Summer Is Here!

Hello!

It has been some time since I updated this blog. I am so sorry about that. There have been many new things in the works, and new things on the horizon as well. I love summer, and the sometimes lazy days that come with it. With school out, I feel like I have so much more time! I have only one - 6 week music class for kids with special needs to do the whole summer. My new semester doesn't start until fall. I love teaching music and look forward to it, but also need the break. My kids don't have a whole lot going on in the summer, and I love it! When fall starts I know everything will be super busy again with Kindermusik, art and craft shows, and the kids' activities that go along with school. I have been making a lot of skincare products and working on a lot of things with NaKee', but I can do it more at my own pace during the summer months. I can take time to test, experiment, and perfect the products. I also feel like I have time to "reconnect" with my children too. For my own children, I have always taken on the attitude that kids need down time, they need summer to recharge. They have their activities, but not too many. I don't think kids "play" enough, and they need to be bored once in awhile. It is inevitable that the school year will bring much busyness and responsibilities. I think balance is key.

On to NaKee'! It has been over a year now that we have been in business officially, and I am very happy with the developments of the company. We have been wanting to branch into the wholesale market and are very happy to have landed our first wholesale account with a floral and gift shop in Stockbridge. We are hoping the products sell well there, and that we can establish a long time relationship with them. There are a couple more possibilities here in Jackson, and we are getting ready to mail some letters to potential wholesale clients. We want to get the word out about NaKee'. We know how wonderful our products are and want to share them with everyone! We know there are several companies out there just like ours, but we are confident in the products, and we know the care that goes into developing and manufacturing them.

We have our first products in our Wee NaKee' line, and our Team NaKee' lines. We have the Twinkle soap(pictured above) and our Healing Sport Soap. We plan to expand these lines with moisturizers, powders, etc.

We are also working on some neat ideas for Soap For Hope. We plan to keep the cafe' mocha scent, but to also add to that some other chocolate mixes and have 4 scents to choose from at a time. We will be giving to CureSearch again because the government has cut funding for cancer research, and the first to go will be children's cancer research, especiallly the more rare cancers. At a time when we are on the horizon of breakthroughs, they are cutting funding. Very sad! We need to keep advocating for the population that cannot speak for themselves...our children, our future. I am forever grateful for the research that has taken place in the past. My son would not be here today if it weren't for that research. We need to keep it going because children are still suffering and dying because of the awful beast of cancer. Our son has a projected end of treatment date of December 20 of this year. We are hoping and praying this will be the end of it and he can go on with his life!

Even though we want the summer to last, we are excited and getting prepared for the fall and holiday season testing new scents and bringing back some of last year's popular holiday fragrances. We are planning to bring back Autumn Earth, Ginger Twist, Epiphany, Spiced Plum, Caramel Taffy Apple and Citrus Balsam.

Enjoy your summer. Beauty is all around us in nature and our family and friends.

Candy

I Have a PINK CRUSH on You!

Hello!!

Wow, the weather has finally screamed "Winter"!! It is freezing cold in this neck of the woods. Thankfully we were one of the lucky few who's power didn't go out. I am so thankful for that. I have been making so much soap lately trying to restock after the Christmas.

Here is what is new and on the curing rack at this very moment:

• Perfect Pear-A lovely true pear scent.
• Pink Aloe-This is a specialty spa bar made with pink clay which gently draws the toxins from the skin without stripping the oils; aloe which soothes the skin; and rose geranium essential oil which has a heavenly rosey scent and is such a great face oil.
• Wooded Olive-This is a man's bar that women love too. This has a wooded olive blossom scent that is sure to please anyone who likes a clean woodsy scent. This is also packed with french green clay which exfoliates and draws dirt and toxins from the skin.
• Rhassoul Mud Glow(this may be the name, still working on it)-Now, this is a special bar! Rhassoul clay is mined deep within the Atlas mountains in Eastern Morocco. It has been used for over 1400 years as a soap, shampoo and skin conditioner. Rhassoul contains higher percentages of silica and magnesium along with potassium and calcium, than other clays.Rhassoul clay's most impressive properties in skin improvement are its capacity of absorption and adsorption due to its high level of ion exchange. Clinical studies have been conducted by two different research laboratories in the United States to evaluate Rhassoul use for skin conditions. The results of this single use Rhassoul study produced pretty good results including reducing dryness and flakiness, improving skin clarity, elasticity and texture, removing surface oil and dead skin layers. This bar also has a blend of essential oils that not only scent the bar beautifully, but are skin loving too!
• Tropical Frusion(not sure of the name, still working on it)-This is a yummy bar smelling of fresh tropical fruit slices.
• The Super Natural-This is a step beyond the regular The Natural. This is for babies and super sensitive skin and those allergic to butters. This has rice bran oil and avocado oil...that's it.

