What do you think of the following picture to use for marketing instead of the picture of my bottle just standing on the shelf? I’m trying to revamp all of my pics and really liked this one. I think I like showing how it’s reduced to just a drop at a time and how glossy the oil is. Any thoughts?
I had to share a picture of the baskets I found today, too. Usually I use wicker and what not, but I couldn’t resist these with summer coming. I think they’ll be a fun alternative and the small ones would be really cute little catch-alls. I put in a 4 oz bottle to give an idea of their dimensions. The back one is a lot bigger, but looked better photographed on the side instead of sitting like the others.
As you may have noticed I don’t make salt scrubs to sell since sugar is gentler and I don’t have to worry about customers exfoliating with too much pressure. Too much exfoliation goes beyond removing the dead skin from the surface – it often removes some of the healthy skin that you just exposed. However, winter’s temperatures makes us bundle up and we don’t spot areas on our bodies that need a little TLC until it’s really noticeable, like dry elbows that suddenly catch on your thermal shirt when you try to put on. *grin*
I thought that you might like an easy recipe that you can mix up in just moments and it goes a long way. I ran across this recipe written by Lauren Cox in her EcoBeauty book, but honestly I change stuff in it every time. *laugh* I love that you can always change things to suit your needs and this is a really versatile recipe. Her recipe calls for 2 cups of kosher salt, 1 cup of almond oil, and 2 to 3 drops of essential oil (optional). I am really sensitive, so I use fine dead sea salts, but whatever kind you like is fine except really coarse salt, like rock salt or large grain dead sea salt that resembles small rocks. I love to switch the salt for Epsom Salt, too, which isn’t really a salt (it’s actually magnesium sulfate), but has so many anti-inflammatory properties (totally random here, but don’t you hate when a word doesn’t have a set rule of hyphen or no hyphen? When I worked in a neurology office all of the literature spelled it as “antiinflammatory”, but almost everywhere else it has a hyphen, so I am always going back and forth…anyway lol). Almond Oil is usually really called Sweet Almond Oil and you can find it at health stores, some craft stores like Hobby Lobby (although they’re pretty small usually), and even our favorite Walmart started selling it near the vitamins. Essential Oils (EOs) are getting easier and easier to get hold of now, so when you’re not having to buy a lot of them to use in stuff to sell, you can totally get away with a small bottle from Hobby Lobby or your health food store. I like to use Peppermint EO as a pick-me-up, but sometimes I even use an FO like chocolate when I’m more into pleasing all of my senses. *smile*
Stir everything together into a thick paste and put it in a clean jar with a tight lid. This mixture can be kept in a cool and dry spot for a month or two. (The time depends on what you put in it since some things spoil faster. Thankfully mine have never gotten moldy or anything, but it gets a really weird, dusty smell that’s hard to describe when it turns. Basically if it doesn’t smell like it did when you made it, toss it!) You use it just like a sugar scrub, so take a handful and massage it into your skin when you’re in the shower. I wouldn’t want to sit in the mixture with a bunch of dead skin it took off, so I don’t advise a bath, but that’s me. The author recommends to start at your feet, but I can tell you from personal experience that you really shouldn’t do that! First off, when you start at the bottom you’re less likely to work all of the way up. It’s one of those odd human nature things. Second, scrubbing your feet in the shower with anything that has an oil in it is seriously dangerous. I love Lauren Cox’s recipes, but that instruction makes me freak out. *grin* Anyway, do your feet when you’re sitting all comfy and can remain seated until they’re dry or covered, pretty please. Back to the instructions…massage it into your body and rinse really well with warm water. It has a tendency to cling like sand in your shorts after being at the beach, so take your time. *laugh* One key thing that she writes is to not use soap afterward, because it will remove the oil and the moisturizing benefits. When you run your hand over your skin it’ll have a silky and “coated” feeling, and the water will bead up on the surface due to the oil. It seems totally counterproductive, but this protective barrier actually keeps moisture in your skin and makes it look healthier.
Although you can massage it over your general body (no face or delicate zones), I personally only use salt scrub on the really dry zones that need the extra umph. I use a sugar scrub for the large zones. Please keep in mind when you use a salt scrub to use really light pressure. Most people are really uncoordinated when using just the ring finger and pinky, so those are the two fingers I use when I massage salts. I look like a freak, but no one sees, so who cares?! *grin* Play with the recipe too! Some days I scoop a bit out into a bowl and stir in some dark cocoa powder to it, and use that mixture. I love adding a bit of honey to it too. If you ever want some ideas for what might be a beneficial additive just take a look at the “Natural Benefits” page of my website or get hold of me. I love to talk with customers, especially about benefits.
I hope you enjoy trying this out and find the perfect blend for you. If you ever have trouble getting hold of the ingredients, don’t hesitate to contact me. I’m help you get what you’re looking for. Happy pampering!!
