Test Kitchen Adventures 2.0: Anti-Bug Balm Cubes

Another HOT and spicy day has dawned here in northeast Georgia. This year the weather has been so weird! A warm winter, then a cold spring, alternating between days in the low 80s in February to the mid 40s in MAY! This is entirely unusual. Usually we're settled around the high 80s right now with no end in sight. It's also been very wet.

These two factors- a warm winter and a wet spring- are going to result in one very aggravating eventuality: a buggy summer. No good! I hate bugs. Especially mosquitoes and gnats- but oh do I love flies! My favorite past time in the summer on Mama's front porch is stalking the flies with my fly swatter and a bloody mary. I just love it. There is nothing more satisfying than sitting back with a drink and surveying the carcasses of your enemies- small as they may be- littering your porch. Oh the joy!!!

I understand this makes me a bit odd, however I also acknowledge the similarities in our lives- like a deep hatred for mosquitoes and biting insects. I hate them. I do. I also hate spraying on cloying, lung-filling bug sprays. They're sticky and nasty and they smell bad and they hang in the air like a cloud of noxious radiation from the Chernobyl incident. And another thing- I have dogs... so I'm not exactly thrilled with the idea of having lit candles all over my house and outdoor area. The smart hound knows not to get involved, but Manfriend's overzealous Gomer Pyle- esque pup just WOULD NOT be able to handle that kind of responsibility in the yard.

I tried planting lemongrass and citronella and lemon thyme and all those plants that are supposed to keep the bugs away. The problem with that was unless I was sitting in the planters with them, the bugs still crawled all over me. I could rub them all over me, but a couple times I, being the most epicly graceful person you have ever had the pleasure of meeting, cut myself on the edges of the lemongrass. I quickly abandoned the idea of rubbing myself with grasses and random leaves. Manfriend wasn't really buying into that idea either. Because of the business, though, I did have lemongrass oil in the house so I took to smoothing a few drops of that behind my knees and ears and on my wrists. THAT worked. Then I ordered some Citronella oil on a whim and with a certain idea in mind. When it came in (YESTERDAY!!) I used that on myself with the lemongrass. I smelled fabulous (in my opinion) and the bugs were nowhere to be found. I could read outside in my lawn chair for HOURS and not one bug bothered me. Manfriend wasn't sure about the strong smell, but I HAD just put straight citronella oil all over me. I can't say I blame him.

The job I now face.. Making the idea in my head actually happen. Here's the plan: I hate bugs, but I hate bug spray. How can i get rid of bugs without bug spray? Slathering on essential oils has worked, but that gets expensive and Manfriend would probably leave me for smelling "funny". BUT WAIT! I have a business that specializes in natural skincare... hmmm... and I also use essential oils in almost everything I do... Why not use what I already make and just stick the repellant oils in there? Well now that might work. So here's what I'm thinking. I'll take the Mini-me lotion bars and add lemongrass and citronella oils to it. Now we have a LOTION bug repellant that isn't a spray and doesn't hang in the air. It's not sticky, it absorbs into the skin, and it moisturizes as it does. It also stays on your skin and keeps the bugs away. I've been talking to a lot of my friends that have kids and they're all REALLY excited about this because- as we all know- kids hate that spray crap too. I'm also looking into creating the lotion as a stick- like a glue stick- so you don't have to worry about getting too much on your hands and it will make it easier to get it on your face without getting in your eyes (OUCH!) or your nose (EEW) or your mouth (BLECH!) not to mention easier to get on the kids!!!

I'll keep you guys updated on how all this turns out and how it goes today.... I'm excited. Are you?

Test Kitchen Adventures 1.0: Sun-sitive Skin After Burn Creme

Today is Thursday. On Tuesday, Manfriend and I went fishing. This is important because it resulted in a research and development breakthrough idea that I had.

Manfriend had this brilliant (it really was- not being sarcastic) idea to go fishing at a pond down the road on Sunday. But that plan was foiled by an exceptionally wild thunderstorm that just wouldn't quit!! So we spent Sunday on the couch.

