What's New in Industry

Inventory Talk

2011-07-12T18:08:00.001-07:00

Eight months have passed since I wrote about inventory management and I am pleased to announce that we are finally putting our thoughts into action.

This process represents a huge challenge for me, because it is all new information and so it requires my complete attention. But the past few months have brought me a series of tough business dilemmas, one after the other, and I've finally realized that I will keep having such dilemmas until I knuckle down and get organized.

Coming very soon (because its the only thing I'm working on): a new website (the one we have now is about ten years old and very clunky), with newly-created SKU's for our products so that we can pick and pack more quickly, and with integration to our accounting software so that we know what we have and when to order!

I remember when I first learned accounting. My poor supervisor kept explaining double entry and whatnot to me and I swear every day I looked at the numbers they looked like a big plate of tangled spaghetti. Nothing made sense.

That's how I feel right now as I try to shepard all my non-existent systems together into a system. But we'll get there, and on the other side of this effort will be a much improved company and true freedom to be creative again, without the nagging feeling that things are out of control.

(p.s., the reason I'm posting here now is because I will be moving my blog over to the new site, and I needed to come over and check it out. I was surprised to see that there were over 30 page views of the blog just today. I guess it never occurred to me that people read it)!

Managing Inventory - Interesting Website

2010-11-08T10:28:00.001-08:00

We recently worked with a tech person to help set up our Big Pour (an event where we invite local people to come in and shop in our warehouse), and he pointed out that even though we are an internet based company, most of our operations function "off the grid".

The way we handle our purchase orders, our accounting, our inventory, our payroll. Plenty of these things are done a very old fashioned pen-on-paper way. While this worked for a long time, we are pulling up our big girl boots and trying out new ways of doing things.

One of our areas of weakness is inventory control. So far, we have relied on Van's amazing memory, but that's not really working any more. In figuring out how we can improve, I stumbled on this very helpful, easy-to-read primer on the basics of inventory control.

Check it out! www.clearlyinventory.com/education/inventory-management.html

The advice here is forehead-slapping simple.

Breaking through the Platitudes

2010-10-21T11:36:00.001-07:00

Even the SBA likes to spread the rumor: Most startup businesses "fail" within the first five years. You've heard that, right? From the web, from your well-meaning friends, from your family.

This oft-repeated platitude has no doubt discouraged 1,000's of hopeful entreprenuers from making the leap towards self-employment and for this reason I consider it a bit evil.

The nay-sayers tell you that it is a lack of experience, money or sales that shut down 50% off all start-ups in the first five years. Umm. Yeah. That's kind of like advising a new bike-rider to stay in their seat and keep their feet on the pedals. We all kind of know that, don't we? No experience, no money, no sales = poor likelihood of success.

I haven't seen a lot of failures in my 15 years of entrepreneurship. What I have seen is my competitiors and business asssociates closing shop (not "failing"), and mostly due to personal reasons. Typically health (a sudden illness in the family or an inability to sustain the energy level it takes to run a business) or a family crisis (a divorce or a need to focus on the children).

This year I mourn/celebrate the loss of several well-established and successful businesses: Mineral Basics (finished mineral makeup) Aromaleigh (finished mineral makeup) and Southern Soapers (soapmaking supplies). Mourn because I know these women worked hard to build their companies and closing is bound to feel a bit like falling, celebrate because I know once they hit the ground they will pick the pebbles from their knees and get back up.

When you are young and dating, five years is a long time to be in a relationship that doesn't work.

When you are in college, five years is plenty of time to go from innocence to education.

When you work at a company, five years is a long time to be in one job, no question.

So here is my point: who cares if most businesses change (close) within five years. So do most relationships, schooling and jobs.

If you are thinking about starting a business and get stuck on the fear that your business will become a statistic, get over it. Starting a business, building a business and closing that business within five years is not a failure, it is an adventure, one that you will learn from and build on. Go for it!

TKB's Big Pour, the quick recap

2010-10-03T12:21:00.000-07:00

I'm not going to say our "Big Pour" event was particularly easy to host -- it was a huge distraction from our usual daily routine and I've got lots of catching up to do.

I'm also not going to boast that it was a lucrative & smart business move -- prices were pretty low and in some cases flat out loss leaders. Next time around I'll need to shop smarter.

What I am going to say is that after 12 years of standing toe-to-toe 50 hours a week pulling, packing, and generally running an online business with no public face, Van and I got to see 100 folks walk into our warehouse with smiles on their faces and stories to tell. It was a juicy, most welcome buzz.

We're doing it again, for sure. First Saturday in November.

I'll blog more on what we learned from this event. I've got lots of thoughts about how we can continue to connect with local people in a way which energizes all of us to be more successful and creative.

For now, I get an afternoon of relaxing. Maybe a hot chocolate in my future?

The Shop Local Fast Buy Experiment

2010-09-20T11:30:00.000-07:00

Even though our company has been in Oakland for nearly 15 years, we've never really opened our doors to the local community, instead we have been "online".

Lack of room and lack of English language skills amongst our staff were two big reasons for this, but there was also the comfort of the "we are an online business" cocoon. It's a warm, easy place to hide where your best foot forward can be shod in a fuzzy bedroom slipper because no one is looking.

Living in that cocoon has two major unintended pitfalls:

When you sell online, you tend to source your inventory and supplies online, which means you tend to not support your local economy;
Those online transactions you send out and bring in are all shipped, which impacts the environment both in terms of packaging and freight costs. (In fact, last year my freight and shipping costs were double what I paid to all my employees combined).

Early this year, I made a commitment to change. My first pass was to hire a woman (Ivy) to open a retail shop for us. Unfortunately, that relationship did not work out, but it was a helpful distraction because it gave me a better understanding of what kind of shop we could have at our warehouse.

Mid year, I hired two new employees who speak English as their first language and who are eager to see us open a shop. They pushed me to hire a designer to conceptualize the space (my sister, actually, Amber Westerman). Working with Amber really helped us get a better grasp on what we could do here and how it should lay out for the ease of customer use and the security and safety of all involved.

While Amber's design is still being finalized (and we think it will be awesome!), we wanted to start bringing in those local people and so we decided to host a Fast Buy.

The Fast Buy concept is simple, bring in Pails, Pallets, Bags and Buckets of raw materials that local soap/salt/bath and body folks might need for their upcoming craft shows, invite them down for a one day You Pack You Pour, and start the conversation going.....

.....What do you want? What do you need? Did you know you could get Olive Oil in Oakland from a third-generation company? Did you know you could get massage lotion from a second-generation company out by the airport? Aren't those increased container minimums horrible? I heard we could get them from .....

..... and such talk and so forth. If we know of each other, we can work together to support each other.

Our fingers are crossed, we hope to see Bay Area crafters here October 2, 2010 from 8am to noon! If you know someone who might be interested, please pass the word along!

Commerce and Cause: Found in Sioux Falls

2010-08-20T12:57:00.000-07:00

I returned last night from a 24-hour whirl to Sioux Falls, South Dakota. Sioux Falls is the kind of America's heartland I had never much expected to find myself, but when your nephew marries the daughter of a windmill farmer it's also pretty much where you end up when you attend his wedding.

Exactly one week earlier I had been in Los Angeles, at the IMATS (international Makeup Artists Trade Show) and I had been feeling the conflict of commerce versus cause (see prior blog post). At that show, I rode the rapids of thousands of young Californian women clamouring for discounted color cosmetics and their accouterments.

Here in South Dakota, on my way to the early morning farmer's market to grab a coffee before the wedding, I was standing near the natural water rapids which give Sioux Falls its name. A dynamic water way which has been running in this same location for more than 10,000 years, before their was an American heartland, before the Lakota camped at its shores, when it was just nature and nature, cascading over shiny stone.

