ellёnoire

A Wooly tale for Valentine's Day

2012-02-09T23:36:00.000-05:00

This winter has been less than winterlike. To me, one of the best things about winter is bundling up in warm, soft clothes. Growing up with a Scottish mother wool was part of life. I was happy to wear my wool sweaters as long as they didn't touch my skin. A blouse with the cuffs and collar pulled up to protect my skin from getting "itchy" or a turtleneck. made wearing those scratchy things bearable. I was on the cross-country ski team for all 5 years of high school and wool was a neccesity as a layer to keep warm during long practices and races. For skiing I wore my Grandfathers wool long johns and long sleeved undershirt but still not right against my skin.
Whenever anyone complained about being cold anywhere near my mother her response always was "Put on some wool!"
Through most of the winter you will find at least one wool garment on me, and now I can wear even the most "scratchy" sweaters right against my skin. I think it's a Scottish thing.

I remember reading about cashmere and understanding that not only was it soft and lovely but it was also an expensive status symbol. As a grown up I've been given a few pieces of cashmere. Some vintage, some new. No matter what, I tend to wear them until they are threadbare. Cashmere brings the best of wool and crazy gossamer softness together.

A couple of months ago after trying for years to get to the One of a Kind Show in Toronto during the holiday season we finally got there! It was a couple of days before my birthday and while walking the aisles of the show I knew by the questions he was asking Tim was trying to work out what I might like for my birthday.
We found this amazing booth with lots and lots of gorgeous colours of cashmere garments, lingerie it looked like. With a deeper look we discovered that their specialty seemed to be that they made longjohns... right there in front of you. You picked a pair of underpants, and the legs you wanted and they made them for you. How cool is that!? My birthday gift ended up being a lovely purple cashmere undershirt/ singlet with co-ordinated underpants from this lovely company Sartoria.

This Saturday February 11th we have the pleasure of bringing Sartoria to the ellenoire boutique. Sara will be at the boutique from 12-5 showing a selection of her ready made garments and sewing up longjohns for some lucky people.
There will be lots of fun Valentine's day things to choose from to go along with these cashmere and merino (I could write a whole blog about my love of merino wool too!) pieces too. I hope we see you!

My Dear Curlfriends

2012-01-31T00:01:00.000-05:00

I hope this finds you well on achilly Sunday afternoon. I’m just writing today to fill you in on a few things aboutthe goings on in the curl world at ellënoire.

Many of you know by now that we have a full time curlyhair salon located within our boutique, but I am writing today to confirm thatyou do. No more part time haircut availability. No more “private salon” aka mydining room…. Just a fantastic salon dedicated to curly clients specializing inthe DevaCurl method, with a few appointments available for our straight hairedfriends ;). If you haven’t been in yet I hope we see you soon!

This week we have our special guest stylist coming backin from New York City to cut and colour hair for us. He will be working closelywith our fantastic new stylist Sarah so she can get to know each and every oneof David’s clients haircuts. Sadly, there will come a day when David will betoo busy with the cast of Glee, or working on magazines across the globe towork at little old ellënoire and we want to make sure our local stylist isready to take over. Sarah is trained as a DevaCurl inspired stylist and hasbeen in the hair industry for 10 years. She has embraced the Deva method andhas developed many clients at ellënoire already.

Please feel free to get in touch to book an appointmentwith either David or Sarah. David is here from January 30th- February 2nd andSarah is currently available from Tuesday – Saturday with appointmentsavailable based on your schedule. Rest assured that we often book eveningappointments to accommodate clients work schedules.

I am also hoping today to encourage you to add your nameto our regular mailing list over at www.ellenoire.com. Just scroll to thebottom of the page and there is a little box there to type your email into,from there you can choose which mailing list(s) to be on: 1) General ellënoire info, sales, promos,events list

and/ or 2) Curly Hair Events & Product InformationList.

The detailed information below should explain how we dothings at the salon. As always, feel free to get in touch with questions aboutyour hair, product use or booking appointments.

Hair at ellënoire

What we will do

We will cut all hair types, for all ages and genders.

We will cut your curly or wavy hair dry so we can see howit falls according to the Curly Girl/ DevaCurl philosophy

We will teach you how to use our sulfate free system soyou can have perfect results at home

We will help you find a hairstyle that fits your style,and your lifestyle

We will dry your hair using only gentle hood dryers andstate of the art curly hair dryers and diffusers

We will use only sulfate free and bubble free cleansers

We will use only silicone, petroleum & paraben freeconditioners & styling products

What we won’t do

We will not chemically straighten your hair. Not now, notever.

We won’t carve, slice, razor or tunnel your curls

We won’t rake, spin, twirl or otherwise change yournatural curls’ shape

What we might do

We may consider straightening your hair with a blow dryer(aka “BlowFry”) but only after you are a customer with hair in outstandingcondition and only by special request, for special occasions. We will neverstraighten/ blow out damaged and dry hair. Never.

Curly Hair at Ellënoire

Our goal is to make your natural hair texture look thebest it can naturally, rather than try to change it with tools such as combs,brushes, rollers or hot blowdryers or straightening irons. We are happy to cut, style and colour allhair types, but if you have hair that is anything other than stick straight,that is the texture we will work with and that is the texture you will leavewith.

1) We sell the DevaCurl products on our website and inour store at all times.

2) The “Dry Talk”: a conversation in the store about howto use DevaCurl products the best, and in some cases a prescription for whichitems are best for your hair type/ issues. This is free and needs noappointment and takes about 15 minutes. This can be done on the phone also.

3) The "Full consult”: a chat with one of ourstylists: 10 minutes or so, no charge.

4) The “DevaCurl Wet to Set”: a teaching session with oneof our stylists. We do your hair with you so you can learn hands on how to usethe products. $40 takes approximately 1 hour. Some clients will book the “Wetto Set” just when they want their hair to be perfect for a special event. Youwill leave with beautiful hair empowered with the knowledge of how to make itlook the same at home.

5) The "DevaCurl Virgin Cut & Set" includesa consult, a haircut and full hair set with full teaching of how to use theDevaCurl products (so you can recreate perfect hair at home) for new clients$75. 90 minutes minimum based on the drying time of your hair. You will leavewith beautiful hair empowered with the knowledge of how to make it look thesame at home.

6) The “DevaCurl Vixen Cut & Set” Includes a consult,a haircut and full set for clients that have had either a “DevaCurl Wet toSet”: or a "DevaCurl Virgin Cut & Set” service (within the last year)$65 60-90 minutes based on the drying time of your hair

8) Trim/ Oxygenation - a quick trim for regular clientswho have already had a "Cut & Set" or "Wet to Set" andjust need a quick clean up in between haircuts to keep the hair looking it’sbest. Suggested every 6-8 weeks. $20 for 15 minutes. The oxygenation servicemay be added to a "Wet to Set" for new clients.

We also offer services for children, full colourservices, deep conditioning treatments and occasional visits from gueststylists with varying prices. Please ask when you book for price informationabout these services.

2012-01-25T01:48:00.000-05:00

Hi everyone! Sorry it took so long for me to post the winners from the draw! I'm getting ready for some surgery in a few hours and have been bogged down with boring grown up stuff getting ready for that. Ready? Day 1 - hula-la Day2-QuoterGal Day 3- Heather
I have found Heather, if you are QuoterGal or hula-la please get in touch with your mailing address to ellenoire@ellenoire.com and I'll send you your prize as soon as I verify your identity.
Congratulations and thanks for playing!

Joy in January - A Natural Perfumers Guild project and Three-day Giveaway Day 3!

2012-01-19T00:34:00.000-05:00

Today is day 3 of a 3 day project. I've been writing some tiny fun posts for the Natural Perfumers Guild event "Joy in January" Each post has been devoted to some information about SAD* (seasonal affective disorder) and some Natural Fragrance tips that may be helpful to people who suffer from it. See Day 1 here , Day 2 here.... and don't forget to comment on any or all of my blog posts for a chance to win prizes from me.

There are many other bloggers involved in this project, and each one of them is offering posts with information about SAD, ideas to combat it, including ideas involving Natural Fragrances. I encourage you to read as many of these blogs as you can, and enter the draws for their wonderful products.

Oh joy, Oh Rapture Unforeseen!

So, since starting this series I've been thinking a lot about SAD, and all the things it must do to the sufferers as well as the sufferers of other kinds of depression. As I said on day 1 I am lucky enough to not suffer from depression. Maybe I did that winter in Vancouver, but that was a time where I allowed another person to convince me that the things that gave me joy were stupid, weird or wrong....

I'm a pain in the ass rebel at heart, so I still snuck away to eat my favourite chocolate, take an extra long shower with my favourite shower gel, or into a local soap shop to smell the products there.

I learned some very important lessons that year, but the thing that seemed relevant to this topic was .....no matter how bad things get never, ever forget the things that make you happy.

On my FaceBook page today I had someone say "If chocolate could be made into an essential oil, instead of eating dark chocolate for SAD, I could inhale it instead" Well! Chocolate does come in an essential oil! So does Vanilla, and all kinds of other familiar things. But it doesn't have to be an essential oil, or a scented product.... it just needs to be something that gives you a little bit of light through the darkness, a little giggle, a little JOY!

So here is your challenge for this post, make a list of some of the things that make you happy. Certain songs, certain foods, certain smells, whatever!

Maybe it's the scent of homemade bread that makes you smile. Make some, or pop by a local bakery.

Or fresh flowers? Make your way to a florist or local greenhouse and take a great big inhale!

One of my friends loved working with horses in school. After 20 years of varying levels of depression and addiction she went back to the barns. The smells of the barns, the fresh air, the hard physical work it all changed her. I never see her because she spends all her free time there but when I do. She's happy, 20lbs lighter and ridiculously HAPPY!

Maybe today Joy and Rapture are Unforseen, but perhaps tomorrow you will seek them out and see more clearly.

I was thinking about posting all kinds of my favourite fun and silly songs about Joy, because music so often helps me as I said yesterday. I chose nutty songs like 'Oh Joy, Oh Rapture, Unforseen' 'Where are the simple joys of Maidenhood?' A Muppet version of 'Ode to Joy'...

oh what the heck... you have to see this one...

;) But, I want you to decide the scents and activities that bring you Joy and find a way to EnJOY them!

Smell the Roses! The Chocolate Chip Cookies! The Barn? Find a tiny way everyday to put a smile on your face.

So, readers... for this giveaway I am giving you your choice of JOY!

You see, my store specializes in custom scenting bath products... so you get to choose how this little gift set is scented! If you win, I'll send you a list of Natural Fragrances we have and the choice is all yours.

A Custom Scented Bath Bomb, A Custom Scented Lotion, and Custom Scented Room Spray! As you like it!

This is it. The end of this wee series. Thanks to the NPG for such a great idea. I hope somewhere through this I helped one or two of you. Goodnight Irene!

Comment on this post to be entered in the draw for this prize.
Prizes for my draw will be mailed to winners in the USA, Canada and the EU only. You will find bloggers in Australia, Canada, South Africa and Vietnam, so please check their mailing policies.

1. You, the poster can post as anonymous, but that will make you ineligible for the drawing.

2. I'd love it if you sign up for my newsletter, or "like" my page on Facebook, but that isn't a requirement of this blog. Please just leave a comment that shares your difficulty with SAD. We need to get the word out there so others reading this may recognize the disorder has aromatherapy and natural perfumery as an alternative healing modality.

3 I do want you to leave your first name or a nickname, ISP (eg., gmail) and location. That way, when I announce the win, and you reply, I'll be sure I have the right person.

*SAD is a recognized disorder characterized by depression, among other symptoms.* Light therapy is the most common treatment, and the Guild feels the need to share the knowledge that fragrance can also be uplifting and pull people out of depression. The NPG wants to include fragrance therapy and our members will host a three-day blog event to reach out to those who suffer from SAD. Please visit the blogs listed below of the other Guild members, add your comments to enter the draws for their prizes. be sure to check that they are ok to ship to your country. Winners of the three-days of drawings will be announced here on Thursday, the 19th.

Ambrosia Jones http://perfumebynature.blogspot.com
Charna Ethier http://www.providenceperfume.com/blogs/news
Christi Meshell http://www.matriarch.biz/blog.html
Clemence Barbier http://www.dameclemence.blogspot.com
Elise Pearlstine http://bellyflowers.blogspot.com
Emily Pienaar http://www.roseenbos.com/category/blog
JoAnne Bassett http://www.joannebassett.com/natural_perfumes
Joyce Noerr http://sororiaorganics.blogspot.com/
Karen Williams http://www.aromaticsinternational.com/blog/
Liz Cook http://oneseedperfumes.wordpress.com
Noelle Smith http://ellenoire.blogspot.com/
Stephanie Vinson http://www.stephanieknaturals.com/blog/

Joy in January - A Natural Perfumers Guild project and Three-day Giveaway Day 2!

2012-01-17T23:31:00.002-05:00

Today is day 2 of a 3 day project. I've been writing some tiny fun posts for the Natural Perfumers Guild event "Joy in January" Each post will be devoted to some information about SAD* (seasonal affective disorder) and some Natural Fragrance tips that may be helpful to people who suffer from it. See Day 1 here .... and don't forget to comment on any or all of my blog posts for a chance to win prizes from me.

There are many other bloggers involved in this project, and each one of them is offering posts with information about SAD, ideas to combat it, including ideas involving Natural Fragrances. I encourage you to read as many of these blogs as you can, and enter the draws for their wonderful products.

Try New LePep!

After yesterdays late night post, I ran into a morning that was coincidentally upsetting. I'll tell you the story. As my lovely and talented NPG pal Anya and a few other members know... I forgot about this blog event totally and completely. So, I stayed up quite late last night to make the first deadline. As I was plotting the ideas for my 3 blogs the weather turned from a warm rainy day (which as you read in yesterdays post is ugly to me) to a nasty, heavy downpour. A rivulets running down the gutters, raindrops hitting the windows like pebbles nasty, heavy downpour kinda downpour. I sat here typing and listening to it. aqAA

I woke up this morning quite early to head off to a course I am taking. There was almost no light coming through the windows while I made coffee at 6:45am, I was already running late. As I raced around the house collecting my things, packing my sons lunch, I realized there was no internet service in the house, which meant I had forgotten to pay the bill.... Darn it!

I ran upstairs to grab something, to wake Luke up and was promptly met with a crabby teenager who woke up on the wrong side of the bed then I ran downstairs to find that one of my cats had knocked over my travel mug of coffee. Miraculously I made it out of the house with seconds to spare with a 1/3 cup of cool coffee. The dark morning was revealed as I stepped off the porch. The rain. hadn't. stopped.

I flew down the road to the highway and traffic was at a dead halt.

SAD? I dunno..... the lack of sleep, the lack of caffeine, the venomous offspring, the clock ticking away? It was about as opposite to the heavenly morning I described yesterday as one can get.... I was angry!

And then, I hit the fog!

I called the director of my program (on my handsfree phone of course) to let him know I was jammed info fog and traffic and I trucked along for my hours drive.... ANGRY!

Along the way I was trying to clear my head to stay safe on the road, to come up with ideas for this blog, to make mental lists of things to tell my staff for the day while I was away from my store. One of my thoughts for scents for this blog series was on the tip of my tongue, but my head was foggy like the air.

I read once that in Japanese office buildings they use the scent of Peppermint to wake people up... Wait! That was it! Japanese Peppermint! That was the scent for this SAD blog!

We use this oil all the time in the store. I use it in Foot Scrub, Sore Muscle Soaks and Face Spray! The Peppermint Facial Mist has become an accidental best seller lately. People pop in and say they just grabbed one to see what it might be like and that they love it for how it makes them feel. They sprayed it on their face to calm a hot flash, or to freshen up on a hot day and it made them feel good, positive.. even.... happier!

So, I double checked the properties of the essential oil of Peppermint (I am not a trained aromatherapist, so I always double check the properties of essential oils before I suggest them)

Check this out! "Peppermint oil is excellent for mental fatigue and depression, refreshing the spirit and stimulating mental agility and improving concentration. It helps for apathy, shock, headache, migraine, nervous stress. Now that's some of what we need to help SAD sufferers no?

And just 'cause I am talking about it, you may as well know the other stuff it is good for: vertigo and faintness and in general respiratory disorders, as well as dry coughs, sinus congestion, asthma, bronchitis, pneumonia, tuberculosis and cholera, for the digestive system, peppermint oil is effective for a range of ailments, as it stimulates the gall bladder and the secretion of bile. It is used for colic, cramps, dyspepsia, spastic colon, flatulence and nausea and can relieve pain in cases of toothache, aching feet, rheumatism, neuralgia, muscular pains and painful periods.

