Lip Scrubs A Go-Go

For those of you who have been waiting with bated breath about how I store my lip scrubs, here you go:

"Crowd" (10/365)

That's pretty much it: in a cardboard box. And now the box is full, so I have to start a new box.  Lots of pretty colors, huh?

And there are four new flavors of lip scrubs in my shop this week, which now has over 100 products.  100!!

"Apple Pie"

"Blue Raspberry"

The next two are already at Lalalita Body Co:

"Margarita"

"Root Beer" (my favorite soda)

After these are set up in my shop, I'll be introducing their matching lip balms.  And then it'll be a little while before I introduce any new flavors (unless I do the mad scientist thing again and make my own), because I promised myself that I'd dial back my addiction to buying scents/flavors and only do it once a month.  Well... we'll see how that works out. ;)

December Challenge: Can You Make it Better?

As part of the Blogging Business Artisans Etsy Team, we're all required to take part in monthly challenges. This month, the question(s) posed were:

"The December Challenge is all about looking back over the year and reviewing your Etsy Shop. Can you thing of one thing to do that will help improve your shop? There's a whole list of things available to do: re-shooting photographs or coupons, having a sale, removing/adding products, changing sections/shipping requirements, or merging two shops. Write a post and share with your teammates what might help you! And if you see results, tell us!"

I looked over my shop and knew there was something lacking: namely, my "Ooo, I Smell Good!" perfume stick labels.  While clear labels look fantastic on the lip scrub and balm tubes, which are clear and can show the gorgeous colors of those products, a clear label with black print on a white tube just wasn't... popping.  So, I ordered white labels and redesigned them all with fun and colorful designs.  When my shop reopens on December 30th, the "Perfume Sticks" section will look completely new and fresh with the labels.  Here are a couple of previews:
 

Another change I'm making is the cost of the lip scrubs.  Don't know how much this will improve my Etsy shop, but it will improve my business.  Out of all my products, believe it or not, these lip scrubs are the hardest to make, and the most time-consuming.  It is an emulsified scrub, much firmer than my body sugar scrub.  While I make a profit on the actual costs of ingredients, tubes, labels, and ink, I was not taking into account the labor-- believe it or not, my arm gets a workout!  And with the success of the lip scrubs, I have to raise my prices slightly.

So, when Lalalita Body Co reopens, the cost of a tube of lip scrub will be $3.50, up from $3.  I still think this is an extremely fair price for a very good product that customers love, and I have to be comfortable with the price I'm setting for the amount of work I actually do.

What have you done to improve your Etsy shop?

Perfume Sticks!

Perfume sticks are now appearing at Lalalita Body Co!

What are perfume sticks?  They're compact (lip balm-sized containers), and made from a combination of natural waxes and oils.  As with everything else at Lalalita, they're paraben- and phthalate-free, with skin-safe flavor oils, and no ingredients have been tested on animals.  Which is good, because Pippi doesn't like to wear perfume. ;)

Below are a couple of "Ooo, I Smell Good!" perfume sticks already at Lalalita: "I Love You", which is a Love Spell-type fragrance, and "Suntan Oil", which smells so much like a leading-brand suntan oil.

Other scents that will be coming in the next few weeks include Little Black Dress, He's So Sexy, Glazed Donut, Basket of Berries (pearberry-type), Margarita, Monkey Farts, Peanut Butter & Bananas, Coconut Cream Easter Egg, and so many more!  Please stop by the shop daily to see what new fragrance is in store. :)

New at Lalalita - Lip Balms!

I've had a love affair with lip balms for a loooong time. I'm one of those people who's said, "I'm addicted to lip balms." I totally am. LOVE finding good ones. I get distressed when I can't find my Favorite O' the Moment in the recesses of my purse. I sure don't like discovering that I've wasted my money on one that doesn't work, or tastes too waxy.

A few weeks ago, I started working on lip balms here in the "Lalalita Lab". I'm happy to say I am in LOVE with the way this lip balm feels. Not too greasy or oily; not too heavy, but not so light that you can't feel its on your lips. And it really works itself in there and makes your lips feel soft and moisturized. With a combination of oils and wax, how could it not?

Right now, at the Lalalita Body Co Etsy shop, two "Lick My Lips" lip balms are currently for sale: Cotton Candy, and Pink Icing, which is my biggest seller in lip scrubs.  In the coming weeks, more scents will be released, like Peanut Butter Cup, Cherry Limeade, Marshmallow, Double Mint, and Red Velvet Cake.  As with my other products, the lip balms are paraben- and phthalate-free, mineral oil-free, smell great, and they're lightly sweetened.  And have I mentioned that they make great, affordable stocking stuffers? ;)

Stay tuned!

