Join us at the new Whole Foods in Ashburn, VA for free samples, demos, specials & more!

I am thrilled to announce that the new Whole Foods Market in Ashburn is carrying my line of shampoo bars!

So, I will be demo’ing and handing out samples of my shampoo bars on Friday, July 31 from 11am-2pm, Saturday, August 1, from 9:30am-2:30pm and Wednesday, August 5, from 3:30pm-7:30pm, 19800 Belmont Chase Drive, Suite 160, Ashburn, Virginia

There will be many other local makers demo’ing their products, and lots of special offers including 30% off health and wellness products. Hope you can join us!

And for those of you who live outside of the area, please feel free to use coupon code SHAMPOO10 to receive 10% off your order at the Herban Lifestyle online store.

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Extraordinary Things Start Small: WunderAround Blown Glass Trunk Show at Herban Lifestyle 11/29

Here is our interview with Etsy artist Beth Hess of Wunder Around. She will be demo’ing how to make terrariums using her handblown glass vases at our Small Business Saturday event, which takes place Saturday, November 29 from noon to 4pm at our Merrifield Store.

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When did you start your line and why?
I enjoy making colorful, functional pieces of blown glass that can be used (and enjoyed) everyday. I’m well into year two of my Threads Collections. These are highly touchable pieces with lots of texture. I started making white vases with various colors of “thread” on the outside and the collection has grown from there. I started my Duos Collection last year after returning from a trip to Iceland. The colors I saw there just begged to be recreated in glass. I started the Duos Collection to capture the intensity and juxtaposition of colors that I saw, and continue to find new color combinations around me everyday.

What were you doing previously?
I’ve always been a crafter and I love to experiment with new mediums and techniques. I took my first glassblowing class five years ago in June and fell in love with it. My professional background is in communications and I spent more than a decade helping nonprofits and businesses tell their story.

What do you love about owning your own business?
Doing it all. I enjoy things like making signage and updating my website in addition to the actual making.

What is the most challenging thing about owning your own business?
Doing it all. There’s always more that I could be doing, so prioritizing and making the best use of my time is a constant battle; along with keeping up with things like bookkeeping.

What inspires your work?
Color and the challenge of transforming 2,080 degree clear glass into something else entirely. Each color behaves differently as you’re working with it. I love the challenge of making an idea a reality in glass, the process of working with the glass itself and seeing what happens when light passes through the results.

Where do you see your line going from here?
I’ve been working for a while now with two-colors in each piece and recently started adding a third, and working on some new shapes to highlight them. I don’t know yet where it all will go, but am enjoying the process.

Herban Lifestyle Store Grand Opening, Feb 8th!

At the end of November, we moved into a large studio space in the Merrifield neighborhood of Fairfax. The space has a showroom in the front, which we have turned into the Herban Lifestyle Store! To celebrate our new space, we are hosting a Grand Opening on February 8, 2014 from 3:00pm to 6:00pm. We will have food & beverages (including delicious treats from Thunder Pig Confectionary and Momme Meals), samples, product-making demo, discounts and a drawing to win a free DIY kit! For more information, check out our Eventbrite invitation or Facebook Event Page.

At the store, customers can see and sniff our entire line and learn about the various organic and Fair Trade ingredients that go into them. The store also serves as a gathering spot for people to share practical ideas about sustainability, self-sufficiency, creative reuse, and safer products. You are welcome to join events or use hands-on resources at the store, including:

• Workshops where you can learn how to make your own truly natural personal care and household products, as well as other green crafting techniques, including a Couple’s Valentine Craft Night on February 12 and Make Your Own Organic Spa Products on February 19.

• A learning library for those of you who want to make your own bath and body products, plus a variety of USDA Certified Organic and Fair Trade Certified ingredients and sustainable packaging.

We hope you can join us!