* caution *

Peppermint oil is non-toxic and non-irritant in low dilutions, but sensitization may be a problem due to the menthol content.
It can cause irritation to the skin and mucus membranes and should be kept well away from the eyes. It should be avoided during pregnancy and should not be used on children under seven.

In the store we use Japanese Peppermint. It has a very high menthol content so it's gives off a lovely warmth and breezy green coolness all at once. The history of Mint is truly cool too! Peppermint and its name has its roots in Greek mythology. Pluto - god of the dead - fell in love with Minthe, a beautiful nymph. Pluto's goddess wife Persephone became jealous and turned Minthe into a plant. Pluto could not bring her back to life but ensured that she would have a wonderful and fragrant aroma.

So, SAD sufferers? Try some mintiness. Brush your teeth an extra time on a bad day, drink a bottle of mint water (one of my fave ways to brighten up on a long afternoon), grab some pure peppermint oil and put a drop on your chest... or perhaps if you comment on this blog you could win the package I am giving away for todays draw: A gift package with a Peppermint Bath Bomb, Peppermint Facial Mist and a Peppermint Foot scrub.

It is my hope that the peppermint will help bring you back to life a little.... if not? then you shall have a wonderful and fragrant aroma! ;)

Comment on this post to be entered in the draw for this prize.

Prizes for my draw will be mailed to winners in the USA, Canada and the EU only. You will find bloggers in Australia, Canada, South Africa and Vietnam, so please check their mailing policies.

1. You, the poster can post as anonymous, but that will make you ineligible for the drawing.

2. I'd love it if you sign up for my newsletter, or "like" my page on Facebook, but that isn't a requirement of this blog. Please just leave a comment that shares your difficulty with SAD. We need to get the word out there so others reading this may recognize the disorder has aromatherapy and natural perfumery as an alternative healing modality.

3 I do want you to leave your first name or a nickname, ISP (eg., gmail) and location. That way, when I announce the win, and you reply, I'll be sure I have the right person.

*SAD is a recognized disorder characterized by depression, among other symptoms.* Light therapy is the most common treatment, and the Guild feels the need to share the knowledge that fragrance can also be uplifting and pull people out of depression. The NPG wants to include fragrance therapy and our members will host a three-day blog event to reach out to those who suffer from SAD. Please visit the blogs listed below of the other Guild members, add your comments to enter the draws for their prizes. be sure to check that they are ok to ship to your country. Winners of the three-days of drawings will be announced here on Thursday, the 19th.

P.S. The title? LePep? It was the name of a fake product I created and wrote a song about for a marketing class in high school. It was? Toothpaste?

P.P.S. I did eventually get to school safely this morning.... in a far better mood than you would expect. The thoughts of the peppermint, and this song on the radio helped bring me back. If the peppermint didn't work, then perhaps this will...

It made me feel a lot better, although.... if this song came on I would have made me laugh

;) G'night Folks! Another blog and draw for you on the morrow!

Joy in January - A Natural Perfumers Guild project and Three-day Giveaway

2012-01-17T00:07:00.002-05:00

For the next 3 days I'll be writing some tiny fun posts for the Natural Perfumers Guild event "Joy in January" Each post will be devoted to some information about SAD* (seasonal affective disorder) and some Natural Fragrance tips that may be helpful to people who suffer from it.
There are many other bloggers involved in this project, and each one of them is offering posts with information about SAD, ideas to combat it, including ideas involving Natural Fragrances. I encourage you to read as many of these blogs as you can, and enter the draws for their wonderful products. The links to their blogs are below.

Find Joy in the little things!

It's funny that today, a warm, rainy day here in Southern Ontario (which for me is the least Joyful type of weather in winter time) is the day I am starting this post series. I am one of the lucky ones I suppose for I am a winter lover -as long as there is sun reflecting off the snow then I will take as much time as I can to be outside enjoying it. I don't care how cold it is. The grey, wet days we have had much of this winter so far here are horrific to me, I can tell by how sugar I am craving that it is affecting me in a bad way.
Although I don't generally suffer from depression at any time, or SAD there was one winter I spent in grey, rainy Vancouver that made me question whether I could be affected very seriously by SAD. I left Vancouver to work in Whistler for an overnight waitressing job at a fancy hotel. After the job was over I had an amazing nights sleep in high thread count sheets, with a fluffy down duvet and then padded down to the hotel breakfast room to a buffet laden with, fresh baked goods, tropical fruits (did you know eating tropical fruits can positively affect serotonin levels?) & fruity compotes and jams. The scent in the room was comforting and uplifting all at once. Sitting down to breakfast with fresh coffee and that gorgeous breakfast I saw the ski hills of Whistler through the window by the table. It was an overcast day, yet the daylight reflecting off the the snow felt like the brightest day I had seen in months.
I think I knew that day that I needed to live somewhere where sun and snow met..... and so I do.

My wish for the SAD sufferers reading this post can experience some of the joy I did on that morning watching the light come through the window while eating that breakfast in that room full of bright and comforting scents. In the draw for this post I have chosen to create a gift focusing on Natural Fragrances made from the oils of the uplifting citrus family.

If you are chosen the winner of this prize you will receive an ellenoire gift package including handmade bath and body care products scented with natural essential oils: A skin pampering bath bomb in Cafe Clementine, a Neroli water facial mist & a Glycerine soap made with Pink Grapefruit.

Comment on this post to be entered in the draw for this prize.

Prizes for my draw will be mailed to winners in the USA, Canada and the EU only. You will find bloggers in Australia, Canada, South Africa and Vietnam, so please check their mailing policies.

1. You, the poster can post as anonymous, but that will make you ineligible for the drawing.

2. I'd love it if you sign up for my newsletter, or "like" my page on Facebook, but that isn't a requirement of this blog. Please just leave a comment that shares your difficulty with SAD. We need to get the word out there so others reading this may recognize the disorder has aromatherapy and natural perfumery as an alternative healing modality.

3 I do want you to leave your first name or a nickname, ISP (eg., gmail) and location. That way, when I announce the win, and you reply, I'll be sure I have the right person.

*SAD is a recognized disorder characterized by depression, among other symptoms.* Light therapy is the most common treatment, and the Guild feels the need to share the knowledge that fragrance can also be uplifting and pull people out of depression. The NPG wants to include fragrance therapy and our members will host a three-day blog event to reach out to those who suffer from SAD. Please visit the blogs listed below of the other Guild members, add your comments to enter the draws for their prizes. be sure to check that they are ok to ship to your country. Winners of the three-days of drawings will be announced here on Thursday, the 19th.
Ambrosia Jones http://perfumebynature.blogspot.com
Charna Ethier http://www.providenceperfume.com/blogs/news
Christi Meshell http://www.matriarch.biz/blog.html
Clemence Barbier http://www.dameclemence.blogspot.com
Elise Pearlstine http://bellyflowers.blogspot.com
Emily Pienaar http://www.roseenbos.com/category/blog
JoAnne Bassett http://www.joannebassett.com/natural_perfumes
Joyce Noerr http://sororiaorganics.blogspot.com/
Karen Williams http://www.aromaticsinternational.com/blog/
Liz Cook http://oneseedperfumes.wordpress.com
Noelle Smith http://ellenoire.blogspot.com/
Stephanie Vinson http://www.stephanieknaturals.com/blog/
Susan Stype http://www.aromatherapycontessa.com

Sniffly, Stuffy, Sinusy, Silliness

2012-01-13T17:50:00.000-05:00

This time of year is so yucky for being sick. Colds, fluey type illnesses, dried out nostrils and all manor of headachey and sore throaty maladies are on deck for winter. Here in Southern Ontarioland we have had an odd winter season: everything from bitter cold, to Aprillike temps, to Novemberish damp, and today it's lovely and snowy. Everyone I know has had some of the above symptoms and if they haven't they know it's inevitable that Mr Illness could show up any day.
Enter stage left? Muscle Mist! Who? What? Muscle what? For illness? My stuffy icky nose?
You bet your bottom dollar Muscle Mist is magic for all that ails you!

So, here's the story.... My friend Carol has fibromyalgia. In 1997 she created a product that would help her with the intense pain that fibro can cause. It was similar to an Herbal concoction she had bathed in for her pain. Muscle Mist was created to be a portable version of those pain relieving baths.
So, if you have fibromyalgia, this is the best product on the market to help your pain without drugs or chemicals.

The cool part for those of with other types of ailments is that it works for a zillion other things!
Here's the list of things our beloved Muscle Mist is great for...

PAIN RELIEF

Fibromyalgia- spray the affected areas liberally , don't rub just let sink in
Arthritis - spray the affected areas liberally, don't rub just let sink in
Sore Muscles & Joints (yes, all of them- back, knees, neck, shoulders, etc) -spray the affected areas liberally, don't rub just let sink in
Headaches -spray the back of your neck and/ or spray your a couple of finger tips and apply to face below cheek bones, temples and any other headache pressure spots, let dry then wash your hands.
Muscle Spasms & Cramps- spray affected areas liberally. I used for leg cramps I got during chemotherapy everyday!
Workout Pain- Spray before a workout to help muscles warm up, and spray anytime after a workout. I love it for the day or two after a tough workout when I can't climb the stairs!

SINUS, ALLERGIES, COUGH & COLD ISSUES

Sinus pain /and congestion from colds or allergies- spray your a couple of finger tips and apply to face below cheek bones
Sinus Headaches- as above for Sinus Congestion and Headaches

I'M SICK & I DON'T WANT ANYONE ELSE TO GET SICK!

Spray your chest, apply to face (as above in Sinus Section) the pillows in the whole house before bedtime

GIRLY ISSUES

Menstrual Cramps-and the headaches and back pain that your visit to the Red Tent creates.
use as above for body pain and headaches
Pregnancy Pain- use with caution and only after first trimester. The product contains peppermint oil which is contraindicated during pregnancy.

BUG BITES & POISON IVY RASHES

Mosquito, Bee Sting, Black Fly, Poison Ivy Rash etc- apply spritz or two to affected area to stop pain and itching

Seriously! A Canadian made, Water and Plant based, Spray form pain killer with no narcotics, no side effects AND it can do all the stuff I just said? GET SOME! NOW!

Oh, and did I mention it's been a bestseller here at ellënoire for 10 years?
Muscle Mist- Magic in a Bottle

So much to see!!

2011-12-15T00:38:00.000-05:00

As you may have seen in my last blog post we have been a very busy at the new boutique, getting the place decorated, open and stocked... Getting the new sulfate free/ Curly Specialty salon set up and opened. We have a fantastic new stylist on staff who has been fully trained in the DevaCurl method and is ready for new clients( both curly and straight!) plus she's training to work in the boutique to take care of all of our customers needs. My assistant John has had a heartbreaking few weeks with a death in his family so has been away. I have been wearing the hats of owner, assistant, head cashier, salon assistant and on Tuesdays I turn into a student! Truly, in the world of ellenoire there is never a dull moment.

Holiday shopping has finally starting in the little town of Dundas, people have perhaps accepted that despite the weather the holidays will arrive nonetheless. I wanted to make sure you knew about all the new and fun things we have in store to help make your shopping easier.
There are so many new products in the boutique they haven't even hit the website yet!
Ready?

12 ideas for your last 10 days of Holiday shopping

1) Natural, ready to wear fragrances from two stunning Natural Perfume Companies: Anya's Garden an artisan perfumery in Miami Florida and 1000 Flowers made by a Canadian Perfumer living & creating in Grasse, France

2) A huge selection of Pashmina scarves, Silk & wool scarves, Sparkly evening scarves .... all of them $25 or less.

3) The cutest little brightly coloured accent scarves for indoor wear, the best teachers gift of the season priced at $5!!

4) Soap, soap, soap and more soap! Handmade (by us) Glycerine soap in tons of cool colours and natural fragrances, Handmade (by us) super fatted soap (the best way to wash in a dry climate!) Fun loofah scrubby soap from Virginia's soap of Manitoba, French Soap from Mistral back in stock on Monday Dec 19th, Black soap from Magno of Spain racing it's way to us due to popular demand.

5) The list of products handmade by the ellenoire elves is never ending! Extra Rich Lotion, Emollient Body oil, Exfoliating Sugar Scrub, Acne Serum, Facial Mist & Toner, 100% pure Shea Butter, Bath Bombs, Tub Fizz, Bath Salts, Men's all purpose lotion, AfterShave, PreShave oil, Organic Shaving Foam... all unscented unless you request otherwise.

6) Our new line: ellenoire everyday.... Organic Body Wash, Organic Body Lotion, and Organic Foamee Soap available in unscented (ready for custom scenting, or not) Lavender-Lemongrass, Vanilla-Bergamot all scented with essential oils.

7) Victoria Trading stunning Victorian style cards, stationery, robes, hot water bottles, wrapping paper, gift bags, hand mirrors...

8) Yala (formerly Dreamsacks) silk pillowcases( for perfect curly hair the morning after), silk travel sleeping bags, Bamboo bedding, bamboo clothing, bamboo nightwear

9) Aquis Microfibre: Super Absorbent Towels, Robes, for everyday, travel, sports and dogs... ya dogs.

10) Muscle Mist: our 10 year bestselling Natural spray form painkiller for everyday muscle pain, fibromyalgia and arthritis.

11) Cool new mens' gear: Fedora's and Silk Bowties and super soft winter scarves

12) And last but totally not least... the largest local selection of
Badger Balm: balms , creams and oils.
DevaCurl: cleansers, conditioners and styling products for naturally curly hair.
Sports Suds: get the stink out of clothes and sports gear wash.
Marjoram Stop Snoring diffusers
Eshave luxury shaving tools and creams
Betty: haircare for the "hair down there"
Face Atelier cosmetics: Canadian made, professional makeup for a grown woman.

Phew! Given how crazy, bananas, nuts we were today if I were you I would get in touch or drop by ASAP! We are open 7 days a week in the Old Post Office at 104 King street west, Dundas, by phone 905 627 9379 and email: ellenoire@ellenoire.com We ship daily and as long as your order arrives by December 20th or so we should be able to get it to you on time, for the holidays.... in North America anyway. Get in touch for shipping info or to book a hair appointment, or pop by to say hi, or to bring the staff much needed sugary, caffeinated treats to keep them going for another few days! ;)

Grand Opening Fun!

2011-12-12T21:27:00.000-05:00

I’m sorry, what did you say? It’s December 12^th?Already? It only got cold here two days ago, how can that be?! Here we all areracing around getting ready for the holiday craziness and in Ontario for mostof the fall we’ve had weather that was more like April. I really do believethat at this time of year weather affects our behavior more than any other. We“Don’t feel like its Christmas” until its cold out… (Then in typical Ontarionature we complain that it’s cold out)

I hope this finds you warm and cozy wherever you are.

This past 6 weeks has been a whirlwind for us at ellënoire!November 5^th we opened the new boutique in the Old Dundas PostOffice, and on November 18^th we opened our new curly hair specialtysalon within the boutique. Soon after, we went headlong into decorating for the Holiday Season andour Grand Opening events. There were many, many late nights making product,arguing over how to hang the ornaments from the ceiling and how high the treeshould be and fighting with 12 foot long sheets of copper to create the overalleffect in our gorgeous new spot. The ellënoire team seems tiny on any regularretail day but when needed we have magical ellënoire elves that appear out ofthe woodwork to go above and beyond to get things done.

Without the help of Doug, Steve and Heather the place wouldnot have been decorated much at all. Skylar always managed to show up with theright tools, the time to make late night bath bombs and some stunningphotographs to adorn our walls. John, my assistant always had his car full ofjust what we needed, soap made wherever we could find a clean surface and foodready just on time for the big party. The biggest help will always be Tim, myever present jack-of-all-trades. On top of his hugely busy schedule Tim paintedthe whole store, hung the lights and the shelves then waved his magic wand to thecopper sheets to make them look just like I had hoped. A huge thank you to all who helped, Icouldn’t have done it without you!

Our Grand Opening party was a great success with lots of local business owners, friends and family out to celebrate with us. The food was plentiful, including meatballs from Phyllis at the Keeping Room, Cheese from Micky McGuire's Cheese and Magical Cheese & Hummus from Tammuz, my across the street neighbour. The bar kept everyone refreshed including a little of the bubbly stuff to cap off the evening! We had a plethora of awesome donations for our swag bags and draw gifts from both local businesses and our suppliers from around the world. Lucky, Lucky me! It was a fantastic night.

Check out who else came by to say hello!

Out in little old Dundas for our Grand Opening party! Colin & Justin sitting in our lovely new salon.

If you haven't been by to see our new boutique and salon we really hope you will! The response to our relocation to the Old Dundas Post Office has been nothing short of amazing. With the new Momentum Fitness Club upstairs, and some other businesses moving in soon the newly renovated building will be a great addition to our gorgeous little town.