My whole family swarmed the small farmer's market, buying up fair trade coffee and sampling organic radishes with sea salt. Of course, there was a local soap maker as well, and I was pleasantly surprised to see that she had expanded into mineral makeup and was a customer of mine. Meet Rebecca of Pearl Creek Goat Milk Soap (pearlcreekgoatmilksoap.com).

I overheard Rebecca talking to my sister-in-law about her Breast Cancer Awareness lip gloss which was part of her mineral makeup line and of course I made a beeline to her booth to hear more!

Rebecca told me about her husband's grandmother, Barbara Turner, who had given to worthy causes all her life and in particular had supported the organization Susan G. Komen for the Cure. Barbara Turner had passed away after battling breast cancer not too long ago, and when she did, she made Rebecca promise that there would always be something in her product line which would be dedicated to raising money for worthy causes. "Even if it isn't a lot of money, it's something", Rebecca explained.

The wedding was lovely, the champagne flowed.

I returned to California the next morning, with a precious Barbara Turner lip gloss tucked in my pocket. It was July 4th, America's day of independence. Each time I reached for a boarding pass or a check of the clock, I touched my lip gloss. Each time I took a moment to be proud that I was so truly American: buttons, banners, ribbons and all.

Unclenching the Jaw

2010-08-11T17:07:00.000-07:00

This year has been my tipping point. It is the year that I have gone from sleeping well at night to tossing and turning. The year that my jaw began to clench. I have my eye on a couple culprits:

My iPhone. I can pick it up at 2:00 a.m. and do a quick check of the emails or read up on the forum or check a twitter feed. I no longer come home at night and shut the door on the day's activities.

Social media. Social media is a game changer when it comes to running a small business, and the changes are largely positive. But it also keeps me awake at night as I try to unravel the consequences of social behaviors that I was never very good at to begin with. In my private universe, social media is confirmation that the cool kids and the cheerleaders won the nerd war. I no longer feel confident in my relationships with my customers.

The warehouse. Not only does paying rent on a physical space "up the ante" with regard to responsibilities, it also becomes space that needs filling, which means more products and more diverse creative projects. I no longer "know everything" about everything I sell.

The employees. Not them particularly, just the fact that they exist. That someone has to rise to the occasion on every occasion. I no longer get to hide in my work.

Recently, I moved my desk to a different part of the warehouse and brought my files with me. In cleaning out the cabinets I stumbled across a pile of old "to do" lists. I had to smile when I saw the exact same things on a five-year-old "to do" as were on last Monday's list. Poor little Kaila, plugging away week after week and still not able to cross that one off!

Next to the list was an old business plan and it was interesting to see how much of that plan I had actually realized and also how outdated it was when considering our current situation. A recent Wall Street Journal article on small business suggests that the first defense against stress is to develop a long-range vision and business plan and then to simply work the plan.

With that flicker of insight lighting the way ahead, I set the old business plan on the top of the pile on my desk, and began to write this blog post.

The beginnings, I hope, towards unclenching the jaw.

Safety Of Pigments

2010-07-29T12:19:00.000-07:00

Recently, there have been videos on Youtube where concern is expressed regarding the safe use of pigments as cosmetics.

When things get confusing like this I always suggest people go to the "source" which in the case of the USA would be the FDA (Food and Drug Administration) which regulates cosmetics. The FDA is actually quite approachable by phone. Their phone number is 1-888-723-3366. When you call, ask to speak to someone in the cosmetics division (it defaults to food safety).

While this blog post attempts to answer some of the questions raised on Youtube, I encourage interested parties to contact the FDA directly if they are confused or concerned. If you would like to make corrections or clarifications, please feel free to post.

One pigment which people have been expressing concern over is Ultramarine Blue. Ultramarine Blue is a pigment approved by the FDA for use in cosmetics, including eye shadows but not include lip products. Here is the specific language at the FDA

Ultramarine blue for use in cosmetics is synthetic, having been manufactured in the laboratory specifically for use in cosmetics. Natural ultramarines are not used in cosmetics, as the FDA only allows use of synthetic ultramarines (see link above).

While cosmetic (synthetic) ultramarine blue may look the same as paint-grade ultramarine blue when compared side-by-side, it is not the same product. Cosmetic grade pigments are processed to meet FDA standards with regard to safety (see link above). Industrial grade (or paint grade) pigments are not required to test to this level of safety.

Because ultramarines are processed using sulphur, they can have an odor (the familiar "rotten egg" smell). The strength of this odor depends on the pH of the product. For example, if you bring ultramarine blue under 6 on the pH scale (toward acid) it lets off sulphur fumes.

TKB Trading does not sell finished cosmetics (although we do have a little baby cosmetic division we call MyMix Cosmetics, these products are finished cosmetics). TKB sells raw materials which may be used for making cosmetics, soaps, and also we sell products for arts and crafts projects. (In short, we sell colors).

TKB Trading does not recommend that people use ultramarine blue directly on their eyes as an eye shadow not because it is unsafe, but simply because it would not make for a very good cosmetic. It would be draggy, perhaps too intense, be staining and not adhere over the long term.

There is no particular FDA restriction related to putting ultramarine blue directly on the eyelid without any other ingredient or texturizer. Note that in the link above, ultramarine blue's use is limited to "amounts consistent with good manufacturing practice". In our understanding, this would allow ultramarine blue to be used at 100% if for some reason someone wanted to do that. Here is an interesting link about Good Manufacturing Practices (GPM) and the FDA.

Pigments don't dissolve in water, they disperse into it. However cosmetic pigments are often fine enough that you will see them color the water and so they may make you think they are dissolving into it. If you blend ultramarine blue into water it may appear to be dissolving, but if you leave it overnight you will see that the pigment sinks to the bottom like "sand in the ocean" and the water is much less colored looking.

Blue #1 would dissolve in water, as it is a dye. However, it is also approved for use on the eyes and there is no restriction with it being used at 100%. Here is the FDA link on cosmetic Blue #1.

TKB Trading sells a color known as Carbon Black. This product is 60% D&C Black #2 and 40% Polyester 3. The purpose of the polyester is partly to encapsulate the color and make it a "jet" black. It is absolutely approved for use in cosmetics, including use around the eyes. Here is a sample formula provided by the manufacturer for a water resistant mascara. Note that the product is made in the USA.

Water Resistant Mascara

Phase A
5.00 Stearic Acid
12.00 White Beeswax
9.50 Ozokerite Wax
7.0 Carbon Black

Phase B
58.40 Water
1.00 Glycerol
2.00 DC-193 (Dow Corning)
0.25 Hydroxyethylcellulose
2.00 R-49 Bleached, Dewaxed Shellac (Mantrose-Hauser)
0.10 Phenonip (Clariant)
2.75 Triethanolamine

Procedure: Heat the wax components of Phase A to 65ºC and add
pigment slowly while thoroughly mixing. Hold phase A at 65ºC. In a
separate container, mix Phase B ingredients and heat to 65ºC.
Slowly add Phase B to Phase A using a homogenizer. Package
while still fluid.

If you have any questions, please let me know.

Commerce and Cause: Missed opportunities at IMATS 2010

2010-07-05T11:48:00.000-07:00

I attended the 2010 International Makeup Artists Trade Show (IMATS) in Los Angeles a little over a week ago.

While I have wandered many a trade show, this was my first time at the IMATS and I had heard a lot of good things about it. Primarily, I was told that there would be lots of color cosmetics and special effects companies plying their wares at deeply discounted prices.

