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The Suds Report Newsletter
February 2003
Hello All:
Happy Mid-Winter! As most of you know, after two fun years
at the helm of Suds Report, I have decided to move on to some
other (totally unrelated) ventures.
This will be the final e-mail newsletter. We will finish up the
articles currently in progress. Look for an online version of
our newsletter in the future.
And the
Winner Is
Congratulations to our January giveaway winner: Jennifer
Daniel of Dallas, Texas, who won a generous assortment of
products from Andrea, including Anti-Stress Bath Soaks
and Foot Spa treatments.
For February (our final giveaway), we'll be giving away an assortment of products
from Body Drench, available at
TheBeautyAuthority.com or
BeautyStop.com. More than enough to share (or
not).
Giving
the Customers What They Want
 I recently ordered some handmade
soaps from
Fairies
Kiss, and when I complimented the owner, Kathy, on
her fragrant soaps and lovely packaging, she replied: "I
really try not to be too fancy, but I find we humans are
visual creatures and some things do matter."
"The three biggest complaints I ever hear about hand made soaps are the
lack of lather, poorly scented and packaged poorly. So I try
to produce all three and still not compromise quality!"
I love that kind of refreshing attention to what the customers
want! Thanks for listening.
Nothing
Lasts Forever
If
you're reading this, you obviously have some enthusiasm for
bath and body products. If you're like me, you probably
also have a collection of products stashed somewhere in your
bathroom.
Have you ever pulled something from the back
of the cabinet and wondered if it was still "good"? I
often wish there were freshness dates on such products, but no
such luck. So, how to know when your good lotion has
gone bad?
For some thoughts on this, I spoke with Dennis Fioravanti of
Essential Wholesale, a manufacturer of over fifty natural
source cosmetic bases (they also do custom formulating
and private label work).
My first question to him was: "Okay, aside from the gross-out factor of spreading bacteria
all over your skin, is there any real danger in using
bath and body products that have passed their prime?"
In
a word, "Yes". Dennis cited the risk of potentially
serious infections, such as staph, which could enter through
broken skin.
Happily, there are numerous ways to prolong the life of these
products. Here are some factors to consider:
• Chemical preservatives will give products a shelf life of
about 2 to 5 years.
• Natural preservative blends will give products a shelf
life of about 1 year.
• Exposure to sunlight, air or dirty hands may promote
bacterial growth.
• Many products contain nothing organic, so bacteria has
nothing to grow in.
• Alcohol acts as a preservative.
• Water is hospitable to bacteria.
• If a product smells bad, it probably is.
• Products prefer constant temperatures, rather than
extremes of heat and cold.
• If products like lotions and creams have separated,
that may spell trouble.
If
you have questions about the shelf-life of any product, ask
the manufacturer or retailer for guidance.
Upscale
Custom
SÄM SOAP is a new company offering custom-made bath and body
products, along with several already-created options. Okay, so the word "custom" has been thrown around quite a bit
these days. Often, it means that a fragrance of your
choice is mixed into a bottle of lotion or shower gel, and the
scent's name is scribbled on the
 label.
Not so with SÄM
SOAP. The bar of glycerin soap I ordered came in a
lovely box; my chosen name and added ingredients were printed
on a clear label on the side. The packaging, brochures and Web
site are all elegantly designed.
I
tried the Custom Body Soap with a honey base, fresh cut
grass scent and added almond meal and aloe vera. It is a
nice soap, but very pricey, at $16 for a 5.3oz bar. My
one complaint: it was pretty light on the almond meal.
I also sampled the Brown Sugar Polish, part of their
Product Collections. This is a fabulous sugar scrub,
made with molasses (a first for me) and a fresh lemon scent.
At $34 for 16oz, this is about half the price of fresh's
version.
In the
Works
Here are the articles in progress, which we will wrap up and
post in the next month or so. We'll review two
fragrance-oriented lines:
elizabethW and Zents; we'll have a
long-awaited review of Rachel Perry's line, an article
featuring products with Nuts and Berries, another featuring an
assortment of hip, trendy lines, some products to
liven up
your winter showers, and an article
going "behind the bubbles" to focus on the motivation for the
founders of a few small companies.
Best regards and happy bathing!
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