Hiring Stylists for the new salon!

2011-09-18T20:00:00.000-04:00

Please! Tell your friends and stylists! We get closer everyday to opening our full time salon in Dundas and need someone to start training ASAP!
Here are the details:
Licensed Stylist 2yrs+exp wanted for new location. Busy Natural Salon specializing in Curly Hair. Training provided for right person, Terms of Employment: Permanent, Full time, day, weekend, evenings.

Extra detailed details below! ;)
Title: Hairstylist

Terms of Employment: Permanent, Full Time, Weekend, Day, Evening

Salary: Hourly Wage $11-$30 per hour minimum + Commissions+ Bonuses

Anticipated Start Date: As soon as possible

Location: Busy Salon in Dundas, specializing in Curly Hair & Natural Hair Care

Credentials: Hairstylist License

Experience: 2 years or more of recent experience in the Haircutting/ Hairstyling Field, DevaCurl training a bonus

Languages: Speak English, Read English, Write English
Work Setting: Natural Hair Care Salon (no chemical straightening, or sulfates used) with Natural Beauty Boutique attached
Hair Cutting Techniques: Scissor cutting, Hair washing, conditioning and setting, Men, Women & Children’s cuts, Dry cutting experience a bonus
Hair Colouring Techniques: Bleach, Dyes/tints, Streaking/highlights
Additional Skills: Customer Service, Retail sales, Ringing in Sales, attention to detail, ability to follow instructions, Strong Communication skills, Comfortable teaching clients, Comfortable learning new skills quickly, creative thinking, Maintenance and clean up, presentation skills, ability to organize and schedule, Willing to embrace new thinking, Must be willing to travel for special training

Work Conditions and Physical Capabilities: Fast-paced environment, Repetitive tasks, Manual dexterity, Attention to detail, Hand-eye co-ordination, Combination of standing, walking, Standing for extended periods
Work Site Environment: Noisy, Odours, Fragrances, Non-smoking

Transportation/Travel Information: Own transportation, Public transportation is available

Work Location Information: Small town setting, On-site customer service

Essential Skills: Personable, Good Manners, Reading text, Basic computer use, Document use, Numeracy, Writing, Oral communication, Working with others, Problem solving, Decision making, Critical thinking, Job task planning and organizing, Significant use of memory, Finding information, Continuous learning
Other Information: Excited, Hardworking people will make the most money and have the most fun with the ellënoire team.

Employer: Ellënoire, Body, Bath Fragrance and Curly Hair Salon

How to Apply: Please apply for this job only in the manner specified. Failure to do so may result in your application not being properly considered for the position.
Send resume with cover letter to: ellenoire@ellenoire.com or call 905 902 6647 to ask job related questions before emailing resume

Hair it is!

2011-08-15T13:42:00.001-04:00

Our fave Celebrity hair stylist is coming back to town this week (Aug16-20) ! Don't miss out on another fabulous week of haircutting and colouring! We have about 10 spots left to fill on Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday.
Will you be getting an awesome new do from the man who cuts hair for the cast of GLEE?
Will you be getting your curls unfrizzified by the best team of curly experts in Canada?
We are curly experts, but our sulfate free salon is open to all hair types... we try not to discriminate against straight haired people... ;)
Our private salon is ready to rock and roll this week to get your hair ready for the next season.
Our new full time salon will be ready by fall and once we open, hair appointments will book fast so this is your chance!
Get in touch with me by email ellenoire@ellenoire.com or call the shop at 905 627 9379 to book an appointment. This is an opportunity not to be missed!

Don't miss us at the Dundas Cactus Festival August 19-21 where our curl experts will be on site chatting about curls....if you're lucky, you may even be able to get a quick trim in while you're at the festival... Just ask! You'll find us in front of the Dundas Post Office 104 King st west, and in front of our current temp store at the corner of Cross and King St!

Uncorked! Celebrating the Voices of the Natural Perfumers Guild

2011-06-01T16:39:00.000-04:00

I’m sitting here trying to write this piece and I feel a little torn. A big part of being a member of the Natural Perfumers Guild is that we don’t talk much about artificial fragrances, that’s not what we are in the Guild to do. When Anya, the head of guild asked the members to talk about how they came to love natural aromatics *or* why they love natural perfumery to celebrate the Guild’s 5th anniversary I knew exactly how to tell my story, but then I realized that I would have no choice but to mention artificial fragrances if I was going to tell the story properly. So, Anya & other guild members I hope I am forgiven… but here’s my story.

N.B. If you know me at all you know that when I tell a story I adore the details so my stories tend to be long. In case you didn’t realize I adore the details only when telling stories of things I am greatly passionate about. So, in advance I request your indulgence in this story and I promise not to meander too deeply into the garden of these details.

Throughout childhood in my little Canadian town my Mother had a variety of hobbies, which at the time to me was normal. She sewed out of necessity and for fun. She cooked & baked all our food from scratch. She gardened like few people I’ve ever met. To my Mum using good quality materials to make things was simply how she did things Again, it didn’t occur to me this was anything but normal. Every Christmas, for as long as I can remember at our church “Holly Fair” my Mum had a table filled with scented candles and potpourri for sale. Each year as she made tiny Christmas tree candles with Bayberry fragrance (her favourite Christmas scent) and Pot Pourri from Roses she grew in her own garden I was there helping. I knew what Orris Root was for and not to eat it. I remember that she had Bergamot, Rose and Lavender oils and a few others mostly from the health food store or a craft store somewhere.

When I was a teenager my mother was working in a career, rather than staying at home with us kids selling candles and such for extra money. One day I came home from school and mom had a work friend over. Her name was Marguerite. Marguerite was divorced, wore acid washed designer jeans, her hair was perfect and she smelled like heaven to me. I asked my mother to find out what her perfume was. Marguerite called it Patchouli oil.

I had always liked fragrance. Mum rarely wore her favourite Diorissimo so I snuck a drop here and there. I used up the Jean Naté Body Splash that someone had given her for Christmas. When Marks and Spencer came to Canada I saved my babysitting money to buy the whole line of Peach bath products. There was the Giorgio phase (my parents ordered a bottle by phone directly from Beverly Hills for a late teen birthday before you could buy it here) the Anne Klein phase, the Lauren phase, and the days I stole some of my Dad’s Old Spice. There was a bar of soap someone gave me when I was nine that I never used because I loved the scent so much. I still have that bar of soap. I trolled the Body Shop as often as I could, buying tiny bottles of shower gel and slivers of glycerine soap. But nothing, NOTHING compared to that Patchouli scent when Marguerite was around my house.

Marguerite was amazing. Her clothes, her scent, her everything… The first Christmas gift she gave me was a body oil she had made herself. It was in an old Clinique bottle with some patchouli and some bergamot I think. I used it a little at a time; it was as amazing to me as Marguerite was. Over the years Marguerite took me on shopping trips and out for fancy lunches and we went to stores smelling perfumes and soaps talking about these oils she used to make those special Christmas gifts I had come to love so much.

When I went away to College in a tiny town in Vermont a bunch of girls from the dorm wandered around the local shops during a break from freshman week events. There was an office supply store with typewriters in the window and a steep set of stairs up the right hand side. There was a little sign above the stairs that said “Perfect Scents” I wandered up those stairs and encountered a scent that reminded me of my mother’s candles and Marguerite’s patchouli and MORE! When I entered that store I was the happiest person on earth! I had found a place brimming with soap and bath beads and a whole wall of bottles. Glass Bottles with ground glass stoppers and little brass tags with names like Tuberose, and Cassis and Patchouli! I had found Marguerite’s oils! Over the 18 months I was at that school I went back to Perfect Scents many, many times. George, the owner would pour oils into tiny bottles for me and one day I asked if we could mix them for me and it turned out George was a perfumer! I was wide eyed with curiousity. Most of the blends I made with George had Patchouli in them of course. Sometimes he would make me a lotion, or body oil with my scents… Just like Marguerite! At every visit I asked hundreds of questions. He was gracious and taught me a lot. I used to go back to visit friends for years after leaving school. On every trip I went to my little shop. It was sold, closed, reopened under 3 different names and those bottles went with every version of the shop. There is nothing left of the store now, but I credit George for kindling the fragranced fire that Mum and Marguerite had started.

Sometime in the late 80’s Mum and I talked about opening a little shop here in Ontario that was just like Perfect Scents. Sadly, I knew nothing about business and my mother told me it would be very expensive to open a shop like that and I believed her and gave up on the idea, or so I thought. At dinner with my friend Julie in the 90’s I was complaining about how miserable I was waiting tables. I had dropped out of college (majoring in film) I had taken courses in fashion design, cake decorating, and was looking into jewelry design programs. Julie looked at me and said: “Well why don’t you do this perfume, soap store you keep talking about” I just looked at her and wondered how she knew about the old idea with my mom. She said “Well, every time we go anywhere that’s all you talk about! You drag us from store to store smelling stuff, talking about some store in Vermont and how that scent isn’t as good as that one and on and on!”

So, about 6 months later in 1994 I had a shelf in my living room with 11 scents (a mix of fragrance and essential oils, but I didn’t know the difference), some cosmetic bases and a company name and logo. Clearly Julie’s kick in the pants was a fan to that almost doused fire! I blended little perfumes for friends and clients from the bar I was working in. My goal was to make custom perfumes and also blend the scents into bath products. I wanted everything to be “Natural”. Marguerite had retired and had decided to study aromatherapy. I learned more about that art from her and made a specific decision that using fragrance to help people’s ailments: headaches, cramps etc just was not my thing. I understand now that Aromatherapy is far more than that, but at the time, that’s how I chose my path. I wanted to use fragrance to make people really happy, the way it always made me when I found a new scent or soap to love. I had to import all my oils from the US because the oils I found in Canada were insanely expensive. 2 or 3 times the prices I was offered by the American companies that I had learned about from George.

Fast Forward a few years to 2003 and I had just opened my first storefront. I had run the business at home part time and had blended many custom fragrances for people and had brought in other odd and obscure brand names of bath and body care products to the store. I had closer to 80 fragrances from a few different companies. I had learned the difference between fragrance and essential oils and that fragrance oils were considered artificial but I loved so many of them. My US suppliers had assured me all those inexpensive fragrance oils were natural. I had read about some perfumers using only essential oils which was neat, but I knew what kind of budget that would take. PLUS all my favourite fragrance oils… I couldn’t get rid of them… I LOVED them. Aromatherapists would come into my store and look down their nose at me and tell me I knew nothing but I was proud of what I was doing. My collection had grown to 100 oils, and over half of them were essential oils. I had clearly decided that I would be using both types of oils to blend perfumes and bath products and my newest customer base in Chicago ADORED the fragrances I used to make the Bath Bombs I was shipping to them. My store was tiny, so I made the Bath Bombs in my mother’s basement apartment where my son and I lived at the time.

Over the next while I started to get terrible headaches while working with some things in the store. The most marked time was on a road trip to see my Chicago clients with my car full of soap and bath bombs made with mostly fragrance oils. I chomped on Sinus medication like it was candy for the 9 hour drive, my head splitting. It took some time for me to work out that almost all the fragrance oils in my collection gave me a sinus headache. I am so sensitive/allergic now that I can barely walk down the laundry aisle in the grocery store without the headache. My Doctor believes that it’s that years of working with the oils, especially near to where I slept has over exposed me to the chemicals in all those “natural” fragrance oils.

For many years I was often inspired by a magazine called Victoria. Sitting in my new store one day I opened an issue to find that the magazine had been cancelled and this was to be one of my last issues. I was saddened. But, inside was an article about the Natural Perfumer, Mandy Aftel. Her story was inspiring and I was curious so I bought her book Essence and Alchemy, was instantly intrigued by her writings on natural perfume ingredients. I has the strangest feeling reading that book. it felt like I had been handed a bottle of magical paste. Every word in that book took the tiny bits I had learned from Mom and Marguerite and George and countless other places and stuck them all together.

In all the fragrances I had made I knew I had to have a base note, a middle and a top note. I knew what civet and ambergris were. I had driven hours for and passed the Fragrance Sales Specialist exam, and read as much as I could. I knew a lot but there was something in the way Mandy described natural perfumes that made me think I should try it. So, in my next blend I did! Something was missing….. but it was a good thing…. And I was stunned! I had got to the point in my blending where everything I did seemed kind of muddy and I was adding more and more fragrances to fix what wasn’t working. I have some old recipes from my fragrance oil days that had 15 or 20 things in it! When I started working with only essential oils the blends were simpler, but somehow they smelled like they were fresher, clearer. You know how fresh air has a feeling… but not a scent? It felt like my perfumes finally had fresh air in them. As silly as this may sound, I felt like I was the luckiest person on earth because I had discovered a world that was within my realm of understanding, but not so much foreign that I couldn’t jump in and have fun there.

I looked at my collection of natural ingredients and was ecstatic I could finally use it! That gooey vetiver stuff that everyone hated, I could use it! The expensive rose oil that I bought as a treat, the benzoin that was stuck in the bottle, the endless citrus collection and my Patchouli. In Mandy’s book I realized that I could use it and stop listening to people tell me it smelled like Hippies, or Dead-Heads, or my mother’s favourite: A Gypsy Brothel! My collection grew and grew and the selection of fragrance oils dwindled. My bottles got tinier, since the natural ingredients were sooo much more expensive. I covet Lilliputian bottles of Tuberose from New York & Anya’s velvety Boronia from Australia. I have bizarre things like burnt seashell oil, and salty hunks of ambergris all of which I’ve grown to love. I have an almost inexplicable dream state experience whenever I smell the really exotic things like civet.

I still hesitate to call myself a perfumer, despite 17 years of working with Fragrance and almost 10 dedicated to creating Natural perfume .When people ask if I’m a “nose” or a perfumer I tell them I consider myself a self apprenticed perfumer, that has never had any schooling or teaching in the subject but somehow have 100’s of perfume blends under my belt. One day when I get the courage I will send a blend into the Guild for evaluation and join the rank of the Natural Perfumers in this amazing group.

Now, when I blend a perfume I exclusively use essential oils & other natural materials. I realized at some point that how I make perfume is a little strange as compared to others I’ve encountered. Before the internet, finding books on making perfume in small town libraries was next to impossible. I certainly didn’t have the budget to buy many books on the subject. I met a perfumer in a company in Toronto, but his lab was full of weird stuff that made no sense to me…. So I made up my own way. I custom blend all of my perfumes with my clients present for every step. I call it “Blending Fresh” and our joke is that the customer doesn’t get to leave the session until they love it. Although I have learned that sometimes that takes more than one session and imprisoning a client for hours on end doesn’t always work. ;)

Every client visit becomes a social time, I listen to them, I share Mum and Marguerite and George with them, we talk back and forth over coffee as I sniff and sample and count drops. The perfume is done when the client takes a sniff of what I’ve just put on them and their eyes light up and only then do I know they love it. To me, that look means they’ve just experienced all that natural fragrance means to me. That look says to me that I haven’t just made them a perfume, but that I’ve brought them out to the Fresh Air.

I told you it was a Long Story! Thanks for reading!

Happy Anniversary to the Natural Perfumers Guild ! Please check out the list below of other guild bloggers involved in this fun project!

Anya's Garden Perfumes Blog

Lord's Jester Inc

Being Led by the Nose
Anu Essentials Blog

The Western Cape Perfumery

Ca Fleure Bon

Les Parfums d'Isabelle

Natural Perfumes

Aromatics International

Olive and Oud

Blossoming Tree Bodycare

I'm Just Saying

Olfactory Rescue Service

Aromatherapy Contessa

Absolute Trygve

Is shipping included?

2011-05-31T21:20:00.000-04:00

Hi! This past week you may have read in the local newspaper that we have some great news!
After almost 9 months of waiting & hoping ellënoire is finally ready to birth its new permanent location! We’ve secured a spot at the Dundas Post Office which is under construction to become a new shopping destination in a stunning old stone building. When it was announced that Canada Post had sold the building and it was to be coverted into a commercial building we were intrigued as to whether it would be a good fit for us as a location. The huge arched windows and the high ceilings made it hard to resist. As you may know we have been running the ellënoire boutique out of tiny, temporary locations since Autumn of 2010 & running a part time Curly Hair Salon offsite since Spring of 2010. We are crazy excited that we have finally found a home for ellënoire in Dundas. The bulk of my company history has been here in Dundas yet in some ways it would have been so much easier to just move the business rather than wait for a suitable location here in my hometown. We looked in other parts of the Hamilton area but although lovely none of them felt like home. Dundas people have remained so loyal to me & the store over the years staying just made sense. So, I think it’s appropriate that we will end up in one of the oldest landmarks in this town. The new, meets the old to become new again.