And we can't forget the Valentine Soap! This is so cool. I made several heart shaped tubes and imbedded them in the loaf of soap. There is a heart in every bar. I actually used the Pink Grapefruit scent that some of you have tried, and it is called PINK CRUSH.

There are many more scents and ideas in the works. I have new gift packaging. Ialso have new ideas including gift sets. I will be adding rose geranium to the lotion bars.

I am working on improving the Light Oil Body Spray labels to make them waterproof. They have gummed up after a few uses.

I am working on a baby collection called, "Wee NaKee'"(cute, huh!?!)

Oh, and if you like a product, please go to that product and write a review.

Thank you for your business, and let me know what I can do to improve!

Candy

Craft Shows

Helloooooo!

We have been busy here at NaKee', aka our kitchen!!!

We did a craft show this past weekend and it went pretty well. We spruced up the booth and have been busy making, labeling and packaging products!

There is a craft show this coming weekend at the Huron High School in Ann Arbor from 9am-4pm. I hope it goes well! Come out and see us! You will be able to see, touch, and smell the stuff.

There is a new soap that will be ready by this weekend....Citrus Balsam. It is very much like a Della Robbia Wreath with the oranges on the evergreen...lovely!

If you are planning on placing an order for Christmas, please do so very soon. There is no time now to make more soap before with the cure time required.

After the Christmas rush, we will get busy on testing more scents and formulating new products.

Until next time ,
Candy
NaKee'
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Soap For Hope is here and Christmas is coming too!!!

Hello There!

I am not sure if anyone actually reads these. If you do, will you please leave a comment??? Thank you!

We have so much that is new and exciting. The Soap For Hope is an exciting adventure for sure. I am hoping this program will raise lots of money to help fund research on curing childhood cancers. Please see the link to find out about CureSearch, which is the organization this soap is benefiting. Oh, and the bar is fantastic! It is a layered bar of dark chocolate truffle and exotic Cuban coffee beans topped with a touch of dripping vanilla sweetness.

Exotic Facial Masques! Oooo Wheee! These are great! Please check them out. The ingredients are all natural and also some ingredients are organic as well. These come in a dry powdered form so that we can avoid using any harmful preservatives. You can just mix it up with water as you need it.

Soy Aroma Melts! These will super scent your home for hours. These are made with natural soy wax. No harmful petroleum products like those in paraffin wax. Best of all, they come in a bar with 6 sections you can break off and use as you wish. These go in a tart warmer, either powered by electricity or a little tea lite. The next day you just scrape out the wax and use another. You can even blend your own custom fragrances by mixing and matching. Oh, the possibilities.

Fall and Christmas Scents! We have a variety for the season. With Ginger Twist and Autumn Earth for fall, and Caramel Taffy Apple too. We have Epiphany, Winter Berry, Apples&Evergreen, Candy Cane, and more.

Spa Bars! To go along with the exotic facial masques or great by themselves, I am adding some spa bars to the line. Curing right now is a Dead Sea Mud Detox Bar, and also in the works is a Pink Aloe Spa Bar. Sound intriguing? Go check them out!!!!

Craft Show! We will be at the Jackson Catholic Middle School on November 11 from 10 am to 4 pm. Come get up close and personal with our luscious line of stuff!

