Fresh Bet Bits, Claire Burke Original Memories, Home Fragrance Product Updates and Commentary

I have painted my nails for the last 25-30 years and I just can’t tell you how much I love our new Peacekeeper Nail Paint. First, it’s all organic and natural without any formaldehyde or other toxins. It wears like iron and dries super quick. I actually have been able to stop using a base coat and top coat. I found it bubbled when I used standard top/base coats. Now I can slap 2 coats of Peacekeeper Nail Paint on my nails and it’s totally dry within 20 minutes.

When I first saw the Peacekeeper line at the Minneapolis Gift Mart last summer, I noticed they had some beautiful lipsticks and lip glosses. I have been very focused on adding more natural items as I believe we are all tired of chemical-based products.

Now I don’t wear lipstick anymore, but I did wear it for many years when I worked in Corporate America. I continue to be impressed with the folks at PeaceKeepers who donate all their after expense profits to various women’s causes. Their organic products are perfect for Cancer survivors/patients and any woman who values a chemical-free beauty product.

We are now offering 3 new colors in Lip Gloss: V Day, UNIFEM and Eternal Equity. As you can see by the names of the first 2 colors, these are dedicated to special women’s causes.

There are also 3 new colors in Lip Paint: Paint Me Content (Rose), Paint Me Wise (Burnt Orange) and Paint Me Loving (Pink). The lip paints come in stylish black plastic twist tubes.

Peace Keeper Lip Paints were nominated as finalists for “Best Lip Product of the Year” by Cosmetics Executive Woman(CEW). The revolutionary mineral makeup is rated as one of the safest cosmetics in the US. Made from natural ingredients like Vitamin E, Jojoba oil, Grapeseed oil and Candelila Wax.

Click here for Peacekeeper Cause-Metics.

Years ago we sold essential oils and then folks stopped buying them. Lately we have had more requests for essential oils from our storefront customers; so we added the Caswell-Massey essential oils.

Apparently there wasn’t enough variety, and our customers continued to request more essential oil choices. Dawn uses Lavender essential oil for relaxation and they can also be combined with carrier lotions to be applied to the skin. Add a few drops to bathwater for a relaxing tub soak.

I think Annie Oakley offers a nice variety of essential oils at reasonable prices. We are now offering these in pure single scents and Aromatherapy blends.

We only recently added the Caswell-Massey line and it has been quite well received. Their men’s lines are wonderful so we thought we should expand the ladies bath & body offering.

Our 2 new scents are: Almond & Aloe and English Lavender. Caswell-Massey tells me these are their top selling ladies scents. Deb has already been using the Almond & Aloe lotion and seems to simply love it! I recall Jenn always like the scent of Almond too. My personal favorite would be the Lavender.

In Almond & Aloe, we are starting out with Cold Cream Bath Soaps, Foaming Bath gel and Hand & Body Emulsion.

For the English Lavender, we are starting with: their Foaming Bath Gel and Body Lotion.

There is a local gent who has been shopping in our store lately who seems to adore the Caswell Massey. He specifically requested their Verbena line so we now offer: Bath Soap, After-Shave and Spray Cologne in this delightfully fresh lemony scent.

Last, but not least, is my husband’s new favorite: Tricorn. The Factory mistakenly shipped us the Tricorn soaps and I gave a box of them to Wade for Christmas. He really likes this fragrance, so I thought we should also offer: After-Shave, Cologne and Bath Soaps.

So, if you are looking for a personal gift for a loved one for Valentines Day, consider our MADE IN THE USA Caswell-Massey bath and body for both men and women alike. Click here for more information.

Chocolate candles and home fragrances have been growing in popularity over the past few years. Typically I am reserved about adding new trends that I am not sure will be long-term. However, I continue to see more and more chocolate items, so I thought we better get on board.Sonoma Lavender is a lovely company out of the Napa Valley of California who produces natural, hand-made products in the USA. It has become rare to find domestically produced products, so I usually jump on them when I find them!

Sonoma has introduced a new line of Sonoma Chocolate just in time for Valentines Day. I sniffed these at the show and they are truly chocolate-ey! We are pleased to announce we have added 3 new items:
* Cocoa the Bear
* Sonoma Chocolate Soy Candle in Glass
* Sonoma Chocolate Soaps in round Gift Box

You can find these items by clicking this link.

If you are looking for other wonderful Valentine’s Day Gift Suggestions, we have them! Our Kama Sutra line is perfect for this holiday.
Click here for Valentines Day Gift Suggestions.

