Handmade Beauty Connection
A Publication of The Indie Beauty Network 1. IBN Member Update: Welcome New & Renewing
IBN Members! Handmade
Beauty Recipe of the Week: Spring Fling Flower Blossoms Body Butter
May
29,
2006
ISSN 1530-9630 | Volume 7, Issue 23
To subscribe, click here
2. Handmade Beauty Business Magazine: "It's
Fantastic!!"
3. Lifestyle CEO Report: We're On Holiday Hiatus, But ...
4. Handmade Beauty Trivia Question: win something
wonderful!
5. Feature Article: Love Yourself A Little More Each Day!
6. Handmade Beauty Product Review: St. Pete Beach Soap
7. Here & There: Calendar of Upcoming Events
This week's recipe was submitted by Christine Ziegler of A Little
Ol'Factory, an IBN member since January 2006.
1. IBN Member Update: Welcome New & Renewing IBN Members!
Welcome
Renewing Members!
Parisian's
Pure Indulgence | Kelli Parisian | California
* Parisian's Pure Indulgence takes a different approach to skincare. Our
treatments refine, resurface and rejuvenate the skin with the nutrients
provided by nature.
Wild
Woozle Soap Co. | Daria Ross | Washington
* With inspiration from the rich cultures of the Pacific Rim, Wild Woozle
creates products with a tropical influence. We take traditional ingredients
and fragrances from Tahiti, Hawaii, and around the world and add unique,
modern delivery with a sassy twist. The decadent and delicious smelling
potions combine exotic natural ingredients, aromatherapy benefits, and
creative perfumery to add a little unadulterated bliss to daily necessities.
Pine
Hill Organics | Maryann Alvino and Donna Rocchetti | Kentucky
* Organic and natural handcrafted soaps, sugar and salt scrubs, body butter
and bath tea.
Welcome New Members!
Olive
My Skin | Connecticut
* Handmade soaps and toiletries.
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. Handmade Beauty Business Magazine: It's Fantastic!
I
wish we had room here for all the feedback. Here's what one member said
about the new issue!
"Thank you for the article,
"Beauty Business Blast Off" in Q1-2006 edition of Handmade Beauty
Business. My husband and I are both chemists. I worked in personal care for
one year in R&D as formulator. He worked in personal care for 10 years -
in the QA lab in the plant and in R&D as formulator. We are in start up
phase and want to do things the right way from the start. It has made us a
bit slower in starting but we feel more comfortable this way. We are setting
up to keep good records and retains. I downloaded the "Cosmetic Good
manufacturing Practice Guidelines" from the FDA website (thanks for the
link!). The article is a good summary of the guidelines. I can use both as
checklists." Janet Erio, Tuple, Inc., Joliet, IL
The article Janet is referring to was written by Kayla Fioravanti (co-owner of Essential Wholesale), one of our great contributing editors. Thanks for your feedback Janet! Email yours to me anytime!
Our magazine is sent to all IBN members as a benefit of membership! To join and get yours, click here. If you'd like to subscribe as a non-member, you can do so here!
Work is underway on the 2Q issue -- The Soap Issue -- due out early this summer! As we speak, the photographer is setting up to photograph dozens of soaps for the cover. If you haven't discovered soaps made on a small scale -- mainly handmade cold processed soap -- you're in for a treat. Look forward to Handmade Beauty On Display as only IBN can do it!
A later issue this year will contain the entire IBN member directory, which is included as part of the print magazine once a year. If you are a member, be sure to check your listing information in our Online Member Directory. If anything is incorrect, email me so it can be changed and correct in the magazine.
Please visit our magazine sponsors who make it possible for me to bring you this unique publication!
3. Lifestyle CEO Report: We're On Holiday Hiatus, But ...
\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.
We're on holiday break today, but wherever you are today, thanks to the wonders of technology, you can still enjoy your favorite shows, or check out some that you've missed. Today at 1:00pm EST, we'll have an encore of our show with Bob and Melinda Blanchard, who chatted with me about "living the life you love," named for their book Live What You Love! To listen, log onto Global Talk Radio.com and click on Listen Live.
4. Handmade Beauty Trivia Question: last week's winner was Anya McCoy of Miami Shores, FL. Anya won a bar of delicious handmade soap!