And ... they were right. There was lots of creative Hollywood-style special effects to observe (the designer for Avatar was on hand, and I got to see the the transformation of Hell Boy). But the bulk of the show seemed to be women in their 20's and 30's purchasing their favorite MAC and similar cosmetics at discounted pricing. And when I say "bulk" I mean it. The place was so swarming it was difficult to move through the aisles!

My last moments at the show were spent watching a makeup artist demo how to switch your daytime look to evening in just a few strokes. The demo was taking place in front of the pink and white banner of the sponsoring brush company. I watched distractedly as the frenzy of the last minute shoppers surged around me. My gaze finally settled not on the model but on the pink banner behind her and even though the day had been instructive, I suddenly felt sad.

All this buying, all this spending, all this energy and not a single dollar of it going for breast cancer research. Nor was there a single banner or handout for these young women who represented the exact demographic needing education on prevention. Based on my very rough estimate of the size of the crowd, at least a thousand of the people in that room were going to receive a diagnosis of breast cancer at some point in their lives, and of course many more would be impacted by the disease in their families. How hard would it have been to incorporate even the smallest nod to issues larger than eye shadow at this incredibly lucrative trade show?

I'm not judging these companies as shallow beauty-mongers. I have no doubt that plenty of people of there would have been happy to do something to round out the experience of the event. What I am saying is that I felt an opportunity was missed. In today's world, where we have so many important things to do, to cure, to save, I was surprised that incorporation of commerce with cause hadn't occurred as a matter of course. I saw it it as a missed opportunity, and it saddened me.

I later shared my feelings with my co-workers and husband. They tried to wrap their heads around mine but the wrapping quickly unraveled. You see, all my co-workers and my husband come from communist Vietnam. Just after the fall of Saigon, life was recast into something dull, dark and dreary with no color in clothing or cosmetics. While Vietnam has since modernized and now fashion and cosmetics are everywhere, this is not true in every country.

"Americans think change happens when it is expressed in buttons, banners, and ribbons", my husband said, "But in the minds of many, the simple act of purchasing a lipstick is an exciting expression of freedom, independence and joy. It is a celebration of the beauty of life. It is cause enough."

Where to Get Ideas for Your Blog

2010-04-05T15:25:00.000-07:00

Here are two tips.

1) Set up a schedule: Monday = What's New, Tuesday = Recipe, Wednesday = Tip or Trick, and so forth. If you have a specific schedule like this, then it is kind of a no-brainer. You simply look at the calendar, see, Oh, it's Monday, and then ask yourself what you could talk about that is new. I used this tip for a few weeks and it really helped me with daily blogging.

Having said this, daily blogging is really just generating lots of words on a page. If your purpose is to drive traffic to your blog or your company, I think you get more bang for your buck if you write about things which have a lot of buzz.

For example, my post on the natural colorants used in cosmetics by 100% Pure, I get a lot of traffic off of that, compared to other posts. And I've seen a lot of comments as well. I suspect this post is the perfect storm of topical, controversial, and intriguing.

So, how does one find more topics like this? Recently I discovered Google Alerts. They could not make it any easier for you to get daily (or less often if you want) alerts about topics of interest to you. These alerts will direct you to other blogs, posts, websites, news stories, etc., about a topic of interest. If all you do is post: "Hey look at this fascinating blog post I found on such and such . . . and here is what I think about it . . . " Well, I think then you can consider yourself having jumped into the giant stream of info that is our internet.

Hey Dr. Oz, how about Fruit and Flower Pigments in Cosmetics?

2010-02-04T12:02:00.000-08:00

This past week, Oprah's Dr. Oz tried to increase his ratings by bashing Mineral Makeup as one of the most dangerous forms of color cosmetics. His basic concern was the inhalation hazard. Umm. OK. I'm going to set that one to the side for now and ask, "Hey, Dr. Oz, how about taking a look at the newest trend on QVC, which is color cosmetics made with fruit and vegetable pigments?" Can we say "not-FDA approved and at risk for bacterial growth"?

Loose powder mineral makeup is approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) but the use of fruits and vegetables to pigment cosmetics sure ain't. The FDA strictly regulates color additives and their approved uses in cosmetics. Per the FDA, the definition of a color additive is a follows (source: Sec 201)

(t)(1) The term "color additive" means a material which—

(A) is a dye, pigment, or other substance made by a process of synthesis or similar artifice, or extracted, isolated, or otherwise derived, with or without intermediate or final change of identity, from a vegetable, animal, mineral, or other source, and

(B) when added or applied to a food, drug, or cosmetic, or to the human body or any part thereof, is capable (alone or through reaction with other substance) of imparting color thereto; except that such term does not include any material which the Secretary, by regulation, determines is used (or intended to be used) solely for a purpose or purposes other than coloring.

I just got off the phone with Naomi Richfield-Fratz in the cosmetic division of the FDA (email her at naomi.richfieldfratz@fda.hhs.gov).

Naomi confirmed for me that the cosmetic industry is largely self-regulating with regard to the ingredients used, except that the color components are strictly regulated. If a company states that their COLOR comes from non-approved ingredients, then they are flat out not in compliance with the FDA and are subject to a warning letter, fines, and possibly seizure of their products.

More importantly than the letter of the law, however, let's take a look at the ingredients in a sampling from this company, 100% Pure which describes their products as "the first and only cosmetics colored from antioxidant rich fruit and vegetable pigments".

Fruit Pigmented Vanilla Eyeshadow: Ingredients: Organic Rice Starch, Pigments of Organic Carrot, Squash, Organic Apricot, Organic Peach, Papaya and Organic Tomato, Vitamin E (a-tocopherol), Organic Lavender, Organic Rosehip OIl3, Organic Avocado Butter, Organic Cocoa Butter, Vitamin C (ascorbyl palmitate), Mica (natural shimmery mineral.

Sounds lovely and edible. But where is the preservative? As the FDA's Richfield-Fratz said to me on the phone, "I'd be worried about bacterial growth in a cosmetic which uses food or fruit juice for coloring."

Look, I'm not a 100% Pure hater. What I am a hater of is that because the 100% Pure product is on QVC, my customers are coming to me and asking why they can't use organic fruit juice to color their handmade natural cosmetics.

Just the other day I was contacted by a vendor which offered me an exciting new line of "100% natural pigments from plant extracts" made to be "effective natural colouring agents" to bring "a touch of natural colour to your makeup products". When I asked the vendor: how can you sell these given the FDA Regs, the response was: "These are not classified as colorants – only color enhancing extracts".

When I asked Richfield-Fratz at the FDA if there was a special designation or exemption for "Color enhancing extracts" she laughed.

The best she and I could come up with was that the European Union has a different list of what is approved, and perhaps these products are approved in the EU. This is something I'll have to investigate.

In the meantime, she confirmed that the FDA is a complaint-driven organization and their first step would be a simple letter to the violator asking them to cease and desist. But she admitted nothing might happen at all until there is "an incident".

Well, that's all I've gotten so far. I'll keep you posted as the research unravels.

Hey, Dr. Oz! You listenin'?

Determined to drill this one down: Natural Products as Color Additives

2010-02-03T14:30:00.001-08:00

I am determined to drill this one down, because our customers would love to start using botanical additives for color cosmetics. The fear is that the FDA would act against them if they did.

The FDA strictly regulates color additives and their approved uses in cosmetics. Per the FDA, the definition of a color additive is a follows (source: Sec 201)

(t)(1) The term "color additive" means a material which—

(A) is a dye, pigment, or other substance made by a process of synthesis or similar artifice, or extracted, isolated, or otherwise derived, with or without intermediate or final change of identity, from a vegetable, animal, mineral, or other source, and

(B) when added or applied to a food, drug, or cosmetic, or to the human body or any part thereof, is capable (alone or through reaction with other substance) of imparting color thereto; except that such term does not include any material which the Secretary, by regulation, determines is used (or intended to be used) solely for a purpose or purposes other than coloring.

