All That Shimmers

I've been window shopping on the web and once again keep finding more jewelry that I want. It's not like I don't have enough upstairs in my jewelry box..I have plenty. But, when a girl sees shiney sparkly beautiful things...we want more.


I love cardinals, they are my favorite bird. And, when I saw this locket at Urban Bloom (based in New York City) I would love to get one. I never had a locket before and this one has such a lovely picture on it. And, it's a good size too, 2 inches. This locket with chain sells for $30 which isn't such a bad deal.


There are some other nice pieces at Urban Bloom. This one is called "Luce's Leaves" . It's so delicate and feminine. Apparently you can get it either in gold tone foror silver tone, priced at. Depending on whenter you want the larger leaves or not the price ranges from $22 - $26.


There's also these gold plated mesh leaf earrrings at $15. Some really intriguing pieces that don't cost too much.

Then there's Linda Trent Jewelry. I get her newsletter every Tuesday..hoping that I won this weeks gift certificate. Her pieces are just so brilliant with color. Like these silver earrings with the lime green stones against the silver and turquoise. On sale today by the way for $40 but regular price is $52.




This necklace is gorgeous but so way out of my league. I love the design that she made out of wire and the stones. It's so beautiful but alas I do not have $150 to buy it (regular price is $210)[$150 for silver or $170 for gold filled].



But, I did actually make a purchase the other day. I had been eyeing this necklace at Opehlia's Jewels ever since I had bought my mother-in-laws necklace. I was praying that it wouldn't get sold until I got this check I was waiting for. Luckily..no one bought it and I was able to get it for myself. It's called Earth & Sea. Made of silver, Swarovski Crystals and Czech glass beads..and it's MINE all MINE!!!

So, there's still so many many online jewelry artists out there. I'm finding more and more every week and their designs are just fantastic. Take a look around and see if something tickles your fancy..let me know what you get!

All We Need is Soap Soap....Soap is All We Need

I have been inundated with soaps! I have more soaps than probably most people and that's ok. I like soap..soap is good. Soap gets you clean. Ok, so I'm more of a body wash person..but that's ok..I still use soap and so does my husband so we go through quite a bit. Plus, with all the choices out there, you just can't go wrong. You can buy a soap online in just about any shape, size, scent etc. The best thing is that these soaps are handmade and in most cases, all natural. You can't get that on the shelf at Target or the grocery store..well maybe Ivory soap but not a heck of a lot of the others.

I've gotten alot of soaps via all the sampler boxes I have purchased in addition to all the freebies with pruchase. I now have two baskets full of soap and they are slowly going down, slowly. The important thing to note is that you want a soap that is going to be good for your skin..because as a good friend of mine says "what goes on the skin goes in the skin", which means what you put on your body gets absorbed and goes into your body. That includes the soap you use. You don't want to dump any more chemicals etc into your body. Plus, isn't is nice to just have a bar of soap in just about any scent you could imagine?

First I'm going to discuss soaps that I have used personally. Then I'm going to show you some unique soaps that I have found but have not tried (I will though..someday when my baskets empty out).

First the soaps I have tried. This spans quite a lot of soap...including one of my original favorites, Two Rivers Soaps, whom I have devoted it's own post to a long time ago. You can also read my Inside Indie interview with Jennifer of Two Rivers Soaps to find out more. This is her Energy soap which is a lovely citrus soap that my husband loves.

Another wonderful soap maker is Susan Mann of Manor Hall Soap Company. Susan actually found me and I was more than happy to try out her products. She sent me quite a few of her soaps. My husband's been using some and I have as well. What wonderful soaps. All natural I might add as are all of her products. Here's the ingredients of the bar that I just finished up called Almost Sunset: Saponified oils of olive, coconut and palm. With added organic jojoba oil, and essential blend including patchouli, ylang and lemongrass. Shake of paprika for color. Rosemary OE (natural preservative). Like I said all natural. It smelled really nice, not overpowering. And, it has such a unique color from the use of the paprika. I'm looking forward to trying her Ooh La Lavender soap next. Plus you'll love the names of Susan's soaps..they're really catchy and original.

Another fantastic bar of soap is Bidwell Botanicals Limoncello soap. The smell is absolutely fantastic and it really is a HUGE bar of soap. Made of palm oil, organic olive oil, shea butter and Italian Lemon Peel. You will not forget this soap easily. Man, it just smells so darn good mmmm.