WOW, Wade & I had a hectic trip to Atlanta for 2 days to attend the huge January Gift Show to order new merchandise for Spring. Needless to say we were exhausted by the time we left. Here is a brief recap of what we have planned for Spring/Summer 2008:

* New WoodWick candles and Reed Diffusers.
* New Old Virginia Tarts.
* More new WoodWick car scents and Home Fragrance Oil scent choices.
* New WoodWick Fusion art-glass Candles & Reed Diffuser - simply stunning!
* New WoodWick Reed Diffuser oil refills w/new Reeds.
* NEW Olive Oil Organics in travel tin candles and large 22 oz clear glass. AWESOME scent!
* More new Hillhouse Farm Naturals tin candles and new Pomegranate Reed Diffuser.
* Hillhouse Good Dog Linen Spray and tin candle.
* NEW Greenleaf Reed Diffusers and refills. These are ceramic and so charming.
* Greenleaf has introduced a new scent called Evening Twilight which is a powdery soft scent that will be available in Aroma Decor Diffuser Oil.
* 2 New Greenleaf Aroma Decor Diffusers: Yellow Vase, Shanghai
* Greenleaf has also reformulated their lotions to include Jojoba making them even better!
* Greenleaf has a new Spa line which we will be adding soon: Bath Salts, Scrub, etc.

We are optimistically guarded that we will soon be selected to become an Aromatique retailer. They gave me their new Peach Pizazz candle to burn and it is phenomenal! We are excited to report we have ordered:

* The Smell of Spring
* Summer Sorbet
* Fresh Fig
* Citrus Plum Berry
* Peach Pizazz

Thanks to the feedback from Sandy Wood who was kind enough to share her thoughts with me regarding Aromatique!

We have also ordered several other new lines which will be arriving over the next few months:
* Baekgaard leather purse accessories in bright colors.
* Scentier Parfum Fragrance Lampes and Oils
* Lastly, we are expanding our Caswell-Massey lines due to your comments and strong interest to include: Men’s Verbena & Tricorn, Ladies: Almond & Aloe, English Lavender.

I also visited the Enchanted Meadow showroom and will be ordering a few of their new lines as well. So, it was a busy market and we expect Spring to be very busy at Freshbet. As always, if you have comments or suggestions, please email Bet.

We have lots of gentlemen customers at the Fresh Bet website. In the past we have only been able to offer the Zen for Men bodycare line. We are now pleased to announce that we have just added the Caswell-Massey line for Gents.

Caswell-Massey is “America’s Oldest Perfumer” established in 1752. They are America’s 4th oldest continuing company having been established in Newport, Rhode Island in 1752. This year they are celebrating their 254th Anniversary!

Caswell-Massey has a wonderful history that encompasses fragrances worn by such luminaries as Presidents George Washington and John Kennedy, the Eisenhower Family for the White House and other noteworthy Hollywood Celebrities like John Barrymore and Cole Porter. These are sophisticated gents who found many of the Caswell-Massey scents to their liking.

We are starting out with: Greenbriar, Jockey Club, Newport, Number Six and Sandalwood. We have soaps, body wash, lotion, after shave balm, shave cream and cologne.

Caswell-Massey products have a deep sense of history and authenticity with quality being their top focus. They use only the finest perfume grade oils to scent their products and there are no synthetic shortcuts. Only the purest, natural botanicals are utilized and they do not utilize animal testing. These are truly luxury items for those who use only the very best toiletries.

Click here for Caswell-Massey.

A few weeks ago, Wade & I were down at the store when a gent came in to look for some men’s care products. He was clearly a sophisticated professional who was searching for upscale skin care. We’ve always had a small selection in this area and it became clear to me that we needed to do something about that right away!

I started researching upscale men’s lines and we decided to add two fine lines to our Fresh Bet offering: Roger & Gallet and Caswell-Massey. It only seemed logical to me that we should go to the Atlanta Mart to sniff these new items in person before we ordered. So, I dragged Wade down to Atlanta as my official men’s product line buyer. I am pleased to report that we now have 2 lovely new men’s lines in stock just in time for the Holiday gift-giving season.

Roger & Gallet of Paris is imported from France with elegant and beautiful packaging. We are starting with 3 of their unisex fragrances and 2 of their Men’s fragrances. All of these are best sellers and the price points are fair enough for such luxury items.