Meet One Well, Our New Eco-Chic Brick and Mortar Friend

image copyright one well

The One Well opened its doors in Brooklyn last month. It is a home and body boutique featuring the work of local and global eco-friendly artisans along with carefully selected vintage pieces. The One Well was created by owner Kerry Jones as a place where people can find beautiful, environmentally responsible items to help beautify their homes and treat their bodies.

image copyright the one well

The One Well offers artisanal foods (like a yummy-sounding authentic Mexican caramel made with goat milk), hand casted beeswax candles, quilted bedding, gorgeous paper goods, unique jewelry and much more.

image copyright the one well

I met Kerry when she visited my booth at this year’s Renegade Craft Fair in Brooklyn, NY. As she described her vision for One Well, it sounded like the perfect place for my products and a place where I would love to shop. Along with the work of a variety of artisans, the One Well will carry a special line of my fuzzy soaps in earth tones, with earthy scents, as well as my MAN grooming products.

image copyright the one well

You can read more about them and see more photos of their gorgeous offerings on their Facebook page.

Their grand opening celebration is being held on the very auspicious date of 11.11.11. One Well is located at 165 Greenpoint Avenue (between Manhattan and Guiness), Brooklyn, NY.

Our New Brick and Mortar Friend: Nonny’s

image copyright Nonny's

I am very happy to announce that my line of products is now available at the newly opened Nonny’s in Fountain Hills, AZ. Nonny’s is a retail store filled with handcrafted items, refurbished vintage home goods and a floral section. It is the creation of Jerrod Alcaida, who was a wedding and event planner in LA for several years. He decided to come back to his home state and set up a retail space where he and his partner, Chad Harr, could combine several of their interests, all focusing on beauty, creativity and celebrating life’s mileposts, big and small.

image copyright Nonny's

Besides their retail selection, Nonny’s continues to provide wedding and event planning services. In addition, they offer custom floral arrangements by mother-daughter team Diane Gonzalez and Katherine Gonzalez, who are past and current Arizona State Floral Designers of the year. There are some great photos of their floral creations on Nonny’s Facebook fan page.

image copyright Nonny's

Nonny’s is also offering a variety of classes that include holiday decorating, centerpiece arrangements, and gift wrapping. The full schedule is available on their website. All of this (as Dori Wittrig said in her recent blog post on Nonny’s) is part of their mission to provide “an alternative and unique vision for your home, garden and everyday celebrations of life, inspiring harmony between interior & exterior spaces and enhancing those special everyday moments.”

image copyright Nonny's

If you are in the area, please stop by Nonny’s at 16858 Avenue of the Fountains, Suite 102, Fountain Hills, AZ 85268 and tell them I said, “Hi!”

The Thrifty HoG: A Golden Find in the Flat Iron District

On a recent business trip to New York City, I was wandering through the Flat Iron District, making my way to Penn Station. I turned down 25th street onto the block behind the office where I used to work, and made a wonderful find. The Thrify HoG’s bright and cheerful window display caught my eye, and welcomed me to enter the store. Once inside, I beheld an airy and beautifully colorful boutique, which belied the fact that it was a “thrift shop.”

There was a huge array of chic, gently-used men’s, women’s and children’s clothing and accessories, as well as books, home décor, and small home furnishings. Each and every item was obviously very carefully chosen since they were all in impeccable condition. And by the cash register sat a big golden piggy bank along with brochures and cards for Hearts of Gold, a non-profit that was benefitted by the sales from The Thrifty HoG. I asked the woman who was tending the store to tell me a bit more about the relationship between the two.

As it turned out, the woman with whom I was speaking was Deb Koenigsberger, founder of Hearts of Gold and creator of The Thrifty HoG shop. Deb had founded Hearts of Gold in 1996 to help homeless mothers develop sustainable change in their lives. In addition to providing many programs and services through Hearts of Gold, she had opened The Thrifty HoG in May 2010 to provide job opportunities and job training to the moms. Net proceeds from the shop go to support Hearts of Gold programs. What a wonderful concept!

In reading through their brochure, and their website, I saw that there are many ways to support this great organization. They hold fundraisers throughout the year, and you can shop guilt-free at their store at 11 West 25th Street. For those of you who don’t live in the New York City area, they have an online shop. To learn more about Hearts of Gold and The Thrifty HoG, check out their website.

