This is a discussion I was having with a friend a little while ago.  I say yes, she said no – they make you feel too hot.  What do you think?

Anyway, it may be do a bit of online research into the topic – yes, people actually discuss this online.  I even found a Facebook discussion on the subject!!!!!

In winter yes, I would probably burn candle more often as it can make a dark, cold room more inviting.  However I burn candles all year round on my desk at work – which looks and feels the same any time of year due to the lighting and air-conditioning. At home I simply change the fragrance of the candles I burn and I would use tealights more often with an oil burner.

In winter I would suggest burning the warmer fragrances like Moroccan Fig & Cinnamon, Spicy Vanilla, Cashmere and Santal Amber.  In summer I burn more of the Lemongrass & Lime, Freesia and Quince.

In summer I do use my oil burner a bit more.  This is really so I still get the fragrance, but not so much of a flame.   I really love our Lemongrass and Grapefruit Fragrant Oil in my ceramic oil burner.

I also burn lots of candles in my bedroom, but my optometrist has just suggested that I might be better off reading with better light – bah hum bug.

Infuse Santal Amber Candle

How are your going with your Christmas shopping???? I’ve done some – well all the kids in the family mainly.  I’m a bit of a dag most of the time – some would say a little ocd (not to insult anyone who actually is), but at Christmas I am as mad as a hatter!!!!

I even have a little spreadsheet that I use, to keep track of what I need to buy, how much I want to spend, any ideas for presents and when I have actually brought them…it’s very simple, but I’ve attached a photo here for you to get the idea.

At Christmas time, I colour coordinate my wrapping to how I’ve decorated my tree – which ties back in to what colour scheme my lounge room currently has….ok, now I do sound crazy.

Anyway, what is the point of all this I can hear you ask – well, I would like to take some of the stress out of Xmas for you!!! Just about everyone could do with a gift set from Some Kind Of Bliss, so we are adding an extra feature.  You can select a gift set, price point and range (if you want) and we will do the rest for you.  The gift will arrive wrapped (you can also choose cello or covered wrapping), so you can mark off another gift on your list.

My promise to you is the the gift will have a value of at least 10% more than what you paid for it (not including the basket etc which I throw in at no charge).  So if you say a Veloute gift set valued at $50 – you will get a minimum of $55 worth of product. How good is that!!!!!

Sam

I’m very excited everyone.  We finally have the new Dervish Diffusion Stick / Aroma Reed packaging!!!! It is sososo nice.

I know that at Dickens and Hawthorne they try to keep things changing,  as people tastes and trends change.  This new packaging for the very popular Dervish range is right on target.

New packaging for Dervish

They have kept the gorgeous Moroccan inspired pattern, and the cute little silver tassel thingy (technical term), but the box has changed and the bottle is now a groove detailed bottle rather than the smooth round.

While I finish stocks of the old packaging, you may get the old or new – I can’t really help this – but I will throw in an extra gift if you get the old packaging.

Next rumour I heard is new packaging for Drenched – can’t wait for that!!!!!

A lot of people ask me in the shop and online, how to make the most of their diffusion sticks, or aroma reeds…..so I’ve put together my 5 tips.

1. Make sure you place your sticks away from direct light, heaters or air conditioning.  Anything that will change the atmosphere around them dramatically will reduce their life.
2. Keep the opening of the bottle as small as possible to stop evaporation.  If a wooden or ceramic collar is included in your set make sure you use it.
3. Turn the sticks regularly to keep the top of the sticks from getting too dry.  I have found turning them once a fortnight works best – I’m actually such a dag that I have an alarm set on my phone to remind me.
4. Move them.  The fragrances with more tops notes (citrus, mints etc) do evaporate faster than the heavier fragrances such as sandalwood and clove, so if you notice yours evaporating too fast, try moving it do a different area in your house.
5. Only buy your diffusion or aroma sticks from a reputable place (like Some Kind Of Bliss) as you will find the cheaper ones on the market have a higher alcohol percentage (as it’s cheaper than the other ingredients – especially fragrance) and will therefore evaporate a lot faster.

BONUS TIP – Make sure you buy a fragrance you will like to have around you, as the bigger bottles can last a long time.  This may be different to what you would normally choose for a perfume for example.

Good Luck.

Keep an eye out for this new fragrance in the Purity range.

Why am I so slack at doing these blog posts????? I don’t know, the days and weeks just seem to go by till I get an email from my web team saying……”Samantha, do you think you should maybe do a new post?” I know I’m in trouble when they call me Samantha. Only joking – well I do get the email, but I’m not in trouble.

