Pictures Of The Shop

looking from the front right to the back door

looking from near the back door to the front (the front door is very dark in this picture. Just under the lit exit sign)

Brad, my husband, and I did all the work except we hired a plumber to install a hot water heater and to run hot water lines for our lab sink. We put in the floor, built cabinets painted, cut moulding, put up shelves.....etc. When I say "we", I really mean Brad. I was really there as the handy assistant who humped my butt off and worked and sweat alongside the master pro. Trust me, I worked like heck. He worked harder.

These two are only half done...

front half (shop)

back half (formulary)

So this is complete:

you could see the formulary in the back (bakery concept, sort of)

Now, these pictures were taken after the first day of retail, so our shelves are looking pretty bare. I will have to post more when the place is packed again with soaps and goodies and when I am not sick anymore.

(sniffle)

These don't feel like they show everything. I'll try to get it all in the next time, but you get the vibe...

Flowers From An Angel

I received these gorgeous long stemmed roses from an organic flower shop in Miami. The person who sent them to me was Teresa of Life, Homesteading and Everything!!!! What an unbelievable generous sweet thing to do!

I did a little bitching and felt sorry for myself the other day on this blog and I certainly didn't want anyone to feel sorry for me. I was just airing my pathetic laundry.

Thank you, Teresa. It really touched me.

I'd Love Your Input Contest

I have two locations for signs at our new shop. The one on the building will have our logo Product Body on it, but we are on a very busy street where traffic moves between 40-55 mph and we want people to notice what we sell, perhaps, more so than who we are. It is two sided and we thought we should say two different things, one on each side. I would love your suggestions, if you have any. Let's make it a contest!

Some ideas we have:

Bath Treats
Bath Shop
Bath + Body


Anyone who comes up with one that is actually used (that isn't listed above) will receive a Product package from us once the sign goes up. Thank you!!

Contest ends when the right sign words are realized.

I'm Done Bitching. Now I'm Addicted To Caramel Macchiatos

...with whipped cream and caramel squirty designs on top. This picture is of a hot one and I've been getting mine iced because I live in Florida and it's like 65-70 here right now.

I usually have two cups of cappuccinos (I make them with an espresso machine). That's it. Strong, sure, but no other caffeine during the day. I'm not a big soda drinker. Well, now that I am "on" for longer in the day. Up at 6:00 am with kids and then to the shop, formulate, formulate, be a shop owner and do stuff, stay open until 7:30 pm (at least until Christmas Eve, I have been having a late afternoon caffeine hit due to my mid afternoon needs.)

My dear hubby brings me one due to my afternoon crash after my late lunch habit that has snuck into my life. I know, bad Joanna! I have even been skipping breakfast because hunger just isnt there until I am weak with exhaustion at 2pm. (me=dummy).

My new addiction isn't so bad. It's not like I'm on crack or pcp or some stupid drug that's going to hurt my children. There are many best parts about this addiction. :) I can admit to it openly. It is legal. I can do it in public AND it tastes SO GOOD, especially the whipped cream drizzled in caramel.

If you don't like coffee you are just not going to understand this, and that's okay, because I probably can't get a handle on flourless bread and meatless meatloaf made with sugarless sugar cookies.

he he. Sorry. That was rude. I like health food, just not bird food, or meatless hot dogs. I tried to feed those to my daughter when she was little and she wouldn't eat them. I know why. It was because I had the biggest craving for water dogs in NYC while I was pregnant with my first. Almost every day, I had to stop at a disgusting hot dog stand on the streets of New York and get a hot dog from the murky waters and have them build that water logged link with hot mustard and pile it with dripping saurkraut. I went to heaven EVERY time I took that first bite. Nina? She wiggled with excitement - so while I ate, my stomach did the Watusi.

If you want to know, my craving during my second pregnancy was much different.

Oreos.

Wahooo! And Can I Bitch For A Sec?

My eyes are blurring. I think I must be tired. He he. The sun is setting and I feel happy standing in my shop achy and exhausted. In fact, the exhaustion feels really good even though it's exhausting. I had two customers today. People I knew, but it was good, because I got to do the the minor details around the place that I hadn't gotten to yesterday when it didn't feel ready. Things just work out the way they need to sometimes and this is one of those times.

