Astrida Naturals is Back.

Hello everyone! It has been a very long time since I have been in business, but after an 8 month hiatus, Astrida Naturals is finally back online!

For those of you who don't about us, Astrida Naturals brings you high quality body and skin care products that are designed to pamper and improve the quality of your skin and hair. We specialize in products made with 100% raw, unrefined shea butter.

Check out my shop.
www.astridanaturals.com

New Items - Shea Butter Lotions

New to my shops this week are Shea Butter Hand and Body Lotions! This rich and creamy, moisturizing lotion is loaded with skin softening ingredients like 100% pure, unrefined shea butter from Ghana, jojoba oil, apricot kernel oil, evening primrose oil, and aloe to name a few.

Ultra moisturizing and nourishing, this rich and creamy lotion is formulated to soften and hydrate your skin. The 4oz size squeezable bottle is perfect to throw in a bag for convenient use anytime throughout the day or keep one handy in your bathroom and apply after getting out of the shower to enjoy healthy soft skin all day long.

Available in unscented and scented varieties! Stock up today!

Silkfair
My Etsy Shop
My Ebay Items

The Joys of Self- Employment

Aah! The joys of being self-employed. I love the fact that I am self-employed. To me, it means that I am more in control of my life and finances. It is very liberating indeed, but it is not without its hardships either. If you are thinking about taking the self-employment jump take a look at this article shines some light on 10 self-employment myths.

10 Self-Employment Myths from the Critiques and Reviews blog.

New Scents - Solid Perfumes

I am currently expanding my solid perfume collection!

New scents this week.

Tiger Lily - A sweet, floral scent of freshly cut tiger lilies with subtle notes of mandarin and acai fruit.

Ylang Ylang - A rich, soothing, sensual and slightly floral aroma.

Sugar & Spice - A deliciously sweet blend of sugar, cinnamon, and a hint of clove.

Astrida Hair Care - My Progress

I'm still working on the shampoo and conditioners with shea butter. My most recent formulation of conditioner seems to working very well. I tried it this morning and my dry hair now feels very soft. I am very pleased with the product but disappointed with the smell. I haven't quite gotten the right blend down. My shampoo on the other hand is not quite as far along. I'm still not getting the desired ph balance in the final product and the formula all together is still too thin. I know people don't like their shampoo to run. So, there is still more work to do there. Stay tuned, I'll keep you posted.

A Natural Preservative?

Ah, yes here we go again. More talk about preservatives. There are so many different views on the subject the more I research the more it makes my head spin! So, for today let's just talk about natural preservatives. Do they really exist? I recently came across a website the debunked a lot of the natural preservative myths, including one in particular, grapefruit seed extract.

News Flash - This is not really natural!

"Grapefruit seed extract is not grapefruit juice. It is not simply ground up grapefruit seeds. It is not grapefruit essential oil. Chemical manufacturers take the leftover grapefruit pulp, a waste by-product from grapefruit juice production, and in an intensive, multi-step industrial chemical process, change the natural phenolic compounds into synthetic quaternary ammonium compounds... Grapefruit Seed Extract is not “natural”. It’s a chemically altered form of grapefruit seed. If you’re going to call it “Grapefruit Seed Extract”, you could by the same reasoning call Sodium Laurel Sulfate “Coconut Oil Extract”."
-Treasured Locks

Yikes. Okay so what is the conclusion? Extract is one of those funky words that can be thrown around to make people think something is really something it isn't. If we all knew Sodium Laurel Sulfate (SLES) as "Coconut Oil Extract" then people would probably think it was good for your skin. Instead we know SLES as a chemical detergent and surfactant that might be a possible carcinogen. Names are important, choosing preservatives or any other cosmetic ingredients be sure you know the meaning of the name that you are looking at. It may not really be what you think it is.

Have You Checked Out Silkfair Yet?

Today, I had my first sale on Silkfair and was very pleased. The fees were so low! Sellers, have you checked out this site yet. If not, you should, there are no initial fees to set up shop or create listings on Silkfair. You only pay when something is sold.

Getting my first sale felt like a breath of fresh air. Once it was the sale was completed I didn't have to worry about paying again to re-list the sold item. Up until now, listing fees on online marketplaces has always felt like an unavoidable cost of doing business; who knew there was an alternative. The people who created Silkfair did. Their vision is to free sellers from focusing on listings and re-listings and allow sellers to concentrate on what really generates sales; outside promotions and marketing. Sellers, take a minute to really consider what this could mean for your business and then think about how much more effective your online shop can be.

So, have you checked out Silkfair yet?