Skin Candy

Bye Everyone

2010-04-19T09:33:00.002-04:00

Hey everyone!

I just wanted to update you all on the things going on.

Diane and Kristine just picked up all of the supplies for Skin Candy yesterday. I wasn't there, I had to work at the daycare, and I'm glad I wasn't. It is both happy and sad for me. I'm happy that the business is going to someone that will be able to do more with it than I could...and it also makes me sad because I will miss it! I really enjoyed making smell goodies for you girls :)

They have to finalize the business arrangement and contract between themselves and I still have to get them all the recipes, but I'm thinking the girls will be up and running really soon.

I hope you give them a chance because I think they will do wonderful things for you!

As for me, I've just put my house up for sale (my husband and I are down sizing, I'm sick of cleaning parts of a house we never use), my husband is still looking for another job-and if he doesn't hurry up and find one, I'M going to go find one! and the new girl (hi Kristen) is working out really well at the daycare so I'm planning on a mini cruise to "no where" (it's a whole 2 days lol) for a few days...cross your fingers and toes that this will work out, we haven't had ANY type of vacation in 6 years.

The vegetarian thing is working out really, really, really well. Though I just got my cholesterol numbers back and it's still high *sighs* but the good news is the fatty liver seems to be improving so hopefully I can go back on cholesterol meds soon. My husband has joined me in eating this way and I've lost 27 pounds and he's lost a total of 37 pounds :) :) :)

Anyway I want to thank you all from the bottom of my heart for your business and stay tuned for more from Diane and Kristine!

More info

2010-03-30T16:13:00.003-04:00

I guess I should have given a little more info...forgive me please.

I already found a buyer :) Her name is Diane and she has been my number one "sales lady" here in PA. Her and another woman are going to partner up.

The products will be the same, the scents will be the same! I'm sure she will add her own scents, scent blends, & in time, her own recipes but to start with, they will be what you are used to :)

Don't fret, this is a good thing!!! I haven't had the time to give Skin Candy the attention it deserves which left you, my great customers, flapping in the wind. Like I said prior, I would rather sell it than let it die.

Give Diane a chance and she won't disappoint you.....I PROMISE!

Melissa

Update

2010-03-30T06:07:00.002-04:00

Things have changed at the daycare recently.

My husband and I have decided that, for the sake of our marriage, he is going to go out and get a "real" job and I am going to stay at the daycare full-time and run it.

SOOOOOO I'm going to be selling Skin Candy :( I just don't have the time to give to it anymore. I don't want to just let it die because I worked so hard and I really love it!

I'll update everyone as often as I can.

Melissa

2010-03-11T10:07:00.002-05:00

Fark, Fark, Fark!!!!

The girl that just started at the daycare has quit. I have to close the shop :(

Everyone thinks working with dogs is all butterflies and rainbows. I'm going to go cry and then head in to work *sighs*

Open

2010-03-09T09:45:00.004-05:00

Hey there everyone,

Well the new full time girl started at the daycare yesterday so I find that I have some time on my hands :)

I'm going to open the store and see how it goes. I'll close Skin Candy on the weekends, because I have to work at the daycare, at least until the new girl is fully trained and comfortable.

I added a few new scents and I also took away some products that just weren't selling very well (I bet you won't even notice which ones are gone lol) .

Now I'm off to make some home made granola for my yogurt :) Here is the recipe if you are interested:
7 cups of oatmeal (I've use the long cooking but you could use the instant)
1 cup of wheat germ
1 cup of flax seed meal
1/2 cup of honey (I've cut it down by half and it's still yummy)
1/2 cup canola oil (I've also cut this down by half)
1 Tbls vanilla
1-2 cups pecans
1-2 cups almonds (I've used whole & sliced, both work)
1 cup coconut (you can skip this if you want)
1 tsp salt
1 Tbls cinnamon
1 tsp clove
1 tsp nutmeg

Preheat oven to 300 degrees F
In a large bowl add the oats, wheat germ, flax seed meal, coconut, and nuts
In a medium bowl blend the honey, oil, salt, cinnamon, clove, and nutmeg-mix with oat mixture and stir
pour on to two cookie sheets lined with foil
bake in the pre-heated oven for 30-45 minutes stirring occasionally (bake to your liking-I prefer mine darker so I bake longer).

You really can't go wrong. I've added more cinnamon, and also apple pie spice and all spice. Season it to your liking! Oh Oh Oh, I forgot to add that you can eat this as cereal!! Just put in a bowl and add your milk or soy milk to it :)

I also store this in the cereal dispenser available from amazon http://www.amazon.com/Zevro-TSO100-Indispensable-2-Ounce-Dispenser/dp/B000LFGFBC/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=home-garden&qid=1268148533&sr=8-1

I LOVE this thing! Really handy, just put your bowl of yogurt under the knob and turn. It will dispense around 1 ounce of product, of course I do 3-4 turns for my yogurt :)

I can open today-for the day

2010-03-01T08:01:00.002-05:00

I'm going to open up the store today and take some orders. I have a part time girl starting at the daycare tomorrow so I can take the morning to do Skin Candy :)

If it gets too crazy I'll close up the store so I don't get bogged down with orders. I want to be able to keep my same fast TAT!

Melissa

Update

2010-02-28T07:41:00.002-05:00

Here is another update, I didn't forget ya...really!

Because we were closed for two weeks (read no money coming in) we had to lay off all our staff at the daycare. I put in over 92 hours last week and it's looking to be even more for next week (I can do this, I can do this, I can do this).

On top of that we lost our one full time person and had to interview and hire her replacement. The replacement starts next week :) Once she is trained and ready to handle a pack of dogs on her own...I should be up and running. That being said, that could take quite a long time. BUT...we are going to start the part time staff so I think I can squeeze in a day or two here and there to make smell goodies :)

I owe, I owe, it's off to work I go...

I'm so sorry!

