Being——-Human

So many times we are referred to, and it is true, as human beings.
Lately though, I have found myself existing as a “human DOING.”
Doing this, doing that, planning for this, finishing up that, looking at this, finding that…just always moving and/or doing.

Even in my quiet time with God this morning I found myself struggling to bring my mind in and concentrate on Him. I’m normally able to just zero right in with Him and get my refreshing for the day. I found myself thinking of what I needed to do as I came out of my time with Him and really having to pull myself back in. I just wanted quiet. For about the last week, and especially the last few days, I have been looking for quietness. Stillness. Nothingness. No conversation. No plans. No list. No needs. No wants….Just longing for a place within myself of still and quiet.
The phone rings, and I glance at it as though it is a literal enemy. “I don’t wanna talk to anybody” I say to myself. “I don’t want any reports, whether they are good, bad, mediocre or otherwise. I’m feeling really good on the inside. I have a spirit of great expectation, but I still just want Quiet, Nothing, Stillness.

I know that as the day progresses I’ll have to come out of my little cocoon I’ve created in the morning to bring a balance to myself, but if I could just have it a little longer, and a little more often.

What do you do to bring your balance back with the world seems too loud around you?

 

Brown Sugar Body Polish

Ok, one of the things I’ve been working on is scrubs. It started with a request from one of my faithful clients and just grew from there. I really want to get into offering fresh scrubs for our clients, but for now we have this wonderful Brown Sugar Body Polish, and then we have Hawaiin Kona Coffee Scrub, and our Gourmet Brown Sugar Scrub (1st one created) with lots of goodies in it.
The Body Polish features Organic Raw Sugar and a host of our favorite carrier oils, honey, and grapefruit seed extract. Of course I was the first to try it and I love it.

I’m loving the research and knowledge that I gain from taking this step of faith in my business so, I’ll see how far it can go. Happy Scrubbing! Maybe I need to find a coach or somebody I can learn from hands on.

Thanks for reading. Feel free to share your thoughts.

 

My Absence

Hello Everyone and Happy Friday to you. It’s been so long since I’ve been able to access my blog thanks to an unmentionable search engine (internet explorer), but I’m back now.
It was so frustrating not being able to connect with you all. Those that come to my email I could read but not respond at all. So, look forward to some responses on some past blogs on my favorites.

So much has been going on. I’ve created some new fragrances and a couple new products. Of course I’m always reading and researching to see what I could come up with next.

Things are moving right along at the new church home, it’s been officially 5 months since we’ve joined now.

Of course you can’t have life without its ups and downs and I’ve had a few of those too. I’ve also had some very inspirational contact with old friends and new ones. I’m grateful for that.

Now tell me, what have I missed with you all…don’t spare any details.

 

Get Inspired!

Happy New Day to you! How was your weekend? Did you get out and do something inspiring or encouraging?

I got a chance, for the second week in a row, to go to an art and craft show outdoors. One week it was Farmington Hills, MI and this past weekend it was Berkley, MI Art Bash.

I love going to art shows and craft shows because just to be able to get into an enviroment where the focus is things made by or put together by the hands and minds of creative people is inspiring for me. I create things all the time and write so, my creative ability flows, but sometimes I just like to get out and see what others are doing. I like to see the passion that drives others to do what they do.
The art show that hubby and I went to in Farmington Hills thrilled me because my husband got a chance to see exactly what he is able to do with his art photography. I’ve been pressing him for a couple years to do something with the beautiful photos that he has taken, but for him to be able to see what I’ve been talking about all this time made me happy because his eyes just glowed with inspiration and made him ready to jump to it. He has created some beautiful photos for friends and family and even a couple ministries that we’ve been affliated with, but nothing really for monetary purposes. I always think about the prophet Elijah when he asked the woman “what do you have in your house?” when she came to him with a debt delima.

