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Donna Maria's Handmade Beauty Connection
August 5, 2002
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This Week's Sponsor: The Scent Shack

Get Ready For The Holidays!!!

Sale on Hazelnut Fragrance Oil - normally $20.10 per pound, now only $18.10 per pound!

Sale on Spice Plum Fragrance oil - normally $19.85 per pound, now only $17.85 per pound!

1. HBN Update: Welcome New HBN Members!!
2. Handmade Beauty Trivia Question:  win a Lemon Buttermilk Facial Mask for oily skin!
3. Create The Life You Love™: Make Yourself Memorable, Part X: Be Thankful
4. New At MakeYourCosmetics.com: Strawberry Garlic Facial Scrub & Mask
5. Handmade Beauty Product Review: "Joy" Take Me There Mist by Scents of Balance

~ Welcome New HBN Members!

Amphora Aromatics | Lissa Lee | Pennsylvania
* small cottage industry, making handmade traditional herbal remedies

Learn more about our members and their exciting activities by visiting their Web sites through HBN's Online Member Directory!!

Last Week's Question: I am a most fragrant flower petal and while many perfumers and fragrance experts have tried to duplicate my aroma, nothing can compare to a whiff of my blossom. I am a white petal with a splash of bright color at my center, usually a golden yellow or fiery orange. In locations where I bloom, early morning is the best time to catch my scent as it wafts on a soft breeze. I am native to tropical areas, especially the Caribbean and Pacific Island. What flower do I come from?

Last Week's Answer: frangipani

This Week's Question: I am a very famous spa in the southeastern United States. I was established in 1945 and I have a staff of 130. Among my signature treatments are Fango Body Mask, Hydropitmale Facial and Sea Salt Glow. I have 193 guest rooms and a 50,000 square foot sap and fitness center. In 1964, I was recognized by the US Department of Interior as an historical landmark. What am I?

Be the first to answer this week's question and win a fabulous Lemon Buttermilk Facial Mask for oily skin!!

Please read the contest rules here before submitting your entry.

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.

For the past several weeks, I've been sharing a series of articles on things you can do in business to make yourself memorable and therefore, generate confidence and repeat business. The first 9 installments were:

1. Be An Expert here.
2. Be Consistent here.
3. Be Internet Savvy here.
4. Be Extraordinary here.
5. Be A Leader here.
6. Be Calm Under Pressure here.
7. Be Honest here.
8. Be Positive here.
9. Be Calculating here

This week's last and final (but not least) topic is the topic of gratitude.

~ Nothing fills the soul more fully than giving the gift
        of Gratitude to someone you love.

Need I say more? I'm sure many of you have noticed the difference it makes when you take the time to thank your customers and clients for giving you their business each year. Even the smallest gesture of thanks ... a quick email message, a surprise gift with their repeat order, a note jotted quickly on their copy of the invoice. No matter how small, so long as it's sincere, an expression of gratitude goes a long way toward making you memorable and solidifying your place as a desirable service and product provider in the mind of your customer.

A wise person once said that at the core of every human desire is the need to be appreciated. The longer I live, the more I experience the truth of that statement. When we know we are appreciated, they feel valued. And when we feel valued, we feel significant. And a feeling of significance encourages confidence and self-esteem ... and we tend to return to those things that make us feel that way.

So, of all the 10 things I have written about over the past few months - from being a leader who is confident in her areas of expertise, to being honest, consistent and extraordinary - perhaps the most important is to be grateful. Grateful not only for the opportunity to be in business for yourself, but also for the customers in your life who make that happen. And so, while I'm at it ...

Allow me to express my Gratitude to you, the readers of HBC. You inspire me with your notes and calls, each one a priceless piece of encouragement for me. I try to respond to each one individually, and am honored to provide you with a publication that you find useful and timeless. I express Gratitude to HBC's advertising sponsors for helping me deliver HBC to all of you.

I express special Gratitude to the members of the Handmade Beauty Network, and to my close advisors Kim Baron of Fallen Muse WebWorks, Leslie Plant of Leslies Garden Handcrafted Soaps and Dennis Fioravanti of Essential Wholesale, to all of HBN's Beauty Call guests and many other friends and colleagues who have contributed to our success.

I express Gratitude to my teachers and mentors who have helped provide me with the opportunity to combine my vocation of providing legal and business counseling services with my avocation of making my own handmade toiletries and encouraging those who do so for a business.

Because of you, I am living my dream life ... doing what I love for a living and loving doing it! Thank you for this opportunity.

Next week, I start a 5-part series entitled: An HBN Member's Search For Essential Oils From The Source. Join me for the journey of HBN member Polly Fletcher of Life Balance as she goes off to France in search of a distiller to provide oils for her handmade products ... straight from the source!

When you visit MakeYourCosmetics.com, it's easy to buy the ingredients you need to make your goodies by clicking on our Partner links:

Essential Wholesale: natural unscented cosmetic bases, pure essential oils, absolutes, carrier oils such as avocado, virgin coconut, sweet almond, jojoba, shea butter and specialty packaging supplies!

Bramble Berry, Inc.: over 80 different, fully tested fragrance oils (including the exclusive "Relaxing" and "Energy" blends), over 250 soap molds, essential oils and unscented bases.

Lynden House International, Canadian supplier of soap and candlemaking supplies such as fixed oils, perfumes, essential oils, molds, powdered milks, colors, pre-made bases, candle wax, wicks, embeds and more!

Now, here we are two years later with the review of another fabulous Scents of Balance product!! Yummy! Very yummy! I really enjoy the aroma of chamomile mixed with nearly anything, and this product is no exception. Kate Rosetto of Scent of Balance is a master at blending together essential oils into a smooth, well-rounded concoction. The "Joy" Mist from Kate's "Take Me There" line of facial misters awakens my senses while also toning my skin. Containing some of my favorite essential oils that are also fabulous for the skin - neroli, chamomile and rose, along with a touch of champaca - this product is a perfect mister. Subtle and non-intrusive, yet effective.

I use the "Joy" Mist in several ways. One is as a quick spritz in the middle of an overwhelming day, the gentle aroma helps me inhale deeply so that I can relax for a moment and continue "on task." But my favorite way to use it is as a facial toner after cleansing. I just pat the excess moisture from my face after washing and then spritz with the "Joy" Mist. I follow that with a light moisturizer (frequently Cowgirl Cream).

Scents of Balance's line of Take Me There Mists is available in a variety of combinations, including "Freedom," "Forgiveness" and "I Am." The one I can't wait to try next is called "Power & Grace," with essential oils of Allspice, Oakmoss, Black Pepper, Niaouli, Ginger, Nutmeg and Fennel. Now that sounds powerful and delicious!

You can learn more about the Take Me There Mists and other great products by Scents of Balance at their Web site.