Another etailer that recently found me also makes all natural soaps. Frost Fish Cove Soaps up in Maine has a variety of soap scents in all kinds of fancy shapes. The one Tory sent me is a Basil Lime soap in a swirl/scroll like pattern. Very pretty soap and even though the fragrance combination sounds strange, it is actually very pleasant. All of her soaps are made with natural oils and natures own fragrances. There's real basil in my soap by GUM! She even makes a "Yeast Defense" soap that is supposed to help prevent yeast infections with use...you know I really wanna try this one out!!!


Recently I bought some lip balms from Paradise Cosmetics and she sent me the cutest little Flip Flop soaps as a freebie. Well, since I have a Luau birthday party for my youngest, I had to have these as favors. Very very cute, very reasonably priced and very very fast turnaround!! I was so happy, I ordered about 20 of these in a wonderful Tropical Fragrance and in blue and they cost 25 cents each all packaged up. My party guest were very happy to get such a cute favor. Here's the ingredients: Made with 100% Certified Organic Palm Oil, 100% Certified Organic Coconut Oil and Vegetable Glycerin! and of course the fragrance. I'm showing you a photo of her hibiscus shape but you can get the flip flops, a palm tree and other shapes too.

Most of these soaps ranges in price from $4-$6 per bar. This seems to be the average price range. Don't forget you are getting advantages with these homemade soaps as opposed to say Zest or Dial. Most or all of the ingredients are natural and they don't dry your skin out. Two very important pieces of information.

Ok here's a couple of sites I have found that sell really really cool looking soaps. The fragrance descriptions sound really good and as soon as I use up a bunch more soaps in my baskets..I really want to buy some.

The first is Artizan Soap. Now, this is an "adult" soap site. What do I mean by that? Well, lets just say you can buy a breast soap for your man complete with nipple. Or if you're feeling up to it..there's even private part soaps. The fragrances are all aromatherapy style and each soap has it's personal fragrance or you can have one custom made in the shape and scent you want. Soaps here range from $12-16 per soap. You won't find this soap at Target and certainly not at Walmart lol.

Then, there's a site I found out about on Makeup Alley..Sister Agnes Soaps These soaps are made in the slice style but what really amazes me is how they get these shapes and designs. They are really fantastical and amazing. You really have to visit the site and see some of these for yourself. I'm only able to put a couple of pictures here for you but trust me there's alot more to see. The fragrances sound wonderful. The price per slice of soap is $8 though..a little pricey but the artwork is worth it at least once. The tough part is making the decision.

So, there's a lot of soap out there. This doesn't even cover a tiny bit of the amount of etailers that sell soap. You have alot of choices trust me!

No Inside Indie This Week

Sorry, but everyone must be on vacation this week. I tried 3 different etailers but no one got back to me. LOL. Hopefully, Inside Indie will be back next week.

Is the Customer Always Right?

I thought I'd touch a bit upon the ever wanted but sometimes elusive concept of Customer Service. We all want good customer service but do we deserve it? Where can we find it? Should customer service go above and beyond, even when the rules are posted?

I've been part of quite alot of forums for a long time and I've seen posts time and time again regarding customer service. Some good and some bad. I've experienced the good and the bad myself. I can tell you that not many of the "big" named companies really do provide good customer service. I've had both experiences with the big named guys. I can also tell you that I have had basically nothing but fantastic customer service from the Indie Etailers that I have bought from. Some even went out of their way to make me happy.

For example....I went into a Subway once..ordered a sub and once eating it saw that I paid $6 for 2 slices of meat. Well, I contacted Subway and informed them of the store and they sent me GC for a free sandwich. Wow, they were fast and they really wanted to see me happy. Another example, my husband and I wanted to buy new and good food storage containers to replace the ones we bought in college. We bought Rubbermaid Stain Savers. They were dishwasher safe in the top rack only..so that's how we washed them. And, we watched over the next few weeks how several of them started to crack and break for no reason. I contacted Rubbermaid and was asked in return to supply Model numbers for each of the ones that cracked for replacement. I did..and never ever heard back from them. I overnighted a letter to the president of the Food Storage division of Rubbermaid..and never heard back. So, I don't buy Rubbermaid products anymore. If they can't back their product or at least have the decency to contact me then I can't waste my money or time on their product. Some big names have good customer service and others do not.