When we set out this weekend we actually got to enjoy the Detroit Institute of Arts, of which I haven’t been since 3rd grade (shame on me). It wasn’t the art that drew us there, but the Friday Night Live Jazz Series featuring one of my favorite local jazz bands. Honestly since I didn’t really go for the art I need to go again and just take it all in. I did see some beautiful pieces so, I will be making a return trip soon. Then Saturday we went to the Berkley Art Bash. It was kind of small, but that’s ok with me. I like small mangable type events sometimes. It allows you to take in everything around you and really enjoy what the small town or city has to offer. We spoke with some beautiful people and saw art made from things like glass and wood to hand crafted candles and housewares made from things like granite and yarn, copper and brass, recycled materials and some things that you would never think, at least I wouldn’t, could be made into art and sold…We even found a new little place to get some good food. Actually it was two places. One was a mom and pop type place and another was a bar and grill. The smoke free atmosphere that we have in Michigan now in the bar and grills make it easy for us to enjoy some good food in a place we wouldn’t normally go to avoid coming out smelling like smoke.
So, I say next time you’re feeling a little blue and want a change of scenery, find an art show or something similar in your area and Get Inspired.
What have you done to get inspired lately?

 

One Thing Leads to Another

Ok, I’m feeling so honored right now.

A loyal client of mine came to pick up a jar of the new Cocoa Butter Almond Body Butter the other day.

She was ranting and raving about how she couldn’t wait to get home to try it so, she applied some to her hands at the first stop light.  Now I’m thinking to myself when she told me that “Good thing its not greasy”…so anyway, she was and is very satisfied with the product.

She called, rather texted me to find out if I was making soaps or scrubs yet and I said no.  She said she loves sugar scrubs and to keep her posted when I start making scrubs.  Well, in an effort to appeal to and keep a client satisfied I began to ask her a series of questions to find out what she looks for in a scrub, and some of her previous experiences with scrubs.  After about 5 minutes of texting back and forth, I kind of had an idea of what to make for her, but I don’t make scrubs right? LOL!

So, I said to her “well, I can pick up a few things and put a scrub together just for you if you like”  I could actually feel the smile on her face as she texted back…oh my God that would be the bomb…she asked if I could make it in the scent that I used in the body butter and of course I said yes.  She went on to say, the body butter smelled so good she wanted to eat it.  I guess that’s a plus, but I don’t recommend it.

So I’ve been doing some research as to what I want to include in her scrub to make it luxurious and pleasing for her.  I guess this means once the word gets out I’ll be doing custom sugar scrubs too. 

One thing can definately lead to another if you keep your options open.

 

Cocoa Butter Almond

It’s Body Butter Folks! and I love it.

I had been wanting to create a body butter with cocoa butter for the longest time. Some of our clients like Shea Butter, but are die hard Cocoa Butter Fans. So, I wanted to offer them something else besides the normal hard Cocoa Butter that they normally buy. Now don’t misunderstand me…I’m from the “old school” and Cocoa Butter is and was a staple in my house at all times, but it can be a turn off when you really don’t wanna smell like chocolate (hard to believe right, LOL) all day.

So I just included the wonderful Raw Cocoa Butter, Extra Virgin Coconut Oil (yummy), Sweet Almond Oil, and a splash of Almond Fragrance to sweeten it up just a touch, some Corn Starch so you slide away with greasiness and VIOLA!

I put some on my skin and it melted right in. Before I could post to our clients and friends that it was ready they were ordering and coming by to pick up their little pots of goodness. I was really inspired by one client who said “I love this butter” and hoping to sell out soon…but of course I’ll just make more.
In my rush to get it out to our clients, I still have yet to take photos….so, maybe I’ll post one later. By the way, the only ingredients in this Body Butter are the ones you’ve already read about…no preservatives added. Thanks for reading.
Do you use Body Butter? What’s your favorite?

 

Options

Okay so, I haven’t written much of anything in a while. Trust me it is NOT due to lack of things to write about. LOL…there is a ton of things going on that I wish not to be going on, and a ton more of things that I wish were going on, but are NOT.