2010-02-10T08:39:00.004-05:00

Ladies I am sooooo sorry I haven't updated you in awhile. I didn't realize it had been so long (man the older you get the faster time flies doesn't it?).

I'm really hoping to open Skin Candy within a few weeks.

I think the daycare will be open this week-cross your fingers.

Well on top of the tendonitis of my elbow and wrist I have been diagnosed with fatty liver disease (non alcoholic) and I was just in the ER on Saturday, with what I thought was a blood clot. Turns out that I have a Baker's cyst on the back of my right knee.

So here I am with a bum right elbow, left wrist, and now right knee. It's really hard to do any type of work with all that! Unfortunately it doesn't matter that I am injured. I HAVE to work and I have to help with this construction (I really wish we had the money to hire tradesman to help us but we don't *sighs*).

The fatty liver diagnosis shook me up pretty badly. I had about a two week wait to think the unthinkable. Google is evil! I was able to google about increased liver enzymes....scared the bejeezies out of me..turns out that fatty liver disease was the BEST diagnosis I could have received....I laid awake at nights terrified that I could have liver cancer.

After the diagnosis I started doing lots of research on fatty liver and diet. A few books that you might find interesting are "The China Study" by T. Colin Campbell and "The Spectrum" by Dean Ornish MD I only got 30 pages into "The China Study" and I wanted to change my diet (I'm not even half way through it yet)!

Bottom line on both the books is to eat a mostly plant based diet. Soooooo I have been doing the best I can to eat as healthy as possible (it's amazing how easy it is when you do it for health reasons vs "vanity"). Very little meat protein. I've been doing this via fast food and restaurants because I have ZERO time to cook. In the 5 weeks I've been doing this...I've lost almost 20 pounds!!! I'm not trying to lose weight at all. I'm just trying to eat healthy foods. My hubs and I went to Old Country Buffet the other day and I had two plates of veggies (they had squash available one day), two large plates of salad, and two plates of fruit. SIX trips to the buffet!! The next day I got on the scale expecting to have gained weight and I had lost 3 pounds....I kid you not!

So that's my tale of woe lol. I didn't mean to forget about you but my plate has been overloaded with stuff.

Thanks to one of my wonderful customers who reminded me that I really needed to update everyone here!

A Small Update

2009-12-27T07:31:00.002-05:00

Hi everyone,

I hope everyone had a great holiday!

The building is coming along nicely. I wish it were faster but we are only two people and we can only work so hard *sighs* I'm hoping to be moved in by the end of January.

I'm getting older and my body is NOT enjoying this construction work. Currently I am sporting tendonitis of my right elbow and I've been in a left wrist brace for about a month (tendonitis too). Not to mention the back issues.

Because of these wonderful injuries and pushing to get in the new daycare, I'm going to stay closed for awhile. I won't be able to open Sundays for a few weeks

The one day a week I'll be open

2009-11-24T07:55:00.003-05:00

Just a quick update everyone. I will open the store every Sunday for you to get your Candy :)

I'll open it either before I go to bed on Saturday night or when I wake up on Sunday morning. I'll close it when I go to bed Sunday night (usually around 10pm...yeah, yeah...lame I know...but my life requires me to be up early).

Thank you so much everyone and I am sorry about this and I appreciate all the well wishes and your understanding.

CLOSED

2009-11-21T22:28:00.003-05:00

Hey everyone. Sorry to say that I have to close Skin Candy for a little bit so I can help move our dog daycare to it's new home.

I'm going to try and open one day per week. If/when I am able to do that, I will e-mail everyone that is on my newsletter list; so go and sign up for the newsletter to be kept up to date!

If you absolutely have to have some goodies, just e-mail me and I'm sure we can work something out.

Thanks everyone and have a great turkey day.

Melissa

Some News...

2009-11-10T09:16:00.000-05:00

We went in front of the zoning board last night to try and get approval to move our dog daycare. WE WERE APPROVED!!

That means construction and moving start soon. I talked with my husband about Skin Candy and the hours etc and I think I'm going to end up closing down Skin Candy so I can concentrate on getting the daycare moved. BUT...I'm going to open it 1 day per week so you guys can order :)

I REALLY, REALLY appreciate that you guys choose to spend your hard earned money with Skin Candy and I don't want to let you, my customers, down.

I'll update more here as soon as I know things... but for now, I'm still open :)

Melissa

Soon......

2009-11-02T15:04:00.005-05:00

I've been debating when to tell you guys this but I will be needing to close down Skin Candy for about 3 months coming up soon.

Our lease is up with the dog daycare at the end of March. We have found our new home, hopefully! It isn't zoned correctly so we have to go in front of the zoning board and ask for a change of use. Our appointment for that is on November 9th. If they approve our move, we will start getting the new building ready the beginning of December up until we move in March.

My husband and I don't hire people to do this for us, we do all the work ourselves (Lord help my back) so all "spare" time will be at the new building doing construction etc.

I'll know more on Nov 9th and will update here. There may be some days where I can open the store for a day or two and take your orders but I'm not sure :(

I don't want to start a panic or anything but stock up on your goodies and if you plan on giving Skin Candy for gifts you may want to order soon.

I'm also in the beginnings of a 3 week long fund raising campaign (go girls from East Coast Dance!) so depending on the amount of orders coming in, I may need to close up shop to catch up.

I'm always here if you absolutely can't live without your Skin Candy, just drop me an e-mail and we can work something out!

Don't worry wholesale peeps, this will NOT include you! I'll continue to provide you with your candy :) Diane and Michelle will also be able to get their girls.

Thanks,

Melissa

Foot Care Pack is available!

2009-10-21T12:04:00.003-04:00

I just finished putting the foot care packs up for sale in the store.

Just in time for gift giving!

I have taken the wonderful Foot Scrub & Foot Cream, paired it up with a real Ped Egg, and threw it all in a 100% silk purse.

