Handmade Beauty Connection
A Publication of The Indie Beauty Network 1. IBN Member Update: Welcome New & Renewing IBN Members!
May 23,
2005
ISSN 1530-9630 | Volume 6, Issue 21
To subscribe, click here
2. Handmade Beauty Recipe: Molasses Honey Hair Help
3. Handmade Beauty Trivia Question: win a 30 minute handmade beauty success consultation!
4. Featured Article: Hair & Glory: How Natural Ingredients Can Help Your Hair!
5. You're Invited To My First Virtual Home Party™!
1. IBN Member Update: Welcome New & Renewing IBN Members!
New Members!
Country Lane Baskets & Herbal Soaps
| Jo Anne Farrell | Virginia
*
soaps and other beauty products made in small batches on our farm in
the Shenandoah Valley
Safe Scents, LLC
| Jill McDonough | Pennsylvania
* all natural,
handcrafted candles, soaps (goat milk & vegetable), and wax dipped air
fresheners
Pine Hill Organics, LLC
| Maryann Alvino | Kentucky
*
organic and natural handcrafted soaps, sugar and salt scrubs, body
butter and bath tea
The Tempting Tub
| Beth Shannon | Florida
* a bountiful
assortment of fresh, from scratch, body care products
The Enterprising Kitchen
| Joan Pikas | Illinois
* providing transitional employment
and job and life skills by training women to make soaps and spa products,
thereby maximizing their individual potential and move toward sustainable
employment
A Perfect Match
| Bonita Martin | Illinois
* a
full line of bath and body products
Wild Woozle Soap Company
| Daria Ross | Washington
* creating
unique, modern products with a sassy twist using
traditional ingredients from Tahiti, Hawaii and around the world
Le'Saric
| Lisa and Eric Lengstorf | Washington
* natural
bath and body care products for men, women and children to nourish skin and
delight senses
We Make Perfect Scents
| Teresa Bacon | Florida
* custom
blended hand and body lotion, bath salts, body sprays
Shashy Bodycare
| Joanna Schmidt | Florida
*
woman owned and
operated, making the very best skin treatments
IBN Members On The Move!!
Last week, IBN member Lisa Price of Carol's Daughter was joined by superstars Jada Pinkett-Smith, her husband Will Smith, rapper Jay Z, music mogul Tommy Mottola and others to celebrate the investment by the actors and musicians of $10Million to take the Carol's Daughter brand nationwide. Jada is now the face of Carol's Daughter -- and what a lovely face it is!! To enjoy some photos from the press conference, click here. Lisa was the guest at my Beauty Brunch last year and you can enjoy photos from that event here. Lisa is tentatively scheduled as IBN's Beauty Call guest for September so stay tuned for that! Congratulations Lisa!
IBN members Bella Lucce and von Natur were featured in the gift bags at the Cannes Film Festival earlier this month! Bella Lucce's featured produce was their Manuka Honey Drizzle Bath Treatment. von Natur's was their botanical Aromatherapy and Esthetics. Congratulations to these members going places!!
Traci Vanover of The Creative Concept is excited to invite you all to the Soap and Candle Bee in Fort Wayne, Indiana on June 11, 2005. The Theme is "Fresh Ideas -- Fresh Outlook" and I'll be the keynote speaker -- hope to see you there! (IBN members, put "IBN OFFER" in the shopping cart comments to get your FREE spa CD when you register!)
Learn more
about our members and their exciting activities by visiting their Web sites
through IBN'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: Molasses Honey
Hair Help
Check out this week's recipe
for Molasses Honey Hair Help,
which contains natural ingredients and panthenol to help dry, frizzy hair
become more tame and manageable.
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 IBN member Christine Rigos. Christine won a 30 minute handmade beauty success consultation!
Last Week's Question: According to the Association For Wedding Planners International, the leading city in the world for weddings is not Las Vegas! It's not even in the US! It's overseas, and it's no wonder weddings are popular there. It's also the world's most prolific producer of the flower of love -- the rose!
Last Week's Answer: Istanbul, Turkey
This Week's Question:
Be the first to answer this week's question and win a 30 minute handmade beauty success consultation!
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: Hair & Glory: How Natural Ingredients Can Help Your Hair!
Technically, hair is dead protein. In fact, the way we care for it (or not) is the only thing that keeps our hair from looking as dead as it really is! Of course, diet, lifestyle and geographic conditions play a role. I learned this first hand when I lived in South Africa in 1999. After leaving the damp and humid Mid-Atlantic American coast, I found myself living in one of the driest environments on earth. My hair dried out very quickly and it has never been the same since. Pregnancy also changed the condition of my hair to a more wavy texture for some reason. And there's no doubt that the increasingly prevalent strands of gray hair in my head are more wiry and brittle than my naturally black hair color. I'm not one to fret over these changes, but I have recently decided to do something about them.