So, if one included a botanical which is used for a purpose other than coloring, that would be OK.

Recently I contact a vendor of natural products which they market heavily for use in coloring cosmetics. I asked them to explain how this was possible. Here is the response:

"These are not classified as colorants – only color enhancing extracts"

Well, I'll keep you posted. I'm still in conversation with the vendor and I'll also put in a call to the FDA.

100% Pure Redux and Bare Escentuals Business Changes

2010-02-02T10:14:00.000-08:00

I have been following the growth and changes at 100% Pure and I received some interesting responses. You can revisit that post and those responses here: http://tkbtrading.blogspot.com/search/label/100%25%20pure

Long Story Short: This Berkeley-based company makes natural cosmetics and has a patent pending on using fruit and flower pigments to color them.

Yesterday the broker who sold TKB the building we are currently in came to visit. We purchased the building about a year and a half ago and he was checking in to see if we were ready to expand.

He said that 100% Pure had just signed on for a new, 75,000 square foot space (about two years ago, they had just moved from their 10,000 square foot space to a 30,000 square foot space). So obviously, Home Shopping Network is working for them.

In other news of the month, Leslie Blodgett, founder of San Francisco-based Bare Escentuals (sales of $556 million in 2008) sold her business to the Japanese Cosmetic firm Shiseido for $1.7 Billion.

Could be 100% pure is headed in the same direction?

Community Participation Update

2010-01-12T11:25:00.001-08:00

For those who have been following TKB's steps towards community participation, we are happy to announce our first community-based class coming this Thursday.

I was approached by teacher Kate Sugarman of Arise High School to do some kind of presentation for her class "Money Really Does Grow on Trees". Here is a description of the class:

Since the beginning of time, people have been making household products from things found in nature. In this class, you will learn how you too can develop a business based on natural, organic products. We will forage for fruit and flowers, make essential oils, paper, soap, candles and edible treats. We will also be building the ARISE greenhouse to propagate and grow our own seedlings. Along the way, we will visit various Bay Area merchants to interview people about running a successful, natural business. At Exhibition Night, our products will go on sale. Interested students can keep their businesses going throughout the year. Keep a little extra cash in your pocket!

We will be looking at two different products here at TKB. The first will be lip products (lipsticks, chapsticks, balms, etc.) and I will explain the different types of plant based oils, waxes and color additives one can use. Of course, each student will also get the thrill of unmolding a lipstick into a casing, as well as to make their own product.

The second project will be melt and pour soapmaking. We will again look at the plant based ingredients but we will also focus on how to design a soap which will "sell". We will be doing fortune soaps. This is a project where you design a fortune, laminate it with packing tape, and then put it in a small zip lock bag which you fill with soap. This way you have a small prepacked travel soap the student can take home with them, and a unique fortune inside.

I am pleased to support ARISE which is a school specifically tasked to prepare students from low income families to be the first in their families to attend college.

Thanks Darlin!

2009-12-04T12:54:00.000-08:00

Today we received a gift box of cookies from one of our "weekly" customers. Thanks Darlin'

Changing Relationships One Lippie at a Time

2009-11-17T10:17:00.000-08:00

Recently, we hosted a Lipstick Color Challenge on our forum (mixupyourmakeup.com). Each of the 30 participants received an assortment of pre-colored, pre-finished lipstick bases as well as the tools and containers needed to formulate their own unique color blends.

The idea behind the contest was to make it easy for people to just dig in and have fun with color. At the end of the contest, participants were invited to submit photos and the winners received gift certificates for our shop. The above link shows the winners of this part of the contest.

But who were the real winners, really? Read the following to find why we think gathering around a microwave with a pile of lippies is good for the planet.

"Ok we're done playing with our kit. There were 5 of us and we each made one formula as we did it as a family project, my boyfriend had such a good time, he made a couple extra for his mom to give her for Christmas . . . I about fell off my chair when he didn't stop at his obligatory lippie . . He went into it so grudgingly, with no experience and totally got into it and then went beyond. HE was the last one sitting at the table mixing away, it was adorable. Not only that but he wrote down his formula for it even though it's a once in his lifetime gift for his mom and I didn't even make him! The kids loved it, even the ones who would rather have been playing "wii", when they were done, they said "That's it? That was easy" and "Can I make more tomorrow? . . .

. . . It was nice having that family time where everyone got creative and all truly had fun. We're always doing family projects but that was the first time everyone played in makeup. And you know, the big manly man who made lipstick for his mom? I overheard him on the phone with his sister confirming which shade his mother wears and how he thinks he should make her one that's more of a peach. Yep, he might be going back for seconds with the kit and solo!"

Pressed Powder Redux

2009-11-14T16:38:00.000-08:00

Tomorrow I'm teaching my first class on how to press powders (eye shadows, blushes and so forth). Below is a little video showing my studio!

I worked really hard to conceptualize this cosmetic process for the home cosmetic chemist and while I still have some loose ends, its gratifying to see it come together.

Bottom Line: set deadlines (real ones like a class) and you'll accomplish more, even if it stresses you out!

Community Participation Update

2009-09-18T10:03:00.000-07:00

For those who have interest in how this project is going forward, it looks like the Maker's Meet won't happen in September as I had hoped, but things are nonetheless moving forward!

Our new deadline is November 15th when I am scheduled to teach a class on making pressed powders and lipstick at thenovastudio.com. I have notified all participants that the class is both for them, as well as a rough draft of my program I am putting together for neighborhood youth.

It's been a lot of fun to try to bring this one home. We ("we" meaning "the universe") are still very much in the innovation phase of Make Your Own Natural Color Cosmetics, so there is a lot of research which needs to be done. A lot of recipe writing and equipment getting and "best way to do this" figuring out.

I am tackling this with my assistant, Lennye, in the stolen moments between running my business and sleeping. I used to try to tell her what I wanted done in a day, but it turned out I spent a lot of time explaining myself and it was confusing for her and frustrating for me.

We have since stumbled on a solution which works very well for us. I now give her the day's work in the form of a "test" or "lab assignment". I sit down and list a series of questions and experiments that I want to her accomplish and then I leave blanks for her to fill in the answers.

We have found that by doing this she stays focused on answering the questions I have, I get the answers I am looking for, and we are magically pulling together the beginnings of a lab assignment.

As the photo shows, I'm not doing this in any kind of fancy way -- but it works, and it moves us forward.

Yeah us!

Kaila Westerman
TKB Trading, LLC

My Pretty Pink Folder

2009-08-25T16:41:00.000-07:00

Long ago I learned to compartmentalize some of my small business owner activities so that they don't overwhelm.

I order new supplies once a week (Wednesdays) and I don't even think about it in between.
When bills come in, I immediately tuck them into my "pink folder". I only sort through and pay bills on Friday.
I come in at 9:00 and leave at 6:00 and weekends are not for working.

It's like Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs. In life, we need to meet the physiological basics first (food, water, sleep, etc) before we concern ourselves with the "higher" needs.

Similarly, I find that if my inventory is well stocked, my bills are paid, and my mind and body are refreshed by family and friends, then all the other stresses of owning my business are manageable.

Even if I do work extra hours (not really that uncommon), at least I have made an agreement with myself that I don't have to, so staying is more of a pleasure than a stress.

Do I accomplish everything I want in every day? Nope. Do I move forward on my projects as quickly as I would wish? Nope. Do I take each day with a relaxed and open heart: as much as I can.