The purse is 8"x8" The picture above shows it next to my regular every day purse (excuse the mess of it). The purses are a variety of colors with different textures. I'm sorry but because of the variety, you will not be able to pick which purse you get but rest assured, they are all very, very pretty :)

Sold with just the Foot scrub ($9), Foot Cream ($8), & Ped Egg ($10) this would retail for $27 and that isn't even including the silk purse! I'm selling the whole set for $23. 95. I really do not want to sound like an infomercial, but act fast because I only have 50 of these (if they go over really well, I may get another 50 in stock).

Yes or No?

2009-10-14T12:16:00.004-04:00

I've been debating on adding a spray perfume.

I found some great bottles that I love and are a great 1oz size and I would also scent them at a minimum of 40% fragrance. Here is an explanation on perfume vs the rest:

Perfume, also called extract or extrait perfume, can include 15-40% perfume concentrates. This is the purest form of scented product and is the most expensive as a result.
Eau de parfum contains about 7-15% perfume concentrates. This is the most popular and common form of perfume. It provides a long-lasting fragrance and generally doesn't cost as much as extract perfume.
Eau de toilette has around 1-6% perfume concentrates. This makes for a light scent that doesn't linger as long as the more intense versions. It was originally intended to be a refreshing body splash to help people wake up in the morning.
Eau de cologne is sometimes used interchangeably with the term eau de toilette. However, the concoction began as the name of a light, fresh fragrance mixed with citrus oils and was made popular by Napoleon. Some perfumers today have a version of this called eau fraiche.

Would you girls be interested in purchasing?? I know price is a big deal, especially in these times! I'm thinking they would sell for around $10-$11.

Feel free to e-mail me at melissa@skincandyonline.com and let me know...I'd LOVE some feedback.

Look, look, look

2009-10-09T11:21:00.005-04:00

I'm putting together a foot care gift pack as soon as all the supplies come in.

It will include:
-a jar of The Best Foot Scrub In The Whole Wide World
-a jar of the Foot Cream
-1 real honest to goodness Ped Egg
-and it will come in one of these silk purses. The purses are 8"x8"

I've been working on a foot spray too (with peppermint and tea tree oils) to be sprayed on the tooties after the scrub and creams...not sure if that will be in there or not.

I'm excited. I have to figure out pricing but these will be very, very, very affordable! I'm only going to start with 50 of these babies. If they do really well, I'll add more.

Bath melts are back!

2009-10-06T10:12:00.001-04:00

I just placed the bath melts back in the store!

If it's still warm in your part of the country you may want to hold off on ordering for a bit. These may melt if they sit in the back of a warm mail truck for a day or so!

I also just put the new "design your own scrub" on sale for one week...go check it out.

Design Your Own Scrub

2009-10-04T10:13:00.002-04:00

Now all you scrub aficionados can design your own!

You start by picking your base. You can choose from the foaming, the moisturizing, or a 50/50 mix of both.

Then you can choose your sugar, extra scrubbies, and even add extra oil!

Sugar choices:

Regular white sugar

Brown sugar

Turbinado sugar-this is a large grain sugar

Regular sugar & Turbinado sugar mixed (50/50)

A combination of all three sugars (regular, turbinado, & brown)

You can choose to add additional scrubbies!

Extra Scrubbies:

Apricot seeds

Pumice powder

Ground oatmeal

Both apricot seeds & pumice powder

A combination of all three extra scrubbies (apricot, pumice, & oats)

You can choose to add extra oil

Extra Oils:

Olive oil

Sweet almond oil

So go and design your own scrubs for $12....have fun!

New lip balm and scrub flavors

2009-09-25T08:52:00.003-04:00

I just stocked the store with some new flavors of lip balm and lip scrub

Apples & cinnamon
Asian pear
Buttery toffee crunch
Cappuccino
Cinnamon supreme
Coconut milk & peaches
Gingersnaps
Iced pineapple & tangerine
Mint truffles
Ooey gooey caramel
Pistachio ice cream
Red delicious apples
Sugared strawberries

I'll be putting the lip balms on sale until Tuesday 9/29 8am.

Visit these blogs

2009-09-17T18:07:00.003-04:00

Visit the following blogs for your chance to win $25 in Skin Candy products :)

Go on...go and visit, they are new blogs so your chance of winning is REALLY, REALLY good!! Plus check out the "make your own cereal" link from Living Smart Girl. I sooooooo want to try that.

So Sorry

2009-09-17T18:01:00.002-04:00

Hey guys. Quick note to let everyone know that I am closing the store for a bit.

My hubby is taking me camping this weekend to celebrate 9 years of marriage without killing each other and on Sunday Diane (hi Diane) is having a really big party (26 girls-hi party girls).

I've stayed open through the last few Skin Candy parties but I am going to close for this one, just in case.

If you can't live without your Skin Candy for 4-5 days, just pop me an e-mail and I can get you your fix lol.

Thanks everyone!

Scrubs

2009-08-18T11:00:00.002-04:00

For those of you that subscribe to my newsletter know that I just put the brown sugar and oatmeal scrub on sale. Heck, I'm going to put ALL the scrubs on sale.

Sale prices are good until next Tuesday (8/25/2009). You also can't use the 30% "scent of the week" sale AND the scrub sale price, sorry.

Go and try some of the new fall scents! They are nom, nom, nom. Butterscotch candies and vermont maple syrup really, really surprised me!! I thought they wouldn't be my thing but I'm digging them *drools*

Win $75 worth of Skin Candy!

2009-08-11T08:12:00.001-04:00

Visit Gobs of Giveaways, follow the instructions and you could win $75 worth of Skin Candy :)

Brown Sugar & Oatmeal Scrub Going Up

2009-08-08T17:15:00.003-04:00

I don't know if anyone will get a kick out of this but I'm getting a good chuckle so I thought I would post it.

So I made this great brown sugar and oatmeal scrub but I was vacillating back and forth about the oats. A wonderful woman by the name of Diane, who sells Skin Candy and has a party tomorrow, e-mailed me asking when it was going to be put up. Here is part of my reply:

"The only issue I'm having with the brown sugar scub is if the
oatmeal. Should it be ground up a little bit?? What do you think? I'm
such a libra-one minute I'm loving it, the next, not so much. It's the
oats. The damn oats are holding it up lol. What do you think of the oats?