Tuesday, however, dawned nice and bright and HOT! So Manfriend went off to purchase poles to fish with (I was under the impression that I had a fishing pole in the laundry room, but it was MIA when I checked and he still needed one). Thoughtfully, he decided against the purple fishing pole with the pink reel and the LED lights that flashed when you reeled in your epic catfish catch. Good man, that Manfriend.

ANYHOW after we got our poles and we strung them and put our weights and hooks on, we marched (drove) our way on over to the pond and commenced fishing. Forever. I cast my line. Read my book. reeled it in. Cast my line. Watched Manfriend catch a fish (kind of.. he reeled it all the way to the dock... and lost it) Watched the bobber jump. Reeled it in. Discovered the fish stole my worm. Cast my line. over. And over. And over. And over. And over. Watched Manfriend ACTUALLY catch a fish. Watched Manfriend fight with and reel in a really BIG catfish... And then watched the line break. I'm still in denial over whether or not he ACTUALLY caught that gigantic cat. And then.. after HOURS of fishing... and watching Manfriend have all the fun, I caught one. Oh yes, I did.

What I also managed to get was sunburned! I'm definitely red. Not lobster red... but red. And I'm sore. Soooooo I did what every good home-made maker does... She tries to figure out a way to make whatever is bugging her better.

And I don't know about you, but I hate- HATE that sticky aloe crap. That will NOT be going on my body. Anytime soon. And by that I mean ever. So... I decided to try something else.

A new favorite has been born! Sun-sitive Skin After Burn Creme! So far I haven't scented it yet, but I will be looking into whether or not scenting it will be appropriate. Personally, I'd rather have something that smells nice to put on after burns. I don't want to stink nasty.

If you ever have any suggestions or ideas for things you want to see or hear about, please let me know.  I think Manfriend's and my next adventure will be drag racing this Sunday. And wish me luck- Gramma is coming to town on Saturday so the next few weeks will be hectic and the business will probably soar. Look forward to a lot more news and hopefully a lot more adventures!!

Dead Man Walking

Really it should read "Dead Woman Walking" but that just didn't sound as good. Sorry for the long stretches between posts, guys. So much has been happening! The other day I was up until 12:30 updating my website (and that's super late for me lately), Manfriend was begging me to come to bed, I'm in my last week ofm y full time job before I take on Sage Pure full time (YAY FOR THAT!!) and- of course- this is the month that my folks decide they are going to help me with clearing out my five acres of land for my horses.

Here is the south there's a burn ban that goes into effect every spring and lasts through fall because of drought conditions. When does it start? TOMORROW! What have I been doing EVERY SINGLE MOMENT I'VE HAD OFF SINCE THE MIDDLE OF APRIL? Piling up logs and burning them. I hate it. I just hate it. I can't wait for tomorrow so there will be no more burning and I can finally clean my house and start blogging again. Sorry for the wait guys.

On the other hand, Here's a picture of me and Manfriend on the ONE afternoon we both managed to get off work early. He looked at me as we drove home from work at 3 in the afternoon past the ballfield and said "Hey. You wanna catch a game tonight?" Just like that. Manfriend has NEVER asked me out on a date. Not even when we first met. (I asked him out. To a football watching party at his house. Which included me, him, and Fergus the dog who is not really called Fergus except when I wish to annoy Manfriend) So we went on our first date after living with each other for four months (and dating for many more) to a local ball club's home game. WOOT!

(picked this one because I knew it would aggravate Manfriend)

(And I picked this one because he's actually pretty hot!)

More soon with the coming of more time to devote! Happy Tuesday!

Go Getter: Making Mocha Sugar Scrubs

Today I got ready to tackle the future. I sent in my two week notice to my job and decided it was time to go for it. The only problem- I'm a chicken. We already know this from previous blog entries. Terribly scary.

