The Smelly Truth about Perfumes

Did you know that there are over 500 ingredients in many commercially produced perfumes and that legally theyt do not have to list any of those ingredients? No wonder people with asthma have problems with fragrances. How could they possibly be able to distinguish which ingredient is bothering them? It must be really hard to make perfume if so many ingredients are needed, right? Nope. Not really. It just takes a lot of time.

Through my research I found that it only takes 3 ingredients to make perfume; alcohol, distilled water, and fragrance. The hard part is being patient enough to add the fragrance in drop by drop slow enough so that it is completely mixed with the alcohol and the water. That takes freaking FOREVER! And it makes your hand really really tired. Then after that the perfume needs to be left to mature for at least 3 weeks.

This is not time that big perfume companies are willing to take so they would rather use synthetic materials and poison us with chemicals. And really, for what? There are very few perfumes that I like and they all seem to smell the same. When I read that the base note is patchouli, I want to smell the patchouli, but I rarely do. Patchouli is an expensive oil so usually the patchouli used is synthetic or very little is added.

Another reason big perfume companies use synthetic ingredients is that they can control the color and make it clear and clean looking. Many essential oils have their own distint color and that would tint the perfume. Oakmoss is a dark green, goopy, thick oil. It turns the perfume a murky greenish color that doesn't look exactly crisp and clear. It smells wonderfully and is a beautiful base for many fragrance mixtures, but it doesn't "present" well.

I know that this may be hard to believe, but I am very PARTICULAR about my fragrances and scents. So with a little experimentation, a lot of time, and a extra pinch of patience, I have created my own artisan perfumes. I love them all! I have them lined up on a shelf and I just spray a different one on every day!

Last week, I just made a new perfume with Sandlewood, Moroccon Rose, and a touch of lemon. It is NICE! It isn't even matured yet and I wear it all the time. When I taught my spin class Saturday, I wasn't lying when I told them I smelled like roses! They, on the other hand, smelled like corn nuts. That is what happens when you have 60 people sweating in an enclosed room for an hour. It begins to smell like a teenage boy's room!

So on February 2nd, I will have two new perfumes ready; Sandlewood Rose and Jenn's Tree. I am working on Lemonwood for men. That will smell awesome too and even though I am not a guy, I may just have to wear it so I can have the illusion that some really hot man is around me all the time!

The genius of skinny mirrors

I recently turned 40. Now, being a woman, this has me a bit freaked out. It is not that I look older than I did 2 weeks ago, but now...I am 40! 40! I can see a little difference in my skin. I don't get checked out like I used to. And stress is harder on my body than it used to be. But overall, I am holding up quite well. So, on my 40th, I went shopping. If you have children, a career, and no time to yourself, you may be able to relate to this one. I went shopping all day. And I don't mean to Target to browse some of the sales racks while I am picking up diapers and toilet paper. I mean, I drove to a mall and went to several stores and tried everything on that I thought was cute. And by the end of it, I was exhausted! Shopping takes a lot of work. All that walking around carrying your coat and hat, looking at things, taking off clothes, looking at yourself in a full length mirror with no clothes (yikes!) and trying things on. Wow! Did I really do this on a regular basis in my 20's? Holy cow!

Which brings me to the mirrors. I have decided that you can pretty much tell the quality of the store by its mirrors and I have ranked the stores from best to worst in the mirror department.

#1 - Anthropology - These mirrors are awesome. The changing rooms were spacious and softly lit. They are what I call skinny mirrors. In fact, I stood there in my underwear taking a look at myself and thinking...."mmmmm...not too bad missy!" It was the one store where I looked better without clothes on then with the clothes on. I don't know why exactly. I love their clothes, but I didn't buy any. Why buy them if you look so good without the clothes?

#2 - Lucy - These mirrors were average. The dressing rooms weren't too cramped but I hate going into a dressing room without a door. Curtains bug me. Give me a nice door. I don't want to have to continually pull a curtain shut. There is always that one side that just won't close. I think these mirrors were fairly accurate. I didn't want to stand there in only my underwear admiring myself, but I didn't want to vomit either. And the pants make my butt look a so great! I just want to walk into every room backwards when I wear their pants. Since, my side job is as a fitness instructor, I did buy some much needed clothes. I knew I would pretty much look the same in my mirror as I did their's so I didn't feel like I was being lied to.

