Coastal Carolina Soap Blog

I am normally very intentional about not tying any of my political views to my business, but us small business owners who make cosmetics could be in serious trouble, so I want to get the word out for you to support us and am going to try doing so in the most nonpartisan way possible.

What’s the deal?  Reps. Jan Schakowsky, D-Ill., Ed Markey, D-Mass., and Tammy Baldwin, D-Wisc. introduced to the House the Safe Cosmetics Act of 2010 this afternoon.  Concordantly, the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics (CFSC), which is backed by some large tax-exempt organizations and some Hollywood celebrities (particularly those with their own cosmetic lines) has released a video today filled with misinformation, untruths and generalities in order to convince the trusting public that cosmetic manufacturers are filling cosmetics with cancer-causing ingredients.  This is simply not true.

A little history…  In 2008, the FDA Globalization Act 2008 was bandied before a congressional subcommittee.  This act, which addressed primarily food and drugs, arose after a spate of salmonella-tainted peanut butter issues and after lead was found in toys imported from overseas, namely China.  (The CPSC – Consumer Product Safety Commission – dealt with the toys issue in a way that put hundreds of artisan toymakers out of business.)  There was a small section – very small – in the Act that required cosmetic manufacturers to register with the FDA (for a fee) and further, required them to file every formula with the FDA.  The registration fees were as high as $12,000.00 annually, and having to file formulas would have resulted in more time dealing with paperwork than in actually driving a business.  (Even changing an oil for another oil would have necessitated filing the new formula documentation.)  When the draft of this Act was before this subcommittee, they had NO idea that there was this cottage cosmetic micro-industry that the passing of the FDAGA2008 would decimate.  Thanks to the tireless efforts of many in our industry, the draft was changed in 2009 and passed so as not to affect us.

In March of this year, Colorado representative Dianne Primavera led a move backed by Skin Deep to ban all ingredients with any toxicity at all from cosmetics, with no regard to dosing.  Olive oil, cocoa, and some essential oils all contain trace amounts of toxins.  What this proposed law would do was prohibit all cosmetic manufacturers in Colorado and all those shipping to Colorado from using any of these “toxic” ingredients.  Yet, the amounts of olive oil and cocoa that the citizens consume in food are far greater than what would be in your average cosmetic.

And now it’s looking like we have still more legislation before us with its roots in fear-mongering and ignorance.  Correct me if I’m wrong, but wasn’t one of the campaign “hot buttons” the last election “small business” with tax breaks for us small business owners and “promises” from Washington to help drive small business, recognizing our sizable contribution to promoting local business, promoting American made products and stimulating the local – and ultimately the national – economy?  And now, with the Safe Cosmetics Act of 2010, the very body which swore to protect us could conceivably bury us small business owners in astronomical fees and mountains of paperwork.

Additionally, the demolition of small cosmetic businesses will eliminate that option from peoples’ buying choices, making it nearly impossible for them to buy high quality artisan cosmetics.  The ruination of small local cosmetic businesses also eliminates them from the economic landscape, forcing people at the local level out of jobs, which in turn adversely affects their buying power (no income means much less money to spend locally) and increasing unemployment.  Small business owners of all breeds (not just us cosmetic manufacturers) work so that we can support our families and our communities, which we feel is far better than being unproductive leeches of an already overburdened welfare system.

Please support us and help us keep our own businesses intact, as well as helping us as we support our families, communities and local economies.  I reiterate Donna Maria Cole Johnson’s question on her blog:  What are you willing to do to make sure your representatives live up to their promises to support small business owners?

The Sunday after Mother’s Day, our six-year-old daughter told us on the way to church that she was ready to say the sinner’s prayer and invite Jesus into her heart.  She’d been grappling with this decision for a few months by this point.  At the end of the service, her daddy and I knelt with her at the altar by the wooden cross that stands over our church’s Open Door service while she said the sinner’s prayer and asked Jesus into her heart.  She wrote this soon after.

And as you grow, you will reseve [receive] that Jesus died on the cross to save us from our sins.  I aready [already] said the Lords [sinner’s] prayer.  I aready [already] beleve [believe] he saved us from our sin.  You also get batized [baptized].  When I am nine I will get batized [baptized].

Last Wednesday my baby and I drove down to Southport to meet with a potential wholesale customer and to deliver some soap samples to her. While we were there, we took the time to walk around and visit some of the other shoppes at Olde Southport Village, a charming collection of cottage shoppes. I noticed a tea shoppe and tea room there, and thinking of a good source for Christmas presents for my tea-loving aunts, as well as a nice afternoon trip for my older daughter and me, I popped in. A few minutes with the shoppe owner, Jan, and we were talking private label tea soaps. I assured her it could be done, but it wasn’t likely that the scent or color of the tea would remain in the soap, though any beneficial properties of the teas would. She gave me three teabags – green, chai and Earl Grey – to try and soap.

