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Donna Maria's Handmade Beauty Connection
November 11, 2002

A Publication of The Handmade Beauty Network
ISSN 1530-9630 | Vol. 3, Issue 44
To subscribe, click here.

---> This Week's Sponsor <---

Quality supplies for your toiletries | Private Labeling | Custom Formulation

Raw Ingredients - DMAE, Vitamin A Palmitate, Malic Acid, Tartaric Acid and others!

Lotion/Cream Base Concentrate, double your product and save on shipping costs. $38 per gallon, makes at least 2 gallons of finished product!!

Holiday Sales Items!

Organic Soybean Oil | $6 per Gallon
Under Eye Nourishing Crème Base | $55 per Gallon
Carnauba Wax | $6 per pound
Baking Soda - .80 per pound
German Chamomile essential oil | $39.90/oz. 
Cucumber Facial Toner | $32 per gallon
and more!!

Great prices | low $25 minimum!! | Discounts for HBN Members!!

Holiday Discount Coupon for online orders!!
Use Coupon Code: NC02

Essential Wholesale | Toll Free  (866)252-9639
Email: Info@EssentialWholesale.com
PDF Catalog Available November 18 from our home page!

To Die For | Judy Jones | Texas
* renewing member; a variety of natural handmade soaps and cosmetics, plus the supplies needed to make your own

Aunt Roma's Handmade Gifts | Roma Christiansen | Idaho
* renewing member; tons of ingredients for you products, plus 2 recipe booklets to help you along

Rocky Mountain Mamas' Soap Co.
* goat milk soaps

Mystic Mixtures | Patti Knapp | Illinois
* luxurious selection of personal care products; wholesale, private label and custom orders available

Jasmine and Lavender Handmade | Cae Byng | New York
* bath salts

Watersedge Soapworks | Valery Elias | Florida
* Tropical Salt Scrub, popular body butter in mango kiwi scent and other handmade beauty treats

BBC-Fresh Soap Market | Carol Bianco | Florida
* handmade toiletries of all kinds, and soap made with Olivia oil and sun-infused calendula

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!

HBN's Gail Adrian Fragranceur Featured In Woman's World Magazine.
After HBN introduced HBN member Gail Adrian of Gail Adrian Fragranceur to a freelance writer earlier this year, the two met by phone for a brief interview about the wonders of fragrance. The interview led to Gail's feature in the October 22, 2002, issue of Woman's World Magazine (page 48) as a "professional fragrance expert!" Gail's insights on the personal aspects of fragrance are excerpted in the article entitled: Woman's World Personality Quiz: These Fragrant Clues Reveal Your Most Cherished Memory". Gail creates personalized perfumes that make perfect gifts ... I gave one of her personalized creations to a family member earlier this year! Visit Gail's Web site here. Congratulations Gail!

HBN's Essential Wholesale Featured in Soap & Cosmetics Magazine.
After meeting a writer through HBN, Dennis & Kayla Fioravanti of Essential Wholesale participated in a series of interviews on the use of natural and synthetic preservatives in cosmetics. The article, published in the October 2002 issue of Soap & Cosmetics Magazine, and entitled "Keeping Products Fresh" not only features several photographs of Essential Wholesale products and its 34,000 square foot production facility, it also includes Dennis' expert insights into ways to maximize the efficacy of preservatives in skincare products. Visit Essential Wholesale's Web site here. Congratulations Dennis & Kayla!!

More member features are in the works and you can be sure to read all about them here! Meanwhile, if you're still thinking about joining HBN, what are you waiting for? Maybe we can put you in touch with the right media contact to help your business grow! For more information on the program, email me!

Henna Hair Conditioning is an easy and fun way to experiment with natural hair coloring. all you need is henna and water for this simple recipe. It washes right out and you can follow up with Hempy Chick Hair Pomade to smooth and shine your tresses after the treatment!

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

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!

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!

Last Week's Answer: stevia

To win this week, be the first person to provide the answer to this week's question and win a bar of Wild Flower Fiesta soap, courtesy of HBN member Of The Earth!

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.

A few weeks ago, I found a few extra minutes in my day to surf around the 'Net and see some Web sites owned and maintained by a few small business owners. I had no idea where I was going or where I'd end up, but I like to buy from other entrepreneurs and I figured maybe I could get some holiday shopping done. As I surfed, I kept seeing one thing over and over again ... a ghastly number of small business Web sites look like "small business". By that, I mean, amateurish and unattractive. Not at all what I would have expected to see from someone that wanted me to give them my money.