That being said, the price would be $10 AND I'm going to go and lower the
price of the moisturizing scrub to $10.95 right now.

Diane what do YOU think of the damn oats??? lol "

See my issue with the oats is that they were whole and would just lay in the bottom of the shower, like little dead fish instead of going down the drain. One shower it bothered me, the next shower it didn't. Back and forth I went (it really is no party being a libra sometimes. YES, I'm blaming it on that!).

Diane, being such a great gal, replied:

"Well...since we are on the subject of the damn oats...lol
I like the whole oatmeal sprinkled on top...but I think it should be ground
up a little more inside the scrub.
I love the consistency of the scrub and the smell is yummy (the sweet
pumpkin really compliments the brown sugar).
I think it is a winner....just grind up the damn oats a little more!
That's what I think...lol "

So there you have it. The the way I made the decision about the oats. Sometimes it's not all about working and re-working a recipe. Sometimes it's just another opinion to push you in the direction you were headed anyway. I'm going to the website now to add the scrub.

Lowered the price of the moisturizing scrub

2009-08-08T14:40:00.003-04:00

Well finally there is a price decrease from one of my suppliers. Because they had a price decrease on some of the ingredients of the moisturizing sugar scrub, I can pass on the savings to you :)

Fall & Winter Scents Are Up!

2009-08-06T17:49:00.001-04:00

I just got the fall and winter scents in and they are up on the website and ready to be ordered.

New Scrub Lids

2009-08-05T16:16:00.003-04:00

The new scrub lids are in! These will go on all of our scrubs; foaming whipped sugar scrub, moisturizing sugar scrub, and the "coming soon" brown sugar and oatmeal scrub.

No more chasing that loose lid around the shower, these are handy dandy flip top lids that are attached :)

My Crazy Life

2009-08-03T08:04:00.000-04:00

Hey everyone, I just wanted to give a quick update on my crazy life.

If you guys put in an order in the evening and I don't e-mail you right away saying I received it, don't panic. I am now sleeping overnights at the dog daycare Monday-Thursday (Mon & Tue I work from 4pm until 7am the next morning, Wed & Thurs it's 7pm-7am).

I check all the orders and e-mails in the morning when I get home so just be patient with me :)

There is also a new product coming, there are pictures of it up on the "lets go shopping" page. It's a brown sugar and oatmeal scrub...yummmmmmy.

Thanks!

Bad Blogger, Bad Blogger......

2009-07-31T10:45:00.003-04:00

I am such a bad blogger *said while hanging my head in shame* I'm sorry.

Well camping went well lol. My boys were both made for camping! Scout made me so proud, he was so well behaved. We didn't even have to tie him up when we were just hanging around camp. He just found a shady spot under the tree and hung out and watched everything going on around him. His favorite part was the hiking on the trails. We did a LOT of hiking, because let's face it, camping is boring! We hiked on trails & we hiked off trails. We went fishing. It was just an all around good time. I can't wait to go again.

I recently changed the "scent list" on the site. Now it includes pictures :) But if the pictures aren't your thing, you can still find an alphabetized list.

I just ordered some fall and x-mas scents. Here is the line up so far (I'm sure I'll add more, I'm a fragrance oil addict).

Almond rum cake: A scrumptious bakery arrangement beginning with top notes of almond extract, chopped almonds, and dark rum; followed by middle notes of sugar cane, coconut milk, vanilla extract, and heavy cream; well-rounded with base notes of butter and cake batter.

Apple butter caramel: machintosh apple, steamed milk, pure sugar, caramel candy, toffee pudding, apple butter, fresh nutmeg, vanilla bean, and soft musk.

Candy kitchen :holiday apple & spices with a splash of mint

Kicked up cocoa : Cool cocoa fragrance begins with top notes of cocoa and peppermint; followed by middle notes of vanilla and spearmint; with base notes of gourmet dark chocolate and vanilla beans.

Egg nog: French vanilla egg nog with hints of nutmeg and a touch of cinnamon

Elf sweat: Elf sweat fragrance is a bubbly, magical blend of candy, candy canes, candy corn, and syrup, with effervescent spicy soda pop bubbles to provide a unique, magical top note.

Holiday pomegranate: pomegranate, sparkling citrus, dewberry, blackberry, iris, jasmine, sheer musk, sandalwood, and red cassis.

Hot cocoa: warm hot chocolate with melted mashmallow topping.

Hot toddy: well-balanced blend of Fuji apple, bergamot, lemon wedge, cinnamon stick, granulated sugar, zesty clove, hot apple cider, nutmeg, and vanilla bean.

Joy Noel: vanilla beans, cinnamon, coconut and cassiaa
Pumpkin & Vanilla: rich pumpkin pie with whipped vanilla topping

Pumpkin apple butter: top notes of orange, apple, pear, pineapple, and cherries; middle notes of pumpkin, cinnamon, nutmeg, and clove; with base notes of warm vanilla.

Snickerdoodles: The fresh baked aroma of French vanilla with a touch of cinnamon sticks, gingerbread, and maple syrup

Snow angels: Duplication of Yankee's Snow Angels Type. Minty aroma with a buttercream top note.

Spiced pear: sweet juicy pear blended with spices

Sweet pumpkin: pumpkin blended with sweet cream, molasses, and a hint of spice

Sweet pumpkin noel: Last years best seller of sweet pumpkin blended with vanilla bean noel

Pumpkin eggnog: a creamy eggnog toddy sprinkled with pumpkin pie & spices

Trick or treat: top notes of pumpkin, persimmon, and apple; followed by middle notes of blueberries, elderberries, currants, orange and cinnamon; and well rounded with base notes of sugar cane and vanilla.

