Spa day at home

Yesterday was a very productive day!

I made some face cleansing oil with calendula,chamomile,rose,white willow bark,red clover and elder flower extracts which are good for keeping the skin healthy and supple and can be used by all skin types,a face wash with white tea extract which is an antioxidant and helps reduce free radical damage, and finally the most luscious body scrub made with sugar,moiturizing oils and butters,orange and lemon peel powder, with orange and lemon essential oils. Feels and smells wonderful, and leaves the skin exfoliated, well moisturized and smelling wonderful.

Today I intend to pamper myself with these products. I love making body products, because I know exactly what I'm putting in them, and that's nutritious ingredients!! The added advantage, I hardly EVER have to buy body products anymore and that's a huge deal because I used to be (well I still am), a product junkie. When I want or need something, I make it.

Well have a great saturday all, I'm off to treat myself to spa day!!

Ingredient spotlight "Cranberry seed oil"

Todays product spotlight is Cranberry seed oil.

Cranberries are good all round. They are delicious to eat as a sauce with turkey, or if you are like me, with any kind of meat.

Cranberry juice aside from being a refreshing drink, is also well known for helping in keeping a healthy urinary tract amongst other things.

Cranberry seed oil is rich in omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids, it is also rich in tocotrienols, which is a member of the vitamin E family.

The Omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids are essential fatty acids,which means that the body cannot produce it, but needs it for normal health and function. Therefore any thing rich in these two essential fatty acids, provide the cells with the much needed fatty acids that they need to grow, develop and fucntion properly.

We all know that Vitamin E has always been said to be good for the skin. Tocotrienols, a form of vitamin E, are antioxidants, which are substances which protect the body from free radical damage.

Free radicals are very tiny particles, that are produced usually as by-products of the normal chemical reactions that occur in our body. The problem is that these particles cause damage to the cells in our body, including the cells of the skin, and one of the consequences of this damage is aging skin. This is where antioxidants come in to play. Antioxidants are chemicals that provide another particle, named an electron, to the free radical to interact with, therefore protecting the cells in the body.

Of course aging is a natural progression of life, and there's nothing we can do to change it, but anything we can do to slow it down naturally always gets a thumbs up from me.

It is therefore important to nourish our skin by eating foods that are high in omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids, and vitamin E.

Some food sources of :

Omega-3 fatty acids: wheatgerm oil,soybean oil,walnut oil,canola oil, and flaxeed oil,broccoli,lettuce,spinach,peas,kidney beans, cherries, melons,citrus fruits.

Omega-6 fatty acids:leafy vegetables,and corn,safflower,sesame seeds and oils.

Tocotrienols: rice bran oil,coconut oil,cocoa butter,barley and wheatgerm.

AND VERY IMPORTANT, by direct application to the skin. Any skin care product that contain cranberry seed oil, is very good for the skin because it has all the goodness in one oil, and it easily penetrates the skin.

So cranberry seed oil a must for my skin care line? Definitely!!!!

Product formulation- My favorite job!

I'm at the stage of product formulation which is my favorite part of this whole business. I love learning about all the different, nutritious ingredients and how the blend together to work synergistically. There are so may wonderful ingredients out there, that the possible combinations are endless.

There are also, many spa, bath and body products out there. So the challenge for me is to formulate products that are nutritious and luscious for the skin but that are DIFFERENT to what is already in the market. I studied formulation and pharmaceutics at university, so I've got the safety and science information, but I've got to let the creative juices flow so I can come up with something unique.

I am loving this challenge and I can't wait to see what I come up with.

To anyone out there who stumbles on this blog, do you find it easy or difficult to create any product regardless of specialty, especially when it is something you love doing? Curious to find out!!!

A move: a new beginning

Yesterday was my last day at work! I work in the pharmaceutical industry and the hours are very grueling and doesn't leave much time for anything else, let alone starting your own business. I've been wanting time to focus. Well, now I've got it.

I'm moving from Florida to Chicago, and was seeking a transfer with my job. But, there are no openings where I'm going to live and I don't know much about Chicago, so I'll have to wait till I get there (3 weeks), to look for a job! That wasn't my plan, but thats how it has turned out.

I'm very happy for the time, but I'm a little bit anxious, because my job( a very well paying but unfulfilling one) has been funding my dream and while I have a bit of money saved up, I know that it can get used up quickly.

