Feelin' the Love Friday

"I have to say, not a day goes by without someone complimenting my body lotion!Too bad they don't come in a gallon size!" ~ Alicia/NY

Alicia and her Creme de la Coconut crush. Right back atcha, Alicia!

Whole Foods Market Demos - NYC

The East Coast is busy prepping for two days of demonstrations at Whole Body @ Whole Foods Markets. Please stop by and say hi to Carol if you make it this weekend:

Whole Body atWhole Foods Columbus Circle New York, NY October 21st Afternoon
*Atmosphere Aromatic Dry Sprays just added

Whole Body atWhole Foods Chelsea New York, NY October 22nd Afternoon

Try anything and everything - go wild!

The Girlfriend's Gift Guide

Syndicated gift & food writer/reporter Bev Bennett has written a piece about 'Best Friend Holiday Gift Giving' - we love the concept! We're equally flattered to have our Yuzu products mentioned in the mix:

An exotic new flavor of soap
Yuzu, a distinctive and refreshing Asian citrus fruit, was first introduced into food condiments. Now the same addictive accent is working its way into body products. Solessence Yuzu Gold soap and body scrub are the essence of pampering. The products, priced $8 and up, are available in some Whole Foods stores or online at www.solessence.com

Hand & Body Butter pictured

Special touch: a thick washcloth or set of washcloths. Or look for yuzu vinegar and other products in gourmet or natural food stores to tuck into the package.

Amy's: Dressed in Pink

Voted 'Best Caramel Apples' by the Wall Street Journal, Amy's Candy Kitchen features the biggest, crunchiest, most beautifully dipped and dressed apples I've ever seen on any continent. And it is a local delicacy - right in Cedarburg, Wisconsin.

The first time I laid eyes on Amy's, I was touring the quaint little town which reminds me so much of my former place of residence in Healdsburg, California. The charming shops & homes, greenery, and river running through it just brings me back every time. Amy's fits in as one of the old time candy stores, with a gourmet twist. It delights every sense - but what really amazes are the apples. Big. Bold. Dipped.

I'd never been a huge caramel apple fan, as they tend to disappoint. If the wrong type apples are used, or they are beyond prime and you get a mushy mess, or the caramel is too thin - meh. It just isn't worth the trouble. But Amy's...oh! Just looking at them was satisfaction enough. What about the taste? Two thumbs up! Now, I only associate caramel apples with Amy's.

It doesn't stop at caramel. Amy's has apples dipped in chocolate, nuts, and has an assortment of other beautiful creations. This month they are featuring lovely beribboned 'Dressed in Pink' apples for Breast Cancer Awareness. In 3 different varieties - dark Belgian chocolate, pink sprinkles or M&Ms. One is surely to delight the senses. And they ship!

Update: Kroegers Campell campaign (Drink Pink)

Regarding my Campbell pink label campaign post, Anon had wondered if Fred Meyer or QFC might be participating, as they are under the same corp umbrella.

Good news! Turns out QFC is hosting a number of pink ribbon food items that are all slated to have a % of the purchase donated, as well as running the Campbell's Soup campaign as well. No update on Fred Meyer...

Pink is the new Kombucha

This trendy Hollywood drink has been floating around alternative health circles for years: Kombucha (kom-BOO-cha), a vinegarish 'tea' of suspect origin (signs point more to Russia than China, depending on who you read) is said to harness the powerful energies of the fungus cultures used that live off black tea and sugar beds.

Not for the faint hearted, the pretty jewel toned bottles on shelves and in ads reveal something more sinister up close: sinewy strands of, well, live yeast & bacteria. That's suppose to be a good sign. Each batch of Kombucha is started when the original culture doubles in size. The 'Mother' gives way to babies that must be culled, and are used for new batches. Synergy, the most popular bottled brand on the market, uses cultures of the original batch from 1995, when the founder's mother was diagnosed with a rare form of breast cancer. As time passed, doctors were astonished the cancer had not progressed to the lymph nodes and bones, as was typical of the type she had. The only thing they could remotely consider to be stunting the spread was her use of Kombucha. Doctors encouraged her to keep drinking it, and today, combined with the help of the chemotherapy and radiation treatments she accepted, she is considered cancer free.

There is no question this is an inspiring story, but is there any weight to it? There has been talk in recent years that adjusting the alkaline/acid levels in the body can help with cancer resistance, as the cells simply cannot live in this type of environment. We're open to seeing more studies.

Purely from the point of tastebuds, Kombucha's potency will vary depending on what stage it is at. It can start at light and refreshing and go all the way to pure vinegar (if it has been bottled too long). You will find the fermentation will cause greater amounts of carbonation in some bottles vs others. And because it is live, culture growth will vary greatly. Above is a bottle of GingerBerry, quite lovely in a shade of pink I couldn't get to show up in the film. You can see the sediment and floaties. Pretty tame compared to what was in the below Multi_Green version. I'm not even showing you the Rapunzel braids clinging to the inside of the lid...

I will attest to the fact that there is a rather calming influence this drink has. I'm not sure if it is because it is so opposite of colas, even fruit drinks, that it truly does help detoxify the body, or that the body just celebrates the lack of sweets.