Reindeer poo: top notes of apples and pears; followed by middle notes of eucalyptus, pine, and geranium; and well-balanced with base notes of vanilla, cedarwood, and patchouli. Comes with the following poem:

Santa saved a precious gift
And it's especially for you.
Just a little something extra
And it comes from Rudolph, too!

He knows that you've been naughty
Instead of being nice.
Once again you're on the bad list
And he's checked it over twice.

Santa hopes this little poem
Doesn't throw you for a loop.
All your getting this year
Is a bunch of reindeer poop!

Win $100 worth of Skin Candy products!

2009-07-16T12:20:00.004-04:00

Go to the Funky Monkey blog, look to the left side of the page under "Give Aways", click on Skin Candy and follow the directions and you could win $100 worth of product!

Going Camping

2009-07-04T07:57:00.003-04:00

I'm headed to take my husband and my dog camping :) I haven't been camping for over fifteen years and it's been WAY longer than that for my hubs. This will also be Scouts first time.

So I have a planner for a husband. He's lightened up over the years but the "planner" still surfaces occasionally. It surfaced with the camping expedition.

He put the tent up in our back yard yesterday. His words were; "I want to know how to put up the tent BEFORE I get up there so I don't look like a complete fool". I can see the wisdom in that I guess. It's a nice big tent and it will fit the two aero beds we already own with enough room for Scout to have his bed in there too. Yep two beds. We are way past the age where two grown adults will try and fit on one full sized blow up bed lol.

He rode his motorcycle up to check out the camp that we booked online, site unseen because it was the only state park in Pennsylvania that had an opening for tonight. Apparently upon entering the park he had to slow down because a BEAR was crossing the road. A BEAR??!!!?? The meanest thing I wanted to encounter while camping was a mosquito or a really big mean fighting sunfish ugh. I've been telling myself that the campgrounds wouldn't let people camp if bears were busy tearing people apart........right?

I'm hoping that there will be nobody there with fireworks. As Scout gets older, he gets more and more afraid of EVERYTHING (thunder, wind blowing through the trees, rain....yes rain, fireworks-because they sound like thunder ya know)!! Fireworks were going off last night and he just sat at my feet shaking like a leaf. I so need Ceasar.

I'm off to start packing the car. Temps are expected to get down to 50 tonight so I'm bringing my electric blanket. Yes, we are camping in a tent but I did get a site with electricity so I'm willing to rough it but not freeze lol.

Things

2009-06-14T20:31:00.003-04:00

So I was e-mailing with a wonderful customer today (waves to Linda), and I was blabbing on and on about things so I thought I would come over here and update you guys.

I know I said in the past I was looking in to shampoo and conditioner but that kind of fell to the wayside for now. The problems I was running into was the cost to ship to me made it way too expensive...especially because I wasn't really jazzed about anything I found.

That is how the hair mask came about. I have the funkiest hair. I've been grey since early 30's so I dye my hair. Grey, dyed hair...can we say DRY?? On top of that, it's also curly but not the; "ohh you have such pretty curly hair" type curly. It's the; "I'm not sure if I want to be curly, wavy, or just frizzy, puffy" hair. It usually falls to the fizzy, puffy end *sighs* So I tossed together a hot oil treatment.

I picked some really decadent oils, mixed them all together and went off to shower thinking I was going to be in Nirvana...tossing my "ohhh you have such pretty curly hair" as I walked down the street. Guys would; "hubba-hubba" me and all would be right with the world. Pffttt not even close. It didn't really DO much at all. I was quite shocked. So off to do some research on where it all went wrong.

I researched and came up with the hair mask. I went to the shower, with not-so-high expectations, and came out with something that is pretty darn good (if I do say so myself)!! It's as close to; "ohhh you have such pretty curly hair", that this 40 year old housewife is going to get lol.

I kind of went off track on that story huh?? Back to the shampoo and conditioner. I will get to formulating, not a base, them one of these days, or months. But I'm now on to a new fascination....

So I was at the department store the other day and I happened on the perfume counter and I ended up spending over $100 on two perfumes...wait, excuse me...on two eau de toilettes (fancy word for saying they aren't as strong as perfumes). If you have taken a look at the 'coming soon' scent list, you will see that I have a few designer dupes headed my way. I'm going to try and do an actual perfume (strong as I can make it) that will last longer than the two I purchased for the big moola.

It's up!

2009-05-31T14:49:00.011-04:00

So the new sugar scrub is up on the website....yeah!!! I've taken some pictures of the different tests that I thought I would include here for you wonderful readers :) The top two pictures are what the scrub looks like normally.

This is my own recipe :)

So I wanted to test what heat would do to the new sugar scrub so I put it in a 170 degree oven for 1/2 hour. The above picture is what resulted. Not too bad I think. You can see some oil separation but not bad at all. After a few minutes, the scrub went back to normal.

Then I wanted to see what would happen if it were even hotter so I cranked the oven up to 250 degrees and put the sugar scrub in a pyrex cup (not sure if the plastic container would melt at that heat) and I cooked the scrub for 5 hours!!! Here is what happened:

It got pretty thin but it held together...the oils didn't separate from the sugar. Once it sat on my counter for 15-20 minutes it was back to it's normal consistency.

So as we come in to our hottest months you just need to remember that if you get a scrub that is runny, just let it sit out on the counter or in your fridge for a few minutes and it will go back to normal.

Mom is headed home :(

2009-05-20T10:30:00.003-04:00

I'll be closing the store tomorrow (Thursday) because I have to head down to Philly and put my mom on a flight back home.

Cross your fingers that she get's home on her own! She's only flown a few times and one time, it was a total nightmare. Long story short...she was lost for over 7 hours with no cell phone, no phone numbers on her to call anyone. She ended up in an area of Allentown, I wouldn't step foot in, after midnight *shivers* Note to all travelers out there; If you have a connecting flight to Allentown from Newark NJ, it is NOT a plane, it is a BUS!!!