#3 - H&M - These mirrors were not the best. I think I looked a little plumper than I actually am. Pair that with the fact that most of the shoppers there were about 20 years younger than me and you don't exactly have a mirror for the best self image. I loved some of the little outfits, but knew I was just a little too old to pull it off. My 40th birthday party was that night so I was looking for a little snazzy outfit to wear. The clothes are awesomely priced but the clothes are not always cut very well, or at least, not for a curvy, bootyliscious girl as myself. After a long while there, I was able to find a few things that I can add to the staples of my wardrobe. If the prices werent' so good, I wouldn't have bothered searching for the right fit for me.

#4 - Lululemon - OMG! Could their mirrors be any worse! Holy cow! The changing rooms were tiny. They have this huge open space in between all the dressing rooms but you could barely turn around in the actual dressing room. And the mirrors! Don't get me started! I swore they added a few rolls that I didn't have before. Also according to the sizes, I wear a size 8. I am quite tall, and the last time I wear a size 8, I looked like I was on crack. So I already felt like they were trying to pull a fast one on me. These pants are supposed to make my butt look bootyliscious, but the mirrors were so horrible and the dressing rooms so small that I could actually only look at one cheek at a time and could not see the bootie area as a whole. I gave up and left, but not before I tried on one of their running jackets. And I did not take that jacket back to the dressing room. I tried it on right there on the floor and it looked fabulous, which lead me deduce that their mirrors are a conspiracy to make us work out even more. I didn't buy the jacket because I knew it was on sale on the web page. I am a savvy shopper people!

#5 - Gap - ?? I don't know. By the time I got there I was too tired to take my clothes off again and my bff called me and invited me to dinner and her husband made me a cake. Now, I don't know about you, but I would rather have dinner and cake

So I was trying to find a sharp and witty way to tie this into Blackett Body Basics. I couldn't really come up with anything that didn't sound contrived. I am changing the look of the packaging a bit. As much as people love my product, we as humans, go for looks too. So, I am creating my packaging to look as good as my product actually is. I am slowly changing the silver tins, which we all love but EVERYONE is using, to beautiful black jars with twist top lids. The plastic jars will be easier for me to reuse and recycle as well make it easier to actually access the product. So I will have the skinny mirrors of packaging with the product to match. See how I slid that one in there? Damn I am good!

The professional shoppers guide to hand crafted, artisan gifts

This season has been CRAZY! But in a good way. I have been invited to do several shows with other women artists which 1) makes me feel special that they asked me and 2) gives me an opportunity to scope out their goods. Because most of you lovely people do not have the time or even the desire to go to every artisan show in Seattle, I have done the work for you and have compiled what I have seen so far to be the best of the best in Seattle artisan, hand crafted goods. All these businesses have 3 things in common. They are women owned. The work is solid, unique, and often gorgeous. And I like them. It was a very scientific approach I took to compile this list for you! Men, I must stress that a gift from any of these artists would most likely be a hit and have you looking like a super star to your lady and all her friends. Because we all know that it is just as important to impress your girl's friends as it is to impress her. We will tell you that that is not true. We will deny that fact until the day is done. But when it comes down to it, it is fact. I can't change basic psychology....but I can help you win in the war against bad gift giving!

#1 Abaloria Jewelry - I met Brandy at the Urban Unveiled Wedding Event. Her booth was right next to me and we instantly fell in love. Her jewelry is GORGEOUS! She has closed down her custom part of her business which means that she will have more time to devote to what she does best ..... creating unique, eye catching pieces that have the WOW factor that every woman craves. It was hard for me not to spend my eldest daughter's college tuition and buy all her stuff. I did, however, buy a pair of awesome earrings (above picture) from her and I have a necklace picked out, copy and pasted to my husband's email. You MUST check her out! http://www.abaloria.com/.

#2 Deanna Dibene - Her hats are to die for. In fact Brandy saw mine and said, "Give that to me right now or die!" Okay, Brandy is really sweet and would never say that to me, but I know she was thinking it. I met Deanna at the Central Chic Boutique. Her workwomanship is almost perfection and all her patterns are fun classics with that extra flare to make it stand out just enough. She has leather wrist bands that I wasn't sure about at first, but wore around a bit and decided that I love the look. I got several for random girls and women in my life. She also has sweet make up bags. You can see how sassy my special hat makes me feel in the above picture! http://www.deannadibene.com/ My hat is a brand new pattern, so if that's what you are looking for, contact her and tell her you want my hat. She will know what you are talking about.