Sadly, my friends have all disappeared from my life and I am sort of feeling sorry for myself. This is one of the biggest things in my life (except in the past when it was my wedding day and when I had my babies .) This is my third child and for weeks, my friends have completely vanished. Maybe they were giving me space and didn't want to get in my way...? I even asked one of them to come on over because I missed her and I'd love her to see the shop (she lives a mile away and has a working car). No show. What gives? I will tell you: If my friend opened a shop, I would be the first customer and bring a box of doughnut holes for opening day or a cup of coffee or get fancy and get a bottle of champagne or El Patron and limes. I've got the sea salt covered. Work perks, y'know. ;)


It's not all bad.
ps: I have gotten more support from my husband, mother and my children than I ever could have expected and it brings tears to my eyes even thinking about it.

Ahhhh No. December 19th

The carrot I have dangled is a pain in the butt, isn't it?

Sorry.

I just don't want to open half cocked. I am still going to open with the place not FULLY done. I plan on having photos of my soaps and whipped butters blown up and other cool art on the walls. They are just not ready yet. And neither is the actual product.

So it is what it is.

OK. Friday. Ready or not. This time, there is no postponing. We are open on Friday.

Opening A Little Later...

...than expected. We will hopefully be up and ready for customers on Wednesday or Thursday of this week! Monday was a target date but we were optimistic. Building furniture takes much longer than one thinks.

SO, Opening definitely on December 18th!

A New Home For Us?

Formulary and retail home of Product

Have you heard the news? Product has moved the formulary and is opening a small retail store! Holy COW, we are nervous. I have never had a shop before, or juggled so many things at one time. My head is spinning and I am filled with more emotions that I even knew existed.

Yahoo!

Our new address is:

PRODUCT
633 Alternate A1A
Jupiter, Florida 33477

So if you need to send anything to us or want to stop by (after the 15th), please do. This is now the official Product Body address.

More pictures to come...

Only A Few Left!

These candles were a hit. They smell up a room nicely and I have put them on sale on my Product Labworks Etsy shop. 16 oz soy wax candle colored with safflower herbs that I steeped myself (can you believe it?).

They are now only $12.00. Looks like a cheesy picture I downloaded from Getty Images, but I really took that on my lanai. Hope you all are enjoy December so far.

Peach Snow

That's what it looked like, anyway. I was making Figgy Pudding Gift Sets yesterday and one of the items in the set is Fizzy Bath Salts. I made a large bowl of it, colored it slightly and scented it with pumpkin citrus melange. Yum. After I mixed it, it looked like fluffy snow and since I don't have snow here in Florida, I sat with my peach snow for a moment. Outside in the warm air.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Apple Crisp Whipped Shea Butter

Oh, let me tempt you just a little.


My cousin explained to me why she hates foodie smells. She said to me, " Jo, why do I want to smell like food when I already feel fat? So men can look at me, take a whif and decide that I eat too much and rub it all over my body, too?? No thanks."

I guess that's a good point though I don't think she's fat nor do I think guys are thinking she's rubbing pie on her body because she's run out of Chanel # whatever. I don't feel that way about food scents. Food smells, if they are high quality fragrances, can be divine and can bring me RIGHT down memory lane.

I had a wholesale customer ask me to make Whipped Shea Butter in Apple Crisp fragrance for pedicure and leg massages in her shop in Maine. I have extra, so I have listed them on the Product Body website if you are interested. I put some on and wished it wasn't 78 degrees today. I wanted to buy some mulling spices and sit in front of a fire instead.

Creme Fresh

Ah yes, Creme Fresh in Sweet Lemon Pie.

This is our new cream made with natural ingredients except for the paraben-free preservative (for safety!) and fragrance oil. Right now, it is only available in the Figgy Pudding Gift Set which is aggressively priced at $29.00 (includes the Creme Fresh, a Trial sized Crush On You in apple crisp, a chunk of graham cracker soap and Fizzy Bath Salts in pumpkin melange).

Made some today. Thought I'd share what my whipped cream batch looked like. I DID feel like licking it. No joke.

If You Don't Get Our Tips + Treats...

....then you are missing out!

Cream is on sale this week. But you need the code to get the discount and to get the code, you need to be signed up and have an account with us. What are you waiting for? The holidays are right around the corner ! ! !

Read about the Tips and Treats newsletter here.

If you sign up, I can send you the coupon via email. I'm just THAT nice. :)

The Saponifier Magazine

Did you know I wrote an article for The Saponifier Magazine? Tamara Dourney is the managing editor and asked if I'd be interested in writing for the magazine. Well, I'm not the best writer even AT ALL, but with my husband's editing expertise, it worked out just fine.