A prime example is a site proclaiming to use the very best premium ingredients in the handmade skincare products I could buy there. The site was a disaster area! Things that should have been centered were instead way off center. There were blinking and bouncing things all over the pages ... even some twirling letters. The home page featured a photo of the owner and a photo of the company logo. Not a single picture of a product with those "premium ingredients" was featured on the home page. There was no rhyme or reason to the way the products were laid out at the site and the product photographs were small and hard to see. As I went through the store, I found myself asking "why would you use premium ingredients in products and then try to sell them at a place like this?" I didn't feel confident at all. My thoughts prompted me to share a few thoughts on the topic of "looking the part." 

1. Don't Skimp If It Makes You Look Bad. As small business owners, we all know a thing or two about trimming the fat and making more out of less. But having limited resources doesn't mean that we should "skimp" if it makes us look bad. For example, if the business owner in the above example would skimp on her Web site (which he REALLY did), why should I believe he wouldn't skimp on the ingredients put in my products? As a potential online customer, I need to experience a sense of confidence in the product I'm buying "sight unseen." Since I can't "try before I buy," the only way the business owner has to instill confidence in me is through the Web site . And if the Web site is lousy, it makes the business look bad and I am less likely to buy from them. If you have to skimp at all, don't skimp on things that make you look bad. Instead, choose places where you can skimp without the whole world knowing about it. Choose those things you can hide. For example, don't get that separate fax line, don't buy a fancy computer or a new fax machine just because the old ones are old. If you look, there are usually plenty of places to cut the fat without skimping on things that will make you look bad to your customers.

2. Hire A Consultant For An Hour Or Two. Over and over again, I hear small business owners say how they can't afford this and can't afford that. Join the club! I speak from experience when I say I am counting every penny too. I may not be able to afford the whole enchilada at one time, but I can afford to hire a professional to help me understand how I can eventually get the whole enchilada. In the above example, the owner may not be able to spend $1,000.00 to have a new Web site developed, but why not consult with a professional Web designer (not my wife's co-worker's daughter's boyfriend who is a computer whiz!)  for an hour or two to see what their options are? How much is a shopping cart and do I really need one? Should I put a product photo or my home page or stick with the picture of me and my logo? Should I have a dark or light page background? What are some effective ways to lay out products so that they are presented to buyers in an orderly fashion? In a nutshell, the question is: "how can I send a premium online message that matches my premium products?" A professional can provide tips that can help move you in the right direction without breaking the bank, and perhaps make some suggestions for how a site can be scaled down, yet still present a professional and "premium" image. Once you know where you're going and what needs to be done to get there, it will be a lot easier to save the money needed to get to the next stage. 

3. Look The Part. This really is the bottom line. If you use premium ingredients, the materials you use to convey that message ... Web site, business cards, brochures, etc. ... should look premium too! One more thing - I found a phone number on the Web site so I called it to ask a question about a product. It was around dinnertime, maybe 5:30pm EST. Anyway, the phone rang a few times and a young sounding person who was clearly in the middle of eating a mouthful of food answered the phone, "Hallow?" Now that was the last straw. You may not have to get a separate line for your business but if the phone number is at the Web for people like me to call, at least make sure it is answered in a professional way. Or just let it ring and go into the answering service and call me back when you're finished with dinner. Look the part, sound the part, BE THE PART!! It's important to your business because it makes a difference to your customers!

Oh! And in case you're wondering ... I didn't buy anything.

Grapefruit-Vanilla Lip Balm from Pure Harmony
1/4 ounce | $5.00

I guess a lip balm can be just a lip balm. Melt together some oil and wax and voila! A lip balm that you can spread on your lips and feel good about it. But some lip balms are more than just lip balms ... they are smooth experiences that make your lips feel kissable, protected and sealed from the elements. Grapefruit-Vanilla Lip Balm is just such a product.

Now that the weather is turning, I need to have lots of protective goodies on my lips, and all the better if it's a balm that I can spread around my mouth area which is typically dry and ashy as the weather gets colder. No fillers here! Just premium ingredients like jojoba oil, evening primrose oil and rosehip seed oils. The pink grapefruit essential oil lends just a tinge of flavor and the vanilla CO2 sets and holds it in the base. The combination is like a smooth, sophisticated cream sickle. The smooth texture feels creamy without being waxy like so many lip balms do. So delicious is this stuff on my lips that it is now tucked safely in a special pocket in my purse so it's not far from my reach when I feel Old Man Winter starting to dry out my lips.

You can buy Grapefruit-Vanilla Lip Balm from Pure Harmony by emailing Marsha at pureharmonyva@aol.com.