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The
Handmade Beauty Connection
July 4,
2005
A Publication of The Handmade Beauty Network
ISSN 1530-9630 | Volume 6, Issue 27
To subscribe, click here
1. HBN Member Update: Welcome New & Renewing HBN Members!
2. Handmade Beauty Recipe: Refreshing Citrus Summer Mist
3. Handmade Beauty Trivia Question: win some facial cleanser!
4. Featured Article: Staying Cool With Aromatherapy
5. Handmade Beauty Product Review: f.r.u.t.a by A Wild Texas Soap Bar
6. Handmade Beauty Benefit Of The Week: The Handmade Beauty Box!
1. HBN Member Update: Welcome New & Renewing HBN Members!
Renewing Members!!
The Beauty Bar Boutique, LLC
| Veronica Clayburn | New Jersey
* fresh, hip and devoted to whipping up delicious concoctions to leave
you feeling and looking fabulous
Baby Breaux, LLC | Julie
Breaux | Colorado
* handmade lotions and diaper rash balm formulated to nourish your
baby's skin
BK Pumice, Inc. | Debbie
Jenkins | Idaho
* PuMouse and other pumice products for personal use and household cleaning
Brigit Rau | Organic
Soaps and Balms | Virginia
* organic soaps and balms
Jeannie's Soaps | Jeannie
Allen | Georgia
* fresh, hip and devoted to whipping up delicious concoctions to leave
you feeling and looking fabulous
Mt. Hood Soapworks | Karen
Hood | Oregon
* fresh, hip and devoted to whipping up delicious concoctions to leave
you feeling and looking fabulous
Pure Enchantment | Debbie
Brink | Ohio
* handcrafted natural soaps and shea butters bars
New Members!!
Bella Brava, LLC | Lorinda
Morales | California
* an online Apothecary-Boutique offering botanical beauty, fragrance,
and specialty items
Die Seifenküche | Bettina
Kaiser | Germany
* over 60 varieties of fine handmade soap made
only with plant oils
Mieko | Lynn M. Yasui |
California
* soothing spa and skin care products
handcrafted from natural ingredients; indulge with our Lavender Mandarin
Sugar Scrub
HBN Members On The Move!
As usual, HBN members are on the move doing
fun and exciting things!
HBN member Maggie Hanus of A
Wild Texas Soap Bar tells me that her "Soap On The Rocks" line
received the D.I.C.E. Award in the Mind, Body & Spirit category at the
Dallas International Gift & Home Accessories Market in June! You can
read more about Maggie and another of her products in this week's product review.
HBN member Gina Rafkind of Shakti Aromatic
Energy just launched her new website!
HBN member Brigit Rau of Brigit's
True Organics tells me that her products can now be found at Whole Foods
Martkets!
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.
2. Handmade Beauty Recipe: Refreshing Citrus Summer Mist
Refreshing
Citrus Summer Mist is great to freshen everything from home linens to
the air around you!
When you visit MakeYourCosmetics.com,
it's easy to
buy the ingredients you need by clicking on our Selected Supplier links:
Essential
Wholesale: pure essential oils, over 200
cosmetic bases, hundreds of carrier/fixed oils such as meadowfoam,
cranberry, jojoba and shea butter plus a new Short Run Private Labeling
Program!
Bramble
Berry, Inc.: over
105 different fragrance and essential oils (including their exclusive
"Energy" and "Relaxing"), all soap tested, soap molds
and unscented soap bases!
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!
From
Nature With Love:
over 1,600 ingredients and supplies, including cosmetic ingredients, spa
supplies, bath accessories and packaging supplies!
3. Handmade Beauty Trivia Question: last week's winner was Melissa Vo of
Pittsburgh, PA! Melissa won a bar of handmade soap courtesy of HBN member Alabu
Soap.
Last Week's Question: In the 1950s, the United States
government invented DEET, an effective and many say dangerous and deadly
insect repellent. At what US agency was DEET invented?
Last Week's Answer: The United States Department of Agriculture
This Week's Question: What is my "newly discovered"
favorite citrus essential oil?