But, when is a complaint too much of a complaint? Is there a limit to what you can give as far as customer service goes? For example, recently Sprint decided to "fire" certain customers because Sprint felt that there was no way that Sprint could serve these peoples' needs. Apparently, these "customers" complained constantly about the service..so Sprint simply let them go. No more complaints and the customers had no one to complain to anymore. Sprint took a huge chance in doing this as they, of course, lost business and money. But, maybe they are right, you can't please all of the people all of the time. And, if nothing Sprint did ever made these people happy, then they should go ahead and look for another service company. I actually applaud Sprint for this daring act.

I actually worked in retail for a good portion of my life. I know how hard it can be to give perfect customer service all the time. Sometimes, you're having a bad day or you don't feel 100%..other times there are those customers who just don't know how to act or how to follow any rules. Most stores, including online ones, give the rules for returns, shipping etc up front. Walk into any Target or Best Buy and right behind the customer service desk is a BIG sign telling you all the rules for any and all returns. Yet, there are customers that will still try to return that opened DVD for their money back and not an exchange. There will still be that customer who is returning an obviously USED item or the customer who is returning something that is over a year old (isn't 90 days enough time for you to figure out if you want it or not?). And, most etailers also have their return, shipping etc. information on their websites..I recommend you read before you buy so you know what to expect. But, there are those of us who choose not to read the rules and expect that the store will always honor the "Customer is always right" rule. Well, I think that the customer is not always right.

If you're going to complain, make sure it is legitimate and meaningful. If it's something that is truly important to complain about (hello there's a hair in my body butter, I got the wrong item, I haven't gotten my items, I received a body part) then do it. Don't make a mountain out of a mole hill. If it's a small issue that is truly no affecting your life, you can mention it as a constructive criticsm, for example, "I got my order and love the body wash, it's fantastic! I was wondering if you realized though that the labels are not waterproof? Mine wasn't and I just thought you might want to know. Keep up the great work!"

Make sure that you're truthful and as polite as possible. Even if you are mad as hell, the more polite and communicative you are about the issue the more polite and willing to help the re/etailer will be. Make sure you contact the re/etailer, don't vent on a forum. Venting on a forum..I understand you're frustrated...but does it really help resolve the issue: NO. The more adult you are about the situation, the better resolved the situation will be. I've done things both ways, mad as hell and politely..politely works 1 billion times better then mad as hell. Trust me! Venting on a forum can and will make things worse...it just shows the re/etailer that instead of actually contacting them to resolve the issue, you went public and tried to wreck their reputation. No one wants that.

Is the customer always right? I say no. Should the customer always be right? To the best of their ability.

Let Them Eat Cake

What is it about Costco that I love so much. Is it the large bulk items at good prices? Is it the abundance of free samples that feed me my lunch? Or is it the sheet cakes that I get twice a year for my kids birthdays?

Well, it's all of the above...but for today it's those darn delicious sheet cakes.

Yesterday was the birthday party for my youngest who turned 2. Now, I've looked around for years at various grocery stores etc for birthday cakes. If I want a character cake at the local Giant or any other grocery store..it's about $20 for what like a 1/4 sheet cake...and as much food coloring as will make you sick. I actually bought one for my oldest son's first birthday and not only did I feel ripped off but the cake just tasted like CRAP. It had so much dark blue food dye in it that my son's fingers were blue for a week.
Then I found the Costco cakes! At $15.99 (previously $14.99) you get I believe a half sheet cake. Ever since I bought that grocery store cake, I learned my lesson and just go to Costco for my cakes. Not only do the cakes look good, they taste good and they are priced RIGHT! We usually enjoy either the yellow or chocolate cake but I always get the chocolate mousse filling! Sometimes I alternate between the chocolate buttercream and the regular buttercream. And, even though there are limited designs that you can get (no characters here), you can request certain colors instead of the norm that you see on the display. I discovered that even some Costco employees don't know that!

For example, for my youngest's party we have a luau theme..so I asked for a balloon cake but with tropical colors like yellow, teal, lime green..and what did I get? Exactly those colors and it looked fantastic.


But, for some people, their kids want those character cakes. Here's how you do it: go buy those little icing decorations and just add them to the cake. My oldest was into the Wiggles at age 2 so I did a Costco cake with the Rainbow design asking that the rainbow be done in Wiggles Colors. Then, I just added these edible Wiggles decorations and walla...a Wiggles cake that was bigger and cost less than the alternative.