Kaila

Patent Pending on Natural Pigments

2009-08-19T10:50:00.000-07:00

Recently I was contacted regarding the company 100% Pure and its patent pending for use of fruit, vegetable, flower and seed pigments for use in cosmetics.

The concern was that if 100% Pure succeeds in their patent then it will negatively affect all natural cosmetic companies.

The author requested that we call the examining attorney Tania Ashby at 571-270-1348 and that we write a formal complaint to the commissioner for patents

The Commissioner for Patents
PO Box 1450
Alexandria, VA 22313-1450

OK, I have passed the word along, now here is what I have thought about this over the years.

1) The folks at 100% Pure are based here in the Bay Area and I have talked with them as well as sold product to them. In particular, the female founder has taken a mineral makeup class from me when I taught years ago at thenovastudio.com. This in itself doesn't mean anything but I wanted to let you know that the people behind 100% Pure are just people. In some ways they are small, independent natural businesses just like yours (if you have one), although perhaps better funded. They operate out of a 30,000 square foot warehouse in Oakland.

2) I always scratched my head over this patent, because the FDA regulates what color additives are approved for use in cosmetics and the list touted by 100% Pure aren't FDA approved. In my mind, 100% Pure was (is) in violation of the FDA regulations regarding color additives in cosmetics.

3) But lots of companies do use "fruit, vegetable, flower and seed pigments" in their products. For example, Aveda uses botanicals in its formula for Black Malva shampoo. But Black Malva is not on the FDA list of approved color additives. I think the reason they get away with this is because they add it as a "botanical additive" not as a "color additive". Typically, color additives are at the end of an ingredients list in the "may contain" section. I suspect that Black Malva is up there above the "may contain" designation and listed as a botanical. Botanical additives are not regulated by the FDA. This tricky little slippery slope has been used by all kinds of natural cosmetic manufacturers to insert natural coloring agents into their products.

4) So why the patent application by 100% Pure? After scratching my head for about a month, I finally sat down and read the the patent, quickly (patent application number 20060280762) . My read was that they are by-passing the FDA regulations for their current product line by claiming that they are not coloring the cosmetic, they are coloring the body, the fact that there is a cosmetic in between is kind of an "afterthought". For example, cherry juice stains the lips. Yes, there is some waxy oil blend (read: lipstick) which is used to apply it to the lips, but the cherry juice is not there to color the waxy oil blend, it is there to stain the skin of the lips. Maybe I am misunderstanding the patent application, but when I rephrased it that way at least I understood how they were getting around FDA regulations.

5) But let's say I'm wrong. Let's just say we all agree that "fruit, vegetable, flower and seed pigments" are not approved for use in cosmetics by the FDA. Let's say that 100% PUre is currently manufacturing in violation of FDA regulations by claiming that they use natural pigments to color their cosmetics -- pigments which are not on the approved list. Are people being harmed? Nope. Why is that? Because the ingredients are not inherently unsafe. They are not approved by the FDA simply because no one has no one has invested the money necessary to have them become FDA approved. Why would they when they have so many reliable analine dyes to use instead.

6. So, perhaps the folks at 100% Pure are pure genius. Even if natural pigments are not FDA approved I assume that this does not prevent you from filing a patent for the idea. And if you held a patent on the idea, funding for such FDA approval would easily follow because all of a sudden you would own something that everyone -- especially the big guys -- would be willing to license. As an example, perhaps the attorney for a patent-holding 100% Pure would argue that the ONLY reason the Black Malva is in the Aveda shampoo formula is because Black Malva is a dark pigment and it offers some natural darkening to the hair. It does not offer any other qualities (such as shine, or silkiness). Therefore the use of the Black Malva in the shampoo formula violates the patent and therefore Aveda must cease and desist and/or pay 100% Pure a license fee.

OK, lots of guessing, speculating and noodling in the above. I'm not telling you what the situation is, I'm throwing in my two cents. I'm sure there are some errors in my thought process and I welcome feedback. But if I'm right even 80%, I have to say, the folks at 100% Pure smarter than I originally thought.

Kaila Westerman

Green Cleaners made by Clorox

2009-08-15T10:52:00.000-07:00

In 2008, Clorox Corp (based here in Oakland, CA) came out with a line of green cleaning products. More than 99% of the ingredients in their new GreenWorks line come from natural, non-petrochemical sources. The ingredients include:

Water
Alkyl Polyglucoside. This is a detergent surfactant made from coconut oil
Ethanol SDA-3C. This is a dirt-dissolving solvent made from corn oil
Glycerine. A solvent from corn oil
Lemon oil. From Lemons, obviously, there for the fragrance
Kathon, a preservative which is part of the 1% of the formula derived from petrochemicals. But it is biodegradable
Milliken Liquitint Blue HP and Bright Yellow dyes. Also part of the 1% of the formula derived from petrochemicals.

As you probably know, most commercial cleaners do not provide a full ingreidents list such as Clorox has done. If you want more information about a commercial cleaner, you can visit The Green Guide, an online publication of National Geographic.

Hope these sites lead you to new ideas!

Kaila Westerman

2009-08-13T18:53:00.000-07:00

Press Release

August 11, 2009

Changes to the Mixing Pot
Pigment Lady's Simple Pleasures purchased by TKB Trading

It was 1996. EBAY and Craigslist were uncertain startups right along with Lori Schenkelberg's “Pigment Lady” and Kaila Westerman's “TKB Trading”.

“We met in an AOL chat room,” explains Kaila. “What started out as a hobby for us, quickly became micro businesses. Our other chat room buddies included ElaineWhite (who had just published a book on soapmaking), Melody Upham (founder of Rainbow Meadows soapmaking supplies) and Linda Jines (founder of Sweetcakes Soapmaking and Candle Supplies). None of us would have imagined our futures unfolding as they did. At the time, we were simply trying to make soap.”

The Pigment Lady was the first to offer repacked pigments and dyes to soap makers at an affordable price. In 1996, her son was just entering first grade; he is now entering college. “It's been a long journey which has been comprised of a lot of hard work, a lot of fun, and a lot of life lessons thrown in for good measure,” says Lori. “I could not have done it without the loyal soap making community which supported me throughout the years, and I thank them!”

Lori's decision to sell her business to Kaila is one which will benefit her Simple Pleasures customers. Kaila's TKB Trading already offers hundreds of pigment, dye and mica options, and her customer service and loyalty are unsurpassed.

For information on TKB Trading, visit them at www.tkbtrading.com or www.wholesalecolors.com.
To contact Lori and wave “goodbye”, please shoot an email to PigmntLady@aol.com.

2009-08-07T18:05:00.001-07:00

Last month we took a day off to have a company outing. We took the ferry to San Francisco, then rented bikes and biked across the Golden Gate Bridge. Here are some photos. They should play as a slideshow automatically, just be patient!

Work in Progress

2009-08-06T16:20:00.001-07:00

Baby Steps to Community Participation

2009-08-05T15:57:00.001-07:00

My business is a simple one. It boils down to buying large quantities of interesting stuff, packing said stuff into smaller quantities and then shipping it out to people who have the time and energy to play with it.

While it is gratifying to be part of my customers' creative cycle, the work is work. It's routine. I try to be very Zen, to see the task in front of me as meditation. But, during a recent "meditation" I calculated that I had been meditating for about 30,000 hours. Time to be enlightened!

In our neighborhood, there is a laundromat, Woody's Laundry and Drapes. I've known Woody for several years. He immigrated from China and started this laundry our rather rundown part of town. Later, he added a cafe. In addition to growing his business, Woody touches the people of this neighborhood. He began to host "outdoor movies" free for the neighborhood. He signed up to host the National Night Out parties. Does the neighborhood love Woody? Yelp has 48 positive reviews on his laundromat. Who reviews laundromats except the most rabidly loyal?

