Erik and I also started our Halloween display for the store. Check out our use of Vintage Gray Mica and Silver Glitter (discontinued) in our fun Skull Mold. The soap is ghoulish, kid-pleasing and scented with anise essential oil.
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Herbal Deodorant & First Week of Use
For the entire test week, my armpits feel slimy. It actually feels like I am sweating even though I am perfectly dry. This is not a position of confidence. To add insult to clammy injury, I smell a bit. It’s not a bad smell thanks to the ylang ylang. But, it’s a smell, an unmistakable odor of “not just showeredclean.”
But (whiny voice), I just didn’t want to smell either.
First Attempt at Herbal Deodorant
The ingredients:
Beeswax
Olive Oil
Ylang Ylang Essential Oil
Frankincense Essential Oil
Sodium Bicarbonate
Tapioca Starch Powder
For a photo of the set up, click here.
For this first attempt at an all natural deodorant, I mimicked making lotion bars.
Step One: Measure out Beeswax and Olive Oil. In this recipe, I did 1:1 Beeswax: Olive Oil. Melt the mixture in the microwave. It took approximately 4 minutes to melt the beeswax thoroughly.
Step Two: Add the Powders. I added approximately 2 teaspoons of Tapioca Starch Powder and 1 teaspoon of Sodium Bicarbonate to 3 oz. of melted wax and oil. The powders mixed in easily with a chopstick.
I wasn’t sure what consistency this pseudo-deodorant would be. I decided to be safe and use a mold, rather than a traditional deodorant push tube. A push tube won’t easily push when the product is mush. This project was an experiment so spending $1.50 on a push tube seemed frivolous. This frugality ends up being a bad choice.
To balance out single cavity molds that are prone to tipping, you can balance them in a spare mug, vase (the square one in the photo is particularly handy) or just shove them in a bowl full of rice.
I added the Ylang Ylang and Frankincense at the last possible second to ensure minimal heat degradation of the essential oils. I used a 1% Ylang Ylang and 1% Frankincense. It smells strong. It’s not entirely horrible but also not as pleasant or alluring as I envisioned.
I did not fill the entire mold up. Sometimes, too-full molds can be difficult to release. The final product appears a milky smooth balm. It feels soft and squishy.
Check back tomorrow for a report on unmolding and the first week of use.
She’s way too cool
Johanna, the latest addition to our Customer Service team, has her own indie business. Check out her Etsy shop here.
She even knits her own bikinis. Johanna’s knitting and general craftiness is a good fit for Bramble Berry and we are thrilled to have her indie cool sensibilities in our midst.
The photo on the right is her own original design and took her over a month to knit! The neckline is a natural scoop necked cowl which looks figure flattering when worn.
Hopefully Johanna will pass some of her knitting genius tips along to those of us less talented in the office!
Coconut Creamed Soap
This lovely soap was made by Playing With Soap in New York. Her blog has good photos of cold process soapmaking. The creativity in the coconut cream pie soap above is impressive considering the degree of difficulty with the project.
Vocation Vacations
Otion recently signed up to be a Vocation Vacation. What is a “Vocation Vacation?” A Vocation Vacation is a short trip where curious job seekers or career shifters can test drive a new job for one or two days. A vocationer pays a mentor to download the good, the bad and the ugly part of their jobs. There are Vocation Vacations designed for cheese making, running an opera house, being a cowboy or running a public relations firm. Click here to see all the jobs currently open to test drive.
Making Herbal Deoderant
Check back this week for updates on making herbal deodorant and the report of the first few days of no antiperspirant.
Goatsmilk Soapmaking Class at Otion
It was a wonderful class. I’ll be teaching a goatsmilk lotionmaking class this upcoming Wednesday. There are still a few spots available here. If you’re in town, sign up and learn how to make lotion using goatsmilk as your base.
I love this necklace!
This necklace is going to be my reward for reaching a stretch goal. A stretch goal is something that’s achievable, but only through a large amount of effort, dedication, follow-through and maybe a bit of luck. You can even personalize the necklace here.
Goals should be achievable through daily amounts of small incremental effort. Meeting this sales stretch goal requires making 5 phone calls per day. So far, I’m 300 phone calls into the goal and 50% there. I’m refining my technique and getting better. Fingers crossed, the goal should be hit within 200 phone calls.