I shopped in my first flash sale. *grin* I bought way too much, as usual, especially considering how much product just got tossed for being out dated. Lol. I just couldn’t resist a sale price with a rebate and a coupon. *laughing at myself*
Anyway….lol. I’ve been really amused by fish in a bag soaps. (See an example under my ideas board on Pinterest if you want.) Basically a little toy goldfish gets embedded in clear or light blue soap in a cello bag, like the fish in a bag that you win at the fair. I think those would be really cute for Spring/Summer and would be a really cute accompaniment to my Worms in Dirt soap.
I’m also going to try to make thumbprint cookie soaps. Basically the colored Shea soap has an indent in the center and a colored clear soap gets poured into the dip, looking like a jelly. The example I saw is gorgeous, so I think they’d look amazing in baskets. I’m kind of worried that the cookie will have the texture of those horrendous bath biscuits that I tried awhile back. *shudder* That is one product I am nervous about testing. Lol.
I’m also super excited, like bouncing in my seat excited, to have gotten a great deal on some one ounce jars so I can put samples in jars too, instead of the bottles. I’ve phased out bottles for lotions on my site, unless requested, since jars let the user get all of the lotion out easily. I love those tiny tester jars I used for the craft fair and am really glad that I can offer these.
I got two new colors and one is a neon hot pink that responds to black lights. I really love pink, but the pink that I have is pretty soft and turns more of a fuchsia if I use more of it, so I hope this is as pretty as the examples I’ve seen make it look.
Another super neat item I got is an orifice reducer for the 1 oz bottles of massage/body oils. I’ve tried for a long time to figure out how to keep from accidentally pouring too much oil into the hand. I had a tester pour almost half a bottle on accident when she tried to use it after shaving and it really concerns me that others might also be having trouble. This should make the oil come out in at least half of the volume that it does and the lids that I have on hand should fit on top without any problem. Yay!
Of course I also got a few new FOs since they are on sale. *embarrassed smile* The first is Sugar & Spice, which should be like spun sugar, cardamom, and coriander. I’m hoping that it doesn’t have the dry and dusty spiciness from Naughty or Nice and Over the Hill. The second is Ooh La La, which is a fun name, so I may just use that. *grin* I’ve wanted this FO since it first debuted last month. Juicy strawberry with dark chocolate. *sigh* I’ve tried to make a good chocolate covered strawberry and it wasn’t quite like smelling one of my favorite treats, so I’m really excited to get to try out a professional version. The last FO is called Hot Stuff. *cracking up* As you most likely know I love masculine scents, so whenever the wholesaler offers me a free sample FO I usually pick a masculine one. This has peppercorn, cinnamon, cashmere, and amber. That’s an intriguing combination to me and I have a lot of hope for it. My dream Scotsman smells a little spicy, sweet, woodsy, and has a musk undertone. *grin* I mean, he needs to smell as sexy as the kilt looks…*wiggling eyebrows with a smirk*
Lastly I just couldn’t resist getting the remaining ingredients that I need to make some cocoa massage melts. This is one item that I really look forward to testing myself! Cocoa butter, beeswax (I got pellets which are supposed to be a lot easier to melt), and sweet almond oil. If they come out well, then I’ll sell a few of them in small cello bags, I think. Some people use ice cube trays for the small molds, but I think this may be the perfect time to use the small beach and flower silicone molds that I got last year.
I’m pretty happy that I was able to replace a lot of my frequently used items like jars while on sale, since they’re the same price as before the wholesaler’s price increases, and now I won’t have to raise my prices on my favorite items. *happy dance* I really hope that the new things turn out well, so I can add them to my improved site. *grin* The flash sale was pretty fun, so if I can get my helper to come back (she hasn’t been here since she went on summer break and started back to school) I might have to see if a flash sale would work for my stuff. I think it’d be really neat to market one.
If you’re going to get hit by a snow storm tonight like we are, then I wish you a safe and warm night. If not, well…then I’m jealous. 😉 Goodnight!