And, I know it's a big cake but so what...leftovers anyone! LOL.. we have about 1/3 of the cake left..for now...until tomorrow...
Look, it's a great tasting cake. You can customize it in a way. And, it's $15.99 for this huge confection. Where can you go wrong??? Costco, it's what's for dinner, lunch and birthday cakes!

Inside Indie: Bidwell Botanicals

Ok, I know it's not Thursday quite yet. But, I'm going to be out most of the day tomorrow so you're getting Inside Indie a bit early. This weeks Inside Indie interview is with Jill Jones of Bidwell Botanicals. If you remember, Bidwell Botanicals Spun Sugar Sugar Scrub tied for first place in my Best of Sugar Scrubs contest back in June. Jill makes and sells wonderful scrubs, lotions soaps and more. I highly recommend the Spun Sugar and her Chocolate fragrances!!!

Tell me a little about the mind behind Bidwell Botanicals.

I am a lucky woman, mom, wife with a great family that supports my crazy dreams and help to make them happen. I am totally into creativity in almost any aspect and have dabbled in every craft I could get my hands on, so owning a business like ours is awesome for me!

What made you decide to start a bath and body business?

Basically I love to cook and create and I love to pamper people, so this business seemed a perfect synergy for me. I'm a total bath junky myself and have made products for my family for a long time. When I really got into it about 6 years ago I just dove in head first and Bidwell Botanicals is going to have its 5th official birthday this October!!

Congrats on your 5th Year! So, since your Sugar Scrub came in first in the Best of Sugar Scrubs contest, has anything changed?

I'm so proud of that accomplishment! We worked very hard to make a product that people would love, and now we're adding several more types of sugar scrub to our line so they can indulge themselves even more! It has definitely given me incentive to move forward with this business when I know that people really like what we're doing.

You're stranded on a desert island and you can only have one of your products with you..what is it, what fragrance and why?

I would bring our Hydrating Body Milk in the Bali Spa fragrance so I could keep my skin from getting parched and the scent would help me pretend to be on a tropical vacation instead of being stranded.

What can we expect from Bidwell Botanicals in the future?

We plan to keep on growing and offering new and innovative products to our customers. Look for a new fruity line of products very soon! We will also be offering several new products for the upcoming Holiday season. I can't wait to bring them out!!

And, I can't wait for you to bring them out either! What is your absolutely can't live without it product that you do not make (it doesn't have to be bath and body)?

Tea! I have at least a cup of tea every morning and in the Winter I drink it all day. I drink anything from Earl Grey to Hibiscus herbal tea. I especially enjoy the fruit teas from Herb + Ginger. Yummo!

Jill, thank you so much for sharing yourself with me and my readers. I can't wait to see your new products so bring them out soon. And to my readers, go visit Bidwell Botanicals and see what wonderful products Jill creates just for you!

Jewelry as Unique as Her Name: Ophelia's Jewels

All you married women out there know how hard it is to find a nice gift for your Mother In Law. Oh yeah, you know what I'm talking about. It's hard. Most of the time I find a few things and let my husband pick out the final choice..it seems to always be more wonderful if he picked it out..go figure.

Anyway, mine lives in a beach community and I thought I'd just search on Etsy for "sea", "ocean" and "beach" and see what I could find. I thought jewelry would be a good idea so I searched those terms under the jewelry category.

My search yielded this beautiful seashell necklace from Opehlia's Jewels on Etsy. It's called "Seashell in the Sand" and you can see that it's made to look just like that a silver seashell surrounded by sand colored crystals. But this picture doesn't do it justice. It's just such a beautiful piece and up at the clasp there's a tiny silver dolphin and a couple of pearls near the clasp.

Once I got it in the mail..I really didn't want to give it to my MIL. Even the packaging was so cute..the little jewelry box was tied up with a green ribbon and the bow had a small silver charm attached. What a really nice touch. The price for this beauty was only $26, quite a deal for a sterling silver necklace with Swarovski crystals.

I've said it before..I love the imaginations of these Indie jewelry artists. They are so beautiful and the variety of fantastic pieces is amazing.

Here's a couple more pictures of some of the other jewelry offered at Ophelia' Jewels:

The prices ranges from $16 (for some earrings) to $52 with most pieces falling in the $20-$28 range. Very very nice pieces and very reasonable prices to boot. I really like Opehlia's style and I'm saving some of my money for one of the necklaces I've had my eye on for some time. Enjoy.