What Do You Smell Like?

This week marked the start of the release of Lalalita Body Co's winter scents. Already released is "A Wonderful Gingerbread Cookie", and today begins the launch of "A Spiced Cranberry Story". Both are great, bold scents that I love, and would choose myself to wear in colder months. Almost like styles of clothing, changing from shorts to pants, short sleeves to sweaters, my tastes in scents vary with the seasons. In the spring and summer, I wear more tropical, light scents like coconut and fruit, or satsuma. As soon as the third week of September rolls around, however, I get out the cinnamon. The pumpkin. The fudge brownie (scents, of course. I don't rub a pumpkin on my wrists! ;)). And that's the way I roll, until spring rolls around again and the short sleeves come out.

Do you do the same thing? What are your favorite scents for the warmer months? What about when the air has a crisp snap to it, or snowflakes are swirling around your head? Or are you a one-scent kind of person year-round?

Make it Pretty!

Do you like pretty things? That's sort of a "well, DUH!" question, isn't it? I like to make orders a little "prettier" than they already are when I ship them off. With dolls, it's a bit of wrapping in colored tissue paper, and a name tag, usually. With my Lalalita products, it's also tissue paper, and raffia.

Here are sugar scrubs, awaiting shipment last week. Instead of shrink bands, I use colorful deco tape to seal my jars and bottles.

And Pink Icing lip scrub that went out yesterday. Kind of reminds me of an oversized Tootsie Roll ;):

I feel that "decorating" my products for shipping adds just a little more to what is hopefully a pleasurable customer experience. Do you do anything special for shipping?

Autumnal Memories in Scent

What do you think of when autumn approaches? For me, autumn is associated with a variety of aromas. Cinnamon. Candy corn. A slightly cool chill that contrasts with a warm, almost burnt scent in the air. But above all, pumpkins are, for me, the number one aroma that comes to mind when I think of this glorious time of year that just bursts with color.

And you know what that means... it's the time of year to roll out the autumnal scents!


And first up is "Hush... Hush, Sweet Pumpkin Pie". Cinnamony and spicy, this scent definitely does its job to invoke the heady aromas of fall. It's quickly become my Favorite Scent O' the Moment, and I've already made myself a batch of shea butter and aloe lotion. It's also available in my emulsified sugar scrub, and you can find it in the "Holiday Scents" section of the Lalalita Body Co shop.

What's a Sugar Scrub?

You may ask, "What the heck's a sugar scrub?" Granted, most people interested in beautifying their skin know very well what it is, but there are surely a few lonely souls wandering the planet with flaky, dry skin who haven't a clue.

A basic definition is "Sugar scrubs are made from brown, maple, or white cane sugar with skin softening body oils and scented essential oils. They are a milder alternative to salt scrubs." This is taken from www.dayspanc.com. I'd amend it to include "fragrance oils" and "butters".

In essence, a sugar scrub is an exfoliant, an agent applied to the skin to remove dead cells. Depending on what else is in the scrub, it can also soften and moisturize the skin, as well as unclog pores and keep the skin clean.

Egyptians are credited as being the first people to exfoliate their skin, but in the Middle Ages, wine was used to exfoliate, with tartaric acid being the active agent (might have worked, but I can't imagine getting in the shower with a bottle of red!).

Why white sugar in Lalalita Body Co scrubs? It's gritty and rough enough to exfoliate well and leave your skin feeling clean, but not as rough and potentially damaging as pieces of shell, or some natural and unnatural acids. Since sugar scrubs can potentially dry out your skin (especially overuse), the additions of butters resolve that problem.

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In other Lalalita news, the shop has its first sale!! I'm over the moon about this, and tomorrow, "Clash of the Peanut Butter & Chocolate" Sugar Scrub will be winging its way to its new owner, ready to moisturize and exfoliate. And almost all the products (scrubs, lotions, and body sprays) are in the Etsy shop. Please stop by to see if a particular fragrance speaks to you.

Til next time!
Athena

It's Open!

After months of hard work, Lalalita Body Co is open for business! I'm nervous, excited; many, many other adjectives...

Please visit Lalalita Body Co at Etsy today and in the coming days as I unveil products that make you smell and feel great. :)

Lalalita Body Co