#3 Glass Elements - I felt like I was cheating on Brandy at first when I fell in love with Marja's work. Then I realized that their styles are completely different. Glass Elements hand blows colored glass and then casts them in silver in unique and beautiful ways. You can go bold or you can go subtle. I met her at the West Seattle Art Walk. When I tried my necklace on, it was obvious to both of us that it was made for me and coming home with me. (necklace is also pictured above) While I was calculating my budget in my head, her husband picked up on of my shaving kits and was very excited about my products when it became clear to both of us....trade! Sometimes, I just love my job! She sells her work on Etsy and has a huge following, including me! www.etsy.com/shop/glasselements

#4 True Love Truffles - I know it may seem that I am being bias when I say that Lisa's truffles are hands down the best truffles....EVER! Our daughters are BFF's and we live down the street from each other and I heart her and her family. BUT......I am also very greedy with my money and I won't spend it on just any ole chocolate and I am buying about a dozen boxes from her by the time this season is over. Her truffles are hand rolled and are the oooie goooie kind that need to be kept chilled. You don't find many truffles like her's out there because the logistics of delivering and selling can be a bit tricky. Also, they take a lot of skill to create. But she does it all and they are so worth it. My faves right now are the maple bacon and the coconut curry. My mouth is just watering thinking about it. I bought 5 boxes for a get together that got postphoned and I had to ask her to keep them in her house because I knew I would eat them.....ALL! http://www.truetruffles.com/

#5 Blackett Body Basics - need I say more? http://www.blackettbodybasics.com/ of course I have great gift sets!

I hope that maybe these suggestions give you some fresh ideas on the gift giving list. I love that all my new found treasures are one of the kind pieces that won't be found anywhere else and created by beautiful, lovely, and kind souls!

Tis the season

The holiday season is upon us! For me, it begins with Thanksgiving. Call me old skool, but I think eggnog lattes, Christmas decorations, and Christmas music should be against the law until the day after Thanksgiving. Black Friday is what is the mark of the start of the Christmas season for some. I have never been shopping on Black Friday. And I rarely go to the malls to shop for Christmas presents. One year, I think I did go because all my friends and family had about all the candles they could handle (I have been making candles a long time) and my sewing projects did not go very well (I don't know how to sew). Needless to say, I have never returned to the mad house called the mall during the holiday shopping season. CRAZINESS is what I will call that frenzy. Whew!
This year, though, I did sort of participate in Black Friday. I had my own and I called it Blackett Friday. And it was awesome! I didn't have any crazy sale. I didn't have any specials. But I did have coffee and souffle for breakfast and soup and hotspiced wine that rest of the day. I opened my doors at 7am and closed them at 10pm. I invited people into my home to chat, to shop, to eat, and to share ideas. It was a steady trickle of my people all day long up until the very end. The best part was it was so low key. I put on my "good" sweats and hung out in my house with my kids all day long. And people just came to me. Call me crazy or maybe a bit self centered, but I think Blackett Friday is going to catch on! Just you watch. People will be lining up at my door at 5 am, smooshing their faces to my door, chanting "Open. Open. Open." just like the girl in the old Marshall's commercials (I miss those). I will have to have tents up in the front of my house and give out numbers to enter. Yep, I think it will catch on.
But until next year, when Blackett Friday will be another mad house, you can just come by and relax.
One of my dear friends and adopted bachelors (every family has a few I think. I could be wrong. That has been known to happen on occassion), Peter, suggested I have an open house on Christmas Eve....just a short one.....and call it, "Did you forget your mother?" I think I may have to go with that idea. Better come by this year, because you know, as this world totally revolves around me and what I want, next year will be CRAZY!

Getting a foot massage

For the past 3 days, I have been subbing at the gym like crazy and have taught 6 spin classes, 1 ab lab, one boot camp style class, and one strength class. Now, that would not be much for some of the other instructors out there, but I am Laura B. and I am a mommy with little to no time for fitness. I can squash it for one class with the best of em. Even 2 classes are not that big of a deal. But finally, the past 3 days have taken a toll on my poor body and especially my planter fascijackedup foot. My Selah, being the sweetie that she is, saw her poor mommy laying on the bed, on my tummy, spread eagle and not moving. She got one of my lotion bars and proceeded to give me a foot rub. Sweet baby! I kept smelling something divine and it took me a moment to realize it was my arms. I had used a salt scrub on my body in the bath and could smell the Blackett Patchouli on my arms. I then thought to myself....people really need to give patchouli a chance. When it is mixed with vanilla, amber, and other secret scents, it really is a nice, light, and warm fragrance. BabyFara then decided that she needed to jump on me, thus abruplty ending my quiet moment of reflection and my foot rub. I then comforted myself with a vanilla lemondrop and the sweet, sweet place of sleepy time land. But before I fell asleep, I thought about how thankful I am that I really am quite proud of my products, that I like using them, and that they still bring me joy in the craziness of moments. I like having good smelling arms!