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Live Green Membership Giveaway

This month, Herban Lifestyle was made a designated Live Green Spot, providing shoppers with the confidence that it embraces green practices and provides high quality products at a reasonable price. Herban Lifestyle now offers a 20% discount off all products purchased online at HerbanLifestyle.com for Live Green members.

We are proud to announce that we are a new LiveGreen spot. Live Green Spots provide members with an array of discounts at partner businesses andorganizations that have proven eco‐friendly practices. Partners listed on Live Green’s website,including Herban LifestyleTM, have passed a rigorous screening process and provide qualityproducts at a discounted price for Live Green members.

What is Live Green? Here’s their answer: “Live Green makes eco-friendly living and business practices easier and more affordable in DC, Chicago and beyond. We are a membership organization that provides support to green businesses in the local community and secures great discounts on everyday green products and services for consumers.”

In addition, they throw several wonderful events throughout the year, where you can eat delicious sustainable food and meet other people on the eco journey.

To celebrate, we are giving away three (3) free 1-year LiveGreen memberships (valued at $13 each). To enter, please email me at info [at] herbanlifestyle.com and tell me 3 ways in which you are living the green lifestyle. To enter, you must be 18 or older. The contest will end at 11:59pm EST on February 5, 2010. Three winners will be chosen at random from qualified entrants.

ArtSpring Grand Re-Opening Scheduled for August 8th!

ArtSpring has scheduled its grand re-opening for Saturday, August 8th. The Silver Spring venue, which is dedicated to promoting the arts in the community,  includes a retail shop featuring the work of DC-area artisans. The store will offer handcrafted products including fine art, jewelry, accessories, pottery, kids stuff, gifts and more.

ArtSpring, formerly known as Pyramid Atlantic Community Arts Store, will be moving down the street into space previously occupied by Merrimekko. All profits from sales support the Pyramid Atlantic Art Center, a Silver Spring non-profit center dedicated to promoting art in the community.

You can find several Herban Lifestyle products, alongside the work of several other local artisans like Capital Region Etsy Street Team‘s Babus.

So, if you are around on August 8th, stop by ArtSpring’s new location at 8519 Georgia Ave., at the corner of Georgia Avenue and Ellsworth Avenue, where they will be celebrating all day from 10:00am-5:00pm!

Another Brick and Mortar Friend

Last Sunday, I attended the DC Green Festival, a huge marketplace of products and ideas focusing on finding solutions to help make our lives healthier—socially, economically and environmentally. It was a smorgasbord of cool eco-friendly products, interesting speakers, yummy food, and lots of ideas on sustainable practices for your home and business.

While there, I met Steve Ma, founder of LiveGreen, a membership organization providing support to green businesses and discounts on everyday green products and services for consumers. Steve introduced me to Honi Borden, owner of Holeco™ Wellness Medi Spa in Falls Church, VA. We hit it off right away with our common love of beauty, fashion and all things organic and natural.

Holeco is a very special kind of day spa. It is the first organic Medi Spa in the US to be recognized by Co-op America as a socially responsible GREEN company and every product in Honi’s setting has been extensively researched and only those that are not harmful to people’s health or environment are chosen.

So, I was extremely honored when Honi chose to offer the Herban Lifestyle product line in her spa.  She selects products based on several criteria, including ingredients that are of the highest quality, with no chemicals, preservatives or petroleum-based constuencies, and packaging that is earth-friendly. She also gives high priority to women-owned businesses.

Thank you, Holeco!

My Muse

The Muse, Frederick, MD

As of this week, Herban Lifestyle™ products are now available at The Muse, a gift shop in Frederick, MD. On its website, they state: “Our store offers a fresh and funky twist to everyday items, all created by artists and crafts people.” It’s a wonderful place to shop for unique and beautiful gifts. I found some adorable handmade baby gifts the last time I was there.

In addition to the great merchandise, every month they have at least one special event, including trunk shows and craft workshops. I’m looking forward to the weaving workshop they will be holding in early 2009.