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Donna Maria's Handmade Beauty Connection
September 30, 2002

A Publication of The Handmade Beauty Network
ISSN 1530-9630 | Vol. 3, Issue 38
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1. HBN Update: Welcome New HBN Members !
2. Come One, Come All To Next Month's Natural Products Expo East Trade Show!
3. Handmade Beauty Trivia Question: win a sample of tuberose absolute!
4. Create The Life You Love™:  All Work & No Play ...
5. Handmade Beauty Product Review by Donna Maria: Rose Bulgaria/Peppermint Spritz

Clare Le'Dor | Teresa J. Dorsey | Colorado
* handmade skin care and aromatherapy products using exotic oils, pure essential oils and herbal infusions.

Beaute 411, d/b/a/ Calypso Cosmetics | Marietta Carter Narcisse | California
* natural, handmade body care products created by international celebrity makeup artist Marietta Carter-Narcisse

Mission Peak Soap Products | David L. Critchfield | California
* handmade soap made mainly with vegetable oils and available with custom art wrappers

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!

Come One, Come All To Next Month's Natural Products Expo East Trade Show!

Silk'n Shea (Oregon) - fine synthetic-free products made with shea butter, herbs, essential oils and other natural ingredients
sunny brae body works (California) - creams, soaps, balms and more created to integrate the healing qualities of the natural world into your day through the use of herbs, essential oils and vegetable oils
The Persimmon Tree Handcrafted Soaps (Delaware) - cruelty-free handmade soaps and bath salts made with olive, coconut and palm oils, cocoa butter, natural colorants, pure essential oils and fragrance oils
Masterpiece Bath & Candle (Maryland) - handcrafted soaps, bath salts, body powder, lotions, cremes, all-natural soy candles and many other products for bath, body and home
Terra Soleil (New York) - Grow Younger Face Care, Condition Your Body Skincare and Body Balms For Every Body. Terra Soleil nurtures natural health and beauty inside and out. All products contain exquisite and precious oils.
Queen B Bath Company (Illinois) - Wholesale of premium quality natural bath and body products. Elegant packaging and a line  of quality and affordable bath accessories too! Private label available.
Bathsheba (Georgia) - Handmade bath luxuries from exotic oils blended to create the perfect bath experience
African Shea Butter Company (Virginia) - Suppliers of hand-crushed, yellow and refined shea butter and makers of natural shea butter products ... lotions, creams, butters, lip butters, soap an bath salts
Essential Wholesale (Oregon) - Set up a "scent it yourself" area in your shop with unscented cosmetic bases, private labeling and custom formulating; suppliers of raw materials to help businesses large and small

Last Week's Answer: civet

To win this week, be the first person to provide the name of the HBN member company described above and win a sample of tuberose wax! Perhaps you have always wanted to try this in a semi-solid perfume, test batch of soap or just have some on hand so you can sniff it and see what it's like. Well, now's your chance.

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 will be notified by email and their name posted at HBN's home page.

Of course we have all heard the old adage "all work and no play makes Johnny a dull boy." I can recall countless times telling stressed out friends and family members that they need to take a vacation to rejuvenate, renew and just have a good time. And when they counter by asking me when was the last time I took my own advice, well, I just have to put my tail between my legs and tell them to "do as I say and not as I do."

Well, I have finally decided to take some of my own advice. Whether it's the stresses of being a new mom or just the plain old fact that I'm becoming dull like Johnny, I have decided to take some time off. But I can't just take time off to go anywhere. I relish my vacations, which are terribly few and far between. (I'm not complaining, that's just the way it is!) So, when I say I'm going on vacation, I'm going on VACATION. I'm not talking about a weekend at the beach. (Nor am I talking about the kind of VACATION that Forest Gump's mom told him about :)) )

When I say VACATION this time, I mean out of the country, somebody else do all of the work and plan my itinerary, exotic destination VACATION. When I say VACATION this time, I mean FRANCE! France, where I was inspired to go my HBN member Polly Fletcher's series of articles offering  keen insights into the wonderful learning adventure she enjoyed in France earlier this year. If you missed the series, you can enjoy all four parts here:

Part I: Introduction To The French "Aroma" Connection
Part II: Grasse: The Perfume Capital Of The World
Part III: The Crux of Polly's Adventure: The Distillery
Part IV: Polly's Parting Advice On Choosing Essential Oils For Your Handmade Toiletries

France where I can learn more about one of my great loves ... aromatics! Grasse where I'll take a perfumery workshop from a real "nose." I'll enjoy world renowned French cuisine and visit colorful Provencale markets. I'll have morning strolls through lavender fields and enjoy a famous rose abbey.

And what could be better than that? If you would come with me of course!

Join me in France this summer from June 3 to June 8 where Aroma Tours'® Jim and Robbi Zeck will serve just a few HBN members this fabulous treat! Jim and Robbi have years of experience composing successful tours to France, Bali, Turkey and other exotic and aromatic destinations around the world! You won't want to miss this opportunity!

To view the full itinerary, click here! To register, click here!

This trip presents a wonderful opportunity for HBN members to enjoy a working vacation and we encourage all business owners to check with their tax professionals to make sure that they receive whatever tax benefits are available as a result of this trip to see first hand how some of the ingredients used in your products are manufactured!

Check the entire itinerary here.

Aroma Tours has set up a special page at their Web site for HBN members to register! Join us for this fabulous trip!

If you have any questions about the trip, just email me!

Rose Bulgaria/Peppermint Spritz
2 oz. | $10.00

In my years as an aromatherapy expert and handmade beauty product junkie, I have combined a lot of different aromatics to create a variety of synergies and scent combinations. Though I rarely mix fragrance oils with essential oils, I remember what a pleasant surprise it was once in my store a long time ago when a customer insisted that mix a teaspoon of cucumber fragrance oil with a teaspoon of a prize shipment of Mysore sandalwood. I could not convince her to forgo her little experiment and I was pleasantly surprised that the combination, while a little strange, was not half bad. For the next several months, I was customizing her lotions and body oils with Mysore and cucumber ... an odd combination that made her heart sing. Who was I to complain? She was paying and I was mixing. Everyone was happy.

That's why when I saw the label on the bottle of Rose Bulgaria/Peppermint Spritz, I could not imagine that I would really like it. Roses and peppermint. Hmmmm ... I didn't think it would smell bad but I had never thought to combine rose with peppermint, preferring to blend it with more exotic things like orange blossom, ylang ylang and frankincense. But just as before, I was pleasantly surprised at the combination, especially how delicate it was even with the peppermint.

Rose Bulgaria/Peppermint Spritz is a really soothing, refreshing blend of the two essential oils. I'm not sure what else is in the product (the label doesn't say ... though it should!) but I detect there may be some rose hydrosol. The lightest addition of peppermint makes it cooling without being overwhelming. On my Wednesday evening walk last week with my daughter and a neighbor friend, I took some with me and my friend really enjoyed the refreshing intermittent spritzes as we endured the unusually high heat and humidity around here! It helped us breathe more deeply, filling out lungs with more fresh air than we probably otherwise would have and making the heat seem a bit less oppressive.

You can get Rose Bulgaria/Peppermint Spritz and other goodies from HBN member Baltimore's Best Bath & Body.