For the gents we have: L’Homme and L’Homme Essential.

Their best selling scent and also their oldest is called: Jean Marie Farina. This scent is used by both men and women alike.

Their next best selling scent is Vetyver. We also opted to add their line called: Bouquet Imperial which my husband liked and the packaging is Orange so this works well for us here in Clemson. We are starting out with basics in Cologne, Soap, Bodywash, Lotion and a few gents hair products.

Click here for Roger & Gallet.

This past July while attending the Gift Show, I had a chance to meet Rebecca; who is the co-owner of Sonoma Lavender. She told me that heat wraps and spa booties were some of her most popular items. I had seen them in their catalog before, but wasn’t sure about offering them.

Well, I came home and thought about it for awhile and decided we should give it a go. So, we now have quite a bit of new Sonoma items for your spa at home personal time this winter. Sonoma also introduced their new scent: Sonoma Spice - absolutely fabulous dahling!

We have always offered the Sonoma Lavender because Lavender is such a personal favorite of mine. The Sonoma Eucalyptus was their 2nd scent they released a few years ago and it has definitely been picking up in popularity. Many companies just don’t offer Eucalyptus and the Sonoma is all natural…win-win!

Now their new Spice is beautifully presented in rust and purple colors with some of my personal faves: cinnamon, cloves, lemon and rosemary. (I just adore Rosemary!).

Kayce and I have been busy adding all the new Spa Plush heat wraps, neck pillows, spa booties and sachets-by-the-yard to the website for the past week. All of these plush spa beauties are made from rich fabrics that just make you want to run your hand across them and savor the softness of their touch. Beautiful colors in elegant greens, Vibrant Purple & Rust and of course soothing lavender colors in various embroidered or dot patterns.

My mother Norah, used a neck pillow as she got older to help naturally relieve neck aches. She would pop it in the microwave briefly and then lay in her lounger with her neck pillow late in the afternoon. This sage green color was Norah’s favorite!

Personally I love the Purple and Rust colors. Winter will soon be here; so grab a pair of these fabulous spa booties to warm up cold and aching feet:

Last, but not least, consider these fun heated pets for your inner child:

We have Lou the Lavender Teddy Bear, Spunky the Spice Monkey, Lulu the Lavender Poodle, Lil the Lavender Bunny and Lovey the Lavender Lamb. These fun heated pets look great and they are functional aromatherapy when heated in the microwave to release their fragrant blends.

A while back Pamela asked me why we didn’t have more bubble bath and bath soak items. It got me to thinking that maybe we were lacking in this area. So, I decided we should add more variety to our “At Home Spa” page.

Because I believe more of us are seeking natural and organic products, I have added the 30 year old line made by Abra Therapeutics. Their new line of Aroma Therapeutics is beautifully packaged and made with wonderful essential oil blends.

We are starting out with several bubbling meditation bath scents and body scrub in 10-14 oz jars that are perfect for the winter months: Moisture Revival, Cellular Detox, Deep Relaxation and Sensual Surrender.

Because many of us like to sample items before we buy a larger size, I have also added several of the bath packets by Abra in: Muscle Therapy, Stress Therapy and Cellular Detox. This is a good try it size and would also be great as a stocking stuffer or gift basket addition.

Click here for Abra Aroma Therapeutics.

Below is an excerpt from the TC Fragrance Focus Newsletter written by Jen Hart in Nov 2007:
************
FOR HER
PERFUME — The strongest, longest-lasting fragrance form. Apply at all the pulse points. The heat of the body at these points will assure a well-balanced fragrance application.
EAU DE PARFUM — Found in many of the fine fragrance collections, it assures a long-lasting concentrated application and prepares the skin for the perfume application.
TOILET WATER — Less concentrated than Eau de Parfum.

FOR HIM
COLOGNE — Men’s cologne is usually the most concentrated and lasting form of fragrance, blending natural essential oils and aroma molecules. Like perfume, a fine cologne may contain several hundred different ingredients. Since fragrance rises, it should be splashed or sprayed on the body from the feet up.
AFTERSHAVE — Next in strength to cologne, it is also made of perfume oils in a hydro-alcoholic solution. Created to be applied to the face, there are two forms of After Shave Lotions — one features cooling astringent qualities to heal small nicks and cuts. The other, a relatively new
development in After Shave Lotions, incorporates ingredients which moisturize and smooth the
skin. The scent is formulated to perform for a short time.