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Handmade Beauty Connection
December 2, 2002

A Publication of The Handmade Beauty Network
ISSN 1530-9630 | Vol. 3, Issue 49

This Week's Sponsor: Fairies Kiss

Fairies Kiss carries an extensive line of lavish bath and body products for every personal or gift desire. Using vintage, time forgotten and uniquely fashioned recipes, all my products unequivocally qualify as a dermatological and aromatherapy delight.

• organic and pure essential oils in soaps, lotions, creams and balms
• special line of solid and liquid perfumes
• gift sets for men and women
• private label and wholesale available

Free shipping for retail purchases over $50.00 for online orders placed between November 15 and December 15!

I guarantee you’ll be delighted!

Fairies Kiss
1100 Greenleaf Avenue, Burlington, WA  09233-2017
Email: jernkath@fidalgo.net

1. HBN Update: Welcome New & Renewing Members!!
2. New At MakeYourCosmetics.com: Ginger Orange Cayenne Warming Foot Scrub
3. Handmade Beauty Trivia Question: win some all natural handmade lip balm!
4. Create The Life You Love™: Quick Tips To Minimize Small Business Owners Holiday Stress
5. Sweet Holiday Indulgences-Special Recipes For The Season! 

~ Welcome New & Renewing HBN Members!!

From The Earth | Kris Quintance | California
* renewing member; lots of delicious handmade goodies, plus a new retail store too!

Small Indulgences, LLC | Lezlie Wade | Utah
* renewing member; luxurious handcrafted soaps and related bath and body products, at affordable prices

Hydra | William Kyle | California
* 100 soaps, dozens of bath salts all sold by the ounce; "Bubble-doh”, “Chill Pills”, “Massage Bars” and more

Daisy Blue Naturals | Jena Thompson | Minnesota
* natural products to give you the nurturing your body and soul have been craving

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!

It's awfully cold outside these days so there's no shortage of reasons to take a warm bath and crawl into bed early with a good book. While visiting HBN member Botanical SkinWorks a few days ago, I was pleasantly reminded of the power of cayenne to warm the body since Sharon's herbal stash included a bottle of cayenne tincture that she uses in some of her products. So I was inspired when I returned home to treat myself to a nice warming foot scrub and a bath before retiring. Ginger Orange Cayenne Warming Foot Scrub is what I came up with in a pinch. It smells great, feels great on the skin and really warms your feet on a cold night!

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!

To win this week, be the first person to state my common and botanical names and win a Tutti Fruiti Lip Balm, courtesy of HBN member Aunt Roma's Handmade Gifts!!

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.

As joyous and fun as the holidays can be, for small business owners, there is simply no such thing as a stress free holiday. I remember my first year of retail shop ownership. About 10 days before Christmas, I looked up from my cash register and saw about 15 or 20 people in a line going out the front door! They all had their peach baskets filled with goodies and, at that moment, it suddenly dawned on me that I would not have a holiday that year. I returned home exhausted from each sales day and often time still had more products to make after the store closed! Everyone was happy but me! Oh how I wish I had someone to "school" me in those days about what I had gotten myself into.

Nowadays, the holidays are no less stressful, especially since I have added a spouse and a toddler to the mix! But I have long since given up hope of living a stress free lifestyle ... I don't think there's any such thing. As always, especially at the holidays, we have to do our best to manage stress rather than eliminate it, and here are a few of my favorite ways to do that.

1. Indulge In A Quick Seated Massage. When I first wrote this section, I encouraged a full body massage, 60 minutes at minimum, and 90 minutes optimum. Well, I shared the draft with a friend before publication and she told me that you'd all say I was nuts to think that any full-time small handmade beauty business owner would have that kind of time during December, so I toned it down to a 15-minute seated massage. I still say that for maximum wellness, a 60 minute massage is best at least twice a month. But if that's not possible, who can't fit in 15 minutes? Most spas offer seated massage these days to cater to just the type of person that appreciates the therapeutic value of a massage but simply doesn't have the time for the whole enchilada.

As another alternative, buy a Massage Animal Head Massager and have a friend or loved one use it to massage your head and back. These things are fabulous! I tried one last week and I am off to the mall sometime soon to buy one. The Massage Animal uses numerous copper wires with silicone tips to massage any part of the body. The wires are movable so you can create different sensations just by switching them from one side of the Massage Animal to the other. You can't order online but you can see photos and call your local malls to ask if they have a Massage Animal kiosk. (For those of you in the DC area, they are available at Columbia Mall.)

2. Take A Warm Bubble Bath Late In The Evening. One day not long ago, I became quite ill. I wasn't sick enough to visit the physician, but I felt awful nonetheless. I had absolutely no energy but I knew that a bath would make me feel better. The problem was that I felt so weak that I didn't even think I had the strength to draw one. In the end, I decided to put mind over matter and I made a wonderful bubble bath with a few candles and some therapeutic essential oils. I got in at 9:15pm and I woke up at 11:30!! I was still ill, and shriveled up like a prune, but the bath worked wonders for my frame of mind and body, and it was late enough at night that I didn't have to interrupt work or family obligations to enjoy it.

3. Practice The Relaxation Response. The Relaxation Response is a form of meditation in which you find a peaceful spot and sit comfortably, spine straight, and focus intently on an word or phrase while breathing deeply and slowly through your nose and exhaling through you mouth. Repeat your chosen word or phrase and concentrate on the object of your focus, displacing any and all other thoughts. As you do, you will feel yourself breathing more deeply. Be sure to fill your lungs with air and allow you stomach and diaphragm to expand fully so you can get the full benefit of the deep inhalations. Try to do this for 30 seconds at first, building up to as much as 20 or 30 minutes. Many people report feeling an increased sense of well being using this technique. And best of all, it's free and won't take you away from your work for too long. If you live in an urban area where you find yourself in rush hour traffic on occasion, there's no excuse not to do this one. I did it today at a long traffic light, focusing on the number of the license plate in front of me. It works wonders!

Last but not least, if you're one of those "micro managers," learn how to let some things go! I know that's easier said than done, but when you have 50 things staring you in the face, and they all need to get done within the next hour, take a moment to scratch the ones that matter least from the list and either save them for tomorrow or another day or find someone to help you. Through the years, I have been amazed and humbled by the number of family members and friends who have helped me accomplish my "to do" list in the crunch times. I bet they will do the same for you!

So remember to take a few moments to take a load off. Even just a quick break can sometimes mean the difference between stress that's unbearable and stress that's manageable.
 

If you have a holiday recipe you'd like to share with other readers, send it to me and if there's room, I'll add it! By the way, you can check out last year's recipes too at this link. (Scroll to the bottom of the issue for the recipe links.)