Cupid’s Spa :: Body Care for the Romantic on Valentine’s Day

So you know that vision of Cupid in your mind of some chubby cherub with a bow and arrow?  Well, Cupid is all grown up and has planned a romantic evening for the love of their life at a remote B&B.  Cupid has all the accoutrement necessary to ensure love will be forever…the romantic spa list includes:

Aromatherapy Soy Candles:

Set the mood with candle light.  Container Soy Candles are beautiful in attractive containers. They burn longer than votives.  Learn how to make a pure soy candle in a 7 ounce clear glass container that looks elegant and serene and a travel candle in a metal container (perfect for packing the romantic getaway).

http://joanmorais.com/joansbooks/aromatherapysoycandles.html

47 Herbal Extracts:

Only the best and most natural scents shall grace the love’s skin…so for this they use only pure extracts to concoct the perfect scent. In a beautiful glass container, sure to set the mood and be the most unique.

http://joanmorais.com/joansbooks/make_herbal_extracts_for_skincare.html

Herb Infused Cold-Processed Soap:

They are mild and moisturizing to the skin and very little packaging (if any) is used and this makes soap even more eco-friendly.  Especially on Valentine’s less packaging the better, not just on soap.

http://joanmorais.com/joansvideos/make_cold_process_soap_video.html

Aromatherapy Bath Fizzies and Bath Melts:

Because it’s an old Victorian B&B, no Jacuzzi.  So Cupid is prepared by bringing the bath fizzies that are infused with rose petals pressed into them, so that the petals disperse in the water.  They also soften and relax the body and release a beautiful aroma.

Bath Melts:  chocolate has empty calories, so in turn there are bath melts that look just as scrumptious without the added guilt.

http://joanmorais.com/joansbooks/bath_fizzies_melts.html

Whipped Body Butters and Lotions:

After a relaxing bath, a romantic massage using whipped body butters is not only softening, but unlike regular message oils, whipped body butter is easier to handle and just as luxurious.

http://joanmorais.com/joansbooks/bodybutterswhippedlotionbar.html

Cupid hopes you have enjoyed this particular version of their perfect romantic Valentine’s spa evening and hopes that you all enjoy a little relaxation with a special someone or just as a night for yourself! We all deserve the best after all.

Kelly Kenny - Blog Contributor for Joan Morais Naturals



Scrub a Dub Dub :: For You in the Tub

One of my favorite things to do in my downtime is to read magazines and celebrity gossip.  I admit this openly.  And what I also adore is stumbling across when a celebrity or model shares a beauty secret. So I am going to pretend that I am being asked what my favorite beauty secret is and tell you here in this blog.

“I love smooth skin, I believe exfoliation is the key to keeping skin fresh, healthy, young and glowing.”

There, I said it.

After the Holiday’s and with our New Year, it seems fitting to metaphorically and physically “shed our old skins”. Follow your exfoliation (using either a sugar or salt scrub) with a relaxing exotic sea salt or herbal tea bath to help draw out any impurities. Closely followed by a clay facial mask, refreshing toner and luxurious lotion (to face and body).  Guaranteed, the rejuvenating transformation will be so noticeable once you step out of your spa sanctuary bathroom, your cat won’t even recognize you.

But where do you ask do I find all these amazing treats?  Sign up for Course 1 by clicking on the link  below or go to JoanMoraisNaturals.com and not only will you learn to make these and much more but we will also send you home with the goods to try and start replicating immediately yourself!

Natural Skin & Body Care Product Making
Certification Course I
March 24, 25, & 26, & 27, 2012

Save $100! Early Sign-Up by January 31, 2012
Regularly $1495Special $1395!

Kelly Kenny - Blog Contributor for Joan Morais Naturals



How to Make Swirled Cold Process Soap

Swirled Cold Process Soap is so fun to make. The contrast of the colors create an artful looking soap.

I've received a lot of feedback from others saying they learned how to make cold process soap successfully from watching the How to Make Soap Instructional Video and Manual, packed with information, here>>> Many of those that learned online from this video now sell their handmade soaps. The video can be watched as many times as you want helping you to learn in your own home while making your first batches of soap. It also includes many tips to help you grow as a soapmaker.

After you learn to make cold process soap, you can use the natural colors listed in the How to Make Soap manual, to color the soap with the swirls. Natural colorants such as herbs and clays are harder to work with, unpredictable and usually fade in time. It does make a difference when you add the natural colorant. An example of this, is alkanet root. I have been able to create a beautiful purple color with alkanet root infusing it into sunflower oil and adding this colored oil after trace, as a superfat.

An excellent resource to learn more about coloring soap using natural colors and synthetic colors is Lori Nova Endres ebook, Coloring Soap with Confidance. Lori also teaches soapmaking in person at The Nova Studio. Lori taught me to make soap.

Happy Soapmaking!
Joan

Bottles, Labels and Packaging, Oh My! :: Supplier Resources

If you are a novice producer of natural products or a manufacturing pro, one thing is quite certain, packaging can be a beast. Not only do you want to relay your ideas and standards with your customers and clients but you want to know that you can get your tried and true resources whenever necessary.  Not as easy as we all know. Sometimes that perfect shade of Egyptian Blue glass that you hark as your trademark is just not available, now what?? In a case such as this, ingenuity and a glass of wine doesn’t hurt. 