This time I purchased her a "throw away" cell phone. I programmed it with every number I could think of, AND she's flying non-stop lol.

Going to pee my pants!

2009-05-19T20:40:00.002-04:00

I'm so excited...I'm going to pee my pants! I have made the most awesome sugar scrub!! It leaves my old lady skin sooooooo silky soft I.....yes ME....I DIDN'T NEED LOTION AFTER MY SHOWER!!!!!!

It's not like the oil & sugar mess, from the days of old, that you needed to stir prior to using to get it to mix but it is FULL of awesome butters and oils like cocoa butter, coconut oil, shea butter, sweet almond oil, and extra virgin olive oil *sighs*

I listened to you girls and I think I have made something you will love.

It has zero water in it (take a look at your favorite sugar scrubs and I bet one of the first few ingredients is water...heck, my other scrub has water in it)
It is made with lots o'sugar so it is the consistency of cookie dough...you can roll it in to a soft squishy ball :)
It is a foaming sugar scrub
It rinses clean

Here is the ingredient list: sugar, cocoa butter, coconut oil, sodium lauryl sulfoacetate, sweet almond oil, extra virgin olive oil, shea butter, cetearyl alcohol, fragrance oil, behentrimonium methosulfate, polysorbate 60, propylene glycol, diazolidinyl urea, iodopropynl butylcarbamate.

I'm ordering jars for it and it will be available on the website soon. Stay tuned!!

Open for business!

2009-05-03T16:10:00.005-04:00

The party orders are processed and I'm back open!

And as a "thank you" for being so patient, I'm putting the store on sale until 10pm (eastern standard time) tonight :)

Starting now, everything is on sale. 15% off.

Enter coupon code "10pm"

Party Time

2009-05-02T08:09:00.001-04:00

Hi Ladies!

There is another Skin Candy Party today so I'll be closed for a bit.

I'll re-open as soon as possible.

There is also another party scheduled next two weekends.

Party cancelled sighs

2009-04-26T19:48:00.001-04:00

The party was cancelled, again, ugh so the store is back open.

CLOSED

2009-04-24T21:03:00.000-04:00

The store will be closed so I can process party orders. I'll re-open as soon as possible!

Open

2009-04-16T17:57:00.002-04:00

The store is back open!

We are back from Atlantic City. We had a really nice time. We stayed at the Taj Mahal-first time staying there. It was a really nice room!

A few words of advice about the Taj.....1) Do NOT eat at the buffet...oh my goodness, saying it was "bad" is really a big understatement....that was a $21 waste of money...what they did to the fried shrimp...makes me shiver to think about it. The $10 over done cheeseburger from "burger" was a step up. I asked the waiter if a lot of people complain to him about the food. He said that he hears them but no one is as "bold" as me to actually say something to him lol. Bold?? Hmmmm, I wonder if that's another word for the "B" word?

2) Don't bother playing the slots there...they were not nice :(

We hoofed it down to Caesars and played Slingo for hours on $20 each. We didn't win anything but that's ok. We just had a really fun time cheering for ourselves and everyone around us :)

I dragged her down to the ocean and we walked on the beach today...I mean, you can't come from Minnesota and NOT walk on the beach. She also got to experience the wonderful sea gulls while she was trying to eat a funnel cake lol. I really thought they were going to crawl in her lap!

Closed

2009-04-14T20:46:00.003-04:00

Hi Everyone!

I just closed the store because I'm off with my mother to Atlantic City tomorrow..yeah!! Wish us luck :) We'll be spending the night and returning on Thursday.

The party that was scheduled this Sunday has been rescheduled to next Sunday so I'll be open this weekend.

Feeling Better and I'm Closing A Day

2009-04-13T19:58:00.003-04:00

Well, I have some good news. I'm a little bit sick-I had some fluid on one of my ears. But it turns out the majority of my sore throat was some food stuck there! lol. I had a small sore/swollen throat and I guess it was swollen enough to fold over and cause food to get stuck.

I'd be really embarrassed but apparently it's pretty unusual for that to happen because the doc had never seen it....so, I'm only a little embarrassed lol.

My mom, from Minnesota, is staying with my husband and I and her birthday is Wednesday. I'm going to close for the day and take her to the casino. Either Atlantic City, Philly, or maybe the Poconos..I haven't decided. She loves the casino and never treats herself plus, she's going back to Mn in less than a month so I'm going to ditch the hubby and just head out with her.

So I'm going to close the website to sales Tuesday night. I'll open it back up on Wednesday night (unless of course we hit big and decide to stay lol).

Thanks ladies for all the well wishes, you really do the heart good!!

I'm Sick

2009-04-09T21:03:00.002-04:00

I'm sick :( Well, just 1/2 of my throat is sick. I think it's my tonsil and it has white spots on it. I say "think" it's my tonsil because I've never had any issues with my tonsils before *sighs* Plus I am one tired chicklet.

I'm off to the doctor tomorrow morning first thing. Come on anti-biotics lol.

Good night everyone.

Sale on Scrubbly Bars

2009-04-07T22:06:00.003-04:00

I just put the scrubbly bars on sale tonight because I'm off to bed lol.

They are on sale for $6.25. So go and get yourself some scrubbly bars...now, where is my binky so I can go to bed???

Another Party

2009-04-06T11:01:00.002-04:00

Hi Everyone,

There are some parties coming up in the next few months so I'll be closing the website to sales so I can process the party orders.

The next party is going to be April 19th. I'll be closing from 4/19-4/23 or 4/24.

I'll update here as usual.

Ohhhh I forgot to mention that I'll be offering the scrubbly bars is ONE solid bar. That bad boy will weigh 10oz! You will be able to choose between the three bars or the one solid bar. Soooooo there is going to be a sale coming up on the scrubbly bars! It will start Wednesday 4/8 and be done on Saturday 4/11 :) I'm thinking they will be on sale for $1.50 off...maybe a little bit more...I have to think on that.

Thanks for being so patient, I'm open!