On the other hand, because I am such a go-getter, I created a new product. Introducing Sage Pure's NEW mocha scrub. Its the perfect new facial scrub and, if you're all truly lucky, I might decide to make a matching body scrub too! you know that lovely feeling you get when your face is super smooth? Yeah. It does that. Sugar and spice (not really) and coffee (mmmm, delicious!!) and a hint of cocoa to give you a delightful mocha experience. mix it all up with Sage Pure's oil blend (that amazingly won't clog your pores) and your pretty face will love you forever.

Enough advertising (okay a bit more- I developed this scrub last week and I already sold four). As I said- I'm scared to death but so so excited to push forward. Two weeks from today, I'll be getting ready for my first show. Before then, I'll hopefully have my products in my girlfriend, Mo's shop. MAYBE I can even get some stuff in Queen of Hearts' antique and curiosity gallery as well!

So... Go visit Etsy, keep abreast of the blog, go visit Queen of Hearts.. even if I'm not there yet.. and maybe give my girl Mo's shop a whirl (It's in Monroe, but I'm not totally sure the name. I'll find out and get right on that!) Here's the deal- read to blog, like the adventures, love the products, e-mail me for some business cards, and I'll send them out!

You'll have fun, you'll get good products and new stuff to try, and I'll hopefully get more business to help my dream become a reality.

I Can Use That For WHAT!!

OH MY GOSH! Two posts in one day? Say WHAT!?

Yeah. I'm getting excited now. Yesterday I was surfing my interwebs and discovered this new (to me) blog aptly named The Natural Skincare Blog. This lovely lady, LisaLise has some great information on her blog for all people interested in taking their beauty regimes back to basics or 'naturals' (haha!! I'm funny!). Anyway- I wrote a comment to LisaLise about how much I enjoyed reading some of her articles and SHE WROTE ME BACK! She sad she enjoyed my blog (THIS ONE) and she was interested to see our development. Super Exciting. The result of my super excited-ness is multiple postings... and more thought on a daily basis on what may actually make good blog posts. Hopefully this counts as one (when I finally get around to writing what I meant to write about instead of being so excited about L's reply...

Here's what I meant to write about: You all know that part of the purpose of this blog was to share my company's plights and growing pains and all that we're (I'm) going through on our (my) path to growth and changing our friends' and families' lives through natural skincare. Well now I actually have a post about my products. Bear with me, it won't be like this all the time.

I developed this product a while back called a solid lotion bar. Some of you may have heard of or seen them before. They're lotion.. but solid! (hence the name) They've got beeswax and shea butter and coconut oil and all kinds of cool natural moisturizers in them PLUS a healthy dose of smell-good essential oils. Mmmmmmm! My favorite is the lemongrass, so I always keep one of these little travel-sized bars in my purse in a handy acrylic carrying case (You can get your own on my website if you like) and I use it all the time.

Now, we all know that pollen season is here along with allergies and all that yucky stuff. It really is truly disgusting. But I never had to worry about it- I'm not allergic.... until now. This has been the worst year for my allergies. It's been so terrible. Bring on the incessant nose blowing and whining (from both Manfriend and myself) and lots of allergy meds. Our poor noses are raw!

(insert hilarious picture of allergy sufferer)

ENTER MOST AMAZING USE FOR LOTION BARS EVER!!!! I had to get relief. I was dying. DYING! I think my nose would have fallen off if a three year old tried to steal it. In my desperation to find something that would help my poor nosey, I thought about the bag balm my mom always slathered on me as a kid.. that would probably work, but yuck! I don't want that goop on my nose! Besides, it could clog my pores and then my pretty face would break out! I may even have to WASH my face! (Jealous yet? Don't be. It's frustrating. I CAN'T wash my face or else I break out. Badly.)

So I dug through the piles of folded laundry in our living room for my purse, fished out my cute little acrylic-boxed lemongrass lotion bar and went to town. I looked like an idiot. I still do. I rubbed my little fingers all over that bar and then all over my nose. On the sides. Under my nose. On my chapped lips. It felt fabulous. It felt moisturizing. My Rudolph nose stopped throbbing in pain. I no longer felt like the kids in the Puffs Plus commercials...