Be the first to correctly answer this week's question and win some
facial cleanser!
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's name will be announced in the next newsletter!
4. Featured Article: Staying Cool With Aromatherapy
 Most
everyone knows that essential oils have a variety of uses, from scenting a
candle to soothing a bee sting. While everyone can benefit from essential
oils, even those with minimal experience using them, only by working closely
with the oils -- getting to "know" them personally and
understanding how the unique ways they impact you as an individual -- can
you begin to develop the confidence needed to take advantage of them every
day.
During the summer season, citrus oils are especially useful. Here on the
Mid-Atlantic, it has been dreadfully hot and humid for the past week or so.
To give you an idea of our July weather, I heard on weather professional
call today's high of 88° a "break from the heat!" Not
to worry though -- we have a water sprinkler and we try to get out in it
with the kids at least once a week these days. But even when we can't do
that, and getting to the local pool is just too much of a hassle, we can
still stay cool and refreshed with citrus essential oils.
While my favorite essential oils to use in the summer are "anything
citrus," a few are standout favorites.
Tangerine Essential Oil is a
versatile oil that people of all ages can enjoy. Taken from the rind of the
fruit of the same name, this oil has a sweet and light aroma. Tangerine
essential oil will make you smile. I especially like using it on babies and
young children. A teacher I once knew told me that she kept tangerine
scented tissue in a glass jar on her desk. Children that were "good
listeners" were rewarded with the opportunity to sniff the jar. I
recall her saying that it acted as a powerful incentive for even the
children with challenging behavioral problems to behave. I still use
tangerine oil to soothe my kids. They love to sniff the aroma and it makes
them smile -- and that makes both my day and theirs.
Lime Essential Oil is taken
from the rind of the lime fruit by ether pressing or distillation. The most
desirable lime oil is pressed since the distillation process produces a
sharp note that is somewhat distasteful to many. It's sweet yet spicy and can be added to room sprays or
face and body mists to cool and refresh. To enjoy the flavor in a unique
way, slice a pint of fresh strawberries and sprinkle a tablespoon of
turbinado sugar over them. Add a single drop of pressed lime oil and allow
them to marinate for a few hours. Add a dolup of fresh whipped cream to a
bowl full and you're in citrus heaven! If you use this recipe, use lime oil
that has been pressed from limes that are organically grown. Try using lime
oil in Refreshing
Citrus Summer Mist.
Lemon Essential Oil has lots
of uses but during the summer months, I find it especially helpful to
alleviate the greasy feeling my skin gets after being outside for even a few
minutes. Lemon essential oil is an astringent, meaning it helps minimize the
production of sebum which makes the skin feel oily. In the summertime, that
can be most uncomfortable for me -- it makes my skin feel heavy and weighed
down. Not at all pleasant. Lemon oil has the added benefit of smelling
delicious and it will revive and rejuvenate not only your skin but also your
mind. Try lemon essential oil in my Lavender
Lemon Facial Toner.
Other summer citrus oils you may wish to try include sweet orange,
clementine orange, green mandarin (one of my newly discovered favorites!)
and grapefruit. All are wonderful and help you stay cool with aromatherapy
throughout the summer!
5. Handmade Beauty Product Review: f.r.u.t.a by A Wild Texas Soap Bar
 According to Maggie Hanus at A Wild Texas Soap Bar, the prickly pear
cactus' ability to thrive in harsh desert conditions for centuries is a
testament to its natural ability to proactively rejuvenate and restore the
skin. "Rich in bioflavinoids and phytonutrients, the prickly pear
cactus acts as a powerful anti-oxidant and anti-inflammatory agent that
protects the skin against free radical damage thereby slowing the aging
process," says Maggie. Don't we all need some of that? OK, so where can
I get it at my neighborhood grocery store? Not there at yours either?! Well,
go ask for some, and while you're there, tell them they can order Prickly
Pear products from A Wild Texas Soap Bar!