I started by paying closer attention to what I put on my hair and taking more time on a weekly basis to condition and care for it. I rarely blow dry anymore and I limit my use of hot curlers to special occasions. (Actually, neither of these things was terribly difficult to give up since with two toddlers, it's nearly impossible to find the time to blow dry or use hot curlers on my hair anyway!) I have never colored my hair, not even naturally with henna. And while my best friend ironed it for a high school dance one year (HA!), I have never had a perm. I have stopped using gels, mousses and hair spray because they coat my hair with a layer that eventually becomes brittle. When the brittle coating breaks, so does my hair. Funny how that didn't happen when I was in my 20's!
Even though I have never subjected my hair to many of the harsh treatments available on the market, it still has not always looked as good as I hoped. I have lots of natural waves, curls and kinks and my hair is so sensitive to moisture that I get the frizzies days before any actual rain falls. On my quest for healthier hair, I have found that there are a few natural ingredients that are indispensable to my "after shampoo" hair care routine. They are easy to find, affordable and for my hair, they work great! After using a pH balanced shampoo (I rotate shampoos because I have heard that using the same shampoo repeatedly dilutes their overall effectiveness) that is fortified with panthenol, I towel dry my hair and use after shampoo conditioning products I make myself using some of these ingredients.
Jojoba Oil
This oil is rich and moisturizing
with a long shelf life. If you look on the labels of expensive conditioners that
tout jojoba oil as an ingredient, you'll find that it's usually at the end of
the list. This means that there's no much jojoba in the product at all. Add some
jojoba to your favorite conditioner to fortify it, or just use is
"straight" on your hair as a daily conditioner. Other oils which can
help, but which are not as rich as jojoba (and are a bit less costly) include
olive oil (use extra virgin), sweet almond and avocado.
Castor Oil
Emollient, rich and thick, just a little castor oil goes a long way toward
moisturizing dry hair and giving it a healthy shine.
Shea Butter
Native to Africa and used by African people to smooth and moisturize the
skin and hair, nothing beats shea butter for its ability to revitalize anything
that is dry. I've even used shea butter to renew the leather on my car seats
(not there's a new line of natural products I'd like to see!) and it does a
great job. You can use shea butter by itself or mix it with essential oils or
other oils like olive and jojoba to make a nice hair conditioning oil. You might
also enjoy using mango and/or olive butter for this purpose.
Yogurt (with acidophilus cultures): most of the research about acidophilus deals with its positive impact on the digestive system, it is also said to be good for the hair since it contains lactic acid, a byproduct of the fermentation of milk. If a carton of plain yogurt has been in the fridge for too long, rather than throw it out, I add an egg yolk to it and use the mixture to condition my hair.
Panthenol (Vitamin B5): this has been shown to actually penetrate the hair to help strengthen and revive it. I try to add some panthenol to a combination of natural ingredients at least a few times a month to strengthen and condition my hair.
Tea Tree Essential Oil
It's anti-microbial action helps provides anti-dandruff capabilities.
While I have not tried it myself, silk protein can also be sued to add shine because it helps reflect light naturally from the hair shaft. Despite the additional time it takes, I am determined to keep my hair natural, and using these ingredients and products like Molasses Honey Hair Help have made it a bit less stressful. All of the ingredients listed above are available from IBN supplier members, including today's newsletter sponsor, Essential Wholesale.
5. You're Invited To My Virtual Home Party™!
After months of planning, I am pleased to announce the newest IBN member
benefit -- Virtual Home Parties™! These parties will be hosted by me at
member websites or at IBN's own website -- and you are invited!
All you have to do to enjoy one of my Virtual Home Parties is arrive (virtually of course) at the appropriate website link during the time of the party. Bring your lunch, a snack or just a cup of tea and join the party and shop for IBN member products. It's the easiest way to shop (at a discount!) for quality IBN member goodies from the comfort of your own home or office during lunch time! Most parties will be held at IBN's website but our first one, which will take place tomorrow, will be held at a member website!
My first Virtual Home Party will be tomorrow, May 27, 2005. I will feature products made by IBN member Alabu Soap. They've got wonderful, rich, luscious handmade soaps infused with real goat milk which is great for your skin. Plus try their lip balms, lotion sticks, facial oils and other goodies. Order through their secure shopping cart, enjoy a discount and have your order shipped immediately right to your front door.
To join my first Virtual Home Party tomorrow, May 27, 2005 from 1:00pm to 2:00pm EST, and get your Alabu products at a discount, click here.
Have A Great Week!!
Donna Maria
Editor, The Handmade Beauty Connection
The Indie Beauty Network | www.handmadebeauty.com
Copyright (c) 2000 - 2005 by The Indie Beauty Network (IBN) and Donna Maria. All Rights Reserved. Unauthorized distribution or reproduction is prohibited. IBN does not necessarily endorse any product, event or ideology featured in The Handmade Beauty Connection (HBC) or on IBN'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 IBN's Web site, including Recipes, is solely at your own risk. IBN 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 IBN, Donna Maria (unless she is the reviewer) or any other person or company.