New Candy Addiction!

I've always liked those 3 Musketeers bars. They're just good and have less fat than other candy bars (but I don't care lol).

Recently I made a wonderful discovery! I saw a 3 Musketeers MINT bar..yep MINT. So it's that wonderful fluffy filling but in this very light Mint flavor covered in DARK CHOCOLATE! I'm a sucker for any chocolate-mint concoction and I'll always try it at least once. But, I think I'm on my 10th 3 Musketeers mint bar now and have about 4 more in my upstairs secret chocolate stash location.

The mint flavor is perfect..not too strong and not too weak and it's not a fakey mint flavor..it's great. Then it's covered in a nice layer of dark chocolate. So the whole taste is very smooth and mellow but very very good.

Instead of the usual one large thick candy bar..this one is split into two smaller versions and thinner. I'm hoping that there's a King Size or at least a "regular" size version coming out soon. For 69 cents a piece I need more BAR man. But, it's well worth the 69 cents and I'll pay it no problem..at least until the husband notices a large increase in 69 cent items being purchased.

I hope that the Mars company keeps this one on the store shelves. This is perhaps one of the best new candy bars to come out in a very long time...at least in my opinion.

Inside Indie: Two Rivers Soaps

Welcome to this weeks Inside Indie interview. Today I'm featuring an interview with Jennifer Thompson of Two Rivers Soaps. I discovered Two Rivers Soaps via a Crafty Cube I bought last year. The sample we got was of her Energy scent and my husband, yes my husband loved it. So I started buying him his soaps from Two Rivers. So without further ado..here's all you need to know about Two Rivers Soaps.

Tell me a little bit about the mind behind Two Rivers Soaps.

My name is Jennifer Thompson and I live in Des Moines, Iowa. I founded my company in 1999 and work out of my home. I also
work full-time as an academic librarian. When not working, or soaping, I love to read, work on mosaic projects, watch movies & just hang out with my boys.

Do you remember the first bar of soap you ever made? Tell me about it.

Oh yes, very well! After months of research, I created my own recipe made with Olive, Coconut, Palm & Castor oils, along with lots of Shea & Cocoa butters. It took hours to get to the point where I added the colorant and fragrance. I had decided to scent it with a Huckleberry fragrance (of all things) and color it purple. I didn't know then that purple was a difficult color to get in soap and that this fragrance discolored the soap as well. When the soap got thick enough I added my fragrance, then the colorants. The soap turned gray, so I panicked and added more colorants, then more! I eventually gave up and ended up with a brownish gray soap with red & blue streaks. It worked great but could've won an ugly soap contest! The next day I made a very pretty peach colored & scented soap though!

What inspires you when you're creating your soaps?

Lately it's been from wondering around our local gourmet food markets and farmer's market. I recently found a Honey Pear salad dressing that's inspired a fantastic soap scent.

Ok, you're stuck on a desert island and you can only have one of your products with you..what is it, what scent and why?

I'd definitely bring soap! Specifically my Garden Mint soap. It's made with Peppermint & Tea Tree Essential oils. It's vry refreshing and feels cooling on the skin.

What can we expect from Two Rivers Soaps in the future?

I'm working on a line of liquid hand soap as well as coming up with fun,new bar soap scents.

What is your absolutely can't live without product that you don't make (doesn't have to be bath and body)?

I'm addicted to some locally made salsa- http://www.juanosullivans.com/and put it on nearly everything!

Lemming Central Sampler July Box Came Today

The July Sampler Box from Lemming Central came today. It was packed full of goodies including some samples from Etailers I have not tried yet. I love getting samples no matter what but it's even better trying new stores.

Anyway..here's my take from the July Sampler Box:


SBS Teas: a Purple Rock candy Swizzle Stick and Earl Grey de la Creme tea. 20% off coupon

Dark Temptations: Citrus Crush Fluff Creme, Deadly Intoxication soap and Triple Chocolate Threat Soap.