Do you find that life just gets in the way of everything? I know I do.  By the time, I work my day job, run my business, be a single mum and well try to have some interests I’ve run out of time.I’ve spent some serious time this weekend working out a more efficient schedule for myself. I know my most productive hours and I need to use them!!!! I currently have 3 blogs that I need to be active on, including this one….so I am scheduled in 30min a day for blogging.  I’m not making any promises about how often you will get updates, and I may share the same posts between blogs, but I am trying to do more.

So what is going on with Some Kind Of Bliss??? Well, I have shut down the retail space.  I had one year to go on the lease, but as the other shops around me had all ready gone, I was finding it unsustainable.  So we finally found someone to take over the balance of the lease – it cost a fortune, but it means that as of January 2011, I will have my weekends back.  I am still operating till, Xmas, especially as it’s bus season – but I am doing so from the warehouse at Dickens and Hawthorne. Online is picking up pacemaker which is great, and I’m starting to get orders for Xmas hampers and corporate gifts which are fantastic.

So now for some content…….

I have some AMAZING bargains at the moment.  6 soaps for $5!!!! I will add it to the website tonight.  The soaps are assorted soaps from 60-100gm.  They are all triple milled, and come in fragrances like milk & honey, lavender and peppermint & Agra shell.

The current Drenched packaging is on it’s way out, so over the next few weeks if you place an order the packaging may vary, but as usual I will send a little gift if it’s not exactly what you ordered.

I’ve just put the Infused Lemongrass and Lime in my lounge room and I am sososo in love with it.  Wow, it’s like a burst of summer every time you walk past.  I wish I could invent scratch and sniff web screens so you cooed experience what I am talking about….memo to self, look up some fragrance sample cards to send with orders.

Now to stuff I find really interesting (non work related).  There has been a recent discussion about if social media can influence social change. Well I say yes it can!!! It may not be the same as 50,000 people appearing in a march somewhere, but I for one am more aware of many international issues because of social media.   I find the news here in Australia can sometimes be so limited, that I take time to catch up on international events and issues online every day.  I have a rss feed app on my iPhone and iPad so that when I have ghat spare 5 minutes I can catch up on blogs I subscribe to, and news pages I prefer instead of wading through garbage.

There are many examples of the power of social media.  I ask you to look at this one clip.  It was Oprah and the Black Eyed Peas doing there thang…..the whole things was organised via social media. Wow!!!!

Don’t forget if you or someone you know is after some corporate gifts, or some own branded products send me an email sam@somekindofbliss.com

How often to you pamper yourself? How often do you turn the phone, computer, tv etc off and relax? I mean really relax. A bath, some candles, some gorgeous music, maybe a glass of wine. I know I don’t do it very often. But I have made the effort in the last couple of weeks, and wow, do I feel better.
I have soaked, scrubbed, moisturised and relaxed.
I’ve been on a bit of a Botanicals blitz, so the products I have enjoyed have been the Sooth Bath Soak, Heal body scrub and the Sooth Body Butter. I could have made it the trifecta and used the Stimulate Body Lotion, and I probably would have if I had remembered to bring some home!!!!
The nice thing about really treating your body in the winter months, is that it prepares our bodies for the warmer seasons. How often have you got to leg showing time, only to see that you have neglected to exfoliate or moisturise your legs for 10 weeks and they have taken on the appearance of an old turtle shell. I know I have been guilty of that.
Dead skin cells just keep on coming, and if you don’t take the time to exfoliate your whole body properly, you do get this funny kind of layer (I don’t think that is the technical term). It truly doesn’t take that long to have a scrub all over and I swear you will feel better for it.
Later in the week I’ll share with you the benefits of dry body brushing for amazing internal and external results.
You don’t need to have a bath to really relax either. Sometimes I just stay in the shower for what seems an eternity, and come out feeling amazed.
For best results, I exfoliate every 3-5 days. That includes face, feet and body.
The other thing about winter, is the deadly electric blanket……I am getting better at turning it off when I get it, but seriously, if you want to look after your skin, leave it off all together.

Ok so this week, I’ve been to the Australia Gift and Homewares Trade Fair. It’s a smallish fair at this time of year, but I still found some great stuff for Christmas hampers etc. This year we are going to see some major colour in some of the sets. Very exciting. I’m really looking forward to the Sounds of Summer Set that will be in a gorgeous multi coloured tub filled with the fabulous Memisis Sari range. Stay tuned.