"Artisans are impelled to make things. They get restless if they do not create something tangible. They generate an idea, and from within themselves they turn it out into material reality. They take the raw material in their hands and fashion it into things of beauty or function." ~Dave Gregg.
When I was whipping up my first batch of Sugared Butter Whip Body Polish in my Kitchen Aid mixer, I didn't think of myself as an Artisan, I simply saw a need; in my manicuring business, and looked for a way to fill the need.
The need was to separate myself, and how I performed my service, from the crowd. One way to do this, was with the products I would use. I knew products being sold to manicurists were, mediocre at best. I could tell by the texture, the scents, and how short lived the "feel good" effect was.
What I didn't know or understand, is what these products were made of.
This became my mission.
For the next 6 months, I began reading every ingredient label; on every skin care product, I could get my hands on (excuse the pun). I looked at low end, to high end products. The one thing they all had in common, was
a bunch of ingredients most of us could not pronounce, much less know what they were, and why you would want to put them on your skin.
I began a study of ingredients, and their function in skin care products. What I learned is most products contained, mostly water, in conjunction with petro chemicals, sulfates, silicones, heavy metals, mineral oils, parabens, phythalates, synthetic dyes, and fragrances.
In the right formulation, these ingredients might make your skin feel good for a time, but at what cost to the health of your skin?
I decided to formulate a body polish, to use in my business, that did NOT contain any of the above mentioned ingredients. What I discovered was, my clients had better and long lasting results, and my body polish was actually good for the health of their skin.
It was the beginning of December, 2005, when I whipped up my first jar of Sugared Butter Whip Body Polish. I brought it to work, not knowing what the reaction would be when I told my clients I was using something I had made in my kitchen, on them!
The reaction was surprising and inspiring...They loved the polish!
Not only did they love it, they wanted to purchase more to take home! It was my clients who spurred me on. I remember going home and telling my family, my clients think I should make more of this to sell. What do you think?
So it began! I ordered containers, labels, shea butter, etc., and thought, if I sold 20 or 30 of these before Christmas, we would have a little extra spending money for the holidays.
Little did I know, I would sell 200 jars of scrub in just 3 weeks!
Parisian's Pure Indulgence is born! Read how one container of Sugar scrub launched an entire line of Organic skin care for Men and Women, sold in Salons, Spas and on the web, in tomorrows blog....
Kelli awesome story how you started and love the title. And people thought kitchen aid was just for making cake! :)
Marilyn
Posted by: Marilyn Schendel | June 27, 2015 at 02:30 AM