So, I have mixed feelings really, I'm happy that I will get time to do the TON of work that is needed to start up my business, but I hope I will be able to get another job which will be my safety net until Angel Minaro begins to grow....... and if not..........I'm determined to make this work, I know it won't be easy!!!

Overwhelmed but happy

All week I've been thinking and planning and sorting. I started becoming overwhelmed by all the things I have to do to get this business going. I still have a lot to do, but I've come a long way from when I first had the idea to own my own business.

I'm taking a deep breath and have decided to take one step at a time, like I've always done and work hard to build this business.

I've always been a hard worker, so working hard for myself as opposed to someone else makes me feel good.

Can't wait to be a business owner!!!!

BLOGGING:

I'm still very new to blogging, but with time, with any luck I'll get better!!

Here's a link I've been using to help me get started:

http://www.indiebusinessblog.com/2010/06/02/10-things-that-make-a-blog-stink/

Its from the Indie Business Blog which has a wealth of information for small

business owners.

Looking forward to learning a lot from there.

my niche

I've been thinking about my niche in this bath and body world. Trying to make my business unique, and reflect at least a little bit of me. I am Nigerian by birth. My parents are from 2 different tribes,"yoruba and efik", but also my grandfather on my moms side was ghanaian.....I'm lucky,I've got a very rich and cultural background.
To cut a long story short, I'm thinking, since I come from a west african backgound that's soooo rich in culture, why not incorporate that into my products in some shape or form.
Lots of ideas swirling around in my head...... I'm excited.

My very first blog post!!!!

Wow!!! This is my very first post, and I'm very excited. Never written anything really,

so this is real new to me.

Well its titled the Angel Minaro experience because I'm embarking on a new and very

different direction in my life and I'm very happy.

Just a little back ground first.....................................................................

I'm a thirty something year old woman (smile), who is for the first time going for what she really wants!!!

About 15 years ago, I had the dream to make soap, creams, lotions, the works and open my own store but I wanted to do something really different and unique. I have and I guess always will be a product junkie, and having a pharmaceutical background, I just loved the idea of making my own stuff.

I started buying supplies and learning how to make a bunch of stuff, but then, didn't really do anything!!! I can say the passion I have now, I clearly didn't have then!!! Also, life happened, had a baby and just kind of went with the flow and I let my dream just fade away..........

A few years later, I walked into a well known soap store and I was stunned, because this was what I had wanted to do, but didn't!!!!

Well, 10 years later, I have a good job in the health industry, have a wonderful family and a handful of good friends and I couldn't be happier at home, BUT I still felt unfulfilled, especially at work and to be quite honest as well, the way the economy has been and with people losing jobs in mass numbers, I felt uneasy and I just kept thinking that I would like to be able to do something on my own and not have to depend on someone else for a paycheck.

I started obsessing with the idea, that I needed to start my own business, and started looking online for ideas, but nothing jumped out at me. Then I prayed about it and just asked for some kind of direction.

I voiced my desire to start something to 2 totally unrelated and very good friends. The first one brought up the idea of the long lost dream I had about making body products and quite honestly I didn't really think anything, but when I spoke to the second friend the same week and she said pretty much the same thing and added the fact that my house is full of (and I mean really filled with) bath and body products that I could definitely make myself I just thought to myself......'why in the world was it soooo hard to think of the obvious?'.......still don't know the answer to that!!!

Well, that was in september of 2009, and I have to say that the passion and drive that I have right now is immense, its almost scary.

I have slowly been learning, joined a few networking sites, and have been making progress. What I've learned in the past few months is immense and I know I have a lot to learn and a long way to go, but I've been taking it one step at a time and I'm happy to say I'm well on my way to taking charge of my future and happiness. The satisfaction I get with each stage of the process is just so wonderful. Since september last year, I've made soaps,scrubs, body washes, facemasks, the works and I feel awesome. It hasn't always been easy, but when I figuring stuff out is part of the journey!!!!

I'm happy to say that I've named my company Angel Minaro, got my logo, started the trade marking process, and would like to invite you to take this journey with me as I chronicle my experiences in building this dream of mine into reality...........

Welcome to the Angel Minaro experience!!!!

Angela