Handmade Beauty Connection A Publication of The Indie Beauty Network
1. IBN
Update: Welcome New
& Renewing IBN Members!!
April
25,
2005
ISSN 1530-9630 | Vol. 6, Issue 17
To subscribe, click here.
2.
Feature Article: Life's Messy, Clean It Up: A Spring Cleaning Montage!
3.
Handmade Beauty Recipe Of The Week:
All Natural
Disinfectant (Non-Wood) Surface Cleaner
4.
Beauty & The Business
Trivia
Question: win some
milk bath!
6. Big Beauty
Breakdown: Tutti Dolci Moisturizing Soufflé by Bath & Body Works
1.
IBN
Update: Welcome New
& Renewing IBN Members!!
Renewing Members!
Designs
by ONE | Jay Ento | California
* soaps, facial cleansers,
bath salts and body scrubs and body butter
Natural
Selection Bath and Body | Jean Vavra | California
* handmade soap made with
silk fibers, plus lotions, lip balm, bath salts and salt scrub
Samara
Botane | Marcia Elston | Washington
* importers of organic and
wild crafted essential oils, and manufacturers of innovative natural skin
and body care products
Anchor
Bay Bath Works | Jenafer Simpson | California
* botanical soaps, salves,
bath & body oils, bath salts, bath teas and lotions
New Members!
Patti's
Prisms & Potions | Patti Eder | Wisconsin
* soaps made from natural, food grade
ingredients like oils of olive and coconut, and goat milk, shea butter,
cocoa butter, hemp oil, and other exotic oils
Zoet
Bathlatier | Ilka Evans | Colorado
* cane sugar body polish,
bath teas and bath truffles and more
EcoBotanica
| Guru Darshan K. Wilson | New Mexico
* creams and
lotions deliciously blended from select ingredients to delight your senses
and nurture yourself
IBN Members On The Move!
Learn more about our members and their exciting activities by visiting their Web sites through IBN'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. Feature Article: Life's Messy, Clean It Up: A Spring Cleaning Montage!
Earlier
this month, I was moaning about how slowly my spring cleaning was coming
along. I asked readers to send me their spring cleaning tips and
recipes. If you think the topic of spring cleaning has nothing to
do with the beauty business, and therefore has no place in this newsletter,
you'd be wrong. I know this because of the large volume of email I got from
you dear readers on the topic. Members and non-members, beauty business
manufacturers and hobbyists all have at least one thing in common: as you
run your busy businesses and lives, you are
either in the midst of spring cleaning, have hired someone else to do your
spring cleaning or you are thinking about doing spring cleaning. Surely you fall
into one of those categories this time of year!?! In response to my moans
and groans,
I received a Spring Cleaning Montage, and a few recipes, and I now share
some of both with you.
IBN member Christine Tafuri of Body Wisdom West suggests starting by committing just 10 minutes a day to the process. For Christine, not only does she get a lot done in 10 minutes, but she finds that she's so pleased with herself after just 10 minutes that she continues on to get eve more accomplished. She recommends a book called, "I Used To Have A Handle On Life, But It Broke" by Mary LoVerde. In it, the author discusses taking "micro-actions" as a way to start anything when you are experiencing resistance.
Reader Melody Myers suggested a similar approach by breaking big tasks into several smaller tasks. This minimizes the feeling of being overwhelmed and results in instant gratification -- which is nice to get in any form whenever you can! That way, I do not get overwhelmed, and I get instant gratification. Instead of setting out to clean an entire room at one time, Melody does parts of a room at a time. For example, she starts with her bedroom windows, cleaning the area above the molding first. That way when dust starts to fall, it will not be on an area that has already been cleaned. Then she sprays the entire window with window cleaner and uses newspaper instead of papers towels to shine them up. Next, she removes all bed linen (she tries to do this in the morning so that she can flip and air out the mattress before adding fresh linen. She sprays the mattress with air freshener, wipes down the baseboards and then vacuums the floor thoroughly. By tackling each area one at a time, Melody's finished before she knows it!
My favorite cleaning tip comes from IBN member Kathleen Vosburgh of Fairies Kiss. Kathleen says, "Do what I do dear! Hire a cleaning service for a detail cleaning!" Kathleen says it’s worth the extra money and gets you all caught up! "Then if you can drop the coin on a weekly, bi-weekly or even a monthly cleaning, it sure adds hours to your day and more quality time to your life!" (Now why didn't I think of that??!)