I am aware that my business also touches people, I get feedback along that line pretty much every day and I appreciate it. But this week, I commit to being more like Woody. I commit to taking baby steps to bring our business closer to having a positive impact on our immediate neighborhood.

Our first baby step is tomorrow when we take time out to repaint the building facade. Next step is to complete our "public" space by the end of August (right now it pretty much looks like a rainbow exploded in here).

In September, we will host a Maker's Meet. The Maker's Meet will be a by-invitation event for community leaders who work with the youth in our area in a creative way (art teachers, community organizers, etc). Our plan is to introduce them to what TKB does, what it has and what we know. I think once they get to know us, opportunities to impact will come at us like snowflakes in Minnesota: unique, soft, deep and cool.

Wish us luck!

Kaila Westerman
TKB Trading, LLC

Micro Fine Rose Powder

2009-07-23T16:23:00.000-07:00

This just in: Roses that are crushed micro fine and end up so powdery smooth you can use them as a face powder! We also got in a micro fine Coconut Powder.

I chose these two particular powders because they do not have a strong odor (as some botanicals do), and between the two of them, we have the basic skin tones (pink from the rose and a yellow/brown from the coconut). As a result we can use them to make finishing veils or even foundations if we wished.

We've started playing with them, and although the color payout isn't fabulous, they do offer some color. Here are some links to some recipes we have started with. More to come in our Recipe section.

Enjoy!

Kaila Westerman
TKB Trading, LLC

Special Opportunity through July 19, 2009

2009-07-17T17:04:00.000-07:00

As you may know, we have added a "customer review" function to our website. I would like to get the ball rolling on this and the best way is to get a lot of reviews up. Once there are a lot of reviews on the site, more people will be likely to put in their two cents, and hopefully everyone will benefit.

So, here's what I'm proposing.

For every review you post, between now and Sunday night (midnight) July 19, I will credit you $.75, up to a maximum of 26 reviews. This adds up to $19.50 which is equal to the amount of a minimum order of $16.50 plus first class shipping. Therefore, you could end up getting an order shipped to you completely free. Or, you can simply apply the gift certificate to any order you place, large or small.

On Monday, July 20, I will issue gift certificates for the total of your credit.

Now here are the all-important ground rules which we will enforce strictly, arbitrarily and without checking in with you first. Please do not participate in this opportunity if you are likely to get angry at TKB for determining that you have not followed these rules:

1) In order to write a review, you will have to register at our site and do it at the site. We will not accept emails.
2) You can only review a product which you have actually purchased from TKB Trading.
3) You cannot cut and paste essentially the same review for each product. You have to create up to 26 unique statements. Also, you can't copy from your friends or from other reviews on the site. You have to come up with your own words.
4) The reviews do not have to be all "Five Stars", just honest and helpful.
5) The reviews cannot direct people to a different company or resource, or compare our products to another company's products (even if it does so favorably, it just wouldn't be polite).
6) You must be willing to let us edit your review for content.
7) You do not have to do 26 reviews, you can do just one, and we will give you a $.75 gift certificate. It doesn't matter to us.
8) If we are overwhelmed, we reserve the right to end this opportunity earlier than Sunday (although I doubt that will happen). There will be NO rainchecks. So you probably should check this blog first before you start your reviews to make sure that we are still running this program (I'll keep this post up to date).
9) Your review must be longer than just a few words and it must be heartfelt, meaningful and useful to people who read it.

Here are examples of reviews which would be rejected:

"Love this color, use it all the time!"
"This brown is beautiful."
"Great buy, best I've seen"

Here are examples of reviews which would earn you a credit (actual examples from our website):

for both black and white skin! Used as a wonderful all round eyeshadow on my african dark skinned friend. And as an eyeliner and in the crease for mt green eyes and very light skin for at smokey effect.
Its fantastic around green and brown eyes.
I made this color, but I had a problem...I didn't have enough Pearl White, so I didn't add as much in, but the color turned out the same...It just doesn't look as light...but when I put it on my finger...It is a very close match. I love this color...I paired it with Beach sand..and I got compliments all day long!
I purchased this at the same time as my ingredients for my foundation, concealer, setting powder, and it fits great in my purse or travel bag for touch ups. I think I will buy the smaller size for blush and eyeshadow.

If you have any questions, let me know. If you plan on telling your friends about this opportunity, please make sure they are aware of ALL the rules because I would hate to disappoint anyone.

Kaila

www.tkbtrading.com
info@tkbtrading.com

Matte Color Blends

2009-07-16T12:04:00.000-07:00

We are working on getting about 50 matte color blends up in our recipes section.

Twitter Etiquette

2009-07-14T09:23:00.001-07:00

Like about a million other people, I am a newbie at Twitter.com. (Twitter is the moment-by-moment social networking site which turns blogs into a slough of primordial goo).

When I read the tweets, I feel like I'm squeezed into the 14 Mission Trolley in San Francisco: hot, crowded, surrounded by strangers speaking a foreign language and trendsetters busily making plans on their cell phone. And out of it.

In desperation, I recently twittered a plea for instructions and got a tweet back with a link to Twitter Etiquette. Amidst the suggestions at this link this one really struck me:

The author suggests people keep their private conversation or their business and private lives separate by creating separate Twitter accounts. It probably sounds really obvious, but the original idea of Twitter seemed to blur the line and made me feel that whatever I shared went to business associate, lover and enemy all alike.

For me, the suggestion boils down to setting up one twitter account strictly for business updates "Follow TKB Trading at www.twitter.com/tkbtrading to be alerted when there are new products, sales, and general announcements" and another for personal "Follow Kaila Westerman at www.twitter.com/kailawesterman for updates on Kaila's success with losing 5 pounds, lowering her cholesterol or whatever else she is worrying about today!" Once the two accounts are created, I can control who gets my tweets and whose tweets I receive.

Now, if I can just get everyone else to do this too.

Kaila Westerman
TKB Trading, LLC
for now, follow tkbtrading at http://twitter.com/tkbtrading

Video: Fauxnique's favorite lipstick colors

2009-07-09T10:28:00.000-07:00

"liar lips" "pink suspense" "blond venus" "first bite" "almost nude"

This four minute video is both a drag queen makeup tutorial and a list of lipstick names. Get inspired.

Kaila Westerman
TKB Trading, LLC
www.tkbtrading.com

Coffee Klatch

2009-07-07T11:41:00.000-07:00

Did you know July 26th was Savvy Auntie Day? A day to celebrate neices, nephews, and godchildren.

Conveniently, there is also a website for us ladies who love kids (that are not "our" kids). Savvyauntie.com.

Savvyauntie started just one year ago (anniversary is July 9th). Let's give them a shout! Other women's oriented sites to visit:

bettyconfidential.com: Geared to the professional woman in her 30's. Typical advertiser is Joffreys coffee from Seattle.

DivineCaroline.com: Geared to social women who like to share problems and solutions. Typical advertiser is Nordstrom.

Shine.Yahoo.com: Young and urban, Sex and the City on a budget. Typical advertiser: McDonalds.

Wowowow.com: Geared to the brainy, sensible, doctorates among us. Typical advertiser is Tiffany's.

Kaila Westerman
TKB Trading, LLC
www.tkbtrading.com

Reframing the Brand

2009-07-06T09:43:00.000-07:00

Recently I attended a Green Expo in San Francisco and it was interesting to see the number of booths dedicated to various different enterprises. Surprising to me was the number of independent organic chocolatiers. Seems that hand crafted chocolate is just as dynamic an entreprenuerial industry as hand crafted soap, toiletries and cosmetics.