I went back home and immediately hopped online to see if I could find these scents and got lucky. I dared to try another supplier for some of these scents (always a little nerve-wracking), and they came today. I’d brewed the teas and chilled them, so when my fragrances came, I was ready to go. This afternoon, I whipped up four 6-ounce bars of soap, three using each of the different teas and one with water, and all four with different fragrances – green tea, chai tea, Earl Grey and white tea (the one with water). What a thrill to do a soapmaking blitz like this, and how exciting it was soaping with both a new medium (tea) and new, fantastic smelling fragrances!

These are the soaps freshly poured.

Being the oh, so typical soapmaker, I had to peek a few times during the process.  Imagine my surprise when I saw that the soap was gelling and looked like this!

Look at how dark that White Tea soap is in nearly full gel!  Unreal!  I peeked about two hours later, and the Chai Tea soap was also pretty dark.  I predict that at least three of these soaps will be cream, and one might be tan, depending on how much vanilla is in it.
 
So, that’s my excitement for the day.
 
What’s excited you recently?

A couple of weeks ago, a local media outlet aired a “gotcha” story against Yahweh Center, a non-profit Christian organization that serves children, including some with learning, emotional and behavioral disorders.  It seems like a disgruntled former employee wanted her 15 minutes of fame.  Yet, I’m concerned what this bad media exposure would do for this center at a time when they’re already struggling due to a decline in charitable giving with the current economic situation.  So, I came up with a way that all of us can help.

The first is a lip balm filling tray.  You can get these at any of several online retailers and wholesalers; I happened to get mine from Bramble Berry when I was ordering a fragrance oil my daughter wanted.  It’s a simple concept.  You stick up to 50 lip balm tubes in from the bottom, pour your melted lip balm into the tubes, and any mess you make – any spills at all – collect on the top where you can scrape them off, remelt them and repour.  The result is the ability to make many lip balms at once with perfect tops and no messy drips down the side.  This is a HUGE improvement over pouring 4 at a time, by hand, and having to clean lip balm off the sides of tubes before I could even think about labeling them.

The second wondrous addition to my business life are these lip balm labels from Online Labels.  I’d heard about them from friends who’d tried them, but I figured, business was in its slow period, so I’d wait.  I wish I’d had these five years ago (they weren’t around then)!  I bought the clear ones, which look awesome against my white tubes.  And ohhhh…  They’re large enough to go all the way around the tube with a bit of overlap, meaning they help themselves stay on, plus I don’t have to finangle my font sizes just to get all the FDA-required information on a smaller label.  I absolutely love these!  I love the ease of use, the way they print and the great way they make my lip balms look.  I save myself a ton of work with these and get consistently fabulous results.  The old way?  I’d print the label on a smaller white label, then seal it with clear tape.  It was a lot of work and a lot of frustration.  Check out the picture!

Question:  What tools make your life easier, especially when it comes to your business or work?

He’s a quiet man, unassuming, passionate in his love for God and God’s people.  His name is Mike Cogdill, and I’ve had the pleasure and honor of knowing Dr. Cogdill since I was a smart-mouthed sophmore in college.  Even with that less-than-stellar beginning, he still gave me his blessing as I prepared to enter Divinity School at Campbell University Divinity School, of which he was dean.

Yesterday my husband and I celebrated our eleventh anniversary.  This past year has certainly been a wild one, what with moving into our first house, making our “big move” at the same time to a completely new part of the state, and having a new baby.  Our day began with brunch at Chris’s Cosmic Kitchen in Wilmington, traversed down to Kure Beach for a bit of water therapy and a walk on the beach, ultimately ending back in Wilmington with a fondue dinner at The Little Dipper.  Our server at dinner asked us, “What’s the secret to staying married that long?”

My first answer was “Forgiveness,” and Peter followed this up with, “Don’t go to bed angry.”  In all our years of marriage, as long as we’ve been under the same roof, we’ve slept in the same bed, with maybe the rare occasion of sickness.  (I had bad heartburn for a few days with my first pregnancy and slept sitting up on the sofa one night.)  We might sometimes sleep with a foot of space between us, yet at some point during the night, our bodies forget about the irritation and we end up in our usual yin-yang-esque position.  I’ve screwed up.  He’s screwed up.  We will both likely screw up again, but we can’t let that become a wedge between us.