The two big arched windows on the left will be mine!

You will have to wait until late summer to see our new baby because she needs to be dressed up perfectly for your first visit. Our plans for decorating the inside of the Post Office location will remind you a little of our stores’ past, but with some fun new twists. We’ve enlisted the help of some of our favourite creative minds to help us makeover and transform the space into something magical. I’m really excited about the new Fragrance area we’ve been working on. Our Natural Fragrance Blending & Custom Perfume services will have a special new section to allow for even more scent creativity, the world of Natural Fragrance is ever changing and will remain my passion for life. It is, after all why I started the company. The new boutique will include everything we do currently: Handmade Bath Products & Custom Scenting plus your favourite Face, Bath & Body Brands like Badger Balm, Vermont Soap, Face Atelier Cosmetics & of course the DevaCurl products along with a really exciting addition…a baby sister if you will.

Our baby sister will be the inclusion of a Curly Hair Salon in the same place as the boutique. Some of you may find this confusing because you’ve either never noticed that we sell curly hair products and teach curly hair techniques or you don’t have curly hair (in another blog I’ll explain why you don’t have to be curly to be an ellënoire hair client) The funny thing is there are days when I think my curly clients have no clue we make fragrances and soap and stuff. I joke that there is an invisible line down the middle of the store: Curly clients on one side, Bath & Fragrance clients on the other. I’m not complaining. I just think it’s odd.

Creating the Curly Hair salon was a decision we came to after years of discussing the idea. It took the recession to help us decide. In the last year or so since the recession we realised a few key things: a) Going the extra mile to keep customers happy will separate you from the competition and b) having a product or service that people would climb mountains for is worth its weight in gold. c) Having the flexibilty to deal with messy situations to make a) and b) happen will make you appreciate the simple things. Let me explain. Despite a variety of location issues ranging from landlords choosing to rent to other people or landlords with buildings not to code or the construction delays with the Post Office we have managed to keep the business alive and kicking. The temporary stores have confused our customers a little which we regret and of course we have lost some business along the way but the loyal clients have been fiercely loyal!
You may not have realised but the Private Curly Hair Salon we refer to is located in my dining room. There have been days that between clients getting hair washed at the sink in my kitchen, waiting for colour to process, waiting for their appointments we have had 6-8 people in my living and dining room, not including the staff! Add to the mix my son yelling “Mom! What’s for Dinner!” and my cats trying to escape the basement to climb all over clients and you can imagine the chaos.
There was a point that made us realise our clients simply wouldn't tolerate a part time salon anymore.

There was also a point where I realised I was going to go crazy if we didn't get the store and salon all in one place! We’ve made bath bombs and soap in my backyard until we had a more weather friendly place to make products. Most of our store fixtures are in storage somewhere. I have some customers that think I am never at the store anymore; some people have even suggested I must be on vacation or off doing something fun. The truth is I was likely in the home salon washing hair, or the home office (which is mostly in boxes between the piano and a bookshelf) or at the storage locker climbing over boxes to get decorations for that season or in the new Bath Bomb shed etc etc.
Somehow, despite this we have managed to keep the doors at the store open 6-7 days a week and hair cutting clients begging for more appointments.

In a few months once we move into the Post Office with everything in one place I won’t know what to with myself!

So, while we wait for the Post Office to be ready check us out at 2 Cross St, or get in touch to book a Curly Hair appointment.

In the Late Summer you and me... we’ve got a date!

You’ll find me waiting for you in the new boutique making new fragrances, teaching hair info and cutting hair (a new skill I’m working on) and chatting about products I have deep in my head waiting to be created. It’s all pretty exciting and I can’t wait to show you what I have planned!

It's a Girl! ;) Exciting ellënoire news!

2011-05-17T17:27:00.000-04:00

After almost 9 months of waiting & hoping ellënoire is finally ready to birth its new permanent location! We’ve secured a spot at the Dundas Post Office which is under construction to become a new shopping destination in a stunning old stone building. You will have to wait until late summer to see our new baby because she needs to be dressed up perfectly for your first visit. The new Boutique will include everything we do currently: Handmade Bath Products & Custom Scenting plus your favourite Bath & Body Brands like Badger Balm, Vermont Soap & of course the DevaCurl products along with an exciting addition…a baby sister if you will.

We will continue to offer Curly Hair Services: cutting & colouring but in a full service salon right inside our boutique. The Sulfate Free Curly Hair services we have offered for the last year in our private salon are so popular we cannot keep up, some of our non-curly clients are getting in on the sulfate free action too! We will be cutting right up to the day of the move, & selling products at 2 Cross St, Dundas so don’t worry, you can still get your ellënoire fix of the fun & functional things you love & enjoy a frizz free summer.

Our website, email & phone number will remain the same as always http://www.ellenoire.com/, ellenoire@ellenoire.com, 905 627 9379

Come & see us at 2 Cross St soon & look for the news of our opening dates at the Post Office!

Some store news!!

2011-04-25T13:56:00.000-04:00

Dear Customers, Friends and DevaCurl Enthusiasts,

I’m writing to fill you in on news.

Do not worry, WE ARE NOT CLOSING!

This is news about our upcoming location which will house the Ellënoire Boutique along with a brand new Natural & Curly Hair Salon. Our current location at 53a King Street west was only a temporary location as many of you know. We will be closing this location on Saturday April 30. 5 more shopping days!

We are currently negotiating with a new landlord to move to another location in downtown Dundas. Unfortunately due to some timing issues it appears we will be without a street front location for a few weeks. Do not worry, WE ARE NOT CLOSING!

Over the next little while you will be able to get your favourite products in several different ways. Our website http://www.ellenoire.com will remain active, and we will make arrangements for local customers to have their products available for pick up at a central location or in some cases delivered. Do not worry, you will not be charged the shipping fees you see on the website.

Our part time private Deva inspired curly hair salon will also remain open with cutting dates in May & June in both our St Catharines and Dundas based locations.

Please feel free to ask questions, and we wish this situation was a little different, but the details are beyond our control.

In the meantime everything in the store is on SALE. I’d rather sell it than move it!

Getting in touch with me by email will be ellenoire@ellenoire.com.

We’ll see you soon!

Sincerely, Noëlle & the ellënoire staff

ellenoire news

2011-04-06T17:45:00.000-04:00

Hi everyone!
I'm a Bad Blogger/ Company Newsletter writer I know!!
Go ahead, scold me! I'll warn you, I have a lot to share today. I'm on a new eating plan and have TONS of energy and since it's cold and quiet in town I have time to chat with you!

I have some news for you, some questions I want you to answer and just some general info for you.

You've likely noticed but we are still hanging about in our temporary location at 53a King Street west in Dundas. We are hoping, praying, smoke signalling, dancing the real estate dance to be out of here soon and into a new location with both the store and hair salon in the same space by sometime in the early summer. The fun part is trying to make sure we can stay here until our new (mystery) location is ready. We'll keep you posted.

Meanwhile we continue to create our fabulous handmade products, and expand the new ellenoire everyday line. Have you tried ellenoire everyday yet? We call it the EE line here in the shop. Simple lotions, Simple Body wash, and Simple Foam wash for hands or face. We should have a shampoo and conditioner in the line in time for summer. Our product testers have been asking for more of the prototypes we launched to them in December! Which means it's great.
Ellenoire Everyday is Good Stuff You'll Like!

I'm working on the new face care line and some teenage face care products too. Our Acne oil is flying off the shelves, it doesn't have a proper label yet- heck we only started making it for a client as a special request. We shot the photo's for the new women's face care line, but I can't decide what to do for the teen line. The inspired idea should come to me soon. Let me know if you have any ideas!

We have a great selection of stunning pashmina type shawls and scarves in stock for spring. Some are patterned wool and silk, some are pashmina cashmere and silk. Perfect spring colours and prints to dress up your outfits and keep you just warm enough no matter what the weather decides to do to us. I'm hoping to take some photos of the colours for you this week.

A little curly news.
I know many of you do not have curly hair don't understand why we specialise in curly hair and why we seem to talk about it all of the time. Please, accept out apologies if you feel left out. For the first time ever in many of our lives many "curly girls" have a safe place to come and chat about our curly woes and live frizz free. As an alumnus of the dreaded School of Frizz I can tell you it feels nice to know curls can be perfect if you want them to be. You straight haired people may often covet our curls, but I think that's only because you've never had to walk a mile in our frizz! :)
Until we have our salon open with our full staff of DevaCurl trained stylists awaiting your visit we continue to cut hair in our private salon location 2-3 days per month. Please let us know if you need an appointment. They fill up very fast and we are having trouble keeping up. We are planning to add another curly cutting session at another salon in the Niagara area in a few weeks. Would you like to join us for a haircut that day? Do you live in that area? or would you consider driving there for a haircut? Send me a little email and let me know if you would like to join us. If there is enough interest then we will consider doing Niagara Curly days on a regular basis. BUT. You have to let me know if you or a friend in that area would be interested!

Hmm, ok what else do you want to know about? I'm thinking about launching a ready to wear organic perfume line. What do you think? I could do some that are all certified organic, and some that are natural but not specifically organic. Are there any fragrances that you would like to see? Since I only use plant based imgredients there are a lot of scents I can't/ won't work with but there are hundreds many people either do not know, or had never thought of! I still create custom blended natural fragrances for those lucky customers that are willing to take the time to hang out with me for a few hours so they can leave with a special scent made just for their fragrance tastes and own something that smells fantastic on their skin. Custom blended fragrances will remain my favourite way to create scent, but I'm finally willing to start putting some ready to wear blends together. Funny huh? It only took 15 years of blending for me to get here. Are you ready for a new spring scent?

OK I think that is enough for today. Look out. I've been told by my business mentor that I should start shooting video for the blog soon too!
Ha! and you think I talk a lot on the blog when I get going? Wait until you hear me on video.

Cheers.... we will talk again soon!
Noëlle

Ready for Spring(y) Curls? Curly Cutting event coming soon!

2011-03-03T14:00:00.001-05:00

Get your curly calls in NOW! The next Curly event is public! http://archive.constantcontact.com/fs027/1102261797238/archive/1104703091915.html

Are you addicted to lip balm?

2011-01-24T14:41:00.000-05:00

I am away on a rare thing for me this week.... a Vacation! I'm not somewhere warm like most people would choose to be in the winter because weather doesn't really bother me, so when I travel I go where I want when I want, when I can. So, I am in Britain where its damp and chilly.... but not dry and frigid like I understand it is back in much of N.A right now. My skin, my hair and my cuticles are stunningly moisturized!

So, if you are smart back home in the tundra (it's -16C in my hometown today I understand) you are using lip balm like crazy to keep your lips from drying out. But, have you ever felt like you are addicted to it? I was, for years!!! I had a thing for a Dr Pepper scented one. I had one in all my pockets, purses and next to my bed!
Well, here's your ingredient tip for the day... Most people that use petroleum based lip balm are addicted because it feels good to put on but an hour later it feels like your lips are dry again . It's like the chinese food of cosmetics... great at the time.... kinda useless a little later. Many brands/ products with names ending in things like----line, ----tex, ---mex, ---syl etc. i.e. most lip stuff from the drug store is petroleum based... it won't do a damn thing for your lips but protect them from the elements... petroleum will never actually moisturize anything and it just rubs off on coffee cups and forks and then you swallow some because the molecule in petroleum cannot penetrate human skin. You may as well just kiss the end of the nozzle at the gas/ petrol pump after filling your car and rub that all over your lips.... Don't be fooled by the "with Aloe, "With Shea Butter" type lines either because if the main ingredient is petroleum it still won't let those good ingredients penetrate well anyway. Look for Balms with no petroleum, petrolatum, or paraffin in them unless you are planning to race the Iditarod next week, you really don't need the protection of petroleum on your skin.
Yes, I sell stuff like this.. pop by the store or the website... you'll find petroleum free lip balm there...

P.S. This rule goes for hair and your head to toe skin too! Petroleum goo sucks for human anything really...

Curly for Christmas!

2010-12-01T09:20:00.000-05:00

Our guest stylist from New York City is headed to town and booking appointments from Dec 6th -9th. Let us know as soon as you can if you want an appointment!
Let us help you have perfect curls for your holiday season! Here's a little before and after action for you to ponder....
get in touch at 905 627 9379 or by email ellenoire@ellenoire.com
Cheers, Noelle

Special Guests coming to ellënoire!

2010-10-25T02:18:00.000-04:00

Over the years many of you have become acquainted with ellënoire by seeing us on local television shows. Most of the time you see us doing silly things on CHTV's "CH Morning Live" with Lori DeAngelis and Lesley Stewart. We've shaved my head, we made Tim shave his face to show our shaving oil, we've done Lori D's hair from straight to curly, and adorned all manner of goofy hats. It's been awhile since you've seen us on the show, although I'm lucky enough to see our Lori, as she comes to our pop-up-salon to get her curly hair cut when our Celeb curly stylist is here from New York.

Speaking of Celebs. This coming week on November 2nd we have some crazy fun on the way! Lori D is coming to do a show at our new little pop-up-store in Dundas and we'll be talking about all kinds of fun things. Early Holiday Shopping ideas, our new ellënoire everyday line and tons of other stuff...

I know, I know... you're wondering why it's taking me sooooo long to tell you who these celebrities are that are coming. I'm hesitant to tell you... really, our interim shop is so tiny and it can't possibly hold all of you and I'm afraid the front window won't be able to handle the pressure of the nose prints you'll be making on the glass as you try to catch a glimpse of Colin and Justin inside while we shoot the TV show!

Yup, you read that right! Colin and Justin......Our own HGTV Canada makeover mavens. Our scintillating Toronto Star columnists our fab Zeller's bedding designers and the best thing Scotland has sent us in years are popping by Dundas to see us at the ellënoire boutique!

So, flip on your TV's, set your PVR's because I can guarantee you this one will be worth dragging your ass out of bed for! Tuesday, November 2nd from 6am-9am LIVE from our store. Who knows what we'll get into!

Until then make sure you go for a click around the boy's website ,it's completely fabulous and you can link to their twitter and facebook pages from here or there!
While you are poking around be sure to enter their Glade room makeover contest! a lucky person will win a $15,000 room makeover with Colin and Justin.

Trust me, we're as excited as you are but can you do me one favour? CH Morning Live is, as the name says a Live TV show... so, if you do decide to pop by the store for a little star gazing then be the lovely Canadians you are and be a tiny bit quiet. Please? We will do our best to see if the boys have time to stick their heads out to say hello. They are always very gracious to their many fans.
But loyal fans don't you worry, if you have to work all morning or you've forgotten to pay the cable bill this definitely won't be our last visit from them... we called Glasgow and told them they can keep their tinned Haggis if we can have Colin, but we knew they only come as a boxed set so we traded Edinburgh Rock for Justin. As I type their silk velvet lined shackles are being installed in my basement so they won't be going anywhere! ;)
... as the boys would say.. See you on the Telly!

I posted on my cancer blog today.....

2010-10-05T21:57:00.000-04:00

Click here for the link...

This Blogger needs to be fired

2010-09-24T15:25:00.000-04:00

Today, I won't bore you with why I haven't blogged in forever.... but the news you need to know now is that a) we have moved the store to 53 King Street west, Dundas... just up the street from the old place. This wee spot is only temporary, until we find te right place to house both our store and new curly hair salon. b) in the meantime, we are cutting curly (and any other kind) hair in my house weekly. Let me know if you need a haircut... more later. I PROMISE!!!!

One word

2010-07-22T11:58:00.000-04:00

As you all know I am leaving our location at 41 King Street west in September due to the lease being up and the landlord choosing not to renew. Today after almost 2 months of back and forth negotiations and waiting our possible new landlord is coming with the lease for me to sign. 40 days until we have to leave here and when I see her today I still have to change one word in the lease she wants me to sign. The lease negotiations have been nerve wracking at best. ONE WORD. That's all I need changed to go ahead with this location and I can relax a little. Cross your fingers, toes and everything else you can for today to go well. If we do not get this location then we will have 40 days to find a new one(which will be almost impossible in that time frame) and we'll have to close the store for an undetermined amount of time... which in about 1000 ways will make life very difficult. ONE WORD!

Badgers are the best!

2010-06-13T16:07:00.000-04:00

Check out the Badger Balm page! Lots of new products, lots of lower prices. As far as I can tell we have the best prices in town and onlne in Canada for all Badger products but especially the Outstanding Badger Sunscreen products! Check it out here. New Unscented SPF 30 in stock! http://www.ellenoire.com/scripts/prodLi...st.asp?idCategory=15

Have you ordered from ellenoire.com lately?

