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How To Blog With Us!
We currently allow for the posting of comments on the blog. Under each item, you'll see the word "Comments." To post a public comment about that news item, ask a question, or just see what other people have said, click on "Comments."
In the future we'll be introducing "guest bloggers" (like industry experts and customer commenters) who will be posting news items, and other fun things.
As HBN's founder and president, I'm excited about this new communications medium, which will make information about HBN and its members even more fun and accessible to the public. I hope that this blog will be a fantastic complement to HBN's comprehensive industry communications program which includes our suite of websites serving the industry (HandmadeBeauty.com, MakeYourCosmetics.com, MangoButter.com), the Handmade Beauty Connection Online Newsletter, the Handmade Beauty Business Magazine, the Handmade Beauty Business Of The Year, members only opportunities and updates and others. Check back frequently for the latest Handmade Beauty Buzz!
Best & Success!
dM (Donna Maria)
HBN Founder & President
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Thursday, August 11, 2005
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Handmade Beauty Brief: The Bored & The Restless
An article in yesterday's Washington Post tells the story of countless professionals dragging themselves into a relentlessly boring office every morning to face another day of being paid handsomely (often with taxpayer money, but that's another story) to do nothing. Instead of challenging their minds, implementing new policies and executing corporate goals, they are asked to do nothing. This leaves them with little alternative but to meet up with friends for an afternoon watching the latest box office smash.
According to the article, 55% of the American workforce is bored stiff at work. They are unchallenged and have nothing to do at the office. Sound familiar? I used to be there, and so did hundreds of other HBN members. So what's the answer for these legions of bored, listless and tired masses? Make some perfume! Make some lip balm. Instead of sitting in a dark movie theater, go to your nearest health food store and get some essential oil and cornstarch and make yourself some aromatic baby powder.
If beauty is not your thing, do something else. Don't wait for society to give you a challenge. Go out and make one on your own. What do you have to lose? Is a pay check worth giving up your God-given talents and gifts and living a flat, dull and boring life? I think not! Sewing, knitting, scrapbooking, photography, cooking, matchmaking and of course soap making. I personally know people who have started businesses from these hobbies. I am one of them and so is just about every other member of the Handmade Beauty Network! Do something to challenge your mind instead of wasting days in the clutches of mind numbing flatness. Like thousands in the handmade beauty community around the world, you just might find yourself starting your own business someday!
posted by dM @ 11:39 AM
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Tuesday, August 09, 2005
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Handmade Beauty Bite: More Than A Hill Of Beans
I usually drink at least a quart of water before I consume anything else in the morning, but I admit to feeling a bit out of sorts until I have my Joe. I'm not alone. You can hardly walk or drive a mile in any direction without being tempted by the aroma of fresh beans and brew. The specialty coffee market is hot, hot hot -- and it's creating new business opportunities for companies from all business sectors. Even Anheuser-Busch has gotten into the act, yesterday launching "Tilt," a coffee-infused beer.
When I included a coffee scrub in my book, "Making Aromatherapy Creams & Lotions" back in 2000, there were few (if any) coffee cosmetics on the market. Today, the numbers are growing with natural and synthetic coffee scents being combined with ground coffee beans, sugar and cocoa butter to create everything from coffee house inspired soaps and lotions to body scrubs and facial toners. I can testify to the fact that ground coffee beans are a great exfoliant, though I can only use them on my feet because they are a bit abrasive for the rest of my body. Some companies claim that it may help reduce the appearance of cellulite and neutralize free radicals.
Looking for a fun ingredient to add to your line? Coffee may be it. Just a little Handmade Beauty Bite to ponder over your morning brew.
posted by dM @ 10:09 AM
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Monday, August 08, 2005
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Handmade Beauty Brief: Another New Face For Beauty
Last night, I watched some of Mo'Nique's F.A.T. Chance, a beauty pageant for full-figured women that aired on Oxygen . (F.A.T. stands for Fabulous And Thick.) For those who don't know, Mo'Nique Imes-Jackson, the pageant's executive producer, is the outspoken full-figured woman who stars in "The Parkers". While I believe that show has been cancelled, Mo'Nique has moved on to fulfill her lifelong dream of changing the world by showing that full-figured women can be beautiful, talented, smart and all around wonderful.
