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Donna Maria's Handmade Beauty Connection
February 11, 2002

A Publication of The Handmade Beauty Network
ISSN 1530-9630 | Vol. 3, Issue 6

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1. HBN Update: Welcome New & Renewing Members
2. New At MakeYourCosmetics.com: Apple Cucumber Facial Mask
3. Handmade Beauty Trivia Question: Win Some Great Stuff I Made Last Week!
4. Create The Life You Love™: Build Your Own Corporate Ladder
5. Handmade Beauty Product Review by Donna Maria: Somebody Slap Me!

1. HBN Update: Welcome New & Renewing HBN Members

~ Welcome New HBN Members!

Gail Adrian Fragranceur | Gail Adrian | New Jersey
* customized perfumes created just for you using your personal story!

Denali Dreams Soap Company | Janie Taylor & Barb Marsh | Alaska
* handmade soaps finished with a decorative stamp, wrapped in tissue; Also body oils, balms & etc.

Cactus & Ivy | Susan Rodgers | South Carolina
* soaps, body scrubs, balms, rubs, etc., for spas, day spas, resort spas & retail shops

Natural Sanctuary | Lisa Engebretson | Wisconsin
* Lisa is gearing up to launch her handmade toiletries business!

NatureBath | Kathleen A. Healy | Ohio
* handmade soaps and other goodies, plus supplies to make your own beauty products

Holly Woods N Vines | Lucille Weston | New Jersey
* pure and natural dual usage bath salts are made with the finest ingredients ... I love this company's name!!

~ Welcome Renewing HBN Members!!

~ HBN Members On The Move!

Another HBN Member Reports A Return On Her HBN Investment!!

I am always really excited when members let me know how HBN has positively impacted their businesses. Anne Kremer of Bottlesandjars.net just joined HBN a few weeks ago and here's what she says about her membership so far: "Just want to let you know how wonderful HBN is. My business has picked up immensely since joining HBN and placing my button ad on the Mangobutter.com site. Ah....it's wonderful! You have no way of knowing how many lives you have affected by your contribution."

Thanks Anne for the great feedback!! If you have not joined HBN, you can do so today and start putting our business to work for yours. Click here for more information.

HBN Member Featured In Lucky Magazine!

Longtime HBN member Kathleen Lewis of Kathleen Lewis Beauty Worldwide is featured in the March issue of Lucky Magazine available on newsstands now. Kathleen (who has been featured in several women's magazines) is featured on page 136 of the magazine as she shops around New York City recommending bathroom accessories to readers. The spread also features a few of her new products. You Go Kathleen!!

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. New At MakeYourCosmetics.com

Apple Cucumber Facial Mask submitted by Andrea in Canada is a simple yet effective recipe for a mask for oily skin. The fresh fruit and cucumber make it refreshing while the lime oil adds a zing and added benefits for oily skin.

When you visit Make Your Cosmetics.com, it's easy to buy the ingredients you need by clicking on our Partner links:

Essential Wholesale: pure essential oils, base carrier oils such as avocado, sweet almond, jojoba and shea butter and specialty packaging supplies packaging supplies!

Bramble Berry, Inc.: over 75 different fragrance oils (including their exclusive "Relaxing" and "Rosehip Jasmine"), 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.

3. Handmade Beauty Trivia Question: the winner of last week's contest was HBN member Marge Clark of Nature's Gift, Inc., in Madison, Tennessee. Marge won a generous sample of the answer to last week's question!!

Last Week's Question: Anyone who has ever attended one of my "Making Aromatherapy Creams & Lotions" workshops knows that this is the one thing that smells like it should be poured all over my vanilla ice cream. It's sweet smelling, thick and tremendously good for your skin. This oil is taken from the fruit of a tree that grown profusely in southeast Asia and Polynesia. In Greek, its name translates "beautiful leaf." The leaves of the tree are often heated and then applied to the skin to help heal ulcers, lesions and other problems. The oil is usually a fabulously green/brown color and is thick and syrupy. It is added to facial creams, massage oils, lip balms and other cosmetics to provide added nourishment to dry skin. As with most fantastically rich oils, a little goes a very long way.

Last Week's Answer: Tamanu (or foraha) oil (Callophyllum inophyllum)

This Week's Question: Name the month and year when HBN first began accepting member dues.

To win this week, be the first person to name the month and year when HBN first began accepting member dues and win a generous sample of this delicious new facial moisturizing oil I made last week with essential oils of rose, sandalwood and more.

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.

4. Create The Life You Love™: Build Your Own Corporate Ladder

An old friend (I'll call him Thomas) called me a few weeks ago and said he wanted to see me. I was game, so I met him for lunch. I thought he wanted to chat about old times, catch up and trade some war stories. Buck Icky! Yucky! Pooh! All he wanted to do was sign me up under his newest venture ... a multi-level marketing program. Now, don't get me wrong. I don't have anything against multi-level marketing programs in an of themselves. So long as an actual product with some real value is being sold, they're fine by me. What I do hate is when people corner me under the guise of friendship and then start trying to sell me stuff I don't need, or give me a job as a multi-level marketing sales associate (as if you don't have enough to do already!) Anyway, that's not what this column is about. I just wanted to vent for a second.