Youthful Essentials: Wrinkle Serum and 20% off coupon

Pebble Creek: Soy Drops in Strawberry Tiramisu

Foster's Creations: Baby Magic Air Freshener and 15% off coupon

Sweet Beauty: Chocolate Lip Balm

Spatacular Body: Cucumber Melon soap and Body Butter in Pink Sugar

Jaycee Danielle: Aloe & Shea Body Lotion in Ocean Water and 15% off coupon

Soothing Creations: Rose Petal Soaps (3 petals) in Pear & Pink Grapefruit

Country Road Primitives: 3 soaps (Bits of Bars)

My Soap Divine: Peppermint Soap Sample

Possets: 3 perfume vial samples in Haute Love, Ultramarine Blue and Madame X

Arizona Sun: Lip Kist Lip Balm and SPF 15 sunscreen sample

Things That Make Scents: 2 Tarts in Flower Child and Berry Bundt Cake..plus a 25% off coupon

Feel free to visit any of the above Etaliers for more of their wares. I look forward to trying everything from the stores I love to the new stores I probably will love.

Tomorrow is Inside Indie day so look for my next interview with one of my and my husband's favorite soapmakers...Two Rivers Soaps.

The Next Products Contest: Best Original Perfume Blend

Announcing the next Products of the Day contest: Best Original Perfume Blend

This is open to all Perfume Artists out there who are interested in entering their best fragrance for a chance to have the BEST blend on the net! We had such a good turn out for the Best of Sugar Scrubs that I plan on continuing these contests.

Here's all the rules, prizes and information you need to know....

RULES
1. This must be an original fragrance made by you and you alone.

2. It may be in any form...edp, mister/body mist, solid, roll-on etc.
3. You may use 1 and only 1 dupe in your blend. (A Best Dupe Fragrance contest will be done in the future.)

4. Due to the nature of body chemistry...I will have a Guest Judge assisting me with this particular contest. My Guest Judge is none other than Sharla from Rare Bird Finds! I want to be as fair as possible..what might not smell good on me may smell better on Sharla. All decisions are final.

5. You must provideand a description of your fragrance (x2) [and an ingredient list if applicable].

6. Judging criteria is as follows:
40% on the fragrance not on the sking (how it smells in it's container, in the air, etc..not on the skin)
40% on the fragrance on the skin
20% on how long the fragrance lasts on the skin

7. Due to things we both already know, please do not send any "popcorn" scents to us..they just do not work on either of us. I figured I would warn you ahead of time.

8. Entries are being accepted as of today. Please email me at productsoftheday@gmail.com if you are interested. I plan on emailing Perfumeries over the next couple of days inviting you to join in the fun. Entries must be postmarked by July 31st. No late entries will be accepted. I'm sorry but once received, no entries can be returned

9. You must send 2 separate bottles/vials/etc of your fragrance.(I will pay the shipping and send them all to Sharla).

10. Any questions/problems/comments must be sent to productsoftheday@gmail.com. Judging will be done during July and August and winners should be announced at the end of August (depending on how many entries we get).

PRIZES

First Place: 12 months free banner advertising in the Shop Shop Shop section. Plus, the first week of the month for 12 months (you'll have to share with past contest winners for a bit) in the Shop of the Week Section. ($300 value)

Second Place: 6 months free banner advertising in the Shop Shpo Shop section. Plus, the second week of the month for 6 months (you'll have to share with past contest winners for a bit) in the Shop of the Week Section. ($150 value)

Third Place: 3 months of free banner advertising in the Shop Shop Shop section. Plus, the third week of the month for 3 months in the Shop of the Week Section. ($75 value)

Plus the bragging rights of having the Best Original Perfume Blend anywhere!

And, I will make every effort to get you as much additional press as possible on other sites.

Inside Indie: Bathed & Infused

Welcome to my new weekly feature, Inside Indie. Every week I will bring you an interview with the owner(s) of Indie etailers..but only the ones whose products I have reviewed. My first interview is with Nicole of Bathed & Infused. Bathed & Infused is the very first bath and body etailer I ever bought from. I discovered them via samples in The Little Black Box sampler back in October of 2006 and have been loyal ever since.

Tell me a little bit about the minds behind the magic at Bathed & Infused.

Curtis is the full-time head of Bathed and Infused and he oversees all of our day-to-day operations as well as the production and technical stuff. He used to be an engineer, so this is really his area of expertise and he enjoys it. I take care of the creative side, which includes scents, products, and marketing. I still work a day job, but we're hoping to have me go full time soon. In the meantime, we have 4 awesome girls that work for us.

What made you decide to get into the bath & body business?