2009-04-02T17:52:00.002-04:00

Thank you for being so patient while I was closed.

The website store is now open!

Opening & a Sale!

2009-04-01T18:52:00.002-04:00

Hi everyone,

Party orders are processed and ready to go in to the mail tomorrow (Thursday).

I will not be opening the store until tomorrow evening because I'm meeting with a local salon & day spa. They are looking to use the foot scrub and foot cream for their mani's and pedi's. They are also going to be retailing....yeah...cross your fingers for me!

I'll be opening the store after the meeting, I'm hoping by 6pm. For everyone that has patiently waited, I'll be having a really QUICK sale. I'll open the store as soon as I'm back from the meeting and the sale will run until 9pm.

Hmmmm, how about a 25% off really quick sale :)

Still Closed & Doing Some Testing

2009-03-30T20:52:00.003-04:00

I'm processing the party orders and should be completed with everything and open by Thursday.

I'm also going to start testing shampoo & conditioner!

I have two types of salt sitting in some salt scrub. Hoping to get in the shower with it in the next few days and take it for a test drive.

I'm going to try & get the protein hair mist up by Thursday too :)

That's it for the updates.

Closing for a few days

2009-03-15T09:00:00.003-04:00

Coming up in the next couple of weeks someone is holding a Skin Candy party. They are expecting 30 girls at this party. 30???!!?? The last party held there were 8 girls that ordered about $900 worth of product, what the heck are 30 girls going to order!??!?! I'm afraid, very, very afraid lol.

I don't want my online orders to suffer a longer TAT because of the party so I'll be closing the website to online sales for a few days so I can process the party orders.

The date of the party is 3/29. I'm thinking I'll close from 3/29-4/2. It might not be that long or it might be longer. Who the heck knows. I'll know more after the party is held and I'll update here on the blog.

Lip Scrub is Up!

2009-03-10T20:18:00.002-04:00

The lip scrub is up on the website!

I have to get a picture up there but it is available now.

The lip scrub comes in a 1oz jar. It's whipped so the oils and butter won't separate from the sugar (One of the things I hate about traditional scrubs).

I'm only offering it in peppermint right now but I'll be adding a few more flavors in the future :)

Seasonal Scents

2009-03-10T08:05:00.002-04:00

I wanted to make my fall and winter scents available all year long but that is not going to be possible :( My fragrance oil suppliers do not stock theirs all year long so if I run out of one, I wouldn't be able to re-order.

If anyone wants a fall/winter scent once they are down, just send me an e-mail. If I have the oil, I'll gladly make your products in your scents.

Things In The Works

2009-03-08T09:59:00.002-04:00

Let me start by saying that I love my body & hair mist.....for the BODY! It has no alcohol in it, which can dry the skin, and it actually helps moisturize the body a bit. BUT...I hate it in my hair! It just makes MY hair really, really dry and icky feeling.

Good news is that I've been working on a protein hair mist and I'm loving it! I've just ordered the packaging for it. I'll package them in 2oz, cute pink bottles. They should be available within the next few weeks :)

I'm also testing a moisturizing lip scrub. Need to tweak it a bit more but I'm thinking they should be available around the same time as the protein hair mist.

And for the ladies that have been requesting a salt scrub...that should be coming too!

Things that have been a bust so far:
scrubbly bars with salt

I need to test some larger salt grains in the scrubbly bars. The two sizes I've tested so far just dissolve *sighs*

I'm also working on getting the whipped cream soap in a tube.

So that's the update on what's in the works.

Yeah, It's Here!

2009-03-05T18:59:00.004-05:00

Here it is, 7pm Thursday and no UPS man *taps foot, peers out window* Wahhhhhhh, I want my cocoa butter!

Looks like the bath melts will not be available until tomorrow now, sorry.

7:15pm and he just arrived YEAH!

Back in Stock!

2009-03-04T19:18:00.003-05:00

The foaming whipped sugar scrubs and the whipped cream soap are back and stock and available!

Bath melts should be available tomorrow (Thursday 3/4/2009) after 7:30pm.

I'm also in the process of getting the scrubbly bars up on the site tonight :)

Growing Pains

2009-03-03T08:22:00.002-05:00

Please excuse my growing pains.

I seem to have under estimated the buying power of you ladies! I thought I was way ahead of you in ordering supplies, alas, I was wrong *sighs*

I've had to put the whipped cream soap, foaming whipped sugar scrubs, and bath melts "out of stock". I've also had to put the scrubbly bars on hold until I can refill my shelves.

I should be able to get those items back in stock this week.

I've also extended the 14% off sale until Sunday 3/8/2009.

Now on to another issue. I fill all of my bottles and jars by weight. Most of the products are OVER the stated weight on the jar/bottle. Also most of the products are not "filled to the rim". If your package gets tossed around in the mail, product could/has moved in to the empty space and created air pockets :( It also, as I've been told, creates the illusion that the products are not full.

Two products in question are whipped cream soap and sugar scrubs. I've ordered smaller containers for the whipped cream soap so that one won't be an issue. But the sugar scrubs are still an issue. I like the fact that they don't hit the rim because I can put the pretty colored sugar on top. If I fill the scrubs to the top, add the colored sugar, and twist shut. The colored sugar, especially multiple colored sugars, blend together...get mushed in the product, and they don't look so pretty anymore lol. What to do? What to do?

So I'm faced with a decision. Do I fill products to the rim and raise prices accordingly? Or do I just leave them as is?

I don't want to raise my prices but I also don't want my customers feeling "cheated" that they didn't get a full jar of product.

If anyone has any opinions, I'd LOVE to hear them!

So hang in there while I suffer a few growing pains.

What's with the name?

2009-02-28T18:22:00.003-05:00

I've received a few e-mails wondering why the name "Skin Candy"? For some it brings images of not so nice things lol.

Everyone has heard of eye candy right? You see a (close your eyes husband) a cute young stud muffin and he's "eye candy". Eye candy=something that looks good to your eyes.

