It’s Almost Time For Flip Flops And Sandals!

Summer is so close you can taste it: fresh watermelon, tangy barbecue and crisp lemonade. Ah, refreshing, rejuvenating summer solstice, when it seems all life is renewed and spirits are born again after winter-long hibernation. Time to shed those winter layers and let sunlight-starved skin out!

It’s also the time to make sure your feet are ready to be seen by the world, especially after being cased in for months in clunky cold-weather styles. Yet, you don’t need to spend your hard-earned dollars on the perfect pedicure; your feet can be bare sand smooth in no time at home with just a few simple steps.

Start with a warm, relaxing soak. If you don’t have a foot bath, don’t worry; a large soup pot or roaster pan works great for this. Make sure that your water is not too hot. Add a ½ cup of Epsom salts and some of your favorite Sacred Glo’s melted oil to the water (this is a wonderful combination for tired feet as well!).

Soak your tootsies for at least 20 minutes, adding additional warm water if needed. Dry, and rub a bit of fresh cut lemon on your heels, the pads of your feet and your instep.

Next, tackle those hard calloused areas with an at-home scrub. An inexpensive favorite: ½ cup of sugar in the raw mixed with enough Sacred Glo’s melted oil from your candle to form doughy clumps. Pat the mixture onto your dry areas. Wet a pumice stone and scrub, scrub, scrub. Rinse thoroughly, and dry with a soft towel.

The final key here is to slather feet with a thick, luxurious emollient and keep it on for several hours. Experts recommend a combination of shea butter and Vitamin E. These ingredients are in Sacred Glo’s lotion candle. Rub it on thick – don’t be shy – then sheath your feet in some moisture socks. If you don’t have any, wrap your feet in plastic wrap and cover them with regular sport socks.

And to complete this at-home pampering, try Sacred Glo’s fragrant spa candles. These body lotion candles are hand-crafted from all natural ingredients, making them eco-friendly, and are soy based. High in Vitamin E and shea butter, the massage oil candles melt down into a super-smooth, rich emollient perfect for healing winter dry skin. Exceptional body butter available in fragrances to soothe the mind, body and soul!

Aromatherapy In Pregnancy

Pregnancy is a time of great change for the body. And while many mothers-to-be feel and look their best while pregnant, other suffer from the many discomforts these changes can induce.

Every body system is affected, from your heart to your skin to your gastrointestinal tract. Mood can also suffer due to hormonal changes, causing stress, anxiety and depression during what should be a wonderful experience in your life. The age-old process of aromatherapy can be a tremendous aid during the arduous moments of pregnancy when mood swings occur, sometimes out of the blue. Aromatherapy using carefully chosen fragrances has been long-touted to relieve tension and promote relaxation.

Pregnancy and childbirth experts recommend using lavender, chamomile and orange blossom, among others to soothe the mind and body, and calm the irritated spirit. Lavender restores an unbalanced emotional frame of mind to a more harmonious place and reduces stress. It also aids in the sleep process. Some even say when used during active labor, lavender can strengthen contractions.

A fretful, anxious, nervous mind can be easily calmed with chamomile, often referred to as the “matriarch” of scents. Chamomile is a natural stress-reliever, and shown to have great efficacy in reducing irritation and aggravation.

Pregnancy can cause gastrointestinal upset and digestion problems, from morning sickness to daily bouts of nausea and constipation. Inhaling the sweet, poetic scent of orange blossom is said to ease digestion and GI problems, especially bowel irritation and constipation.

Your Sacred Glo lotion candles are the easiest, most beneficial way to use these methods of aromatherapy. Sacred Clarity releases the soothing, natural essence of lavender all around you. Inhale its soft poetry, and bring your mind, body and spirit to harmony. Blow out the flame, and massage the warm lavender lotion into stretch marks for instant relief from redness and discomfort.

Neville Island Breeze has the tropical, easy blend of chamomile and orange blossom, to calm both the nervous mind and nervous stomach. Let your cares slip away, and replace them with serenity!