2010-05-08T10:44:00.000-04:00

Here's a review from a recent new customer: First time to mail order through your company recently.....service was prompt and well followed up....it is great to have such a positive experience....love my Deva products and will be a continued customer.....special thanks to John...appreciate your follow up.A Happy Girl with great CURLS!!!Allison ...what other website offers curly hair product support long distance? Cheers, Noelle

Great Blog about a first time DevaCurl user!

2010-05-05T17:06:00.000-04:00

Read it here!

create more, stir more, curl more... but wait!

2010-05-01T08:58:00.000-04:00

So, things are complicated at this end of the ellënoire universe. It looks like in September we will be moving our store to a new location. No, this is not by choice. We do not own our building, and so we do not have a choice if the landlord wants us to leave. There is more to it than that, but I won't bore you with the details. So, here is the plan. Somewhere, within 15 minutes of my existing store we will be opening a new ellënoire store that will also include a curly hair salon. The salon will focus primarily on curly hair cutting and curly hair management but our stylists will all be fully trained to cut any type of hair. The salon will also offer hair colour, pintura (a special DevaCurl invention)highlighting all tailored to your hair type. We also plan to offer a selection of other services that you do not normally see in a salon. Yes, this will all be announced in due time. For now, you can wait with bated breath.The store will remain your best local resource for handmade bath, body & skin care filled with gorgeous natural ingredients and your choice of fragrances, or not. As always we will continue to offer our oft quirky blend of personal care products that compliment what we do. I will continue to create custom blended natural perfumes from essential oils and hopefully soon, we will have a new section of ready to wear fragrances developed by me. In the next few weeks we are launching a new bath, body, skin product line under our label. I will give you full details by the middle of May at the latest. Here are the things you need to look forward to with this new line: Simple, Affordable, clean ingredients, available for custom scenting, or unscented... but wait? Don't we already do this? Yes, but this will be different, better.... a perfect add on to a great collection of products. I can't wait to tell you more, so hold that thought. I have work to do!! P.S. Guest Hair Stylist David Lopez will be coming to cut hair again on May 14 for a few days... book your spot now!

Curly Curly Curly!

2010-02-24T17:19:00.000-05:00

I have some amazing DevaCurly news coming out for you this week! Keep your eye on this page! Meanwhile, this is a fab video for you to watch! Look at her gorgeous natural curls! http://www.facebook.com/pages/edit/?id=7160211190#!/video/video.php?v=331023996879&ref=mf

Nail polish

2010-02-16T13:53:00.000-05:00

What would you think of ellenoire carrying a low chemical line of Nail polish?
Do you have a fave brand of nail polish?
Do you get manicures regularly?
If I told you you could come and get a manicure touch up service on a night that worked for your busy life would you consider "moving up" to better nail care?
I wanna know! Tell me!

Men, Men, Men.... lovely Men!

2010-02-16T11:38:00.000-05:00

So, I bet you're wondering why I didn't even mention Valentine's Day products on the blog this past few weeks. Well it's funny. For 7 years in a store front we have never really sold much for Valentine's Day. I am thoroughly convinced that being in small town, without a big neon sign that says "MEN!!!! YOU'LL GET LAID EASIER, IF YOU BUY STUFF HERE,!" that the men who all buy things last minute will not think of us as a Valentine's Day shopping destination.
I don't think many men realise all the things we do here at ellenoire anyway. It's amazing how when men come in to the store, how shocked they are to see the hats we carry, or the shaving products and implements. Did you know we sell a whole line of men's skin care and shaving products?
I know, I know, it's not on the website, perhaps this week I can make that happen...
I think March should be Men's month... what do you think?
More on this later, I have some thinking to do, some coffee to drink, some coffe scrub to put in jars...call a potential curly hair salon location.. you know.. the usual stuff!
;)

There is a lot to celebrate on this Valentine's Day, Family Day weekend!
Our Store anniversary is February 14th (2003), my anniversary for Cancer surgery is February 14th (2008) Colin and Justin celebrated their 2nd wedding anniversary on the 15th! Happy Days all around!

NO Glove, NO Love!

2010-02-08T16:20:00.000-05:00

Cuticles dry and cracked?
Finger tips splitting and sore?
Backs of your hands kinda alligatorish?

PUT ON YOUR GLOVES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Every single time you step outside this winter if you live anywhere north of... oh I dunno.. Georgia... you should be wearing gloves or your hands will dry out!
Hear me in your head over and over and over again... PUT ON YOUR GLOVES!

If your hands are cracked and painful then get on the scrubbing/ rich moisturizing habit. 2-3 times per week exfoliation, and rich moisture every night at bed time. Sleep in gloves if you can!

That's all! ;)

Soap and Mirrors!

2010-01-27T13:20:00.000-05:00

Hi Everyone! Long time no blog, I know. One thing I want you to know? I think everyday of things to tell you about and have a bad habit of telling myself that my blogs are boring and then I don't write the piece.

The other night I was watching TV and saw an advertisment for soap that I have seen a few times. I have tried to supress my rage at it and refrained from throwing something at the TV. The ad talked all about soap scum (as this bird-brand has for many years) and then proceeds to wash a set of mirrors with soaps and their product. The upshot of the ad is that the bird-brand doesn't leave soap scum on the mirror, but the others do. Can one really compare the surface of a mirror to human skin??

If you read this blog you should know that we have been in business selling soap and bath stuff for 15 years and that we recently started making our own handmade soap. I am not a chemist, but I understand soap and how it works on the skin. Soap is basically 3 things. One of them only exists in the process of making the soap and then disappears, and the other two work together with the disappearing stuff to make the bubbling bars of stuff we use. Soap bars are essentially just made of fat that has been chemically changed to bubble and wash our skin. WAIT, don't freak out. Fat is good. FAT is really good! I'll explain why.

You've probably heard me talk about the relationship between good food and good bath products. Well, it's the same here. Some soap is made from Animal fat, this is how we believe soap was made originally(soap history is crazy old, no-one knows for sure) Some soap in the supermarket is still made from Animal Fat. Much of the larger chain companies still use Animal Fat (aka Tallow, or sometimes called Sodium Tallowate) in their soap.
Soap can be made from almost any type of Fat or Oil. Why? Cause some of them are great for your skin! Animal Fat, Petroleum based oils.. well those are not so good for your skin but vegetable ant plant oils? Veggie oils are amazing for your skin!

Are you keeping up? ... if soaps are fat/oil... then what do you think "soap scum" is? Soap Scum is a little bit of fat/oil, left behind on your skin and shower and tub and stuff after you use it. It's just some of the fatty ingredients that got left behind in the chemical reaction with those 3 original ingredients. So when the "soap scum" is left on your skin made with vegetable oils it is a good thing! Fat can moisturize your skin. Your lotion is made from fat, your bath oil is fat. Fat on a mirror? meh.. WHO CARES!?
Olive oil, Coconut oil, Grapeseed oil, Shea Butter, etc etc... all good for your body, inside and out!

So Noёlle, what are you saying?

I'm saying, the company with the mirror ad is playing a trick on you. Skin is not like glass because it's porous and needs moisture to function. I teach people everyday about how important the essential skin care trio is... clean gently, exfoliate often and moisturize ALL THE TIME! In the store we use plant and vegetable based ingredients for everything we make(remember! Animal Fat and Petroleum based oils are not very helpful for your skin). We suggest you avoid detergents on hair and skin as they can dehydrate by overstripping and we suggest you use a vegetable based fatty soap at least once a day( especially in winter).

The soap bar brand in the ad had (on their label and online) quite a number of detergents, animal fat and a pile of other unpronoucable ingredients(see above, "I am not a chemist")buuuuut. It washes off glass cleanly! Perhaps that's what we should use it for.

I wonder what Noah would have thought of all this....

Hey! What does that bird have in it's mouth??? Hmmmm!

4 things

2010-01-20T23:08:00.000-05:00

ok, so the itch of the New Year and the scratch of the coming of Spring has me thinking. We are cleaning and creating, getting things ready to launch a curly haircutting service and ultimately a curly hair salon of sorts for late this year... buuut while working on this project I want to be sure not to neglect my non other client... my skin care, soap loving, and non curly clients.
As always I am working on new products, new fragrances and new lines to bring in to the store.
I wish, you.. my lovely clients would you please take a few minutes for me to answer me these 4 simple things? What do you looooove about ellenoire? What do you kinda not like/ hate about ellenoire? Is there anything that confuses you about what we do? Is there anything ( within the realm of natural, personal care) you would like to see us do, sell or teach in the future?
4 questions, that's all.
I would love to hear your short, long and detailed or whichever way you offer your answers... just. bring. it. on.
Love to you all this New Year. Later I will blog about why I have been out of bloggy touch for soooo long.
Cheers!!
N

A CurlyGirl Must see!

2010-01-14T10:57:00.000-05:00

http://www.voyage.tv/new_york_video_devachan_hair_salon.html

Bad Blogger

2009-11-25T00:05:00.000-05:00

I think I need my blogging licence revoked!
Hopefully I will back to normal(whatever that is?) and blogging weekly like I am supposed to. My next blog? All about the day in the life of me, and how crazy things can really get when you are a mom, an enterpreneur and all the things in between during the Holiday season. For now, I have to get some sleep. Happy Thanksgiving to all you US fans too! ;)

3 years

2009-11-25T00:01:00.000-05:00

3 years ago today my beloved Mummy died after a long, long 5 years with cancer, chemo and all the horrors that go with that. There but for the grace of God..... but anyone who reads my infrequent blogging knows that I am still here... alive and kicking. But today's blog is not really about me.
Because I live in the house she spent her last days in I see her in everything and life has thrown me some curve balls lately so she is closer than ever.

My dearest Mummy, I have you with me with every stir of a pot, with every thread in a needle, with every clank of a glass. Your words spring from my mouth and my son looks at me like I am crazy, just like I must have to you....I have collected people in my life who say canny, and besom and twee and my chip pan is full of lard. My dishes aren't done, and I work too much but the food is good and I am teaching Luke to cook. Now because of a strange but neccesary turn of events in my business I will be following in the footsteps of Grump(my Mum's Dad for those readers who don't know), Uncle Gordon and you and with your old black hairdressing scissors in my hand I'll be cutting hair. There are lots of moments I wish you were here. There are lots of moments I know you are here and with every snip I have a feeling I will know more and more....

Hey Curly !! This event is for you!!!

2009-10-13T16:29:00.001-04:00

Dear CurlFriends, Curls in Disguise, Chemo Curly's & WavyCurls too,

I am so crazily excited to tell you about this event I can barely type! My Friend, Curly Mentor, the original DevaCurl Angel Lorraine Massey is coming to see us at our boutique in Dundas! On October 25th Lorraine & her amazing staff "Curl-Man" David will regale us with curly tales, tips & tricks to help you live frizz free no matter how curly or wavy you are! Bring us your curls, whirls, nappyness and all & we'll teach you the magic of the Deva! Leave your blowfryers and your troubles at the door, we'll spoil you with curly deals & a refreshment or three!

Bring a canned good to donate to the local food bank & we'll trade you for one of our favourite bathing treats.

I cannot wait to see you & all your smiling faces to greet our guests! More details and RSVP contact below... Yours as always, Noëlle
Want to reserve your free spot at the CurlyCon?
You choose- October 25th 1:00pm or 3:30pm to reserve by phone 905 627 9379 or email ellenoire@ellenoire.com or use this link to the website...
Watch this video for more info on DevaCurl!

Take the ellënoire 14 Day challenge and help your dry skin get back on track!

2009-10-06T14:15:00.000-04:00

The weather is starting to get a little cooler, the humidity is dipping a lot lower and the dry skin issues are starting to rear
their ugly cuticles…!

Even I, a person who preaches daily about the huge impact of exfoliating and moisturizing has become a wee bit lazy over the summer and have noticed that the skin flaking has started already. Nothing like a cold bit of weather to remind us to restart the routine of sloughing off the dead dry skin and slathering on creams to add moisture. What’s that Australian sunscreen slogan? Wiki says it goes like this: Slip-Slop-Slap is the name of a health campaign in Australia exhorting people to "slip on a shirt, slop on sunscreen, and slap on a hat". Let’s take that for your chemical free skin care routine and get you to slop-slough-and-slather with ellënoire, to keep your skin soft and perfect, chemical free, all winter long.

Can you imagine? Perfect skin all winter long, with no flaking, no itchiness, and no cracked fingers? It’s actually quite easy. You just have to commit. Let’s try to commit for 14 days shall we? I know I know, you’re busy. I hear your voice now, in the store in January with your cracked bleeding hands and your flaky itchy legs… I hear it every season. So let’s start now and save you the PAIN and the ITCH.

Me: “Put your shea butter (chemical free by-the-way) next to your bed and use it every night on your hand, lips face and as often as you can put it on your feet too”
Customer “I never remember” “ I don’t have time”
Me: “Well, then you’ll have dry cracked hands all the time then unless you sleep with shea butter, or any other rich butter on your hands with gloves on”
Customer: “I wish I had nice skin like yours”
Me: “well I put shea butter on my hands, lips and face every night.. and on my feet when I remember… you might wanna try that and see how nice your skin can be”

This one is a good, in the dead of winter scene in my store:
Me: “Where are your gloves”
Customer: “I forgot them at home”
Me: “You need a spare pair at work and in the car so your hands don’t get dried out. Hey, when was the last time you cleaned the snow off the car with no gloves on?”
Customer: “This morning, I was in a hurry, it wasn’t THAT cold”
Me: “Can you imagine anyone from Florida saying snow was not THAT cold? Stop that!”

Or with the men…
Male customer: “my legs are bleeding they are so itchy and dry”
Me: “What do you moisturize with?”
Male Customer: “Nothing”
Me: “Well there’s the problem. Winter skin is like a piece of unfinished wood that needs sanding and finishing, scrub off the rough flaky stuff, add a little oil and wax and it’s soft, shiny and healthier looking”
Male Customer: Light Bulb going off look in his eyes

Having no time is not a valid excuse. Like so many things it takes more time (and more OUCH!) to get things fixed than it does to take the steps towards prevention, AND this is another easy way to start out on our 90/10 rule. MAKE THE TIME!!! Or, your skin will not be as good as it could be. Here’s another way to “work it in” -to your life

My one shower per week treatment trick:
For me, this happens on Sunday mornings before I have to work. Pick a time that fits into your life to take care of your skin for these 3 things: slop-slough-slather
Get in the shower put the plug in the tub to soak your feet(yes, in a second you will know why), get your head and body wet and then:

1) Slop -Deep condition your hair once per week (only do the ends if your hair is really fine) put this on first, then do the exfoliation treatment on your skin.

2) Slough- Exfoliate head to toe at least once per week (twice in winter if you can) then scrub your body with one of our scrubs or a face cloth, then scrub your feet with something more aggressive.

3) Slather- Get out of the shower and slather a heavier moisturizer (like shea, or
body butter) onto wet skin once a week (or twice in the winter) head to toe. Don’t forget your hands! Finish by putting on your favorite robe on to let all that moisture soak in.

In your other baths or showers you can use a lighter lotion because your skin will be soooo awesome from the once or twice weekly deeper treatments. At bedtime, get a rich lotion or butter on your hands and lips EVERY NIGHT before they crack and bleed.

Seriously! If millions of people can commit to a challenge to eat yogurt for 2 weeks to “regulate digestion” or eat bran cereal because Captain Kirk does… can’t you commit to the ellënoire 14 day challenge to better skin?

We’ve even put it in a kit for you: try the ellënoire 14 day challenge skin care kit right here, or buy the separate pieces.

I can help, just ask!

Christmassy Scents?

2009-10-06T14:12:00.000-04:00

What do you all think?
I am thinking about doing a line of just Christmas fragrances for room fragrances, powder rooms and things like that... Do you have any favourite Holiday fragrances?
Would a chemical free room spray fit in with your holiday house?
I want to know!

Why is it important to be chemical free?

2009-09-29T15:05:00.000-04:00

It’s funny that I am completing this blog today given the work I had to do to calm a customer down a few moments ago. She had just read an article which directed her to a website that made her panic about all the “ingredients that cause cancer” in her cosmetic and household cleaning products. She told me the story of how she wept over throwing out all kinds of favourite products as she was terrified for her life and the lives of her children. She dumped a pile of products on my counter and begged for help so she could understand what she had to throw away.
I did manage to calm her down, and taught her a little about how to read labels, and offered better websites to look at and sent her on her way with some organic shower gel, unscented shea butter and some custom scented blood orange lotion to get her started with some simpler things.