Last Week's Question: Which IBN member is featured in the current issue of the Handmade Beauty Business Magazine as most unlikely to ever open a retail store again, and who has been a member of IBN since June 2000?
Last Week's Answer:
Marge Clark at Nature's Gift, who has been a member of IBN since June 2000.This Week's Question: State the name of the IBN member whose business name is a clever play on the word "homemade." Here are a few hints: they are located in the midwest and their product line is a beautiful collection four products: sugar scrub, soy wax candles, body butter and bath salts.
Be the first to answer and win something delicious!
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. Handmade Beauty Product Review: St. Pete Beach Handmade Soap
St.
Pete Beach Handmade Soap
4 oz. | $6.00 or 4-pack for $22
Beau Savon has got it going on! You may know them as Wheaton Soapworks, but due to a recent name change, Beau Savon has emerged. There are many great things to say about their soaps. First of all, made by hand from scratch is a plus. Then there's the beautiful wrapping. Each soap is neatly wrapped in a sleeve and then placed into a crispy clear cello bag and topped with a pretty bow. It makes a very nice presentation. Then, when you open the package and get to sniff, the experience continues. I sniffed St. Pete Beach and Champagne Swizzle. I've only had a chance to try St. Pete Beach so far and I'm glad I chose it first because my kids of love sunny orange scent.
According to the Beau Savon website, the soap is named for St Pete Beach, in which there is a community called "Pass-A-Grille". Supposedly a green "pouf" is visible in the sky right at sunset. Beau Savon has captured it beautifully in this bar of golden sun, neatly swirled with streaks of orange, red and of course a green "pouf" or two. My kids love it especially because it turns the bath water yellow, thanks to a dose of colorant. A generous amount of olive oil and castor oil make it smooth for the skin.
You can buy St. Pete Beach, Champage Swizzle and tons of other bars for your own personal use or for resale in your store at Beau Savon.
6. Feature Article: Love Yourself A Little More Each Day!
by Annette Esterheld
Oshuntaye Brown is a very new
member to the Indie Beauty Network family having just joined in March
2006. She brings to the handmade beauty family not only her unique self, but
also a very unique company, Sankofa
Soaps. Taye (as she is called) is a
dancer, born and raised in New Orleans, who left there when she was hired as
a full time artist/dancer with a dance company in Chicago, Illinois. She is
married and a proud wife to Malki Che Brown and loving mother to Mike
(pronounced mee-kay), age 6, and Titilayo, age 3.
Though her family moved to New Orleans for a short time, and Sankofa Soaps began threr there, Hurricane Katrina and its devastation required that they move so they are now living again in Chicago. Taye balances being a wife and mother with life as a dancer with the Muntu Dance Company of Chicago, one of the country's premiere art institutions specializing in authentic and progressive interpretations of African and African-American dance, music and folklore. She is also an instructor there, where she teaches both contemporary and ancient African and African American dance. As if that were not enough, she is working toward a Masters Degree at DePaul University and runs her business Sankofa Soaps. Wow!
“I know it’s crazy,” says Taye, “it’s also hard, but all of my works are labors of love.”
She also says she has the full support of “the greatest husband in the world, who also has a flexible schedule as a real estate agent.” “We communicate often to make sure nothing falls through the cracks and we’ve got everything covered,” she says. “I juggle it all by getting up early and staying up late, except on Sundays, when my family knows Mom sleeps in.”Muntu means “essence of humanity” in Bantu, and in her soap business Taye says she combines traditional wisdom with a contemporary vision that encourages you to “love yourself a little more each day.” And isn’t that also part of the essence of humanity? Sankofa soaps is a nature based company, she says, one rooted in the belief that “nature nourishes best.” So saying, she uses the most natural ingredients and believes strongly in the philosophy of positive plant power.
Always a Dancer, Now a Soapmaker
Before I tell you about some of her outstanding, unique products, let me tell you how Sankofa soaps began. “The company started accidentally,” Taye says. “I was part of a mail order book club and after reviewing the selections I bought three books, one of which was a soapmaking book. Taye says she read the book, thought soapmaking sounded easy enough and decided to try it. “I was surprised when it worked, amazed that I could do something so useful,” she says, “and I was hooked!”