Locally, we have several chocolatiers many of them quite large. San Francisco's Ghiradelli, of course, Berkeley's Sharfenberger, and then a bunch of others including a company you can find in between Pier One and Fisherman's Wharf, TCHO (pronounced Choh).

Let's talk about TCHO.

This American Life radio shows explains in episode #383: Origin Story how much we American's love a good entreprenuerial back story. That's why HP spent millions to recreate the garage that was used by Mr's Hewlette and Packard at the start of their company. And why Google, which started at Stanford University with lots of backing dollars, moved after two years into a garage, stayed their for six months then moved out. Just so they could have a garage back story.

Thco's brand story is complicated and involves many elements. The main one is the idea of chocolate gone high tech. This is based on the fact that the main chocolatier used to design systems for the space shuttle. Watch their TCHO is video and ask yourself, if you were to make a similar video of your company, what would it look like? What would it say about you?

Kaila Westerman
TKB Trading, LLC
www.tkbtrading.com

Max Factor Shuts Down

2009-07-03T11:35:00.000-07:00

Say Bye-Bye to another cosmetic company with fascinating entreprenuerial roots. In 2010, the current owner of Max Factor will discontinue the product in the U.S.

Max Factor was begun by Maximilian Faktorowicz in the early part of this century. His company became really famous during the golden age of Hollywood (1920's and 1930's), where his products were used and promoted by famous actresses such as Judy Garland and Claudette Colbert.

Max Factor's list of innovations in the cosmetics industry is long, including the fact that he actually coined the term "Makeup" to describe making up ones face! But what really interests me is some of the interesting ideas the company had which might have life in them today as a kind of "retro return" to the somewhat greener roots of cosmetics:

Nail "Polish" in which beige colored powder is sprinkled on the nails and buffed with chamois to give shine and some tint. This is nail polish without the toxic chemicals and varnishes, a completely green concept that could find legs today. (The product was introduced in 1925 and called Max Factor's Supreme Nail Polish)
In a similar vein, they introduced Society Nail Tint in 1927, which was a small porcelain pot filled with a rose colored cream. One applied this to the nails and buffed for a natural rose color.
Also, Society Nail White was a tube of chalky white liquid that was applied under the nails and left to dry, similar to a french manicure.
Colorless, clear mascara

Hmmm. I always find that looking at the old books on cosmetics, or the innovations of the old companies is chock full of fun, retro ideas.

Kaila Westerman
TKB Trading, LLC

Recipe Section added to our Website

2009-07-01T09:28:00.000-07:00

Last week we added a Recipes tab to our website. This week, and all through July we will be diligently adding recipes.

Our first project has been to photograph and upload all the various nearly 100 color blends created by our customers in last year's Pop Mica Recipe Roundup. These will give everyone more ideas on how to work with the Pop Micas to create their own unique products.

As we finish that project, we will turn our attention to more complex challenges such as foundation blends, how to make pressed powders and more.

Our Recipes Section is probably the most exciting thing at TKB right now, so check it out often in July.

Kaila Westerman
TKB Trading, LLC

Communication between Old and New

2009-06-30T11:17:00.000-07:00

I was away last week visiting my parents, who are in their 80's and assisting an uncle who is in a nursing home. For one week, my fingertips fell away from the pulse of ecommerce onto the frailer, paler, pulse of elderly wrists.

When these people pass away, I will miss them; but this trip I was also struck by how much I will miss their modes of communication. For example, my dad loves to give me informative clippings. He gives them at the start of a visit, rifles through the manila folder for more at the end and mails them in thick packets in between, often with a handwritten note: "You probably already know this stuff. All's well here. Dad"

Compare this with the communication I received from a 20-something customer. She had bought our kit and had a question but didn't know how to get hold of me, so she posted a query on our You Tube account.

Repeat: This young woman had my kit and therefore also had my website URL and email address but she didn't know how to contact me. I've heard that to someone of her generation email = snail mail. But I hadn't really realized that my email is as useless to her as my twitter address is to my elderly uncle.

It reminded me of 12 years ago, when I started my business and would get 100 phone calls a day. Now I get about 20. Five years ago, I used to be flooded with emails, now not so much. This despite the fact that sales are up.

At that moment I finally GOT it. Social Networking IS the revolution, and I gotta get with the program. No point in resisting any longer.

Kaila

Reading All Plaques Makes you Green

2009-06-22T08:42:00.000-07:00

My father is the ultimate plaque reader. As a child, we marked road trips not by miles but by plaques read. Those "off road" historical markers? The ones that you saw beat-up, kid-smeared green station wagons turning out for? The ones that you happily disregarded ? Yeah. We read 'em.

No wonder then, that on Father's Day this year, I felt compelled to read a plaque. It was early evening outside the FM Smith Recreation Center in Oakland. I was the first to arrive for our Neighborhood Crime Prevention Council Meeting. Milling about the rec center was a handful of youth, in the distance the thump of a basketball and squeak of sneakers. Marijuana smoke wafted.

Five minutes passed but none in my group had arrived yet and the center was still locked. I scanned the park trying to find the source of the smoke then noticed in the distance four life- sized mules covered in graffiti. Next to them, an equally graffiti-decorated plaque. I reluctantly made the trek.

Turns out that the FM Smith Rec Center is named after Francis Marion Smith, known internationally as "Borax" Smith. Born in Wisconsin in 1846, went to Nevada at the age of 21 to make his fortunes. While there, he discovered and staked a claim for a borax mine. Built an empire on this natural mineral and marketed it as 20-Mule Team Borax because it took 20 mules to haul the mineral from the mines. Later, settled in Oakland with his wife and did wonderful things like build housing for orphaned girls and develop rail systems in the area. Died, donated this part of his estate to the City as a park.

20-Mule Team Borax is still made and sold, now by the Dial Corporation. It is a very popular ingredient in home-made, natural, biodegradable cleansers:

Automatic Diswasher Detergent: equal parts borax and baking soda, 2 tablespoons per load.
All-purpose Cleaner: 2 tbsp vinegar, 1 tsp borax, 2 cupts hot water, 1/4 cup liquid soap.
Natural Laundry Detergent: 1 cup washing soda, 1/2 cup borax, 1 bar soap, 3 gallons water. For a visual guide (including videos) on how to make this recipe as well as examples showing how well it cleans: Simple Dollar

It was early evening. The city about me hummed, squaked and squealed. As a person who moved to California from the midwest when I was 21, as a seller of minerals, a lover of natural cleansers, an Oakland resident involved in making my city a better place. I felt the rush of a connection to another time and place.

I used to think plaques were dorky. Now, I just wish I live long enough and do well enough in my life to have a plaque of my own. Graffiti covered or not.

Color Blending till the Cows Come Home

2009-06-18T16:33:00.000-07:00

I've had a week of color blending. Swatching colors across my forearm and fingers so many times during the day that my skin is a little raw.

I just spent four hours "duping" a single color, and I am awed. That I get to have such a great job, that it took me so long, that I actually succeeded.

Here's what I've learned so far:

A single blend probably consists of no more than 5 elements.
Start with the pigment base. To that add the hilite. To that add the main hue. Finish with the complementary tweaking to neutralize the hue.
Wash, rinse, repeat.
Take breaks between attempts.
Keep notes and samples.
Ask other people for feedback.
Count Blessings.

Kaila Westerman
TKB Trading, LLC

New Product:: Roll on Tube

2009-06-17T17:53:00.000-07:00

This just in! We now have Roly Poly Bottles! (Also known as plastic bottles with a rolling ball applicator and a white cap).