I am a total bath and body junkie, and about 3 years ago I used to buy from a place called the Underground Scent Plant. There was a lot of scandal when a lot of her orders didn't get sent out and she listed her scent recipes and remaining inventory on eBay. I was pretty mad because she owed me an order, so I told Curtis about her stuff on eBay. For some unknown reason he said, "Let's buy it!" And the rest is history. I think he might have thought that it would save us money on my bath and body habit, LOL!

What inspires you when you're creating a new scent?

I get inspiration in all different kinds of places. Sometimes I'll see a recipe for a amazing sounding dessert and instead of baking it, I'll mix it as a scent instead. I also get ideas out and about, like our neighbor's gardens or the mall. We also get great requests from our customers that I try to make as often as I can. I also get ideas randomly just from being around all 600-some of our fragrance oils. I just pull them out and see what I come up with. It's a lot of fun.

Ok, you're stuck on a desert island and you can only have one of your products..which one, which scent and why?

I'd say a Fluff in St. Lucia because the Fluff would keep my skin soft and soothe any sun burns from the hot sun and St. Lucia as a scent because it's so fresh and tropical.

What does the future hold for Bathed & Infused?

Now that our baby has arrived, we've got a lot of really great stuff planned for the Fall and the Holidays. We have some new products launching soon and a really fun contest that should debut this month, which we'll announce in our newsletter. More long-term, hopefully we'll continue to grow and spread our Bathed and Infused goodness all over the world

What's your absolutely favorite/gotta have product that you don't make? (does not have to be bath & body)

Curtis and I both love Wen Cleansing Conditioner--it's awesome for our super-curly hair!

Happy 4th!

I just wanted to wish all my readers a happy Fourth of July! The fireworks are still going off here in my neighborhood but I'm winding down.

Tomorrow I will start a new weekly feature here at Products of the Day...Inside Indie where I will feature an interview with the creators of the products I review. Tomorrow I will feature an interview with Nicole of Bathed & Infused.

Till then, Happy 4th everyone!

Greeting Cards that Actually Greet You!

So awhile ago I had a wedding to goto as you all know and I had a birthday coming up so I thought I do something different and shop for cards online instead of at Target.

In my search I came across a nice little stationary Indie etailer called Dear Monday , who carries all kinds of cards from birthday to wedding..wow just what I needed (lol). And, you can also find enclosure cards as well as stationary.

Now, Dai, has a lot more new cards up now than when I bought mine so there's some new blood to choose from. I like Dai's cards because she creates her designs in a way that's both classy and whimsical at the same time. I'm going to post pictures of the two cards I bought so you can see and of course you can goto her website and find a whole lot more. Each card runs about $5 (I bought two and actually I had a discount coupon..you can't shop without first looking for a coupon). The only downside is that you actually have to use your brain to write something inside, as they are all blank..however, I was able to work through that. Most of Dai's cards are embellished with Swarovski crystals, glitter, ribbons, beads and the like. If you look hard enough and can use your brain to write something good inside, I think you'll most definitely find something here that you will like. So here are the two cards that I had purchased for the wedding I went to and for my sister-in-law's birthday....

This picture actually doesn't do the card much justice because you can't see the detail too well. This is a simple, elegant and classy little card and I felt it was truly the best one for my friends on their day.

Here's the birthday card I got for my sister-in-law. It has Swarovski crystals, glitter and some ribbon and was just too cute. I know that she liked it and I did too. I wouldn't mind getting a nice handmade card every now and then. This was a really bright and cheerful image and I thought it was just to cute.

Dai even sent a little extra with my order, this cute little enclosure card with a bright cupcake on it..I haven't used it yet but I'm sure I'll find an occasion sometime soon. And, I'm sure you'll find a card at Dear Monday for your next occasion so why not take a look around.

Oh and if there are any Stationary gals reading this....I plan on having a Best of contest for you all to be announced sometime in early November. Stay tuned!

Welcome Manor Hall Soap Company!

I would like to welcome Manor Hall Soap Company to Products of the Day. As you may have read from my recent review, Manor Hall Soap Company is a wonderful woman owned, all natural bath and body store. Susan Mann, who runs Manor Hall, makes everything with all natural ingredients. From soap, to body wash and facial cleansers..I'm sure you are going to find a number of products you will really really love to use.

I have tried out several of her products and really enjoyed each one. Plus it's great to know that all the ingredients are natural, something you don't find in every online store!

So, please, click on Susan's link in my Shop Shop Shop section and enjoy the trip.