'Herbal Wisdom' Editor

Oh yeah. Would I have ever guessed I'd be one of those? Not a chance. And I bet you are shaking your head wondering what drug I've been taking. Go see for yourself : meet the team
I'd love to do this for every issue, but I'm not sure how long they'll want me. I'm not sure how much herbal wisdom this noggin has. I'm good at researching though. THAT I can do well. And I take photographs (they used two!) taht aren't too bad. I'm actually pretty excited to be a part of The Saponifier and I look forward to earning the title. :o)

Shea in Sexy

Whipped Shea Butter, never before offered in .....drum roll, please......Sexy Laundry Day!

o h y e a h

Feel clean, feel sexy, feel lightly scented and super duper moisturized while it gets colder in your neck of the woods.

Trixie's Beauty Bar

I think I love Tracy Menasco, owner of Trixie's Beauty Bar in Portland. When I called her recently to follow up on a shipment to make sure our products arrived okay, Tracy said sternly, "Joanna." My heart sunk. "Yes, Tracy." "Joanna, that Coconut Bath is like crack. We are all addicted to it."

When she said my name at first, I thought there was a problem, but thank goodness we have addiction problems instead. ;)

Free Candy!

Free candy with every order from Product Body.

Instead of me getting fat, I am offering you some calories :) So, until my Halloween candy is GONE, I will be including candy in EVERY order.

Figgy Pudding

We have a holiday gift set now available called FIGGY PUDDING which I think will knock your socks off! It is holiday based, so be aware all of the scents are geared that way.

We’ve formulated a limited edition two-tone version of Crush On You, combined it with 3 new products in complimentary seasonal scents, and put them in a lovely box complete with ribbon and our new “Handmade Fresh” seals. Priced at only $29, each gift set includes:

New Product: Crème Fresh. A 4 ounce jar of our latest moisturizing body cream. It’s an incredibly rich and powerful blend of aloe vera, shea and cocoa butters, and sunflower oil. No parabens, no petroleum products, 99% natural, 100% amazing. Offered in sweet lemon pie.

New Product: Soap! Thanks to the wonderful response from our product testers, we’re making our handmade soap available to everyone. This graham cracker-scented delight is hand cut one bar at a time, lathers beautifully, and smells amazing.

New Product: Fizzy Bath Sea Salts. A combination of our popular bath bombs (in powder form) and delightful sea salts. The fizziness explodes with scent while the salts slowly dissolve, leaving you soft and smelling great. Comes in a pouch, offered in pumpkin mélange.

Special Edition: Crush On You. formulated in a limited edition two-tone (colored using natural cinnamon) version. Offered in apple crisp, this version is warm, playful, and available ONLY in the Figgy Pudding Gift Set.

The entire set is gift wrapped in a beautiful, simple white glossy box and tied with a ribbon.

We aggressively priced this gift set so it would fit into the budget more than higher ticket items. If you are interested in a larger gift, you can email me and we can set something up for you. :o)

The Figgy Pudding Sets are being shipped beginning on Monday, so if you order one, be patient. Soaps are almost ready. Check it out at Product Body!

Tuesday Tips + Treats

If you are a customer of ours and have signed up for our newsletter, then you know Product Body has started something new. Every Tuesday we send out an email featuring one of our products. We describe its beneficial ingredients and describe its wonderfulness and offer a 20% off coupon for that product for an entire week. We also include a special feature: The SHE SAYS/HE SAYS section where Brad (my husband and business partner) and I discuss how we use the product.

It is a great way to learn about our products, get coupons on products you weren't sure you wanted to pay full pop for, and to hear about how the owner and her husband uses the stuff! We never sell your name or information to ANYONE, because we just aren't THOSE people.

If you are not a customer and do not have an account with us, you can sign up without buying anything and receive our emails until you get a coupon for a product you want and then... SNAP it up! Tomorrow is Tuesday. Just saying.

Unexpected Feedback Lately

Product Body gets feedback on products quite a bit, but in the last week, we have been getting some unusual feedback about some things our products have been up to. Who knew?

10/23/08 My sis has been using Mama Bomb on her baby son. He got "Fifth Disease" at a young age, and it turned his skin into something akin to a lizard, so we've been trying to remedy it with Mama Bomb. So far, it's worked better than anything else.
-Gena P., Studio City, CA



10/25/08 (Crush On You) Amazing product! I have spent soooooooooooo much money on Rx products, and over the counter products for the twins and never had the results I see now! The girls have so many skin and allergies it isn't even funny. I wish I would have ordered from you sooner.
-Kit D., Wellington, FL

10/28/08 - The crush on you, it's amazing! I used to have bumps on my arms from ingrown hairs and no more since I've been using it! Yay! ;o)
- Jessica P., Seattle, WA

It is always good to hear positive feedback, but it's particularly interesting to me when people tell us a new use for the products AND have it work wonders. Love that.