She wanted to make more soap and more soap and after awhile she started giving it to friends and family members who not only affirmed Taye, but they loved the soap and encouraged her to start the business. All of her family members support her business by shopping with her, promoting her company and bringing her new customers. Her husband, a realtor, buys a Sankofa gift basket for each person who buys a home from him.
She helped finance her company when she qualified for a matching grant, which was an incredible boost for her company. “While in New Orleans, I wanted to sharpen my business skills, so I took an entrepreneur and financial literacy course at an amazing organization called The Good Work Network that works with women and minority entrepreneurs,” says Taye. She adds that when she finished the course, she qualified for this matching funds grant where she contributed $1,000 and they matched it with $4,000. “It was an incredible boost for my company,” she says. Taye is now on the board of The Good Works Network and still a client with them.
Signature Scents
Taye has three signature scents – Yummy, Serenity and Enchantment, all lovely-sounding names. I like the sound of the peppermint scrub and I can almost feel my feet tingle just thinking of her rosemary mint foot balm. Or how about a facial tea that “feeds your face” or body oil or mist called “Enchantment.” She says her best sellers are her soaps--Honey and Almond, Cinnameal, Cucumber Citrus, Aloe and Calendula and a scentless soap called Canela de Velho made with an assortment of Brazilian herbs.”
Personally Taye says she couldn’t make it through the day without some of her very own products. “My staples are the Almond and Honey soap and butter, Enchantment and Serenity body oil, healthy hair oil and facial steaming tea,” says Taye. She feels her business is quite unique not only because of the high quality products, but her attention to customer service. “We really go out of the way to let our customers know that we appreciate them,” says Taye. “Our customers are an essential part of product development because I listen to them and respond with the products they ask for.”
Thorns and Roses
Just like all businesses Taye’s has its share of both thorns and roses. The major thorns are those dreaded but oh so necessary record keeping and administrative tasks. And the roses? Taye says definitely the positive feedback she gets from customers who tell her how well Sankofa products work for them.
“I am especially pleased by the comments I get from those with eczema, psoriasis and sensitive skin,” she says. “I realy get a sense of fulfillment working in my business. I feel this is one of the things I’ve come to the planet to do.” Mommying her two kids is another reason she’s on the planet. And then there’s the dancing. “Once a dancer always a dancer. It’s a mind set!” says Taye.
Love to IBN
“Working with IBN has been great for my business as far as networking opportunities and increasing my company’s visibility,” she says. Taye believes we’re all stronger by being together rather than apart. For her, IBN is a one-stop shop for information and resources.
Retail and E-commerce
“Stabilizing my company and moving into a small retail and production space is my current business plan, Taye says. She firmly believes that using good natural products is like “loving yourself a little more each day” and that’s her company motto. With the opening of the retail store and expansion of her e-commerce business, Taye hopes more people will share her philosophy of “loving yourself a little more each day.”
For now, you can order her products by email or phone at her website.
7. Here & There: Calendar of Upcoming IBN Sponsored Events
As always, there's a lot going on at IBN, and our members are very busy. I'll be including this chart in upcoming issues so everyone can stay abreast of the happening here at IBN!
| Date | Event | Location & Registration |
| May 15, 2006 | 1Q 2006 Handmade Beauty Business Magazine mailings begin | Your mailbox! |
| June 30, 2006 | IBN Live! (This call was postponed last week due to the holiday weekend!) | Monthly conference call; free for members |
| May 31, 2006 | Lifestyle CEO Lecture, Q&A and Book Signing | Mocha Moms of Silver Spring, MD. Free, but advance registration is required. To register, email Toni. |
| July 15, 2006 | IBN's Business Growth Conference | Secaucus New Jersey; Register |
| September 23, 2006 | Lifestyle CEO Workshop :: For Entrepreneurs in the Natural Aromatics Industry, with dM and Natural Aromatics Expert Rosanne Tartaro of SunRose Aromatics | SunRose Aromatics, New York; registration to be announced |
| October 13-14, 2006 | Two Days With dM and Lisa Price of Carol's Daughter | The Open Center, New York; registration to be announced |
| February 2007 | The Lifestyle CEO Conference (pictures from 2006 conference) | Washington, DC, registration to be announced |
Best & Success!!
Donna Maria
Editor, The Handmade Beauty Connection
The Indie Beauty Network | www.handmadebeauty.com
Copyright (c) 2000 - 2006 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.
