows me to tackle most tasks with vigor and see them through to
the end. But even with my high energy level and enthusiasm for the topic of
small business ownership, it is still difficult sometimes to squeeze it all in. I cannot
count the number of times I find myself working at 2:00 in the morning just
before or after a breast feeding, and then making my way to the kitchen to wash
dishes because I couldn't get to it right after dinner! In fact, as I write
this, it's 3:55am. Whew!! I'm tired again just thinking about it.
Of course exercise and eating healthfully are not only keys to
business success, but are often also keys to long life. In addition to those,
here are a few of the things that can help anyone maintain a high energy level.
1. Take At Least One Day Off A Week. Don't
panic! I don't mean a workday! As
I write this article, it is the wee hours of a Monday morning and one of the
reasons I feel capable of tackling it is because I took all of Sunday (and most
of Saturday) off. I visited with a friend from out of town Sunday morning (Hi
Kia!!),
visited my parents in the early afternoon and then returned home to fix dinner
for my cousin and her new husband. While I admit to thinking about things I
would have to do in the office a few times throughout the day, I was not preoccupied by them -- they
weren't going anywhere after all! I was pooped at the end of the day,
maybe even more pooped than I would have been had I spent the day in my office.
But freeing my mind from the cares of business allowed me the time away from it
that I needed to refresh my soul with other things in life that matter. I am the
first to admit that it is usually tough for me to pull myself away from my
office for an entire day, but when I do, I feel revived and refreshed when I
return. Investing energy in people and things that will long outlast any
business venture restores my spirit and helps me begin my work week with renewed
vigor and enthusiasm. Sunday may not be the best day for you to stay away
from work, but whatever the day, try to find it in the week so that you can rest
from business work and concentrate on those things that matter most in
your life.
2. Take At Least One Warm & Reviving Bath A Week.
Last week was a banner week because I got to enjoy not 1, not 2 but 3 baths.
While I was interrupted a time or two to nurse a cranky baby, I still enjoyed
those baths! Not too many Sundays go by when I don't light some candles and take a warm
bath and I did this last night. But having a week where I get to have 3 is a
miracle -- and one of which I took full advantage. Deep
breathing, softened light and scented water were the only things I allow myself
to contemplate as the cares of the week before dissolve and then go down the
drain. While the bath doesn't make the cares go away forever, it does allow me
to temporarily forget about them so that they don't seem so overwhelming when I
sit down to deal with them on Monday morning. Taking a weekly bath reminds me
that I don't always have to be "doing something," and I can simply
enjoy "being." And once I take the time to run the water and add a few
essential oils or scented treats (a favorite is my Lavender Bath Syrup which
you can get the recipe for at www.MakeYourCosmetics.com),
I don't want to do anything, and this provides me with renewed stamina I need to
do "everything" on Monday!
3. Spend Special Times With Good Friends.
On a monthly basis, I try to schedule some time with a friend or two. We may
enjoy a spa treatment, a brisk walk, some shopping, coffee and a bagel (Karen,
are you there??!), a movie, a fun lunch or just time sitting on the floor in the
family room talking. Whatever we choose to do, taking the time to nourish the
satisfying personal relationships in my life gives me cherished time away from
business. When I return to it, I feel a renewed sense of purpose, meaning and
excitement and am prepared to roll up my sleeves once again.
So be sure to ask yourself if you have the stamina demanded by small business ownership, and remember that taking continuous steps to renew your energy level will not only be good for your business, but also good for your health!!
*The Lifestyle CEO column was formerly known as "Create The Life You Love."
6. The Big Beauty Breakdown: The Body Shop's Coconut Body Butter
Coconut Body Butter is a great last word in dry
skin pampering. Not only does it feel great going onto my skin but it's super
rich and nourishing without being too greasy. It contains coconut oil and shea
butter, along with other ingredients designed to moisturize without leaving me
slippery, plus a decadent chocolate/caramel/vanilla/coconut scent that is to die
for! (Can I spread this on top of a sheet cake?) I can use this product on my
hands and pick up a piece of paper right away without worrying about greasy
fingerprints. The Body Shop has several body butters in their line, including
Shea Body Butter (which smells like almonds!), Blueberry, Mango, Olive and
Sesame.