In 1993 when I was making the plans to start a bath product company I was pretty naïve. I never thought much about the things that companies put in bath products; I was all in this for the fragrances. If I liked the scent, I liked the product. When I started manufacturing I got lucky and my first suppliers of raw materials were chemical free. I became aware of going chemical free early enough that lots of people thought I was bananas for researching it and insisting on it.

As soon as I started to import products from small companies like TerraNova (the original USA Body Shop until 1989) Lather and Virginia’s Soap I learned more and more about good ingredients and company integrity. The words “all natural” had only just started to be used and were mostly only used in small stores. I had been a Body Shop product lover since the early 80’s when it was already in Canada when we made the pilgrimage to the Toronto Eaton Centre to buy chunks of hand cut Glycerin soap and Banana Shampoo(The Body Shop did not come to the USA until 1989) so I knew that “no testing on animals” and natural ingredients were something that appealed to me. Little did I know many of the companies were not telling us the whole truth about the “natural” ingredients they were using.

The first step in becoming chemical free is to learn to read labels and ask questions, but as we should learn from the woman here this morning DON'T PANIC!
Over the years I have developed a list of chemicals that are on my avoid list(note I said avoid, not freak out and throw everything you own with these ingredients into a landfill, just don’t buy much more unless it falls into your 10% category):

Petroleum and all its other names and derivatives: Mineral oil, petrolatum etc- are pretty much useless for the skin and hair and come from non renewable resources. I prefer Shea Butter based body moisturizers like my
Double Rich Body Butter and vegetable oil based lip balms like the Badger Balm Lip balms to replace your petroleum based stuff.

Animal Fats –For most of history soap has been made with animal fat. It was cheap & readily available on the family farm, but with all the processing meat goes through and the hormones often injected into the animals not to mention the pore clogging behaviour of the animal fat (yes, pore CLOGGING) I would rather avoid using it to make my skin care. Vegetable Based soap is a good choice, Vermont soap is my favourite. Watch for my personally handmade soap in the store on occasion too!

Silicones –A man made chemical in many skin and hair products. Mostly useless for skin in a similar way as petroleum is, and especially useless for hair. A little in your makeup won’t hurt you, but man made chemicals should be avoided as much as possible.
For hair, the newest Deva product called Mirror Curls is the most awesome silicone shine product substitute I can imagine!

Parabens- preservatives that have been loosely linked to breast cancer, although the studies are inconclusive. But better safe than sorry (I already had Breast Cancer, I don’t wanna go there again) as a precaution many companies like ours have decided to avoid them in their products. Use products that use alternative preservatives like our ellënoire Boutique Brand Lotions or ask me about products that need no preservatives!

Sulfates – cheap detergents found in shampoo, toothpaste, bodywash, bubble bath, dish soap, and engine degreasers. Frankly, anything used in engine degreasers really shouldn’t be in the bulk of your skin care products. Did you know these harsh detergents dry your skin/scalp out so much you could have a skin condition that would never have existed 100 years ago? You should try a soap or shampoo that actually hydrates as it cleans, or at least leaves natural, vegetable based moisture behind that the skin can absorb. The occasional bubble bath is fine and falls into my 90/10 rule of product and ingredient choices. Try a Deva Hair and Scalp Cleanser (not just for curly hair, just ask me for more info) like NoPoo or LowPoo, and an Organic Shower Gel

I hope this helps, I know this is all kind of hard to understand. Trust me, I have to do my research all the time to make sure I know what I am talking to you about and sometimes I still cannot believe that companies that want us to trust them are using ingredients that could be harmful, or cause skin reactions just because they are cheap... but skin care is a huge industry and you have to do your best to find companies you can go to to ask questions so you can decide who to trust.
I will always be here to help, just ask...

15 years and counting...

2009-09-15T09:07:00.000-04:00

Every day someone asks me or my staff one or more of these questions:
Is your store new?
Do you have any Canadian made products?
What do you mean you can custom scent my products?

I wonder sometimes how to convey all that ellënoire is and has been in a single marketing program or if that is even possible.

Today, I will tell you the history of ellënoire. Many of you know it, some of you have no clue who we are or how we came about.
In the summer of 1993, an old friend of mine(who, FYI I call every Christmas and blame for my many sleepless nights) listened to me whine about how miserable I was with my life: waitressing to pay the bills and taking night courses in anything I could think of that might lead to a career in something I enjoyed doing. Cake Decorating, Wedding Cake Decorating, Pattern Drafting, Manicurist, Modelling, Makeup Artistry...and on and on..
At the end of my ranting, she simply said... (this is my memory's version of her quote) "Why don't you just do that perfume/soap thing you keep talking about? That store in Vermont you tell us all about every time we go shopping and then drag us into soap store after soap store, you keep saying you wanted to do something like that.."
So, without blinking I decided she must be right, if I talked about it all the time I must want to do it...and then I spent the rest of 1993 doing research about opening a business similar to a store I fell in love with in Middlebury, Vermont while I was in college there.
In 1994 after much navel gazing and talking about my "research" I finally did it. I opened ellënoire Just near to Christmas in my living room in Toronto I had 11 essential and fragrance oils, a gallon of lotion, a gallon of massage oil, a gallon of green bubble bath, some bottles, labels and ribbon all dressed up on a pretty shelf ready to make my fortune.... 15 years ago ...WOW!
So, no my store is not new.

The thing that always kills me about the "Made in Canada" question is that the original plan for the ellënoire company was that I was going to make my own products and that was all I was going to sell. Handmade, Custom Scented bath products and some
Custom Blended perfume, that was the business plan. That was until I got my first order. I realized very quickly that one person could not make all the products if orders came in too quickly. I had orders for 10 Christmas gift baskets my first week (I was a bartender with all male clients, it wasn't that hard) So, I looked at lines I liked in the magazines and called their head office and ordered them. I imported from all over the world, having no clue that at that time very few companies my size were importing anything. Somehow in there, I became known for a lot of the rare and hard to find cosmetic and skin care brands you saw in the magazines. Sephora and all it's copy cats were just a twinkle in someones eye when I was bringing in other American and French lines to support the joy I got when making my own products. But no one understood what I was trying to do with my own products so they mostly bought the brand names.
I was the first in Canada to bring in Carol's Daughter, DevaCurl, Bleu-de Lectoure, Smith & Vandiver, TerraNova and on and on. I was so naive I did not realize this was not normal, I just bought what I liked. So, we became known as the store that sells a lot of interesting brand names and then people seem shocked when they learn that we make our own products.
There are lots of days when I think it would be easier just to sell other companies' products but I know, at the end of the day I would be bored silly just ordering things and selling them. Without some sort of creative outlet in my life I go crazy and making perfumes and skin care products is one of my favourite things.
Buying and selling "Ready to Wear" is easy...creating "Haute Couture" is not, but RTW is not my style.. ;)
So, yes our primary Made in Canada line is ours, handmade for 15 years from bottles and jars and labels and wooden spoons and stained recipe cards and my bare hands. Chemical Free, Paraben Free, Petroleum Free, Silicone Free, almost Nut Free(not certified, but no peanut or almond oils go into my handmade things)Sulfate free(except at Xmas, I bring in some bubble bath.. please see my 90/10 rule to see why)and if you want it to be.. my line is 100% scent free.

Which brings us to the custom scenting issue. When I answer this question I feel like I am teaching an English as a second language class. I say "I will custom scent your bath products for you" Which is met with a blank stare more than you can imagine.... which I don't know what to do with... How are the words "custom scent" hard to understand??

So, here is what the dictionary says:
custom –adjective
- made specially for individual customers: i.e. custom shoes.
- dealing in things so made, or doing work to order: a custom tailor.

scent
verb (used with object)
- to fill with an odor; perfume.

The slightly longer explanation is: All of the ellënoire product line is made unscented, quite on purpose. You can buy the product as is, or you can pick from our selection of essential and fragrance oils and we can "custom scent" your bath products as you like them. 15 years ago, people thought I was NUTS( wait we are nut free), BANANAS!!! No one had a clue what I was talking about

So, in order to make a living we allowed the other brands to get the name ellënoire out there and we simply continued to make our line. 4 websites, 4 cities, 6 locations, hundreds of bath bombs, lotions, custom scents, labels and ribbons and year after year of realizing that so many of the products we were bringing in were inferior to many of our own the ellënoire FINALLY outsells all our other lines. We only keep lines that we ADORE and now they complement our own products, and every day we happily struggle to keep up with the demand on us to make more and more products.

In the last 5 years we have added many organic ingredients to our products, we bring in a large selection of essential oils, absolutes and concretes for the Natural Perfumery service that I offer. Bloggy readers know I have started to make soap, hair oils, and many other things. Later this fall our mens line will be complete & on the website and by Christmas our facial line will be ready for you to try.

So all the buzz words you see on skin care labels now: Made In Canada, Locally Made, Chemical Free, Scent Free, All Natural, Handmade, Made with Essential oils, blah blah blah is nothing new. Not to ellënoire. That is how I started it all, in my living room in 1994 and it is how we remain.

How do you explain 15 years experience in a couple of lines? You don't. You stir 15 years experience into every product and hope that one day someone finally gets it.

The Day I made my first Bomb....or... The best Bath Bombs in the World (or we think so anyway!)

2009-09-09T13:17:00.000-04:00

There was a time when the Ellënoire boutique was without Bath Bombs.... strange thought I know... but I used to be a Bath Bomb Boycotter...
Let me explain. I had tried the illustrious bath bomb, and found the things to be mostly annoying because they just fizzed in the water, left a bunch of dead flower petals in my tub and a little fragrance. There were some that I liked the smell of, but mostly... not worth the money for me.
Until, my lovely friend Yolande told me that she and many of her friends in Chicago were ordering Bath Bombs from a place in Canada and that she wanted me to make them for her. So, we booked a home party(yes, I still do them)a month or so hence and I taught myself how to make Bath Bombs. I jumbled the recipe around for a few weeks until I realized that I could make them moisturize my skin as well as fizz!!(Keep in mind, this was 2001, there were no you tube videos or soap blogs to teach me any of this)
Miss Yolande was a gorgeous black woman who took great care of her skin, as did her many girlfriends. The one thing for sure that the black culture understands is how important it is to keep skin moist.... I wish my white clients understood this as deeply!! So, selling a moisturizing bomb to this crowd was a breeze and they lapped them up! I was hooked on making them, and they were hooked on using them!
The scent recipes were great fun too! Napoleon & Josephine(made with their fave scents),Wake Up Angel!(the morning blend, named for my friends song), Slink( the Sensual Blend) Get out the Kink (the Sore Muscle blend) Hormone Sally(the PMS calming blend), Fruit Salad ( yummy! yummy!)and on and on it went.

At the time, our bombs were made in my house basement by the 100's and sent or driven down to Chicago regularly. Once we opened the current store location, we started making them here in the store. The ellënoire ë-bomb is now a top seller in the store and on the website. Have you ever tried one?
NO! I don't mean anyone else's Bath Bombs.. I mean mine!
Here's what you do: Pick a time when you need a little time to read, or soak sore muscles, have some deep thought... or think about nothing... and run a deep soaking bath at your favorite temperature and get in... put in the bath bomb you chose at the store(or on the website) ... yes, you use the whole thing... no, don't even try to break it... we make tub fizz ..the chunks of broken bath bomb bits for you frugal types...
Now, just sit in the tub and let the soft scented water cover you, soothe your sore body and soften your skin. At your leisure, climb out of the tub, wrap yourself in a robe or big towel and pat the water off. If you are lucky enough to have someone there to rub your back your skin is primed with natural and organic oils. Or simply stay wrapped up until your skin has absorbed the oils.
We are making more tonight- let me know which ones you want to try!
Sign up for my Newsletter to see specials on Bath Bombs coming soon!

Soap...

2009-08-25T22:57:00.000-04:00

So as you can see, the whole story of Soap is quite complex.. ;)
Soap.. what is it? Some of us love it, some people just use it... most everyone has a pretty strong opinion about it. Me? I started a love affair with soap at a very young age. I still have my first and favourite bar of soap. It was a gift from the Steager's when I was about 6. I have never used it, I adore the fragrance, the colour and the shape.. it has been in my underwear drawer for most of the last 36 years. I am only fussy about my soap when it comes to the fragrance, I have to LOVE the scent or I don't care to have it around. Some of my soap(as you would guess) never gets used at all... but the ones I really covet are the ones that are incredible for my skin...

Once I decided to open my business in 1994 ( 15 years, that's right.. watch for the anniversary celebrations to start soon!) I was very excited about all the soap I could buy to sell!!! Did I know a thing about soap? NOPE! Did I care? NOPE! I just loved the smells of all of them. I loved the packaging and whole idea of them....but along the way I had no choice but to learn! I was selling bars of soap with price tags of up to$12 and had to work out how to teach my customers what they were getting for their money...

So, I learned. Vegetable oil based? Animal Fat based? Detergent??...wait what? Bar soap can be made from detergent?... yup!( more on that nightmare later) Milled? Triple Milled? French Milled, Cold Process? Melt and Pour? Glycerin? Handmade Glycerin, Superfatted, Lye... what??

Because I have a Soap store that sells a lot of handmade products people assume we make our own soap. NOPE! Not until this year!
I mentioned my soapmaking session adventures a few weeks ago and now, it's all ready!
Don't get too excited, I have to make a ton more... there are only about 40 bars in 3 scents to start with but it's a start!

In another post I will go into some of the details about ingredients and different types of soap and why we sell/make what we sell/make, but for now... all you need to know is that the first of the ellёnoire handmade soap line
launches tomorrow! Cold process, Mostly Olive and Coconut oil based, scented with only essential oils. Come and see!

I think of you in the shower....

2009-08-22T22:20:00.000-04:00

I wonder... do you know where your bath products are made?
I was thinking about this when working marketing our handmade line of products using the "eat locally grown food" trend as inspiration ( yes, I wish eating locally was not a trend, but for the moment it is) I imagine, the larger companies have chemists and test labs and things like that... well, not here at ellenoire ... all you get.. is me. In the store I make the recipes for our products at my almost 200 year old marble topped counter. In the store I am head "chef"... making up the recipes from whichever ingredients we have in stock, or are available to us... based on the time of year.
Where do I get my ideas? Well there are the trade shows I visit and publications I read... and all the friends I have in the industry passing ideas back and forth... but at the end of it all... the ideas happen in my bathroom.
Although as you may know if you follow this blog I am quite minimal in the product selection I use in my day, I do test a lot of things for the store. I try them, I like or hate them... and often I try to think of how to make them ourselves, or make them better. I have oils and butters, bowls and bottles, spoons and measuring cups all over my bathroom... I smear and scrub, I lather and wash.... bubble bubble toil and trouble as it were.... but it isn't any trouble you know... I hate taking baths, it makes me hot and my brain sleepy... but the shower... oh the shower I could stand there forever pondering things for my life and my lovely store... and the fun ingredients to make new bath products for you.
So, when you wonder where your bath products are created... you have my permission... to think of me.. in the shower...

eeeeew stinky!

2009-08-03T22:25:00.000-04:00

My son just returned from two weeks at summer camp. I got to the laundry right away after reading many horror stories on facebook about other moms waiting a few days to unpack bags only to find damp musty yuckiness lurking in their little ones suitcases and backpacks. WHY? WHY? WHY? is it not part of a camp counsellor's job to make sure wet clothes get hung up?
Little did I know, my son swam every day and "forgot" he had extra towels he used the same one for two weeks!! Luckily it was an Aquis Towel, so it was not totally skanky... buuuuut.... wait for it... the boys went for a trip into the SWAMP... the green, slimy.. but mom I only went in up to my waist... SWAMP!!!!!
Sadly, the question "Son, did you dry your clothes after the swamp activity?" was answered with a BLANK STARE!

Sooo, the mouldy stench of old swamp water and a stiff muddy t-shirt that was stuffed into the outside pocket of the suitcase on perhaps.. the second day went into the laundry. Thank goodness for Sports Suds! This really cool Canadian made laundry detergent is designed to take the funky stink out of sporting gear... it was no big deal for this pile of mouldy nastiness! Biodegradable and hypoallergenic, Sport Suds allows technical clothes to wick moisture and breathe the way they were designed. It's completely unscented with no nasty chemicals.. so your clothes smell like... clothes! In High Efficiency washers you use just the tiniest bit. It's super simple, but it's one of the coolest things we carry!

Are you 90% perfect? We are!

