A Dreary Day.....

What a beautiful sunny day!
Unfortunately today I had to attend the funeral of my old boss! He passed away last week from a heart attack. There was an enormous turn out at his funeral, so many people there weren't enough seats. A very sad day, but some happy memories!
My stove/oven blew up - probably my fault as we were renovating in the kitchen on the weekend and I moved the oven, ooops! Hopefully we'll get the sparky out to fix it tomorrow, in the meanwhile thank God for our granny flat!

So, now I'm relaxing watching my soon to be brother in law play football (Sydney Roosters) and he is playing very well tonight (shame they've had such a bad year) it must be the large tub of 'green irish tweed' type body butter I made for him last week........I wonder if I can persuade him to do some free celebrity endorsement for me? ;)

On a brighter note my new wax tart molds arrived today and they are just gorgeous! I can't wait to post pics and put them up on the website!
xo

NEW PRODUCTS!

Yay!

My newest products to be released very soon (just finishing testing) are:
1. Ultra-Mega-Super Moisturiser (ok, that's not really the name!)
An all over moisturiser (but mainly suited for the face) with powerful vitamin C (anti oxidant, collagen builder, lightener, brightener), hyaluronic acid (to help retain moisture), msm (to combat wrinkles), allantoin (soothing, healing), aloe vera (soothing), vitamin E, oat protein and Vitamin B5. As well some lovely natural plant oils.

2. Wax Melts. To fragrance your home/work. These are great and have a wonderful scent throw. I've been testing a blend of Vanilla Bean Noel and Pink Grapefruit this weekend and it smells divine!

3. Perfumes. Still investigating this one.........need to know the laws on posting flammable liquids!

4. Pillar Candles..........and I want to personalise them. maybe with photos, pictures, logo, messages etc. (still pondering this one)

New Fragrances

Well I told you all I was mad about fragrances!

I have ordered HEAPS of new fragrances to try (and some more of my old frarances which just seem to vanish so quickly!)

The lovely ladies from the Aus/NZ Lush forum have generously helped me out with picking some Lush dupes.......

Porridge (apparently this one is GREAT!)

Avobathe (mmmm I love lemongass)

Comforter

Sex Bomb

Snow Fairy

Vanillary

Flying Foxx

Honey I washed the Kids

Candy Crush

Rock Starr

as well as.....

Very Sexy For Him - Victoria Secret type

Pear Glace - Victoria Secret type

Strawberry Champagne - Victoria Secret type

Endlessly In Love - Victoria Secret type (can you tell I like Victoria Secret??!)

First Kiss

Sunflowers - Elizabeth Arden type

Honeysuckle Blossom

Japanese Cherry Blossom

Cherry Lollipop - this is the last of the supply :( it was one of my top 5 fragrances!

Watermelon Jolly Rancher

Yuzu

Pink Sugar

Hello Sugar - Bath and Body Works type

White Tea and Ginger

Can't wait for my package to arrive!

My Current Project

I'm currently making 200 roll-on perfumes for the 2009 Women's Refresh conference held down in Victoria.

This annual event raises money for much needed support for women - including domestic violence.

I fee honoured to have been invited to help out 3 years in a row and hope they will continue to use my services.

The first year I made lip glosses, last year I made Hand Creams.

I generally supply products VERY cheap for this conference as I feel it's a way of contributing towards the donation :)

I always customise the labels with the current logo of the conference so it's a little treat the women can take 'away' with them to help them remember their experience.

What a weekend

We pretty much spent all weekend renovating our little home. A brand new front door which is gorgeous, and re-doing our kitchen, new cupboards, drawers and still more work to go.

I haven't done much soaping but have been thoroughly looking into making some vitamin C facial serums......but a reliable, stable version of vitamin C is VERY expensive (about $100 for 17ml!) I'm still going to buy some MSM and Hyluronic Acid to start experimenting with.

Anyway, I'm exhausted so I'm off to bed....night!

Perfumes

So my latest dilema is whether or not to introduce ethanol based perfumes. Of my testers 100% say they prefer the ethanol perfumes to the oil based perfumes.

But my problem is that alcohol (ethanol) can be drying, maybe I'll just have to add this to my website so customers can make an informed decision.

I personally like the ethanol perfumes, they 'feel' more classy and professional. I have them in cute little colourful, decorative glass bottles with silver lids. Each holds 10ml's of perfume and I'm thinking $10 would be a suitable retail price for these little beauties.

The fragrance really seems to last and is a lot easier than the roll on's, but I'll continue to sell the roll on's for those with drier skin types.

My newest favourite fragrance is Cherry Lollipop, it smells devine! So sweet and juicy, like cherry candy! mmm mmm My daughters adore it and I make them pink glitter bubble bath fragranced with cherry lollipop as a treat!

Natural.....or synthetic?

There's so much kerfuffle (is that even a word??!) over 'natural' products these days. No one wants a product containing 'chemicals', but the fact is everything is a chemical and natural is not always better. Poison Ivy, for example, is natural but I wouldn't want to smear it on my face! Beeswax is natural, but some people are allergic to it. Urea is wonderful for skin and is found naturally in......urine! If you want to use the natural form on your skin then feel free to go ahead, but this is one instance where the synthetic, man made substance is preferable (for myself anyway).

Mineral Oil is natural, but plant oils are loaded with vitamins and nutrients and I will continue to choose plant oils over mineral oils.

What about SLS/SLeS? Personally I find it drying, and so do many others. So I use 'natural' surfactants, like decyl polyglucoside, sarcosinate etc.

Colours? Well if a products doesn't 'need' an artificial colour why even put it in? I never use colours or fragrances in my facial creams, why bother? Essential oils are great because of their theraputic properties.

What about parabens and formaldehyde? Some say they cause cancer. I don't know if that's true or not, so I'm willing to pay a little extra for preservation systems that are free of both parabens and formaldehyde - you can't put a price on peace of mind.

Introduction

Hello!

My name is Kiah and I own Halo Natural Beauty and Body Products.

http://www.halobeauty.com.au/



This is my very first ever blog!



I love what I do and feel very blessed that I am able to pursue a passion which has turned into a business which is continuing to thrive.

I have a wonderful family who inspire me and encourage me every single day, and who are actually willing to be my 'guinea pigs'! :)

I have a horrible addiction to fragrances and have an enormous (don't tell my husband!) collection of fragrance and essential oils.

www.halobeauty.com.au/fragrancerange.html

The thing I love most about creating my products is that the possibility is endless! There are literally thousands of different combinations of ingredients that can make up any one product, and therein my weakness lies. I have trouble cutting down on manufacturing products, I want to make it all :S

My favourite oil would have to be avocado oil, it's just so thick and rich and luxurious and just a perfect shade of green! Unrefined coconut oil smells like freshly grated coconut and is irresistable!

I love, love, love shea and mango butters! Unrefined cocoa butter has an amazingly deep cocoa fragrance! I can't pick, so I use all 3 butters in my body butter...... www.halobeauty.com.au/bodybutter.html