Long Time, No Nuthin'

Well, not nothing. Some behind-the-scenes type stuff. But yeah, not too much.

1. my mom's hangin' tough! she says she likes the creams i've been testing on her (poor woman-- i'm all "cruelty free" this and "no animal testing" that, and then i go make my poor, sick mother a guinea pig. and stupid me, the first set of shit i gave her included a bath milk that was intended to help sooth her skin if it becomes dry and itchy... totally forgetting that she has this thing in her arm that's supposed to stay dry, so she can't really take baths (they'd have to be too shallow, i think, for a bath milk to do much). anyway, she looks pretty great in spite of things, and i'm hoping this continues throughout the remainder of her treatment. she has yet to start the radiation, though, so we'll see. i've already given her some stuff for the burns.

2. the burns-- my recipe for my mom has prompted to make an adapted version for sunburned skin, which i've dubbed "Apres-Soleil". i am fair-skinned; in spite of spf 30 and 45 that i use daily in summer (my summer job is an outdoor one), i typically burn once or twice a summer. this year was no different-- but i applied the cream consistently and didn't peel, this time. while i have always secretly (not really secretly, actually, but nevermind that) enjoyed peeling sheets of skin off my shoulders or belly or arms, it's probably better to avoid a peely situation, and i managed to do that with this cream. that's probably a good sign, but when i start to offer it more widely (probably summer of '06, though i did debut the formula at the punk rock flea market in philly this june), i will of course not be able to market it as a skin healer or protector. just as a soother.

3. speaking of things that are functionally successful but which will have to go undescribed as such, i think i've perfected my essential-oil-based insect repellent! i blended my oils in march and let the blend mature in amber glass for 4 months before blending it into a cyclomethicone base. i had tried jojoba before, but wasn't thrilled with the feeling of the oil, as in summer humidity, an application of oil is the last thing i want to do while i'm hiking. this cyclomethicone/EO formula *kicked ass*-- the scent didn't disappear rapidly, it kept a boatload of biters at bay (literally-- a couple of sprays completely cleared the deck of beth's pontoon boat of mosquitos and other nighttime buggies attracted by the flashlights), and absorbed enough that it was still surprisingly effective after swimming for 20 or so minutes. although my testers liked the scent, i still think it's a little strong. i'm going to experiment with percentages before mixing up a retailable batch for next summer.

4. Aubrey is in the Philippines right now, but says she is close to done with the new site and i am pumped. Can't wait to get that out to you.

5. Rich and I sat down at his office today and cranked out a couple of hours of work on the labels in between his proE drawings of some remote control thinggie that looks like maxi pad to me. It's a challenge trying to keep two different kinds of creative personalities working in the same vein-- I love Aubrey's ideas, and I love Rich's ideas. Trouble is, they don't intersect much, so I'm trying to negotiate and take aspects from both aesthetics and meld them into a form that best represents my own creative personality. stressful and fun at the same time. I almost feel like I can't go wrong, though, so I'm excited for the time when things will finally be done.

6. it's too damn hot in my house to make shit. sorry, i really wanted to use my extra time this summer to crank out batch after batch of product (didn't register for summer classes, b/c i wasn't sure how things would be going w/ my mom). but i live kind of high up, and my teeny window unit a/c in my bedroom doesn't do crap for my kitchen on the far end of my apt., so that whole melting shea butter for 20 minutes at 170 and then working w/ hot lye solutions and then oven processing everything? not happening. sorry. i do have some stuff that hasn't been posted to the website-- i'll have to take some pictures tomorrow during the sunlight hours and get them online.

7. *however*, i DID start powerlifting (!) (long story), and the trainer who is the boss of me twice a week* has been doing his best to wreck me, i think, so i've discovered the amazing benefits of a) a cool bath as a post-workout relaxant and b) the benefit of bath salts with menthol crystals, eucalyptus, peppermint and lavender. i've been winging my recipe with each bath so far, but man, is it good enough to bottle. so, i think i'm going to bottle it. hey, kiehl's has a muscle soak. why shouldn't sweet june? also, though he wrecks me, i will keep dear trainer in stock, if he's the bath-taking type. do manly men take baths? i imagine manly men who wear themselves out physically on a regular basis must soak sometimes. but i know so few of them so probably don't know what i'm talking about.

* initially, i had typed "weak". how's that for a slip.

8. finally, it's already mid-august! i'm not going to get much stock made between now and the semester, and i've made up my mind that i should really just focus on my two top priorities: my job, and my classes. running/lifting and soap will fit in, b/c i love them, but they both will have to take a backseat during the semester. sucks, i know. this means no regular sales, no regular inventory (funny how all the major holidays/sales seem to coincide uncannily w/ exams and projects or conferences). bums me out, honestly, but i keep telling myself that it's a temporary thing. already i'm eyeballing rich's house (oh hey, i asked him to marry me and he said yes! --this was in april.) in terms of where the gallon jugs of olive oil will go and where the 5-gallon buckets of coconut oil will go, etc etc etc. and you know, his house has two things that will make life so much more conducive to soap: a DISHWASHER and CENTRAL AIR. while i never gave a poop about either of these two amenities just to live, for soap, it's another story. they mean that i will be able to soap two days in a row, and that things should cure out properly and in a timely fashion. wooo! still, i love my house and don't ever want to leave it or give up living alone, so we'll see what happens.

i'm sorry, i'm babbling-- viruses still plague my computer so i've been offline so much (i'm house-sitting/dogsitting this week and am using their computer) that now when i have access and time, i just go on and on. i'll go to bed, now.

good night,
michele seelinger
sometime-operator of sweet june handmade.