Start by telling them about the f.r.u.t.a natural soap made with lots of
cool ingredients including prickly pear. There's blackberry fruit, oats,
rose clay sea salt and more. It's a generous 7 ounces so you can cut it as
you go. Scented only with essential oils, the color of the f.r.u.t.a bar is
rose/mauve. The Prickly Pear line is also available in h.e.r.b.a (green) and
f.l.o.r.a (yellow) blends. The fabulously rich lather from a combination of
olive, coconut, sunflower and castor oils makes these bars the only
"prickly" things you'll want in your shower!
You can get the Prickly Pear skincare line, including face polish, body
balm and mud mask, at A
Wild Texas Soap Bar. While you're there, let Maggie know you read
about her here and congratulate her on wining the
D.I.C.E. Award in the Mind, Body & Spirit category at the
Dallas International Gift & Home Accessories Market
last month!
6. Handmade Beauty Benefit Of The Week: The Handmade Beauty Box!
Before announcing our
newest benefit, the Handmade Beauty Box, I want to remind everyone about
this month's Handmade Beauty Brain Exchange. HBN's
Brain Exchanges are dynamic problem solving events
where members come together by conference call to brainstorm about various
challenges associated with success in small business -- the handmade beauty
business in particular of course!! While Brain Exchanges usually occur on
the first Thursday of the month, this month's Brain Exchange will take place
on Friday, July 8 from 2:00pm to 3:00pm EST. The topic is Spreading
The Word About Your Products. During this Brain Exchange, members
will share and learn about how to get into retail stores. Whether you're
looking to get into the local boutique in your town or a large natural chain
store, come and enjoy the opportunity to think outside the box with other
members, and help get your products out there!
NOTE: if you sent in an RSVP
for this week's call, please re-send it to make sure you are included! To
learn more, click here.
Announcing
The Handmade Beauty Box!
I hear from HBN members from all walks of life around the country
(and even the globe with members in Japan, Australia, the Philippines, Canada and the UK!) and one of the things I hear most
is, "How can HBN help me get the word out about my products?"
HBN offers different ways to help members do this. For those who
want to do it themselves, there's the HBU class on how to be your
own publicist. For those who are further along in the process,
we offer more targeted public
relations services through Bella PR
in New York. We have also had periodic Media Blitzes where HBN members have
opportunities to respond to requests from beauty editors for specific types
of products. (Our current Blitz is with American Spa Magazine!) Until now, we've not had
a regularly scheduled media opportunity -- but those days are over!
Announcing The Handmade Beauty Box!!
Along with Bella PR, a standout PR firm in New York with valuable
connections with beauty editors at the nation's most popular women's
magazines, HBN is pleased to announce The Handmade Beauty Box! The Handmade
Beauty Box is a special collection of products sent each month to a beauty
editor at a popular long lead (lead time of 6 months or more) women's
magazine. The Handmade Beauty Box will be sent to an editor each month and
it will contain up to 15 HBN member products -- the cream of the handmade
beauty crop! The Handmade Beauty Box is a beautiful white box into which
member products encased in HBN-logo imprinted paper are placed. The box is
wrapped up in custom printed ribbon saying "Handmade Beauty Box,"
and then hand delivered to that month's beauty editor along with a press
release listing each participating member and an overview of their enclosed
product.
Sound fabulous??! Read
more here
Have A Great Week!!
Donna Maria
Editor, The Handmade Beauty Connection
The Handmade Beauty Network | www.handmadebeauty.com
Copyright (c) 2000
- 2005 by The Handmade Beauty Network (HBN) and Donna Maria. All Rights Reserved. Unauthorized distribution or reproduction is prohibited. HBN does not necessarily endorse any product, event or ideology featured in The Handmade Beauty Connection (HBC) or on HBN's
website. All information is provided on an "as is" basis and no express or implied warranties are given. Any use of the information contained in the HBC or on HBN's Web site, including Recipes, is solely at your own risk. HBN and Donna Maria disclaim any liability in connection with the use of all recipes, products reviewed and other information. Except for sponsorships, HBC refuses compensation from companies to feature or mention their names or products. Opinions expressed in any Product Review are personally those of the reviewer and do not represent the views of HBN, Donna Maria (unless she is the reviewer) or any other person or company.
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