Create Your Own Home Spa

We all feel relaxed when we leave the spa after a few hours of pampering. But since very few of us are independently wealthy, that Zen feeling is quickly replaced by the reality of forking over a lot of cash for their services.
Sure, it is relatively easy to give yourself a facial, body scrub or even a mani/pedi combo in the comforts of home, but somehow those do-it-yourself remedies just seem to fall a bit short, don’t they?

The key is atmosphere. The scents and sounds that wrap us whole in the spa are much-neglected when people try it at home. Our entire being is indulged, every sense soothed in that environment. Recreating that feeling at home surprisingly is not that challenging – or hard on your purse.

After you pick your favorite spot, like the bathroom or living room, you need to fill it with sights and sounds and scents to calm your soul. If fresh flowers soothe you, place a few in bowls around the room. Pick up a CD of relaxing music, or sounds of nature, like rain drops set to soft string music.

Reduce the lighting, and place several fragrant candles around your area. The scent you choose here is important. Most spas rely on a combination of lavender and chamomile, a powerful aromatherapy that has proven effects on the body’s ability to relax.

Sacred Glo’s all-natural artisan lotion candles are fabulous for this. Sacred Clarity, featuring the soothing poetic lavender you crave. Nevis Island Breeze, a tropical blend of chamomile, orange blossom and petitgrain, will complete your spa environment. And, you can use the warmed body lotion both in your foot soak before and on your feet after.

Relax in your robe. Picture your spa space as a small capsule, insulated from the world, and indulge for a few moments, breathing in the scent of the lavender and chamomile as you let go of the day’s troubles.

How To:

Prepare your foot soak in a flat-bottom bowl or pan, fill with warm water. Your Sacred Glo candles should have melted a bit by this point, so pour that warm massage lotion into your water and soak for at least 15 minutes. Pat dry and exfoliate with foot scrub and a pumice stone. Once you have removed the tough skin from heels and calluses, rub the remaining lotion in. Massage your calves. The soy, shea butter and essential oils will keep skin soft naturally!

The remaining steps are up to you. Pretty up those toe nails with a good filing, shaping and two coats of your favorite polish. Let the candles continue to fill the room with positive poetry, and let your CD play while your pedicure dries. A new you!

Turning Your Serenity Into A Business

Determination, motivation and know-how.

You use it to tackle everyday tasks and challenges, often to problem-solve in someone else’s workplace. How about applying your best qualities and creating your own workplace?

As the economy is starting to heal, the time is ripe once again for entrepreneurs with the dedication needed to run a small business. Many niches in several industries offer an opportunity for the small business owner to take part of the market.

Identify Your Business Opportunity

We all have a passion for something. Everyone has a skill or two that they perform better than most. Taking a little time to soul-search and decide where your interests lie is the key to choosing what type of business you would be successful at.

Are you savvy with computers? Start a website on a topic you know a lot about. Market the heck out of it through search engine optimization and let related companies place pay-per-click ads on your site.

Have that one skill or service that’s better than most? Get into consulting, and teach people how to do what it is you do, or be willing to do it for them. Network, network, network.

Good at graphics? Layout? Writing? Many companies outsource their projects to freelancers. A bang-up portfolio, word-of-mouth and a couple of pro-bono assignments to start out with are the key.

Are you personable and persuasive? Find that people love to be around you? Sales may just be your thing. There are many industries that offer franchise opportunities, like Avon and Mary Kay. It’s a chance to be your own boss.

Know The Market

Once you do decide what business to start, the next step is research. Lots of it. You need to know whether you are entering a dying industry or an emerging field. Take notes on how much your future industry made in the last five to ten years. Are there any trends in those numbers? What do financial experts and industry leaders say about that? The Wall Street Journal is a fantastic resource for this, both online and archived at your local library.

Know your competition. See what they do and why it works for them. See what they are NOT doing, and see if it will work for you. Find their gaps and weak points. Use them to identify your own.

Starting a small business is not the high road to getting rich quick. It does take fierce determination, pride in your work and the stamina to be your own bandleader for long haul ahead. Next time, we’ll discuss what start-up items, capital and licensure is needed before you go out on your own.