I’ve designed a photo of the necklace into a poster with the goal printed below. The poster reminds me, every day, about the goal and the reward when I meet (or exceed!) the goal. Wish me luck! I’ll let you know when I reach the goal and get the sweet reward.
Bob Parson’s 16 Rules for Business
Bob Parson’s 16 Rules:
- Get and stay out of your comfort zone. I believe that not much happens of any significance when we’re in our comfort zone. I hear people say, “But I’m concerned about security.” My response to that is simple: “Security is for cadavers.”
- Never give up. Almost nothing works the first time it’s attempted. Just because what you’re doing does not seem to be working, doesn’t mean it won’t work. It just means that it might not work the way you’re doing it. If it was easy, everyone would be doing it, and you wouldn’t have an opportunity.
- When you’re ready to quit, you’re closer than you think. There’s an old Chinese saying that I just love, and I believe it is so true. It goes like this: “The temptation to quit will be greatest just before you are about to succeed.”
- With regard to whatever worries you, not only accept the worst thing that could happen, but make it a point to quantify what the worst thing could be. Very seldom will the worst consequence be anywhere near as bad as a cloud of “undefined consequences.” My father would tell me early on, when I was struggling and losing my shirt trying to get Parsons Technology going, “Well, Robert, if it doesn’t work, they can’t eat you.”
- Focus on what you want to have happen. Remember that old saying, “As you think, so shall you be.”
- Take things a day at a time. No matter how difficult your situation is, you can get through it if you don’t look too far into the future, and focus on the present moment. You can get through anything one day at a time.
- Always be moving forward. Never stop investing. Never stop improving. Never stop doing something new. The moment you stop improving your organization, it starts to die. Make it your goal to be better each and every day, in some small way. Remember the Japanese concept of Kaizen. Small daily improvements eventually result in huge advantages.
- Be quick to decide. Remember what General George S. Patton said: “A good plan violently executed today is far and away better than a perfect plan tomorrow.”
- Measure everything of significance. I swear this is true. Anything that is measured and watched, improves.
- Anything that is not managed will deteriorate. If you want to uncover problems you don’t know about, take a few moments and look closely at the areas you haven’t examined for a while. I guarantee you problems will be there.
- Pay attention to your competitors, but pay more attention to what you’re doing. When you look at your competitors, remember that everything looks perfect at a distance. Even the planet Earth, if you get far enough into space, looks like a peaceful place.
- Never let anybody push you around. In our society, with our laws and even playing field, you have just as much right to what you’re doing as anyone else, provided that what you’re doing is legal.
- Never expect life to be fair. Life isn’t fair. You make your own breaks. You’ll be doing good if the only meaning fair has to you, is something that you pay when you get on a bus (i.e., fare).
- Solve your own problems. You’ll find that by coming up with your own solutions, you’ll develop a competitive edge. Masura Ibuka, the co-founder of SONY, said it best: “You never succeed in technology, business, or anything by following the others.” There’s also an old Asian saying that I remind myself of frequently. It goes like this: “A wise man keeps his own counsel.”
- Don’t take yourself too seriously. Lighten up. Often, at least half of what we accomplish is due to luck. None of us are in control as much as we like to think we are.
- There’s always a reason to smile. Find it. After all, you’re really lucky just to be alive. Life is short. More and more, I agree with my little brother. He always reminds me: “We’re not here for a long time; we’re here for a good time.”
The above rules for survival are included with the permission of Bob Parsons (http://www.bobparsons.com) and is Copyright ) 2004-2006 by Bob Parsons. All rights reserved.
Rare Bird Finds Contest
Enter to win a gift set of Organic Fusion products here. Scroll mid way down the page, it’s about 2/3 down on the blog. Rare Bird Findsis one of my favorite blogs. I read it at least once per week to keep up on cool indie finds.
Tips for getting your products into blogs
Donna Maria from the Indie Business Blog has written an article about how to get your products into the hands of beauty bloggers. Click here to read this informative, helpful article and ramp up your press coverage today!
Craftzine teaches you to crochet!
Craftzine has added to their fun crochet tutorial. If you’ve never crocheted or knitted, this is the time to start learning. Needlework can be done at any time when you’re not actively driving or using your hands. My favorite time to knit is when on long plane flights, during movies or as a passenger in a car.
Once you’ve learned to crochet, it’s just one more needle to add and you’re knitting with ease.