Mo'Nique and I have a few things in common. Like me, Mo'Nique once worked for MCI, the ill-fated corporate wrongdoer whose former CEO was sentenced to 25 years in jail for helping to mastermind the largest corporate fraud in United States history. Also like me, Mo'Nique quit her job at MCI several years ago to pursue her dreams. Like me, she's a big girl, and she's also from Maryland where I now live.
While it can't hurt to have basketball superstar Shaquille O'Neal as a pageant judge, only time will tell whether Mo'Nique's F.A.T. Chance will be a hit. Some people might view it as a tasteless attempt to exchange advertising dollars for the tears of large women who have been undervalued and ridiculed all their lives. I'll be the first to admit that I've seen enough beauty pageants in my day, but at a time when the average American woman is a size 14, we can all use a break from the skinny and sometimes emaciated images coveted by Hollywood and New York fashion moguls. Unlike any pageant I've ever seen, this one paid more than lip service to the notion that we all deserve to be valued for who were are. The prizes were also substantial, including $50,000 in cash, a fashion shoot with Just My Size (Mo'Nique is the new spokesperson) and a spread in a not-yet-named women's magazine. Not too shabby!
Unilever's recently launched Campaign For Real Beauty ads have drawn praise from the advertising community and women's groups because they advertise products using "real women with real curves." People who make handmade cosmetics have been making this point for years. That is, mass marketed, cookie cutter products do not take into account the individual characteristics of the people who use them. Handmade products are created by people who can often customize products to meet a customer's unique characteristics and tastes, including fragrance preferences, skin type, product color, texture and more.
Like Mo'Nique, they fill a niche that is underserved and undervalued in the larger consumer community. They are changing the face of beauty, one tube of lip balm and one bar of soap at a time, and if you haven't already seen them, they are coming soon to a store near you!
posted by dM @ 8:22 PM
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Handmade Beauty Brief: Bye-Bye Mass Market Custom Beauty
On June 30, 2005, Procter & Gamble quietly pulled the plug on it's "customize your own beauty products" site, Reflect.com. Launched in 1999, Reflect.com allowed women to customize and order makeup, lotions, perfumes, etc. using online software that allowed choices based on skin type, hair color, scent preferences, lifestyle and more.
A spokeswoman for the venture called the site a "learning experience." I always wondered how long it would last and how committed P&G was to customizing products when it is so much easier and less expensive to build the brands they have without having to worry about individual consumer needs. Frankly, I think it was probably used largely for market research. After 5 years of receiving women's special product requests, I'm sure they had a wealth of information to help launch new products for years to come. I never ordered a Reflect.com product but I did set up a profile and followed the order process to checkout a few times before deciding against a purchase. From what I experienced, it seemed that the products must have been pre-made, with slight changes made to accommodate individual preferences for things like scent, color and packaging.
Not that there's anything wrong with that ...
But still, it's good to know that there are a group of companies serving the industry, many of whom will in fact customize your product from the ground up. So if the real customized beauty experience is what you're after, here are some places to get it:
For more options, visit HBN's Online Member Directory.
posted by dM @ 3:58 PM
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Handmade Beauty Brief: HBN's Blog Categories
Here's some information to help you navigate HBN's blog categories. Each HBN blog is titled using one of these tag lines, depending on what I'm bloggin about.
- Handmade Beauty Brief: news and information
- Handmade Beauty Buzz: a fresh, hip handmade beauty product
- Handmade Beauty Brew: fun home spa recipe using no more than 5 ingredients
- Handmade Beauty Bite: the scoop on a delicious natural raw material
- Handmade Beauty Buds: meet new HBN members
- Handmade Beauty Business: meet members offering their services to other members
- Handmade Beauty Benefit: learn about a useful HBN member benefit
- Archives: see all the stuff you missed
Come blog with me!
posted by dM @ 3:41 PM
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Handmade Beauty Brief: Meet Me At The Natural Merchants Association!