IBN member Lynne Norder of Highlands Ranch, Colorado, suggests using only homemade cleaners that are made from (generally) safe ingredients. For example, instead of cleaning her sinks with commercial powder cleaners which can be abrasive, she uses baking soda with essential oil of lavender and/or tea tree added. She stores it in a recycled plastic parmesan cheese container and keeps it under each sink. When she's brushing her teech or waiting for her curling iron to heat up, she sprinkles a bit in the sink and polishes away. When she gets some on her hands, it's OK because it's entirely natural and smells good also. Lynne says her sinks "stay clean" using this simple process.
In addition to Lynne's simple recipe, you can find a few more recipes submitted by IBN member Carol Ochs of Simply Soap at IBN's Sister Site here. Click on "Natural Homekeeping."
After all of these great suggestions, I hope you are as inspired to use some "micro-actions" of my own to clean my house!!
3. Handmade Beauty Recipe Of The Week: All Natural Disinfectant (Non-Wood) Surface Cleaner
All
Natural Disinfectant (Non-Wood) Surface Cleaner is a great all natural
way to clean any non-wood surface, making is sparkly clean, fresh and
fragrant.
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 Lacy Paap of Bend, Oregon. Lacy won some lavender soap!
Last Week's Question:
To make soap at home, you need to gather some equipment in advance. In addition to pots, pans, spoons and a soap mold, you'll need some safety equipment: gloves for your hands and forearms, a face mask for your nose and these to protect your eyes.Last Week's Answer: Goggles
This Week's Question: A non-profit organization seeks to prevent poisonings from household cleaners and other toxic substances, especially as it concerns accidental ingestion by toddlers and young children. The organization's members span the country and serve geographical regions by providing various prevention services including a toll free number that you can call anytime for telephone guidance in the event of poisoning emergencies. This number, (800) 222-1222, can be posted conspicuously in each room where there are poisonous substances, especially if there are any people in the house who are vulnerable to accidental poisoning for whatever reason. To win this week, state the name of the non-profit organization.
Be the first to correctly answer this week's questions and win some milk bath!
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!
6.
Big Beauty Breakdown: Tutti Dolci Moisturizing Soufflé by Bath & Body Works
I'm
sitting at my desk minding my own business. The only reason I have a jar
of Tutti Dolci Moisturizing Soufflé by Bath & Body Works beside me is
because I need to review it for this column and the information about it
shared with members at IBN's website. The problem is that it triggers my
sweet tooth so I'm also sitting next to a delicious slice of breakfast
muffin. The power of smell is clear in this case, and the cosmetics
industry is following its trail all the way to the bank. Have you
considered adding "comfort food" or "sweets" products
to your lines? If not, there seems to be no better time than the present.
This
product smells just like the batter from the pound cake my mom used to tease me with as a child. Do you remember licking the
bowl? Or like me, begging to lick the bowl?! Tutti Dolci Moisturizing Soufflé is comfort body food for anyone who, like me,
fondly remembers those days. The texture is rich and creamy -- like dipping my fingers into a
spread-able cloud. For IBN members who want the marketing details and ingredients for this
Lemon Meringue scented treat, plus several other big beauty treats, you
can get your inspiration for your next line of products here.
(Members, remember to enter your username and password for access.)
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:
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™
Have your ad seen by nearly 5,000 subscribers! ! Click here to see why Essential Wholesale says that the returns from their newsletter ad "just keep on coming," and why The Scent Shack says, "Our sponsorship of The Handmade Beauty Connection went over very well, we had a huge number of hits on the day the newsletter was published, plus we got quite a few new customers."
Donna Maria, Publisher & Editor-In-Chief, DonnaMaria@HandmadeBeauty.com
The Handmade Beauty Connection
The Indie Beauty Network | www.HandmadeBeauty.com
Copyright (c) 2000 - 2005 by The Indie Beauty Network (IBN) and Donna Maria. All Rights Reserved. Unauthorized distribution or reproduction is prohibited. IBN does not necessarily endorse any product, event or ideology featured in The Handmade Beauty Connection (HBC) or on IBN's website. All information is provided on an "as is" basis and no express or implied warranties are given. Any use of the information contained in the HBC or on IBN's Web site, including Recipes, is solely at your own risk. IBN and Donna Maria disclaim any liability in connection with the use of all recipes, products reviewed and other information. Except for sponsorships, HBC refuses compensation from companies to feature or mention their names or products. Opinions expressed in any Product Review are personally those of the reviewer and do not represent the views of IBN, Donna Maria (unless she is the reviewer) or any other person or company.