Wanna know the absolute best part of ALL of it? I didn't break out. At all. It's been three days. Not. One. Pimple. My nose feels fabulous. My face is moisturized. My lips aren't chapped. And Manfriend will kiss me again. All is well again.

But really! Who would have thought to wipe this stuff on a desperate nose? I mean- most lotions are gonna clog up all your pores and make your life more miserable than it is! And Puffs Plus will only last so long with that kind of intense nose blowing. I never would have thought that this spur-of-the-moment creation would have worked so well for so many different uses. Get you some. NOW!!!!

How Do I... Pictures?

The whole purpose for this blog was originally to introduce y'all to Sage Pure, our products, our owner (hey that's me!) and everything we go through to make it work. I never dreamed I'd have so much to share so quickly.

One of the best things about my favorite blogs is all the pictures... and their customization. I have long since come to terms with the fact that I am not nor will I ever be truly web savvy. Maybe one day I can pay someone for all that nonsense. The one thing I CAN do is take pictures, by golly! 

There's really only one problem... I can't find my camera. Which really aggravates me. This stupid camera has followed me around since I bought it for a vacation in 2009. I have never let it out of my sight... or at least out of my purse. It goes EVERYWHERE I do. Except now. I can't find it to save my life.

Welcome to the challenges of taking pictures for a blog/ website. I am a life-time member of the lose-everything-important club. 

I moved into this house a year and a half ago. I had it then. But somehow I managed to lose it somewhere between moving everything outside during the tiling of the floors last fall (literally everything- EVERYTHING- was put outside so I could rip out the existing floors and put tile down. For three days I slept outside) Anyway- somewhere between the tiling and the moving of stuff and now... the camera has magically disappeared. 

Manfriend sweetly informed me that he would let me use his camera, but it's just not the same. Maybe you'll think I'm crazy, but I just don't get the different features on his camera. I definitely spent too long trying to learn all the settings on me own camera... how long will it take me on his? Maybe I'm crazy, but I really just want my own camera. So... until I find my camera- or grudgingly admit that it's probably gone and just teach myself to use his- You'll be forced to look at bad pictures, no pictures, or possibly just stock images. Sorry. 

There ya go- the ONLY picture I have on this computer that I have taken. That's all you get for now.

The Creative Process

Moving forward in the decision to make a go of building my own business, I'm facing more and more challenges. The original plan was to take a weekend off work to attend a craft show or an event to showcase Sage Pure's products and to gauge the amount of interest I could expect in the beginning of the business.

The first problem I've faced is that of getting an entire weekend off from work. The girls just won't have it! And if I can't get my shifts covered, I can't take the time off. This presents a major problem. I had already come to terms with the fact that I may not be able to get involved in an actual craft show like I had wanted due to time constraints, however I had hoped that I could still take the time to go to one of our local outdoor markets to get a weekend booth. Who knew, it might be a great thing to fill the spare weekends that I couldn't attend craft fairs!

This little problem is now forcing me to enter this new phase of my life blind. This is very outside my comfort level. I have always been a risk-taker, but not with my future. In the moment, absolutely,but not life changes.  Unfortunately, this has been a very thought-out process which has resulted in my being uncomfortable with the change in plans and not being able to face them the way I had imagined.

I am also feeling a little overcome with the challenges of building my business online. My parents both had successful businesses when I was growing up, but there was never a huge online presence. I'm just not familiar with it. The whole idea is foreign. So in an effort to be more online savvy, I have started Sage Pure's blog (hello!), I've listed on Etsy, and I've updated the website to be a little more... modern?
`
But the biggest challenge to overcome is my own fear of failure. No matter how much planning or thought I put into the idea and the foundation, I will never know until I try. And that scares the dickens out of me. Have no fear, this hesitant risk-taker will definitely be jumping in with both feet.

Keep looking for more on Sage Pure and everything that we are, our trials and tribulations, and our progress in the future.