What this column is about is highlighting the mistake people make by relying entirely on their jobs or 401Ks or their multi-level marketing "upline" checks or whatever to secure their future. During my lunch with Thomas, he gave me lots of details about how "credible" this multi-level marketing program is because: (1) it's backed by a company that's traded on the New York Stock Exchange; (2) it has been favorably reviewed in several well-respected business magazines; and (3) it provides associates with residual income several years after they make a sale. In fact, says Thomas, he's going to be getting residual payments on all sales he makes, plus all sales made by those in his "downline," until the day he dies!

"Oh really?" I said. Where does it say that in this "Associate Agreement?" I asked. (I knew it wasn't there because I had already read it.) Hmmmm ... he wasn't sure. "And have you heard of Enron?" I asked next. "Remember, that multi-billion dollar company that was traded on the New York Stock Exchange, written up favorably in several well-respected business magazines and which promised its employees that if they bought Enron stock, they could eventually retire comfortably without a care in the world? Tell me, Thomas, if residuals are not promised in the agreement (and even if they were, there's no guarantee that, if the company folds, residuals would somehow magically continue to be paid), just how sure are you that you'll be getting these residual payments until your last breath?" Shock ... Amazement ... Dismay ... all of these terms describe Thomas' face as we talked. Over 20,000 former Enron employees have lost over a billion dollars in retirement savings ... savings they thought were being held in trust by their employers. I hope Thomas' residuals don't go the way of Enron employees' 401K and stock savings plans ... but I sure won't be surprised if they do!

Our conversation pointed up the importance of Building Your Own Corporate Ladder. Of course, none of us can control all of the variables, so just because you have your own business does not necessarily mean that you'll retire in comfort. With your own business, however, you are in control. If you work hard and methodically implement a plan to fill a need in the market, you will reap the benefits. You may not be a millionaire, but you can put away money in places where you maintain control over it ... and you and only you can say when and where it will be invested. Are employee savings and 401K programs worthless? Of course not, and there's nothing wrong with having some savings set aside in reliable employee savings programs! But in today's uncertain economy and world where it's becoming increasingly clear that we cannot trust our employers or the government to look out for our best interests, putting 100% of savings into such a plan is foolhardy indeed.

The peace of mind that comes from creating and controlling your own wealth cannot be matched my any corporate savings program. Choose to Build Your Own Corporate Ladder, and then climb it with confidence, creating savings into the future that no one can take away from you!

5. Handmade Beauty Product Review by Donna Maria: Somebody Slap Me!!

be somebody extra-rich body cream by philosophy
8 oz. | $22.00

Well, it's mid-February and my skin is in over-dry mode. I can't seem to keep enough moisture in it or on it! But thanks to my pantry filled with goodies like shea butter and coconut oil, I have salvation in a bottle. But since we all have those times when we just don't have time to make something and the nearest quality handmade product is more than a day away, we just might break down and borrow a "run of the mill commercial product" from a friend. This could happen to you! And it happened to me a few weeks ago. After my morning walk, I asked my walking partner (who has drawers and drawers filled with cosmetics of all kinds) if I could borrow the small sample bottle of lotion I saw on her kitchen counter. I didn't pay attention to what it was; I just put it on my hands which were drying and cracked around my nails.

Somebody slap me!! It was be somebody extra-rich body cream by philosophy and I loved the stuff! Of course, I kind of hated loving it because it's not handmade, but I just had to tell you about it because if I wanted to make a creamy, thick, non-greasy lotion, I would want it to be as close to this stuff as possible. I have to say that I didn't readily recognize half of the stuff listed on the label so this is not the product I would use on a regular basis. But I was desperate! What can I say? I further confess that I confiscated it from my walking partner (she has enough stuff anyway) and have been toting it around in my purse ever since. It's unscented and when I squeeze a bit out of the bottle, it comes out like heavy cream and it feels soft and silky smooth. People with oily skin may not appreciate the really thick and creamy texture of this cream. But if you have dry skin, it's a really good product to have on hand when you run out of the handmade stuff. But I'm not a total traitor ... I would never buy any of the stuff myself. But I wanted to let you know that, while handmade is still always and forever the best if you ask me, your dry skin can get a lot of relief in a pinch if you keep a small bottle of this creamy mass produced concoction around for emergencies.

You can find philosophy products at their Web site.

Visit The Handmade Beauty Connection Archives.

Visit our suite of Web sites serving the handmade toiletries industry:

HandmadeBeauty.com: the leading industry trade organization
MangoButter.com: over 400 suppliers of raw materials and packaging, updated weekly!
MakeYourCosmetics.com: ingredient encyclopedia & original cosmetics recipes
DonnaMaria.com: sound advice for your small business, We2We Success Seminars
HandmadeBeauty.com: e-greeting cards coming soon!
Handmade Skin Care.com: secure online shopping coming soon!

Have your ad seen by over 3,100 subscribers! Click here to see why Essential Wholesale says that the returns from their newsletter ad "just keep on coming," and why Anastasia's Ideas says "the ad I placed for my handmade soaps just 2 days ago has generated 6 huge retail orders and 2 new wholesale inquiries from HBN members with retail shops. Things are really good ..."

Donna Maria, Editor-In-Chief, DonnaMaria@HandmadeBeauty.com
The Handmade Beauty Connection
The Handmade Beauty Network | www.HandmadeBeauty.com