For the Big Beauty Breakdown, HBN members click here.
7. Handmade Beauty Product Review: Suite Of Products From HBN Member Baby Bouquet
This week, I'm pleased to review a suite of products from HBN member Baby Bouquet. Not only do the labels remind me that the products are clinically and allergy tested, and dermatologist reviewed, but I just love the logo of the little babies playing around in flowers like they don't have a care in the world -- which I guess they don't. After all, it's mommy and daddy, and of course these wonderful products, that do all the real work! If I owned a gift shop that catered at all to new moms or people looking to treat them, I'd have to carry this line. One look at those cute little flower babies on the label and I'm trying to figure out who I know with a baby so I can buy some and give it to them!! All products reviewed below (except the diaper balm) come in Vanilla Coriander and Orange Lavender. I like them both, but Vanilla Coriander is my favorite!
Gentle Baby Shampoo and Body Wash
7 ounces | $18.00
For bath time, Gentle Baby Shampoo and Body Wash is great not just for my kids but also for me. It comes in a convenient foamy pump bottle so my daughter (age 2) has fun learning how to bathe herself. "I want fluffy soap mommy!" It's a very mild product made with aloe and oats, creating a gentle medium for cleaning hair and body. When it's not in the bath tub, it's in my own shower stall or at some sink or other in the house standing ready to wash someone's hands quickly and conveniently. You all know how much I love my handmade bar soap, but with kids, convenience and fun is key so I like to use this instead to wash everyone's hands after potty time.
Comforting Baby Massage Balm
5.5 ounces | $22.00
This product is my favorite in the line, not only because of the product (which is
wonderful), but also because my son (5 months) loves it being used on him. He
is a boy in every sense of the word, relishing any opportunity to have his mom
(or anyone else for that matter) massage his skin to a smooth baby soft glow. Made with sunflower seed oil, shea
butter and avocado butter, Comforting Baby Massage Balm
is thick, rich and buttery without being terribly
greasy. Most importantly it allows me to glide my hands effortlessly across
chubby thighs, a round belly and cute little fat feet. (Anyone got some
ketchup and a hot dog bun??!) I try using it on my 2-year old now and then, but
she can't seem to sit still long enough to enjoy it these days!
Soothing Baby Diaper Balm
2.5 ounces | $18.00
Soothing Baby Diaper Balm comes in especially handy for me since my
2-year old daughter is not quite
where I'd like her to be in the potty department. I therefore use it on both
kids, plus spread a generous amount of whatever's left on my hands on some rough
spot or another. It's effective without being heavy.
Creamy
Baby Lotion
8 ounces | $20.00
Last but not least, although it's a "baby lotion," after I'm done bathing, massaging and diapering, I'm ready for myself so Creamy Baby Lotion has become mommy's treat! Again, my favorite is the Vanilla Coriander aroma and I really like it for soothing my skin and soul after a few hours of all of the above. (Bring me a pillow -- and some of that Sleep Easy Pillow Mist I reviewed in the February 23rd issue!)
You can get your own collection of these goodies,
plus some Baby Eczema & Cradle Cap Oil (which I have not tried yet) at Baby
Bouquet. Visit our suite of Web sites serving the handmade toiletries
industry: © Copyright 2000-2004 Donna Maria and affiliates. All Rights Reserved. Click here for important legal information.
Visit The Handmade Beauty Connection Archives.
HandmadeBeauty.com: the
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MangoButter.com:
450+ 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™
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new customers."
Donna Maria, Publisher & Editor-In-Chief, DonnaMaria@HandmadeBeauty.com
The Handmade Beauty Connection
The Handmade Beauty Network | www.HandmadeBeauty.com