Here's hoping you have a great holiday season!
Candy

Fall Scents

Hello There!

I have no idea if anyone is even reading this blog. If there IS anyone out there, could you shoot me an email to let me know?!?

I ordered some fragrance oils that I have decided on for fall. I have yet to decide what kind of coloring, swirling, etc. I will do with them. Here are some we will have: apple pie, pumpkin pie, spiced plum, autumn earth, somali rose, eucalyptus spearmint, ginger twist, and for the Soap For Hope... (drum roll please!)... I will be doing a layered chocolate vanilla soap. It should be so yummy! I will have three layers of dark, medium, and light browns. Be thinking of a name for this soap. I will be having a contest to name this soap. When I make the soap, I will put pictures up, and we will have you come up with names and we will choose the best one that fits the soap for free stuff!!

Until next time, I will be busy soaping...

What does BLOOD have to do with SOAP?

Usually no connection whatsoever, but this soaper has great interest in blood.

Please donate blood....pretty please! There is a shortage right now in Michigan, and I am sure in other places as well. My son would not be here with us today without blood products. He has benefited from every blood product including red blood, platelets, and plasma. If you live in my town, The First Church of Christ is having a blood drive tomorrow! Thank you and God bless you for donating!

Soap, Soap, and more Soap! I love SOAP!

Here is a picture of some of my soap.

I am still waiting to hear back from the web guy and anxious to get the website finished, which BTW is at www.nakeenatural.com!! The sweet little boy on the landing page is my youngest, Keegan. His name is part of the NaKee' name. If you are interested in the complete story and origin of the name, go to the website and read up on it!

So, we have been trying to get some stock made and anticipating tons of sales when the website is finished :) We have also been testing some new scents, so that we can have some great seasonal and holiday scents. In the last couple days I have test-made 16 new scents. I do not put any coloring in the test batches so that I will know how the fragrance colors the soap. When an oil has any real vanilla in it, it will darken the soap naturally. Here are the scents in the testing stages:



These were made on July 24. They need 3-4 weeks to cure, but here is what I have observed so far.
Pumpkin Pie-It is a very nice spicy food scent. The color already is a dark brown.
Apple Pie-Nice spicy scent with a hint of pastry. Tan in color so far.
Chai-Has a delicate spice scent. Not sure if it will be a lasting scent, but it is nice so far. Light tan in color.
Eucalyptus Spearmint-I liked the scent when it was first made, but now it is starting to fade. I hope it comes back because it is a clean, fresh scent that is quite attractive. Very light color.
Chocolate Mousse-Dark brown in color. I didn't like the scent at first, but it is growing on me, we'll see.
Plum Spice-Not bad, but I would like more of a cinnamon spice in with it. It is too fruity so far. Tan in color.
Somali Rose-This rose is not too rosey. I hate that (pardon me here) elderly lady rose toiletry scent if you know what I mean. I like it so far. It is a light tan.
Woodland Pear-A nice tart but sweet pear fragrance with a touch of woodsy scent. Nice. Dark Tan in color.

Today(29th) I made more test batches, but won't know much about them for a few days.
French Vanilla-Already pretty dark. Not sure of the scent yet.
Dark Chocolate-It is light in color so far. Chocolately scent.
Spiced Plum-Different company. I think I will like this one better. I hope it has the right components for a nice fall/winter scent.
Witches Brew-So far it has an earthy spicey scent. Sort of like a spicy patchoulli.
Gingseng & Ginger-This scent could be a winner! We will see. I so hope this turns out how I think it will. If it does, I have a feeling I won't be able to keep it on the shelves!
Vanilla Lace-A sophisticated vanilla. It has lost some of its scent so far, so hopefully it will be nice.
Black Raspberry Vanilla-Creamy fruity scent.
Chocolate Nut Brownie-So far just smells like chocolate, but how can you go wrong with that?!

Until Next Time!

NaKee' Website Will Be Up And Running Soon

The NaKee' Natural website is getting closer to being finished. We are very excited to have it up and ready to take orders soon!