I finally did it! *happy dance* I made a Monsters Away Spray that I actually like. *grin* It’s a combination of Lavender and Vanilla EO/FO blend (Sleep Time) with an equal amount of Deluxe Vanilla FO. The vanilla doesn’t overpower the lavender, but definitely helps to mellow it out, and it’s a rather comforting combo in my opinion. I read a long time ago that vanilla is the most comforting scent on Earth, so I knew that I wanted it in the spray. As much as I don’t care for lavender it is so successful at calming and relaxing (as an EO), that I just had to use it too. I thought about adding a little bit of another FO, a super soft floral or maybe a hint of Arabian Nights, but think that this is pretty close to scents that little kids are used to, so it might be more comforting without making it complex. I ended up using the maximum additive allowance because I want the kids to “smell it working” and know that they’re scaring off those monsters. 🙂
I admit that as usual I had a few uh oh moments while making this batch. I used my handy dandy blender and it incorporated the oils perfectly. However, I totally forgot how bad the spray base bubbles up. *cracking up* Thankfully I got a few pictures before the bubbles filled half of the bowl. Keep in mind that I was blending in my bath salts blending bowl, so this isn’t your standard kitchen bowl either. It’s huge. Lol. It took two hours for the bubbles to go down! Once the bubbles went down I ladled the spray into a measuring cup to fill each bottle. Let me again mention that I decided to use my bath salt blending bowl, which I sometimes have to use an ice pick in to break up clumps. Yep, I’m brain dead sometimes. All I thought was “here’s a big bowl that I can put chemicals in without any worries about contamination. Yay!”. *Facepalm* As I tipped the bowl to ladle the last out I noticed that the counter was wet. I got a bit over zealous breaking clumps at some point and poked completely through the bowl. Thankfully that was an easy mess to clean and the dog didn’t try to push me out of the way to lick it up like he tries with lotion, so on the doh factor this was pretty low. *grin*
Overall I’m really happy with this spray. I’ve made some literal stinkers before, so I was worried about this combo stinking too. If this is a good seller I think I’ll come up with an alternative scent option too, since some kids don’t like lavender. I love that this works to ease fears, helps parents and kids feel like they’re doing something instead of being helpful against those fears, and a bit of aromatherapy for natural aromatherapy benefits. I really hope that this is received well. I think out of all products I’ve made this is the one that really makes me feel good. 🙂
I am so happy with my latest creation! I’ve wanted to make a scrub with better exfoliation than my usual sugar. I love my sugar scrubs, especially for myself, but with Larry as my guinea pig I knew that some people needed something a little stronger. I found a basic recipe that I decided to start with and then tweak because we all know I can’t leave things alone. *grin* I used the pound of pumice that it called for (wow!) and the soap, but added more glycerin since I knew I’d have more dry ingredients than their recipe. Then I figured that I’d almost match my new formula of mechanic soaps, so I added finely ground apricot seeds and my new poppy seeds. To up the gentle exfoliation I added a few cups of sugar too. I also made a really nice scent blend with pine, sandalwood, and crackling firewood. It smells so manly, yet still a bit mellow. I am really enjoying it!
As you will be able to see in the picture at the end it has a really cool texture. While packaging the scrub I kept getting it all over myself (ever notice that the more clean you try to be the messier you get?). I washed my hands so many times, but it didn’t dry my hands out like I expected. The seeds have that extra umph while the awesome texture is soft and almost fluffy. It’s actually a really neat blend of textures and has a fun look, too. I’m giving away some for Christmas, but also have several 7.25 oz jars on hand for $6 each. I’m really happy that I’ve had some successes lately 🙂
First, my apologies for a month lapsing. My health issues have me in la la land and to be honest, I’m really surprised I didn’t blog while out of it. *grin* As I’m currently waiting for a double dose of medicine to kick in, I may just succeed at a very odd entry. Lol.
I did fairly well over the holidays and mostly all due to my amazing family and friends. I turned a profit for the first time, which in the overall accounting means I finally came out even on all the Paypal fees I’ve paid in the past year. *wry smile* I got almost completely caught up in Quickbooks (damn secretary slacked on her job and didn’t enter stuff since the cancer event in September…I’d fire her, but it’s hard to fire yourself *wink*) and Quickbooks took away all that excitement about that first profitable month. Of course, I’m now going into the slow months too. It’s for three years that the IRS accepts a business in loss, right? *teasing grin*
Accounting aside, I am now disassembling my holiday baskets that I had pre-made and deciding what items will get renamed to sell year round. My inventory spreadsheet is absolutely useless at the moment with disassembling. I gave up making sure that my inventory count matched between Quickbooks and my spreadsheet. I learned that I can just override that QB warning that I don’t have enough inventory to sell those items on an invoice. Lol. Georgia’s own spreadsheets FTW! *grin*
I got notification from my wholesaler that my order is in processing. I’m excited that I’ll finally have the necessary bases on hand again and have some really neat new seasonal offerings that have cheered me up. I got invited to be a vendor at a Welcoming Spring-type event that I won’t be able to attend due to distance, etc, but it drove home that I need to plan for spring and summer events.
I got a watermelon FO that has top ratings from other crafters and both age groups love it, so I’m hoping for a real winner there. I got a margarita FO and mojito FO to really provide some fresh and fun options. Honeysuckle FO, a fresh laundry variant FO with hints of marine and ozone notes, and then also a different floral FO. It’s called a Secret Crush Type, so it’ll have to be renamed to keep me out of trouble, but crafters write that they can’t keep it stocked because it sells so well. That would be a nice problem. Lol. I also got a Vanilla Noir type FO also that I really look forward to smelling. 5 star peer ratings and it was one of my customer loyalty freebies, so doubly exciting.