A word of caution: avoid going overboard. Recommendations are 4 - 8 ounces a day, though many people claim to drink more. I felt like I had heart palpitations hours after consuming a full bottle and won't try it again. And there have been reports linked to deaths were Kombucha was the only common denominator (people drinking as little as the 4 ounces a day). Just do your research and don't go crazy.

Final note, the stuff can get expensive. I purchased mine at Whole Foods Milwaukee, on sale, for 2/$10. (on a side note, I was shocked to see many items priced higher than my beloved Columbus Circle store in NYC, but that's another rant). It seems many pay at least $3.00 a bottle. You can try a do-it-yourself homebrew via Google, but take care on cleanliness and toss if any bad mold should appear. No one needs a home grown bacterial infection.

Drink Pink: Campbell's Pink Soup Campaign

Aren't big into beauty products? (okay, play along with us for a moment...) Everyone still gets hungry.

In what we find the most interesting twist of a campaign for National Breast Cancer Awareness month, Campbell brings it home in the pink ribboned soup can.

Campbell will donate $250,000, or roughly 3.5 cents per pink can, to the Susan G. Komen Foundation through Kroger in exchange for its doubled order (7 million cans for October, vs the normal 3.5 million). Support the cause if there is a Kroeger near you!

Give a little, Give a lot

Until recently, the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation had a mere week every October to raise funds and awareness for Cystic Fibrosis, and we have always offered our 65 Roses bath bomb for this event. This is a cause we dearly want to expose to a greater level, but a month just wasn't cutting it. CF now has every May to bring attention and efforts to fundraising. Giving up the week in October gained a whole month in May. We'll discuss this in the coming months...

One big reason for the move is that the National Breast Cancer Awareness movement has gained incredible momentum and has really become the fundraiser for October. It is fantastic to see what the Pink Ribbon campaign has done to provoke people to take part and give of their time and monies. If philanthropy or fundraising or the subject at hand really isn't on your heart, don't fret. It is impossible to be all to everyone and everything. But there are some pretty painless ways to help out indirectly, and some of the top beauty companies worldwide are providing that path to go down.

During the month of October, check out the slew of products where a portion of the purchase price is donated to the cause. Here at Solessence, we are offering our impossibly pretty-in-pink Days of Wine & Roses line.

But don't stop there - chances are there is a delicious lip gloss, hair product, limited edition lip gloss or fantastic fragrance you'd love to try that is also donating. Buy it and you do yourself and humanity a favor. Purchasing a product seems like so little, but collectively, it will mean a lot.

do you beauty first?

If you like an amazing selection of all types and brands of beauty products, you need to beauty first. And we'll be there to walk you through it!

This weekend, Laura will be at the Beaverton, Oregon location, providing sampling of our lotions and products. We'll update the timeframe shortly. If you've got some time, please check things out at: 11765 SW Beaverton HillsdaleBeaverton, OR 97005(503) 646-5060

Fall is here, and Winter is upon us, so start doing good to your skin and avoid getting those rough patches with great exfoliation and moisturizers. Show her, and your skin, the luv!

Laura will also be at the Lloyd Mall location in early November.

Supporting the Home Girls

We're pleased to announce our partnership with :

Check the site for exclusive pricing!

WISCONSINMADE.COM ANNOUNCES THE SELECTION OF
SOLESSENCE TO JOIN
WISCONSINMADE.COM’S GROWING FAMILY OF ARTISANS.

MADISON(09/26/06) – Wisconsinmade.com, an e-commerce, internet based specialty food and gift store, is pleased to announce the selection of Solessence as the most recent addition to our growing family of Wisconsin artisans. Solessence (Menomonee Falls, WI) skin care products will now be conveniently available to Internet shoppers 24 hours a day at http://www.wisconsinmade.com/. “Wisconsinmade.com features the finest quality products produced in Wisconsin and we’re delighted to make available to our customers Solessence’s superior quality skin care products,” said Linda Remeschatis, President of Wisconsinmade.com.

About Solessence
When friends who had moved to harsher climates began to lament of dry skin and cracked heels, it was only natural for Hillary of Solessence to try to seek a solution for them. But it wasn’t enough to create a product that worked – it also needed to be a sensory experience worth repeating. In the short time since Solessence debuted, it has grown to not only pamper the friends originally surprised with the products, but their friends, and more. Solessence has been thrilled to be a part of the 2005 Billboard Awards, to be on shelves at Whole Foods Markets and Beauty First, and to be discovered by and invited to People Magazine’s 50 Most Beautiful Issue for People en Espanol. The Solessence tradition instilled for quality and beauty is a simple but satisfying way to brighten a corner of your day. This ever expanding collection of cosmetics, fragrances and skin care products incorporates everything under the sun that I’ve found to be inspiring. You’ll be inspired to pamper yourself.

About Wisconsinmade.com
Wisconsinmade.com, an e-commerce internet based specialty food and gift store located out of Madison, WI, sells Wisconsin made products made with pride and passion by the artisans of Wisconsin. You will find award-winning gourmet food, gift baskets, photography, pottery, books, music, apparel, and more. Over 200 artisans and over 2,000 unique gift items to choose from. For more information, visit www.Wisconsinmade.com.