2009-07-31T15:45:00.000-04:00

For the last few months I have been using a philosophy in the store to help customers understand why we have chosen to keep some product lines and fragrance oils in the store. There are a lot of articles and news pieces and stores talking about all the harmful chemicals in the personal care industry ... and we are one of them.. I am very excited that the day has finally come that the general public is learning so much and educating themselves about why many of the large companies have given us very few options about what is in our soaps and lotions and makeup and such. This gives us, and many other great small companies the opportunity to show how great products and ingredients can be without all the chemicals.
In this post I am not going to list brands, or many chemicals or what is good or "bad" about them all. Today, what I want you to consider is how perfect you want to be, or can realistically be with products and ingredients in both your food and personal care choices.

So, here is my philosophy and how I got to it.

IF you could afford to choose your food, and your personal care products and their ingredients to be as perfect and healthy as possible would you do it? If you were told that to be healthy you could never eat junk food, or ice cream or use your favourite French soap, or Lilac scented lotion or anything with artificial anything in it... would you do it?

Na, me either.

I am totally willing to work toward a goal of eating the best I can afford/ have time for. I am totally willing to give up some of my less healthy habits in food and skin care if I can use/have them occasionally and not feel guilty about it.

The thing that bugs me, is there are stores out there: health food stores, co-ops, and even some boutiques that lecture you to get rid of all things with chemcials and ONLY use things with no artificial scent, no artificial colour, no parabens, no petroleum, and on and on.

That is GREAT!.. but, honestly I think there is only a small percentage of the population that will, is willing or will even try to be 100% perfect. I think in some cases people are tired of hearing it and use whatever they want anyway and avoid talking about it. They don't want to know or learn about chemicals, they don't want to read labels, they want to just assume they can trust the companies that sell to them to not use cancer causing, dehydrating, fossil fuel crap in their products.

So, the 90% rule came out of all of this thinking, and I have successfully made sure the product line up at the store is 90% perfect. I guarantee it!

If you can aim for 80-90% of everything that you eat, drink or put on your skin and hair to be the best quality natural ingredients YOU can AFFORD then you are far ahead of most people and likely well on your way to being super healthy. Personally, I have almost totally given up processed, packaged food of all sorts, but I have the occasional cocktail and dessert a few times a week. On my body I chose to use mostly paraben free, petroleum free, silicone free, and sulfate free products. My makeup, is my 10% cheating in personal care, I don't wear much, but I like my 18 hour wear lipstick!!! and I am not giving it up anytime soon... just like I am not giving up Ben and Jerry! I mean halloooo! who are we kidding?
100% perfect?! ? Pleeeeease!
I have a "perfect" vegan friend that "occasionally" eats an Indian meal complete with butter and yogurt ingredients.... I don't believe anyone can be 100% perfect.

So, 90% it is then! ?

Give me the chance and I will make sure you have a skin, hair and household cleaning "diet" that gets you well on your way to 90%... Give me a few more minutes of your time and I can help with your food diet too!
... but that, is another blog topic!
I hope a grand summer, and fabulous holiday weekend (in Canada this weekend) is/ will be/ has been yours!

I'll be in one on the patio with a cocktail in her hand and bright pink lipstick with a gorgeous natural fragrance wafting from her pulse points!!

Cheers!
N

Want Cancer?

2009-07-29T12:05:00.000-04:00

Tanning Beds deadlier than ever suspected!
Tanning Beds As Deadly As Arsenic and Mustard Gas
Check out this link...

http://windycitizen.com/wdfI
skin cancer jumps by 75 percent

Soapy Soap Soap Soap!

2009-07-29T11:46:00.000-04:00

So excited! I get to make Soap tomorrow morning!
We don't have a kitchen at the store, so this will be backyard soap!
I have made lots of bath products over the years, but making cold process soap is a type of creation I have a feeling I will get addicted to, so I am a little afraid of starting. I made some with friends in December and it was an honourable attempt, and I was lucky enough to have help from someone and their tried and true recipe.
My goal, sometime soon... if we in fact get this store through the recession... is to have quite a few soap types made here at the store by me and the staff.

I have about 1000 ideas that no one else seems to be doing, and if I see one more bar of chemical based garbage soap, or one more boooooring handmade bar with the top 5 everyday essential oils I will pass out! Don't get me wrong.. some of my
fave soap makers use those top 5 oils, and I will use some of them too, but my goal is never to be the same as everyone else. Since unique fragrances are my gig there will some interesting experiments on the way if I get the chance.
As you know the store is in some pretty serious financial trouble, so if you want to see the fruits of my labour coming out over the fall and holiday seasons you better get to shopping at ellenoire!... while your at it, boycott your big box stores for a week and shop local! Yes, your budget will change, but I bet some fun will come of it! Think of all the new recipes you will have to create, and the time you will save driving and parking and such. Let me know if you need a hand finding local meat, produce, clothes etc.. I am good at it!

Exfoliation for everyone? Or ..Have you looked at your feet lately?

2009-07-16T15:09:00.000-04:00

How often do you exfoliate? Did you know that you are simply wasting your money on creams and lotions if you don’t? Did you know you can banish dry skin if you exfoliate once or twice a week with a moisturizing scrub and use a richer lotion or butter the rest of the week?
I am pretty diligent about it. Not perfect, but I never go longer than a week without doing it. Head to toe.
I love our new demerrara sugar scrub for the head to toe routine.
I know I know… you don’t have time, you forget blah blah blah.
Let me tell you about time. I am a single mom with no Dad involvement. I run the business side of ellënoire full time by myself. I workout at least 3 times a week. If I can find 10 extra minutes to treat my skin once a week…so can you!

Women: I have one shower a week where I do my head to toe spa treatments. I run the water, put the plug in the tub (you’ll understand why in a sec.) and get all the supplies ready. I get in the shower, put a little bath oil or tub fizz in the water to soften my feet, wash my body and hair (with only sulfate free soaps and shampoos of course). I put a deep conditioner in my hair. Then I get out the sugar scrub and massage my face and every square inch of my body and use a foot scrubber or salt scrub on my feet and toes. In the summer I try to get a pedicure once a month, but sometimes I can’t get to it, or can’t afford it.
After this whopping extra 5 minute treatment I rinse my hair and body and get out and towel off. I usually don’t put on any extra lotion at this point because of the oils in my scrub, but you could if you want to … just be careful not to slip on the floor. There is a famous ellënoire product story from a friend who over moisturized herself and slipped … and found herself on the floor naked and laughing hysterically all while her poodles watched in confusion…

Men: Think of exfoliation as part of your regular maintenance, just like mowing the lawn or detailing your car. It does not have to be done all the time, but if you don’t take care of it now the next time you do it will be a pain….
Everywhere you shave, and everywhere that gets touched by someone else can be exfoliated. Sugar scrub is gentle enough to be used EVERYWHERE!
Your hands, face and feet are the most obvious places to start; soon you will love how nice your skin feels you will try the head to toe treatment. Rough, crappy looking uncomfortable feeling skin is NOT sexy…
Trust me, your partner, your wife or girlfriend will LOVE that you did it!!!

Questions?
Let me know!

P.S. Fake and real tans work better with the smoothest skin!

The sale is almost over!!!!

2009-07-09T16:32:00.000-04:00

There is a table outside is covered in 50% off items. The Aquis line of towels is 40% off, and almost everything else in the store is 25% off.
Where are you?

DevaCurl is on it's annual sale.. for only another 6 days!
Drop by or call the store ASAP.. 905 627 9379 to see what is in stock to get your summer deals!

Summer School Math Class..

2009-06-25T14:57:00.000-04:00

80 x U=/>ellenoire1

This morning while working on the finances for the store I realized something. If 80 of my customers came in and spent $100 I could pay the rent this month.

I can hear you gasp from here… wow, that’s a lot of money!
Yes sadly it is.
I’ll tell you the story, so you will understand.
I have explained how small retail works on this blog before, but I’ll give you another quick version. In a normal retail (in a small company, that is less than 5 years old) year you sell as best as possible and spend all year using up what you saved during Christmas sales until the next Christmas season. You pay the bills, your staff and the little left over is for the boss. If you did your job right you end the year with little or no debt… and start all over again hopefully growing sales every year…. At some point in theory you become profitable that all the time spent pays off.

Last year when I had cancer I spent more than is normal both paying medical expenses, and paying for extra staff to keep the doors open while I was ill. We started this year in a bad place because bad weather and the recession killed our Christmas season. By February the savings were gone, and we have been struggling ever since. We have been digging a deeper and deeper financial hole every week.

This past weekend we booked a festival booth and paid for the booth and a lot of extra stock… but the organizers did not promote the area we were in so we lost a large amount of money because we sold next to nothing. This tore through most of both the little money and the goodwill from lenders that we had left. Sometimes, something little like this is all it takes to sink the proverbial ship.. and take a business down. We are perilously close to being on that sinking ship.

So today while working on the finances for the store I realized something. If 80 of my customers came in and spent $100 I could pay the rent this month. This means simply that with 80 people buying $100 (or 160 people spending $40, or 320 people spending $20 and so on.. ) I could pay back the friendly lender that helped us with the festival, pay the staff, the phone bill, and the rent…. This won’t pay all the debts… but that is for another blog, another day and another equation… today.. it is 80xU= ellënoire wins and gets to go on for another few weeks...
The whole store is on sale, so your $100 will go a long way…

P.S. While I was writing this entry.. a friend just spent $100… so now it is 79xU!!!

Cupcakes!!

2009-06-17T15:34:00.000-04:00

I cannot wait!
I have aquired a a pro cake decorator to come to ice my bathbomb cupcakes tomorrow! My piping skills are unpracticed & my cupcakes look awful!
I have to go get all the stuff together and make some cupcake bases tonight! Cupcake making while watching So you think you can dance!
Yay!

Don't you forget about me...

2009-06-10T09:23:00.000-04:00

Just a quick reminder... I am in the store pretty much every Wednesday and Thursday and Curly rescues are on most Saturdays and by appointment too!
Custom perfume blends can be any day by appointment. Tell me when I can make you look better, feel better, and smell better!

up all night?

2009-05-22T01:25:00.000-04:00

Small business can be HE double hockey sticks!
1:30 am and I am up working on my newsletter... Keep your eye on your email. I should show up tomorrow...
Night everyone!

In the store a lot!

2009-05-20T12:15:00.000-04:00

For some reason people seem to think I am not at the store much. I am ALWAYS here Wednesday and Thursday all day and every other day I am here for at least part of the day. John and I alternate working on Sundays.
Every Saturday with rare exception I am here doing a curly hair demo at noon!
Pop in and see me! I am making a ton of new products this summer!
I would love to see you soon!

Fake and Bake query

2009-05-13T17:08:00.000-04:00

This is in response to a comment on my last post.

Here is a link to an Ideal Bite newsletter about Fake Tanning and products to fake a tan without cell damage.
The Derms are now saying that ANY skin colour change is cell damage from UV rays are risky.... CANCER SUCKS!!!!!!! Don't volunteer for it... wear SUNSCREEN!!!!!!
In the Ideal Bite newsletter it mentions two brands of Self Tanners. Lavera and Aveda.
Aveda does good work, but is owned by a less than perfect large company... but Lavera seems ok. I have tried the facial fake tanner called Faces Summer Glow Sunless Tan for the Face. It is available locally at the Horn of Plenty in Dundas. Tell them Noelle sent you. At the moment I am not planning to sell Fake and bake products... someday... you never know! Good Luck!

Are you preventing yourself from getting Cancer?

2009-05-04T13:16:00.000-04:00

I get really mad sometimes when I talk to people about ingredients and try to educate them about the things I have learned about ingredients in personal care and food and how they relate to cancer and the environment and on and on... and then I find out they are still buying the same old things... Face Cream with Parabens, Hand Cream with Petroleum, Junk Food instead of fruit and on and on!

I DON"T CARE if you buy all your products from me! Of course I make a better living if you do, I can buy my son a better bicycle or re roof my house or whatever I want if you do buy your products from me... but if you learn from me and keep your skin and hair and body more healthy as a result and buy your stuff next door or across the street then GREAT!
I DO CARE if I see you on the street healthy and happy next week! I DO CARE that you don't have to go through what I went through with Breast Cancer. I DO CARE that you don't have to go through what my friends are going through because their daughter died from cancer this week
I'm not saying I can cure anything or guarantee you will never get sick. I am not saying you need to be perfect with your choices. I AM saying that you may want to take a better look at what you buy and what you use and make sure you are choosing things that have the ingredients that are good for your body! What you eat, what you smear on your skin, what you spray in your hair are all being absorbed into the cells of your body and potentially changing things for the better... but if you are not learning about what is in your products than you could be using products that are changing your body and all of it's cells for the worse!
I know I know... you are thinking... oh Noёlle just wants me to buy her products. She is going to tell me that her things are better than what I buy at the big box store, or the drug store and I can't afford to shop in her store. I can only afford to buy that stuff at the drug store that I see on TV and it says "nature" on the label so it must be ok... right?!

But..... do you KNOW that those products have no parabens(preservatives linked to cancer)in them? No sulfates (harsh dehydrating detergents) in them? No earth killing petroleum in them? No animal fat(oils for soap and dryer sheets) in them?

I have told you about my 90% rule right?
If you choose things that are good for you 90% of the time, then 10% is yours to play with. Wanna eat a Big Mac? Do the Math... did I have one already today? This week? No?. Go for it! Wanna wear that caramel, fake fruit, body spray from the drug store that you love the smell of? Did you use the paraben free stuff all week? Then Go for it!

Life is not that hard to run... if you run it smartly... Choose lots of Brightly coloured Fruits and Vegetables for their antioxidant qualities and how great they make your skin look and how great they make your body feel(and potentially prevent cancer) Choose lean(low fat) proteins to keep your body lean and strong. Choose healthy fats to keep your joints limber, your skin resilient and soft...

Easy right?
Skin care, hair care... the choices are as simple too!
Choose paraben free products as often as possible, soaps and lotions with earth friendly vegetable healthy fats and oils(local or organic if you can find/ afford to) Wash less, moisturize more.. that is a good rule head to toe...

Household products!
READ THE LABELS! Reduce allergic reactions in your house with scent free stuff and buy a steamer!!!

Here is an offer for the first 5 people who ask:
If you live in the Hamilton area and ask me I will come and go through your bathroom and kitchen for free (if not, I can do it over the phone) and tell you what is not great about your choices and help you make better ones. 1 hour, your house.. my knowledge and bossy attitude...the result? Potentially ? A healthier you!
Email me at ellenoire@ellenoire.com

Questions? Wanna tell me you hate what I preach? Bring it on!
Comment below, or send me an email...

Antioxidants are amazing for your skin!

2009-04-30T23:20:00.000-04:00

But you have to eat or drink them to get their best effects!
How many servings of fruits did you have today?

Check it out here or email me for details!

Just in case you missed it!

2009-04-30T23:13:00.001-04:00

Join our newsletter email list and see the latest product info and sales! Lots of great deals this month, news about Carol's Daughter and other new things you may not know about. Please forward this to a friend! http://tinyurl.com/chsexk

See our latest Newsletter!

2009-04-28T12:05:00.000-04:00

Click here to see out latest newsletter and sale info!

Do you Facebook?

2009-04-07T14:54:00.000-04:00

I am moving my FaceBook FanClub Group to a "Page" become fan for me SVP? Click here and/or add me as a friend if you like Click here

Not sure why this is typing in bold, not sure why I added my links to the words "Click here" .... not very web 2.0 of me...

Yesterday I was thinking... if everyone owned a can of ellënoire shea butter, no one would ever have dry skin again...do you have yours yet?

Gonna try and write a newsletter... are you on our mailing list yet?
Let me know!

Day 4 and 5 of trying to get up earlier etc

2009-03-31T20:28:00.000-04:00

Day 4 was hard; the fave pink lipstick trick remains my way of appearing to be well rested.
A little smudgy black eyeliner never hurt either. It makes me (you) look a little mysterious and gypsy rough, but in a good way. I keep my energy up with a little of my secret purple juice, food on a regular basis( never more that 4 hours without a small, balanced meal or the body thinks it is starving and stores fat) and a little coffee with milk (never cream, nasty high fat stuff)

Day 5 is ok.. I am a little weary, lots of work to do this week and I am in cancer treatment all afternoon. I am in the chair with an IV in my right wrist while I write this. Here is the link to my breast cancer blog

Is there anything you would like to know about dear blog readers? Facial Skin issues? how to treat dried out hands after a long winter?

Day 3 FAIL

2009-03-30T11:55:00.000-04:00

oooh day 3 was aaaaaawful!
We went dancing on the evening of Day 2 in a club that was in a basement that smelled of mould and disinfectant... and we got home at 3 am ... and I woke up with a KILLER allergy headache.
So day 3 was headache city and my new schedule was all messed up.
;(

Day 2

2009-03-28T15:42:00.000-04:00

hmmm... this is funny. I am so well rested(by comparison) I cannot focus.
So, I can't focus well when I am overtired, and I can't focus well when I am rested...?
How many days of good nights sleep an enough work hours in a day testing do I need to find the balance?? Who knows!
Fell asleep at 7:30 last night on the couch, stayed up until midnight, read until 1 and got up at 7:30am...

well, we will see!