Did you know that infamous poet Edgar Allen Poe ("The Raven") lived, died and is buried in Baltimore? Are you aware that the first African American Supreme Court justice was from Baltimore? Did you know that I'd like to meet you in Baltimore on August 21, 2005 at the first gathering of the Natural Merchants Association in Baltimore!? Joine me, HBN members Debbie Bilezikian (Monave), Sharon Kinnear (Botanical Skin Works) and others for a fun day of makeup/cosmetic making and business ownership inspiration.
I'll be delivering a presentation called The Lifestyle CEO: How To Be Your Own Publicist! This is one of my favorite small business topics and I'll share tips and tricks designed especially for the handmade beauty industry! And if that doesn't make your heart go pitter-patter, there will also be a Mineral Makeup and Skincare Bazaar, a presentation on protecting intellectual property and more! To register, visit the Natural Merchants Association or call (410) 675-2006.
See you in B-More!
posted by dM @ 2:09 PM
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Handmade Beauty Brief: Come Blog With Me!!
Blog! Blog! Blog! I've been hearing so much about blogs over the past year, haven't you? HBN's chief techno-guru told me months ago, "dM, you should set up a blog for HBN." Yadda, yadda, yadda. Who has time for one more thing? And a BLOG?! Should HBN -- champion of exquisite products made with rose hydrosol, pomegranate extract and shea butter -- start something that sounds like it would more accurately describe an overweight slug? BLOG? After all, after a few fits and starts, our forum has gone the way of the dinosaurs. Then my smart techie showed me how blogs were different, and how a less structured and more free flowing application could help people discover the unique and compelling benefits of well made handmade beauty products. Isn't that why we're here? You Betcha! So, as HBN's founder and president, I'm pleased to invite you to ...
Come Blog With Me!!
Over the next few days, I will post blogs to tell you how to blog along with me. We'll be blogging about new handmade beauty products, recipes to use at home, handmade beauty member successes, fantastic new raw materials, what's up with HBN members around the world and so much more! While this blog is not an advertising or "how to" forum, you are encouraged and invited to "blog your mind" about these and other subjects as they arise.
Hey! As long as you're here, why not stop, think -- and then blog me?! Don't be shy.
Come blog with me!
dM (Donna Maria)
HBN Founder & President
posted by dM @ 1:57 PM
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About the Handmade Beauty Blog
The Handmade Beauty Blog is sponsored by the Handmade Beauty Network (HBN), the world's first and largest trade organization dedicated exclusively to serving the business needs of the manufacturers of handmade beauty products such as soaps, cosmetics, fragrances, candles and aromatherapy products. The Handmade Beauty Blog is a new way for HBN to communicate with HBN members, the handmade beauty products industry and, most importantly, the people who enjoy and buy handmade beauty products. Our Blog provides an easy way for HBN to circulate the exciting news and information the public wants to know about HBN members and the unique products and services they offer. If you want to know about the most decadent new sugar scrub or the ultimate organic soy wax candle, you'll want to check in here regularly. If it's a new and exotic raw material you'd like to find, here's the place to learn about it first. And if you want to get your hands on some of the latest industry business information, you'll find it here.
posted by dM @ 12:18 PM
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About the Handmade Beauty Network
The Handmade Beauty Network is the worldwide trade organization of manufacturers of handmade beauty products including soaps, cosmetics, fragrances, candles and aromatherapy products. Our members are a group of fericiously dedicated business owners who create products that enhance people's lives by providing them with cosmetics and personal care products that are useful, fun and made with a high concentration of natural ingredients. Since 2000 (and with roots that stretch back over a decade), HBN has harnessed the shared energy and vitality of HBN members to address issues of consumer education, regulation, marketing and public relations, freeing HBN members to concentrate on achieving their business goals. Today, HBN serves over 450 member companies in the United States, Canada, the Philippines, Japan, the UK and Australia. HBN is wholly committed to the success of independent handmade beauty products manufacturers, and to the notion that consumers deserve to benefit from the unique products and services they offer. Learn more about HBN at www.HandmadeBeauty.com.
posted by dM @ 12:15 PM
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