But seriously, planning ahead and making friends with suppliers doesn’t hurt either. Get to know your resources and how they supply themselves, this way you’re a bit ahead of the curve.  Be flexible, if you can’t get exactly what you need then you have a plan B.

Be sensible with your packaging. When handling your own products, do you really want a label (and your name) to go down the drain after its first use in the shower?

And last but not least, remember to hold true to your standard, a faulty container just because it was less expensive, can ruin your beautiful product.

So go ahead and seek your standards and do your homework. Joan Morais Naturals has an astounding page of Suppliers and Link resources where she has done quite a lot of leg work for you already: Link Here.

Happy Hunting!

Kelly Kenny - Blog Contributor for Joan Morais Naturals



Planting Seeds of Reinvention :: Dream Seeds by Joan Morais







Reinvention, (Webster definition):

1.  to make as if for the first time something already invented 
2.  to remake or redo completely
3.  to bring into use again

In light of the coming New Year I am officially liberating the word “resolution” and replacing it with “REINVENTION”.

But why should I invent another “wheel”, you ask?  My reasoning is that with the way things are nowadays, budgets a little tighter, competition a little more stealth, it seems that perhaps we should all revisit what we have in our own arsenal.  Perhaps there was something that seemed too far off the map or ridiculous a few years back but somehow make sense today. We are all in a constant state of learning and to take an old idea and look at it again with our new eyes, can sometimes be just the trick.

As Joan writes about in her “Dream Seeds” book, “Many times we become so distracted and overwhelmed with the many projects or ideas we have that we don't complete any of them or we stay in a rut because the whole picture of it is too much too handle.”   

So take stock in what is already right in front of you and get a second opinion or maybe a new resource has opened up that wasn’t there before.

“Determine never to be idle. No person will have occasion to complain of the want of time who never loses any. It is wonderful how much may be done if we are always doing.”
Thomas Jefferson

Kelly Kenny - Blog Contributor for Joan Morais Naturals

Hair Today, Gone Tomorrow :: Hair Care Rescue

This week’s blog is dedicated specifically to hair care.  I don’t care what the situation, when it comes to damp, cold winter; our hair is the first to show the signs of wear, tear and lot’s more tears.  Whether your head is wrapped up in a scarf, hat, and cap or just out for all the elements to have their way, our hair and scalp is the first to catch the brunt of the season.

Which is why it is so important to make sure you are ready from the inside out?  Our hair, just like our nails is made specifically of a protein called keratin.  Basically, when your hair and nails grow they come out of either your scalp (hair) or your skin (nails) and at this point they are both “dead”, meaning they contain no nerves.  So when you really think about how they got there in the first place, your health had a lot to do with it. How they maintain themselves afterwards depends on what you use and do to them.  Joan Morais makes sure to emphasize in her teachings the importance of skin and scalp health for this exact reason.

~ The following two Joan Morais products that we make in our Hair Care Course are by far the shining star’s of this realm:

Hydrating Hair Mist: 

This particular formula is a multi-purpose. It can be used on wet hair as a detangler and to hydrate hair. It can also be spritzed on dry hair to add hydration to the hair. The hydrating hair mist adds a vibrant shine to hair.

Strengthening Hair Oil:

Hair oil is one of the best products for a head full of vibrant hair. This product can be used in several ways and for many hair types. Learn how to use botanicals to stimulate the scalp and promote hair growth.

In lieu of our online Hair Care Course launching December 15^th, 2011 we are hosting our April 21-23, 2012 LIVE course, including a NEW bonus addition 4^th day: “Howto Create a Successful Body Care Business”.  Register now by clicking the links provided just above!

Kelly Kenny - Blog Contributor for Joan Morais Naturals 

HAPPY HOLIDAYS :: FREE GIFT

I want to wish everyone a happy, safe, fun and loving holiday. May you be "present" with your loved ones. It is so easy to take for granted those we love dearly. When they are gone from this earth, is when we truly realize the impact that person had on our life and how much we miss them. This holiday season, for me, is important to truly be "here", in this moment with the ones I love. I am doing simple decorations, mostly from nature; using hand painted gourds, tree greenery, berries, pinecones, lemons, pomegranates, and lots of candles. Decorating Tip: Go to a Christmas tree farm and ask for their extra greenery. The last few years, I have put the branches of greenery all around the top of our house with the lights in them, on the porch and on the fireplace mantel. It felt and smelled like we were in the mountains. It was beautiful.

As a holiday gift to you and a thank you: I made a free video and free e-book of one of my favorite hair and skin care products to make, using one of my favorite flowers. This product is exceptional for women, men, children and babies.

The holiday gift is in the Holiday e-Letter. I will release the video and e-book in the future, but if you would like to have it sooner, make sure you are on our emailing list. You can sign up here>>>

Happy Holidays!
Joan