Skin Candy=something good for your skin!

So there it is. How I came up with Skin Candy.

More Coming

2009-02-24T07:40:00.002-05:00

I want to thank the ladies at smarties for giving me such wonderful feedback and ideas.

I'm going to be testing:
Salt scrubbly bars
Salt scrubs
Lip scrubs

I'll let you know how things go and when/if they will be available on the site.

Stay tuned.

Scrubbly Bars

2009-02-22T08:17:00.003-05:00

So I've been testing a new product. The product is a solid sugar scrub bar that foams. They will be called "scrubbly bars" (scrubby and bubbly=scrubbly).

All feed back on the scrubbly bars have been great! I'm just getting size, packaging, & price down now. They will be made in mini muffin tins for "single use", with multiple bars in a package.

They should be available on the website within the next few weeks!

2009-02-20T10:26:00.000-05:00

Here is a picture of what's in my shower.

Rut Roh

2009-02-11T08:43:00.003-05:00

Rut Roh, I see my husband is now following my blog. See the picture of him over on the left? That's him...well, that's him during the winter months. He grows a beard in the winter. I kind of liked the beard until he went all "Santa" on me. He started letting it grow, and grow, and grow...he even started to comb it so it would look BIGGER!!!

I was NOT liking that look at all! BUT, being the good husband that he is, he trimmed it up for me and got rid of the "Santa" look :)

Hmmmm, now that he's following, does that mean I can't complain about him here?? Not that there is anything to complain about dear husband o'mine.

Host A Party

2009-02-05T10:20:00.002-05:00

Host A Party

Host an online Skin Candy party and start earning free product!

How it works:

drop me an e-mail at melissa@skincandyonline.com to get started
I'll e-mail you a brochure, scent list, and order forms
Hand out order forms to your friends and family
They come online, to see the products etc, fill out order form and hand in to you, along with payment for their order (it's easiest if they make checks payable to you). There is also a $3 shipping charge per person added when they order.
Once all orders are in, e-mail me a final order list
Pay bill via Paypal or check. If paying by check, party orders can not be shipped until check has cleared the bank (so this way takes the longest)
The order will arrive on your doorstep with bags and tissue paper.
Put orders together and deliver. That's it

Here is the break down on sales:

Sell $175-$250 and receive 5% of sales in free product

Sell $251+ and receive 15% of sales in free product

The last online party the hostess sold $641 worth of product (to 8 women). She came away with $96.20 worth of FREE PRODUCT!

There has been many requests from our "sales reps" for scent samples so I have put together a system for that! The cost is $200+shipping, and you get 4 trays with lids that contain 24 lip balm pots (so that's 96 different scents), filled with solid perfume.

You can choose the 96 scents yourself, or I can choose for you.

You also get a pink & gray duffel bag embroidered with "Skin Candy" to carry your samples in.

So drop me an e-mail and get started earning smell goodies just for you!

2009-01-31T08:24:00.003-05:00

As a way to try and get Skin Candy visible on the web, I started to do samples for sample box companies. Never heard of sample box companies? Well...what they do is pretty simple and cool for small business owners, like myself. Small business owners send in samples to these companies. They in turn, box up these different samples and sell the box to consumers!

I sent in 40 samples to Out of the Box Sampler, Lemming Central, and I'll be in the February box at the Little Black Box.

So I pack up these samples and mail them to the companies. I'm so excited to be getting my products in the hands of people all over the country. I just hope people like my stuff! Then the fun starts.

People lurv Skin Candy :) I start getting e-mails and questions, and some customers. Imagine my surprise when people want to actually blog about Skin Candy!

I started this blog too late to include a few blogs about Skin Candy :( But I'm the featured business at The Rusty Rooster, go and take a read.

Lonestar Vintage also did a little ditty about Skin Candy. I was the featured artist for December 9th.

So go and check out the sampler boxes if you are interested in trying out new and up and coming companies without breaking the bank!

I can't belive I'm blogging

2009-01-30T23:08:00.006-05:00

So I've set up a blog. I can't believe I've done it. What does one do with a blog??!?!? I guess I'll just ramble about life and my business. Aren't you guys in for a treat!!

I'll start off by telling you a little bit about me. My name is Melissa, I just turned 40 *sighs*, I'm a mom to my little boy Scout (he's a 7 year old yellow lab), I own a dog daycare, with my husband Steven (we met on the internet and have been married 8 years), in Allentown Pennsylvania, WoofWorld, and I opened up Skin Candy last year because Steven said I needed a "real" hobby (he doesn't think reading books is a real hobby).

So...I guess it's a start huh? ;)

Skin Candy

Bye Everyone

More info

Update

Open

I can open today-for the day

Update

I'm so sorry!

A Small Update

The one day a week I'll be open

CLOSED

Some News...

Soon......

Foot Care Pack is available!

Yes or No?

Look, look, look

Bath melts are back!

Design Your Own Scrub

New lip balm and scrub flavors

Visit these blogs

So Sorry

Scrubs

Win $75 worth of Skin Candy!

Brown Sugar & Oatmeal Scrub Going Up

Lowered the price of the moisturizing scrub

Fall & Winter Scents Are Up!

New Scrub Lids

My Crazy Life

Bad Blogger, Bad Blogger......

Win $100 worth of Skin Candy products!

Going Camping

Things

It's up!

Mom is headed home :(

Going to pee my pants!

Open for business!

Party Time

Party cancelled *sighs*

CLOSED

Open

Closed

Feeling Better and I'm Closing A Day

I'm Sick

Sale on Scrubbly Bars

Another Party

Thanks for being so patient, I'm open!

Opening & a Sale!

Still Closed & Doing Some Testing

Closing for a few days

Lip Scrub is Up!

Seasonal Scents

Things In The Works

Yeah, It's Here!

Back in Stock!

Growing Pains

What's with the name?

More Coming

Scrubbly Bars

Rut Roh

Host A Party

I can't belive I'm blogging

Party cancelled sighs