I have been doing alot of research for some product sources and resources for suppliers of things that I need to create new body butters, ointments, and other products for Fragrance Cafe’. That keeps me so occupied that by the end of the day after marketing as much as possible, research, and note taking I’m too exhausted to write anything but Hello and Good Night.

Anyway, I have come to a small delima. We create our body butters out of some pretty delicate butters and oils. We have clients and friends, out of state, that want to order our products, but I hate, really hate shipping our butters in the warmer summer months. I mean just imagine you order a body butter and by the time it gets to you, it’s body soup, LOL! Yes, our clients are happy to throw it right into the fridge to bring it back to being solid, but I just rather that they wouldn’t have to go through that.
Is there anybody else out there that has these types of products and face the same problem? If so, what are you doing about it? I really need some other options here.

I look forward to your helpful comments.

 

Wear Your Rice!

I Tried some Rice Bran Oil on my body this morning instead of my favorite lotion…I really like the way it feels on my skin. It’s not heavy and absorbs pretty easily. A plus is that it will not clog pores and it’s high in antioxidants and tocotrienols (the good stuff in vitamin E).

From what I’ve read it has properties that help to protect your skin from harmful UVB rays. I’m trying it for a month to see how it treats my skin. I’m looking for it to keep me soft and smooth which attributes to younger looking skin.

This one has the potential to become a favorite of mine right along with grape seed oil, sweet almond oil, avocado oil, and evoo.

What are some oils that you use and what do you like best about them?

 

What’s That Smell?

So, I’m sitting at my desk earlier today just going through some old papers and emails. I got a whiff of a fragrance that caused me to stop and look around for a moment. It was sweet like fruit, but a little spicy and fresh all at the same time.
I smelled my own hands and wrists to see if I had tried something on earlier and maybe it was still lingering, but nothing was there.
I got up and walked around my apartment from the living room, through the kitchen and into the bedroom, but nothing smelled familiar from what I smelled while sitting at my desk.
Ok so, anyway I go back and sit at my desk to finish doing what I was doing and within a few minutes I smelled this fragrance again. This time I’m sure it’s sweet like fruit (sugary fruit), but a little spicy and fresh all at the same time. The fact that I keep smelling this fragrance says to me, “it’s time to blend.” I love when this happens because once I start pulling out the fragrant notes and begin comparing, smelling, taking notes, blending and re-blending, it always ends in something so unique to me that I could hardly believe it. This could take a few days or could lead to months and drag on for a couple years just to get to the perfect fragrance, but the journey to me is one that I love to take and love to take often.

 

Still Thinking Like A Lady

The very thought of this movie makes me laugh. I don’t mean that in a bad way, I mean it in the best of the best ways.

April 20th was my 10 year anniversary and my husband and I went to the movies. Now let me just say that I love romantic comedies. He on the other hand does not. He will watch one with me if I ask, but I hardly ever ask because I don’t like to watch a movie with someone when they keep falling asleep. LOL. He is a science fiction, action/adventure, straight up hero type of movie man. I love that about him because I have come to love those too, thanks to him.

Ok, so anyway, at his recommendation, when we get to the theater he says “let’s see Act Like a Lady Think Like A Man” At first I was reluctant because I thought it was going to be a man bash/woman bash type of movie. I was sooooooooooo wrong.

I thoroughly enjoyed this movie. Yes, it did give up some of the secrets that men have held dear for centuries, but it didn’t let the women off the hook that easily either. What I loved about this movie is that first, my hubby stayed awake through the whole thing, LOL. Second, it really did have us laughing uncontrolably out loud. I mean I laughed liked I haven’t laughed in a long time at a movie that wasn’t a cartoon…yes, we love those too, espesically Disney Pixar. Third, this movie made you take a look at yourself and how you may be contributing to the success or downfall of any relationship, not just between men and women, but in your freindships with other people too.

All in all this movie was well balanced in my opinion. It drew your attention to the fact that men and women must be willing to compromise in the relationship to make happiness a reality. I give it 6 thumbs up, but because I only have 2, I give it two high fives. 🙂

Did you see this movie? I would love to know what you thought of it…no bashing please.