I thought later, and the other thing that keeps us united and strong is laughter.  In any situation, we have a choice of how we’ll react.  Last night is a great example.  On the way to dinner, traveling down the interstate, I blew a tire on my car.  A little freaky, and somehow rather funny, given that I’d just asked him if the tire would survive my road trip today.  He’s changing the tire, and we’re exploring the levity of the situation.  One thing we try to do each anniversary is use the “traditional anniversary gift guide” for presents.  This actually makes us be creative in our gift-giving.  The 11th anniversary gift is steel.  Can ya see where I’m going with this?  After he got done changing my tire, Peter said, “Well, you’ll get a steel-belted radial for your anniversary gift.  I’m getting you steel after all!”  I laughed (really, a tire’s OK this year), and we hobbled on to dinner on the spare, getting smiles and waves when people read our back window.

What are your secrets to a long and happy marriage?

It happened twice this week, rather out of the blue.  The first time was Tuesday when a friend saw something I posted on Facebook.  I was venting about my older daughter’s teacher and used a description that she was afraid her daughter would see.  It caught me off-guard, but what she said was, “She looks up to you, and seeing that would crush her.”  Wow.  I absolutely adore this young lady.  She’s lovely, funny and bright, but she doesn’t see herself like her parents and I do.  I think of her as the niece I’ll never have (but have always wanted), and I later messaged my friend and said I’d never want to do anything to hurt her or make her stumble.

Then came Wednesday.  I was moderating and catching up on the WSP forums and saw a discussion thread on SoapMaker, the lye calculator I use.  One member said to me, “You’re my mentor.”  Again, a humble wow.  This lady is very sweet, we get along great and I think of her as a friend, but I had no idea she sees me as her mentor, someone from whom she can seek guidance and encouragement.

Both of these comments humbled me.  There’s something about knowing others are looking at what I do, what I say and what I think and have decided for themselves that it’s good.  Or not.  If Jesus himself refuses the title of “Good teacher,” when he alone is good, then certainly I should just hold the humble honor that’s in the title of “teacher,” “mentor” and “friend.”

Who’s your mentor?  What about that person makes them that for you?

Confession…  I’m a huge crime drama junkie – My week runs through all the CBS “howdunits” from Monday night with CSI: Miami to Thursday night and The Mentalist.  (Numb3rs is off the air and I gave up on Sunday nights – couldn’t stay up.)  Last night I was watching Criminal Minds, which is like a dark chocolate dream to this former Psych major, and was fascinated by the whole emphasis on social media.  There were a couple of comments that really stood out for me.

“Online time suck” – Garcia said this about all the social media networking sites – Twitter, Facebook (FB), MySpace and YouTube.  And it’s true.  I’m on Twitter and FB, and I can’t tell you how many of my connections spend all day in YoVille, Farmville, Mafia Wars and Cafe World.  I skim over those posts, because that’s not my thing.  I can see, though, how much time one can spend in a day just between Twitter and FB.  (Incidentally, one friend got away from FB because of all the games on his stream.)

“We all want an audience.” (Morgan) – Don’t we though?  One question that preceded this comment was, “Do they think anyone cares what they had for breakfast?”  Donna Maria Coles Johnson would argue, “Yes, they do,” because readers want to know they’re dealing with a person, not a huge, anonymous corporate entity.  I post tweets throughout the day about what I’m doing, irritations, something cute one of my children did, and so forth, but do I really think that all 240 of my followers are raptly staring at their Twitter steams, waiting for the latest from me?  Um, no.  My ego’s not nearly that big!

For me, the quality online networking experience comes from selectively choosing my audience and selectively choosing those for whom I will be the audience.  After all, it’s about making connections, not about being in the middle of the online equivalent of the Midway at the State Fair.

Question:  What’s the most rewarding part of your online social media experience?  How can you use that to improve your interactions?

Sixty-four… what?  Bars of soap?  Sometimes!  Bottles of lotion?  Possibly.  Tubes of lip balm?  Nope.

Sixty-four ounces of water daily.  This is my favorite and easiest fitness trick.  I start with 16 ounces when I take my morning pills – eight for my multivitamin, another eight for my Claritin.  This is a hard goal to reach when it’s 35 degrees and cloudy outside.  After all, who wants to put even tap cold water into a body already bundled up against the cold?  However, as the days get warmer and more humid, that 64 ounces is very attainable.

I use water to stave off cravings, too.  My family gave me a scrumptious Andes Mint Cheesecake for Mother’s Day, some of which is still in the fridge.  Last night I was thinking, “Hm, a slice of that sure would be good!”  Then I remembered something a friend told me one time:  “Hunger can also be your body’s way of telling you you’re dehydrated.”  That stuck with me, and often when I find myself really wanting a sweet something (like a slice of cheesecake), I instead bypass the fridge and pantry and refill my water cup.  Works almost every time (though I’m not opposed to grabbing a Kiss from the bowl, either).

Question…  What’s your favorite and easiest fitness trick?