Do you have any stories about trying to change your natural sleep patterns?
Tell me ! Tell me!

At the store we are selling a lot of curly hair stuff and Purple juice.... magic for hair, magic for skin! Ask me if you have questions!
2night?
We are going dancing 80's style! Early bed? Not! C U tomorrow!

Day 1

2009-03-27T12:45:00.000-04:00

So, today is day one of a "get up earlier in the morning, so I can go to bed earlier instead of working or watching dumb TV until later" challenge.
Don't get me wrong, I like the mornings, the light is pretty the quiet is inspiring etc. I just HATE that the early morning comes well, so damned early! I have been a night owl since forever so therefore getting up early does not work. Getting up at 7:30 is enough time for me to get up, stumble around until the coffee is made and get my son's lunch made and him out the door dressed and fed. Ever since I was up and about after my mastectomy last year(early March I was up regularly after 2 weeks in bed) I have been pushing the getting up angle as far as I can.
Now, I can get up at 8, get coffee, get my son up, out dressed etc on time. I work for 2 hours at home after that and then head to the store for the day. I rarely get home before 6:45, and 3 days a week I don't get home until 9. Somewhere in there I get both of us fed, we each workout 2-4 times a week, and I pretend I know how to keep a clean house. I usually get my son to bed by 10pm, unless Colin and Justin are on and then I start work again. I work effectively until about 11:30, and then I convince myself I work effectively while working, watching reruns of House and Numbers until 1 am and then I stumble around trying to get to bed... and then it's suddenly 2 am...
Going to bed without everything done feels like failure to me, so I push the envelope as hard as I can but realistically I could stay up 24 hours a day for the next year and never get caught up on everything that needs doing in my business or my life.
So, today is Day 1 of getting up at 6:45 am, in the hope that getting up earlier will help me soooo exhausted by midnight that I get to bed earlier and have more hours in the day to get more work done. Let's see how I do! So Far, I feel like crap... more tomorrow..
;(

oops missed a question

2009-03-23T09:14:00.000-04:00

Here is part two of a comment from a blog reader.

Do you find the curly hair will look great for awhile, and then for no reason just be flat and limp, even though the hair products have not changed?

Well, actually no. I don't find that.
Are you using curly hair products from ellenoire?
If so, you are doing something incorrectly which I can fix just get in touch.

If you are using a product with silicone or petroleum/ mineral oil in it then this may be the issue.
Let me know if I can help get you onto some products better suited to you!
I would love to help.
Happy Monday everyone!
N

Deva Dryer and DevaFuser info

2009-03-22T00:12:00.000-04:00

In response to a comment yesterday about the DevaFuser I am going to tell you all about the fantastic DevaChan Salon line of products.
Many of my customers use the Deva line of hair products for their curly and Coloured hair. Deva is a line of hair products originally made for curly hair. The DevaDryer and DevaFuser products are the newest tools in this product line.

Deva products are silicone free, sulphate free and petroleum free. The Deva philosophy teaches curly hair client to fall in love with the hair they were born with from wavy to curly Deva is for you! At ellenoire, both online and in the boutique our staff is trained to teach the Deva way and we will do everything we can to help you have the best hair you have ever had! (Deva has a product for all hair types, just get in touch and we will set you up.. curly or not!)

Now, the DevaSunDryer is the patented DevaCurl hair dryer. It is a hair dryer with the DevaFuser included as a Diffuser type attachment. This is NOT like any diffuser you have ever used! The DevaFuser is a newly designed diffuser that allows air to blow 365 degrees around to dry your hair faster without making frizz or disturbing your natural curls. The combo of Dryer and Diffuser is AMAZING!!! The DevaSunDryer could dry my waist length super curly curls in 15 minutes!!! Totally worth trying! Come by the store if you can and see it for yourself.

You can buy the hair dryer with the diffuser or just buy the diffuser to attach to your own dryer. The DevaFuser will fit 99% of dryers and can turn your hair dryer into your friend!

The DevaSunDryer and DevaFuser are magical add ons to using the DevaCurl and DevaCare lines.
Come by for a Curly Hair demo at noon every Saturday, or get in touch and I will go through in detail how I can help you with your curls to make them FAB FAB FAB!

We were the first in Canada to have this line, and we are the only Deva supplier in Canada that will spend all the time you need to make your hair the best you have ever had it!

My coat smells like licorice and other things I want to bitch about

2009-03-18T11:52:00.000-04:00

So, I woke up on the wrong side of the bed today.
Most of the time I am a very positive person. The last few days have been hard in a few departments.
I spent most of last year putting on a good game face while dealing with cancer. Anyone who reads my other blog knows I can still have a sense of humour in the face of a lot of crap.
Today I am upset about petty stuff. My clothes don't fit after all this cancer weight gain and my business is slow at this time of year/ during these economic times so I should not spend money on new clothes. My hair is at an annoying length so it never looks good... and when I complain about my hair people tell me I look great, fine, really cute( ya, I love being 42 and cute)etc etc. I am annoyed I misjudged my time this morning and did not pack a good lunch. In other words I am crabby for no good reason at all.

One of my customers came in to buy something for her daughter who has MS and cannot leave the house very easily. They are spending the day trying to transport her wheelchair somewhere safely as they are planning to go away for a few days.

My crabbiness was put firmly in it's place in the face of that and I am trying hard to give the day my best.
Things could always get worse.
A happier, more product related post soon.
N

Done!

2009-03-09T10:59:00.000-04:00

37 minutes including a call to my assistant to plan the work day.
More later, I am late I told ya!!!!
;)

Race ya!

2009-03-09T10:16:00.000-04:00

I was supposed to be at work 20 minutes ago. Anyone who follows me on Twitter, Facebook or my other blog already knows I am a terrible night owl who lives on about 5-6 hours sleep in order to live in this insane 9-5 world I live in (a schedule that i think is crap!) So having Daylight Savings time yesterday and losing an hour into the freakin' ether has made my life hellish. I worked about 7 hours straight yesterday on top of the other 6 days I had already worked this week etc etc. This morning I am late and CRABBY!
I am off to the store, but have to get ready first.
I can name that tune in 30 minutes or less!
Shower, dressed, bed made, makeup on, and at the front door in 30 min or less.
Any one taking bets!?
OK?
READY!
GO!

a week? really

2009-03-04T16:54:00.000-05:00

ok, I am a bad bad blogger. It has been a whole week since I blogged for ellenoire.
Workouts, Monavie and not sleeping enough is taking lots of my time.
So, today I sent out an email about the store being almost totally on sale.
40% off most of the lines in the store. Some aren't on sale, for a variety of reasons: 1) Did you know I have contracts with some companies stating I am not allowed to put their product on sale? 2) I rarely put my bestselling lines on sale, but try to offer incentives to buy and special offers to my regular clients that love those lines.
Does that make sense?
Some people don't realise that although running a business can be hard, it is not any more complicated than running a home. In the store if there is no money coming in from sales, it is like having no job and trying to buy food.
If there is no money coming in, there is no money to buy anything. So, in slow periods at the store like these hard economic times seem to be showing us we may have this year there is very little money coming in.... so we cannot buy much. We offer sales to generate excitement, and CASH!
Then, we can buy more stuff for the store.

Between you and me, I hope this recession thing is hard, and fast... I know it will be hard... but man I pray it will be fast!
So, get in here... with the little you have.. and I'll trade you.. for more product for your dollar... and some lovely stuff to pamper yourself with in hard times.

Ask me anything, as always!

Cheers!!

Event at the shop!

2009-02-24T17:14:00.000-05:00

What’s more important than your health? Absolutely Nothing!
You’re Invited to a
Tasting Party
Share a Free Sample of the juice with the #1 Super Food, the Açai Berry! Find out how to look younger, feel healthier and have an overall sense of well being…..
Date: Wednesday, February 25th, 2009

Locations: Ellënoire Boutique 41 King Street west, Dundas 905 627 9379

Time: Presentation starts at 7:30pm

Speakers: JoAnne Spilatiere, Tom LaForme, Karen Dupuis, Noelle Smith

“I take pride in endorsing the product as a consumer and an athlete who’s looking for every health advantage” Jason Sager, Cannondale Cycling Team

“ it helped me get back to my normal energy level after cancer surgery & months of chemotherapy so I could run my store and work 12 hours a day at my store in the Christmas season” Noëlle Smith, owner Ellënoire Boutique, Dundas

www.mymonavie.com/noellesmith

makin' product!

2009-02-24T16:59:00.000-05:00

Yay! My assistant just worked out how to make tub fizz!
One less thing for me to do!
:)
Many of you know that ALL of the products under the ellenoire brand are created by me with rare exception. Once I create a recipe someone on staff gets to make it because I no longer have time. I used to make everything. From 1994 to about 2001 I made every single bath bomb, lotion perfume etc. Now I have to blog and market and do taxes and stuff. There are days I like doing the blogging and marketing and such(I don't really ever like doing the taxes), there are days I like making product. Mostly, I like creating the recipes and making them a few times... then I get bored. Making Bath Bombs can be relaxing, but after two hours when I am stuck in the basement covered in bath bomb dust from head to toe (except for the little area under my dust mask) .. then I don't feel relaxed! I just want a shower! Although...My skin is heavenly after showering all the shea butter filled bath bomb dust off me....hmmm.
This week I am experimenting with a new sugar scrub recipe. We made one for a customer that has lavender buds in it along with the lavender essential oil and I HATE it!(customer loves it BTW) because of the little lavender buds!!!!
My skin is gorgeous, my tub is covered in little black dots. So, now we are trying another recipe without the buds... but the buds add such a nice deep layer of fragrance that is warm and wonderful. Lavender absolute perhaps? Who else is nuts enough to work absolutes into skin care? Not many as far as I can see... tell me if you are!!!!
New Sugar Scrub should launch in about a week. Pop in and try some! It is still winter, but your skin does not need to look like it is!
I am off to have pancakes to fatten me up( as if I need that..)!! Happy Mardi Gras!!!

Parabens, from a laygirl

2009-02-18T16:55:00.000-05:00

So, here we go... how to answer questions about bath product chemicals related to cancer, when I have cancer and sell bath products... some of which have these chemicals.

Most important to note in my book? Read your labels, learn your ingredients, don't panic and we will all eventually get on great skin and food diets.
Here is the wiki link, it tells a little, but it is pretty biased toward the safety
of them. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parabens

We live in a less than perfect time for both food and personal care products. Parabens are SYNTHETIC preservatives that are used to prevent bacteria and mould from growing in food and personal care products. Without preservatives many of your bath, skin and hair products would go bad within a day or two of opening them. Most products have either oil or water or both in them. Oil goes rancid. Water grows bacteria. Anything called lotion or cream has both water and oil in the recipe. Parabens are the most used preservatives on the North American market but the links to female related cancers are a little too scary to ignore. A British researcher said "Parabens have been shown to mimic the action of estrogen. Estrogen is known to drive the growth of human breast tumours" Dr Philippa Darbre of the University of Reading. Parabens have been found in breast cancer tumours which suggests they leached into the tissue after being applied to the skin.

The general consensus in the small Bath and Body care company market is that Parabens suck. Ellenoire is constantly striving to find other options. I, Noelle have a very specific opinion on how to deal with the paraben issue in day to day life based only on what I have read.

This is my philosophy: Treat paraben preserved products like you should treat your food. Use/eat as few synthetic things as you can. Artificial colours, fragrances, and chemically altered/ synthetic food and products have far too few years of research for us to know how safe they are. In our lifetimes we may never know for sure. Some of us will get sick and/or die from using/ consuming things that are man altered.
Nasty? Yes! but we simply do not have enough information to know for sure. So. How do you get through the day with your products? Go through your bathroom, learn your ingredients. Limit your exposure. Use only one or two a day that have parabens/nasty chemicals in them. Use/ eat organic when you can afford it.

Call me when you are ready to try some paraben free things and learn more about anti aging products you can eat and drink.
Does this help? I hope so!
If not ...ask me more!

Lotion as sandpaper? huh?

2009-02-16T15:59:00.000-05:00

So this weekend I tried a product I bought on a trip to New York City in January. I try lots and lots of new products to see what is going on with the market, to get ideas for brands we might want to bring in, and to get ideas for products that I might want to make. So, I have this beautifully wrapped lotion bar in a Lavender scent. They call it "Body Butter" and it is in a bar shape. A little softer than most lotion bars, but that is ok.
I generally put all body moisturizers on wet skin, right out of the shower or bath so the skin is still very warm. I almost always use a body butter or balm in the winter months(lotion is mostly water by nature and kind of a waste of money and precious moisturizing time and effort in the winter) so I am used to the extra few seconds it takes to rub a body butter into the skin. Lotion bar/ butter bar type things usually melt fine on wet skin and I like them. YUUUUCK! Not this one!
I tried it twice, and I will try it one more time just in case the wet skin is a factor but this thing is really really odd! It feels like they put talc, or cornstarch or something nasty and gritty in the bar! It felt like it scratched across the skin as it was applied! It eventually sunk in... but what were they thinking with that nasty texture? I am gonna try their soap tonight. More on this later.
I will not be copying this product!

ooh a new topic!

2009-02-14T12:57:00.000-05:00

After a long bike ride, run, spinning class or any workout that taxes your lower body and legs here is the trick to being able to not feel like you have cement legs.
Lie on the floor with your legs up a wall or tree or whatever (with your butt against the wall/tree thing) and rub them from the ankle to the thigh (like wringing out a towel)and stay lying there for about 3 min. Then take a hotish bath with a cup of epsom salts if you have them and soak for at least 10 minutes. Tomorrow u will be able to walk. I am serious!

Soon I will work out how to hotlink the thing I talk about to places to buy the stuff.

I promised I know!

2009-02-14T12:41:00.000-05:00

but the Valentine's day prep work has been killer and I have been training a new co-op student this week too! It has been hard to get to the 'puter to write to you.
I have some great emails queries from you all my new ellenoire blog peeps! I will be answering them all this week I promise.
I have some lovely chocolate massage bars and oils for you and your fave valentine/ massagee. I hope I see you in the shop today!

Noelle's skin care in a nutshell

2009-02-10T23:39:00.000-05:00

I get asked often what I use on my skin. This has a two part answer. Tonight, I will give you part one.
The most important thing to note? Listen to your skin. One set of products is unlikely to fit your skin needs all year round.
What I use may not fit your skin, but rest assured I will help you find the right thing for you. Just ask.
I wash with two things. Soap and liquid soap. Organic, Unscented mostly or at least I don't ever let anything with artificial fragrance touch my face (or my body most of the time) Today I washed with Virginia's unscented glycerin soap (I have a large and varied stash of naturally scented soap in my house and I pick which one I want/ need)in the shower and smeared the Ellenoire Unscented Body Butter everywhere ...from head to toe. Tonight I will use the Ellenoire organic foamy soap and some Ellenoire wildcrafted Shea Butter. I use toner less often than I should, but my skin is wonky from chemo. I recommend that everyone use a toner at least once a day, best at bedtime. When I use a toner I use the ellenoire custom blended toner( we will help u pick one right for you)with witch hazel and rosewater on real cotton on just washed and still wet skin.
In summer I use the Suki line of moisturizers and brightening creams to moisturize.
I exfoliate at least twice a week. Mostly with the ellenoire sugar scrub with no added scent.
Did this make sense? It's late. I'll talk about skin nutrition sometime soon.
Keep asking questions...

Pink lipstick makes me look less tired!

2009-02-03T15:09:00.000-05:00

So, have you found the perfect lipstick for your skin tone and eyes?
I have. On my most tired days I use a bright bright (grown up bright I mean) fuchsia lipstick with a shiny gloss and everyone told me I looked grEATTTTT! So, you need to find an amazing colour that brings out your eyes, brightens your natural skin tone and voila you look like you just had a vacation! Neutral may be your style, nude may be in vogue.... but looking tired is never in fashion! A few tricks need to be up every woman's sleeve! Let me know if I can help you today!
Happy Tuesday!
Noelle

A long time coming!

2009-02-02T16:21:00.000-05:00

This is a happy day! I have intended to have a specialized blog just for my store and website for years. For the last year I have blogged about my experience with Breast Cancer and have found the experience oddly cathartic.
I have soooo much to tell you! This time it will be about all the lovely Bath, Body and Fragrance products I make and sell which will make your skin and hair the best you have ever seen it! I promise.
Welcome to the land of ellenoire!