Of course, it wouldn’t be me ordering if food and desserts were missing! Banana Cream Pie FO, White Chocolate Raspberry FO, and a fresh lemon FO to play with. I want to do a lemon bar or cake type of scent. A nice play with some buttercream to sweeten that baby up. Mmmm mmmm. I saw a Whoopie Pie scent which I thought would be pointless to order, since I have all of the scents needed all ready, so time to try to make it. They called it “Making Whoopie”, which, like the Sex in the Shower scent, catches the eye, so I want to make a play on that too. That, if it turns out right, would be a very indulging scent that would be perfect in a variation of the seduction basket. I guarantee that you open up a bottle of that oil and a girl smells that luscious chocolate, she’s going to come investigate. *sassy wink* All in all, some exciting possibilities. More to come as things go on sale, if I can get profitable. My debit card might get taken away if I do too much preparing for the season and don’t see enough return. Lol.
A few other changes I’m excited over are new packaging options. My aunt brought up a great point in testing some Goat’s Milk lotion. It’s hard to get out of the bottle. (It can be a real razzle frazzle to get it into the bottles too! *teasing smile*) So, I found some jars to package it in. They’re amber, since clear was sold out and I declined the wait on the order for the clear to come in, and the other type of jars that I loved had really expensive lids, which is just stupid to pick then. I really try to keep things affordable and a lid that’s as expensive as a jar is just pointless to frugal (great word choice, right?! *grin*) me. I’m really super duper oddly excited about the new packaging option for bath salts. I noticed at the holiday craft sale event (seems like so freaking long ago) that everyone put down the salts when they saw how expensive they are. Well, a pint of dead sea salt plus additives IS expensive, even for me, but when I take a bath I indulge. I can go through a quarter of a canning jar of salts in one soak. I saw these new little cello options my wholesaler just came out with, that look like cellophane carrots, and are 12″ x 6″ cones. Perfect! Way cheaper than glass canning jars, cheap to ship, a more affordable sampling of how awesome my salts are, and look so freaking adorable I felt like I was 4 all over again looking at my Easter basket. If I do different layers of colors that’ll look even more adorable. Dude, if I wasn’t so meh I’d be doing a happy dance. *grin*
A few last additions that I’m happy about is trying out a gentle face cream and some pure aloe gel. I have a recipe for a leg relief gel using aloe and some EO that I’ve wanted to try since I saw the recipe months ago. The gel was on sale and I had been holding out for the base that I really wanted, so I finally get to try. That might make a great city wide garage sale seller come May and June. *crossing fingers* As to the face cream, it’s suppose to be so gentle that it can be used on faces or even babies, so I’ve had my eye on it to finally become available. I would like to see if I can add a few appropriate additives to it and add it to the acne line. It would mean a lot to me personally to have some options for teens, especially if it truly, naturally helps. If I don’t take that route, I might just make an official line for sensitivities and illnesses. I can’t legally say that it helps, but I can say that I experienced no reactions, so the population that has the same issues as me might have good experiences with this line. That’s a strong consideration. I’ve wanted to help Fibromyalgia and Arthritis sufferers, but when I can’t buy in bulk like the big guys, it’s just not affordable at either end. Maybe this could be the compromise.
Anyway, one last happy part to my order is a package of sliced luffa (loofah). I actually experimented with a small order I had on hand and gave as Christmas gifts, and I’m pretty proud of how they turned out. I pushed a slice into each round silicone mold (just a tiny bit wider than the mold, so it got jammed in if I’m being honest). Then I poured whatever Shea soap base in and saturated the luffa. After they set I popped them out and they became perfect rough spot soaps. Now, I did them in the experimental blend of Root beer Float too (*happy sigh* heavenly I tell you). The luffa should stay fairly soft now because of the exposure to the shower steam and water, as well as be submerged in the Shea soap. What a great soap to get heels ready for sandal season! There are several practical uses for this soap, so I’m excited to actually get the supplies on hand to make part of my line.
I just need a healthy clone of myself to actually make this stuff,, especially since I’m really excited. I also need to update my website I realized today. I took down Christmas decorations the day after the holiday, but still have those products promoted all over on my site. Time for some virtual housekeeping I suppose.
Thanks for being patient with me, for all of the encouragement, and I look forward to telling you about some new adventures for this next season. By the way, any input on one thing – I love the name “naughty elf” for one of my wintery seductive scents. I’m kind of thinking of leaving the name year round because it is catchy and cute. Any thoughts? Anyway, I hope everyone has a fantastic day and is sleeping well. Please cross your fingers that my doctor figures out a new treatment plan so that I’m no longer alternating between a narcoleptic and insomniac. *goofy smile* Waves from a snuggly Bo dog too!
Georgia's Pampering 