For me, a Roly Poly is very retro. Reminds me of the 70's: summer, hanging out in the yard with a lemonade, a book, sunscreen and of course, roll-on watermelon flavored lipgloss.

But of course they can also work for other neat things such as glitter (our microfine glitter works great). You can fill the tube with straight glitter or you can suspend the glitter in some kind of base such as a lotion, a lip gloss, castor oil. You choose.

Hope you enjoy!

Kaila Westerman

Happy Birthday Lori Nova

2009-06-16T13:31:00.000-07:00

Recently, Lori Nova celebrated her birthday. In honor of this, let me introduce her to you.

Lori runs The Nova Studio in Point Richmond, California. Her studio offers a variety of bath and body care classes, soap making intensives, and general art classes. Lots of friendly folks come to her classes over and over again.

I've taken several classes at Lori's studio: Liquid Soapmaking, Coloring with Confidence, Natural Perfumery, Hot Process Soapmaking, Artist Trading Cards, Advanced Melt and Pour, to name a few. Whenever I'm bored, I check out her website to see if there is something new to catch my eye.

Lori has won numerous awards for her decorative soaps, and has been a speaker at the Handcrafted Soap Guild annual gatherings more times than I can remember.

Lori is very active in the soap making and natural bath and body care DIY community and a valued resource. Yea Lori!

I want to be Linda Mason

2009-06-15T11:54:00.001-07:00

This blog entry started out as a book review of a book I love, Eye Candy (Mason, Linda, New York, Watson-Guptill Publications, 2008, $14.95). The book is written by Linda Mason, a New York makeup artist for over 30 years. It is a collection of 55 eye shadow "looks" done up on regular clients, friends and family. Long story short: it's good.

I say that the entry started as a book review but as I was writing, I remembered that Linda had put together a fun little promo video on it, and so I went to her site to find the link.

And then I just got lost in her site. O-M-Double-G. I want to be Linda Mason. I think, if you are making your own cosmetics and are looking for inspiration, you might want to be her to.

Enough of what I think, go to her site: lindamason.com. Spend the rest of your time browsing it.
You will be inspired, I guarantee.

Kaila Westerman
TKB Trading, LLC

Making pressed powders

2009-06-10T15:02:00.000-07:00

If you want to make your own pressed-powder makeup, using just a few ingredients, you can!

Pressed powders are less messy than loose ones, also their colors are more intense and they tend to have a little better staying power on the skin.

To make a pressed powder, you will need:

Some kind of powder to press (some blend that you have created for eye shadow, foundation or blush)
A binder of some kind (recipes below)
Something to press into (you can press into a small jar, or in to a compact or a cosmetic tin)
Something to press with (you can use your thumbs, a coin, or something more sophisticated which you make up.

Binder recipes can be very simple. Here are three:

2 parts dimethicone, 2 parts fractionated coconut oil, 1 part jojoba oil
1 part dimethicone, 1 part fractionated coconut oil
1 part dimethicone, 1 part jojoba oil, 2 parts alcohol.

Simply shake the binder in a bottle and then either squeeze or spray it onto your loose powders. Then stir or mix together. I like to put everything in a plastic bag and mush it around.

You will use about 10-15% binder to 85-90% color. Said another way, 1/2 teaspoon binder to 1 tablespoon powder. You want the powder to be damp and pressable.

Once the ingredients are mixed together, spoon them into their container and press. I suggest you cover the surface of the powder with some plastic wrap and then press with something firm such as your fingers, or a coin wrapped in plastic. If you really get into it, you can come up with your own devices using c-clamps and other hardware.

Kaila Westerman
TKB Trading, LLC

Dimethicone, an introduction

2009-06-10T14:32:00.000-07:00

Dimethicone is a kind of Silicone, which is made from petrochemicals. Dimethicone comes in different thicknesses. Our Dimethicone is a liquid, about the viscosity of canola oil. But it is not oily. It is odorless and has a silky feel as you rub it onto your skin.

Dimethicone is popular because it is a great emollient (an emollient soften, soothes and protects the skin by acting as a barrier layer on the skin/hair, keeping the natural water/moisture from drying out). For this reason, you will often see dimethicone used in formulas for lotions, as well as hair care products. Usually, it is not more than 1% - 5% of the formula.

Our color-cosmetic customers like to use Dimethicone for several projects:

to make a makeup primer
to turn their loose powder makeup into a "pressed powder" (see other blog post)
to improve the slip, shine and feel of a lipstick or lip gloss

Dimethicone does not dissolve in water and doesn't really like to dissolve in castor or jojoba oil, either! It can be added to a formula which uses some kind of emulsyfing agent, however. Dimethicone will dissolve into such things as essential oils.

Kaila Westerman
TKB Trading, LLC

What happened to our old space?

2009-06-09T10:18:00.000-07:00

For 10 years, TKB Trading operated out of the first floor of a triplex in downtown Oakland (356 24th Street). Although we had a storefront, we never used it. So we are really happy to see our old space blossom into something new and different: SMITHS, a storefront project by crafter/artisan/artists Allison Smith.

She has converted the studio into an intimate public space for "makers". Tonight's event is an a craft-action dye happening "Indigo Girls" which Brooklyn-based artis Travis Boyer has been performing since 12/08. Participants are invited to come and dye whatever they like in a natural fermentation indigo dye vat. According to the artist, "the process of dying marks the dyers; it stains our hands and customes but also facilitates profound illumination."

It's happening tonight, and yes, I am "so there".

Franken-THIS

2009-06-08T09:40:00.000-07:00

You may (or may not) have heard of Frankenlippies. The idea behind them is to make your own unique color of lipstick by slicing off bits of commercial lipstick you have on hand, melting them together and refashioning them into one brand new lipstick.

We actually did a Frankenlippie contest back in 2008 using our products. You can view the video here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MadSj9ReZg8. It's kind of a long video, so if you get bored, my feelings won't be hurt.

Recently I was contacted by a woman who does Frankenpolishes. Here is here blog spot:
http://drfrankenpolish.wordpress.com. Now this a fun link. It's fun to see all the colors she can create. So check her out for fun!

Kaila Westerman
TKB Trading, LLC

Van is a graduate

2009-06-05T09:54:00.000-07:00

TKB's key employee is Van Nguyen. She is the shipping and packing supervisor for our company. Van grew up in Vietnam and dropped out of high school to support her family by selling fresh fruits on the streets of downtown Saigon. In her early 30's she emigrated to the USA to make a better life for herself.

Because Van is distantly related by marriage to my husband, I hired her as soon as she arrived. She didn't speak a word of English but she was a hard worker.

Over the years, we have celebrated many milestones as every semester she plugged away at the local community college, determined to be the first in her family to get a college degree.

Today, eight years later, she has achieved her goal. We are proud of Van and lucky to have such a great role model in our lives.

What happened to my Blogging!

2009-06-04T15:41:00.000-07:00

In February, 2008, the date of my last post, my company was housed in the same 1500 square foot basement where we had been for the last 8 years. We were packed to the gills! Every day I was straddling inventory while answering phone calls and meanwhile tucking in my buttocks enough to let others squeeze by.

I knew where I wanted to move and what the building would look like. I knew the neighborhood, the price, the size, the architecture. But of course I was much too busy to actually look for this new space, plus forget about all the paperwork required to apply for a real estate loan. But a girl could dream. And I did, over and over, it was my daily refrain.

Then, one day completely out of the blue, two men knocked at our door. No one ever knocked at our door except the UPS driver and the Mail Carrier, so we opened it to these two angels with great suspicion. Apparently angels sometimes have a brokers licenses, because they took one look at my space, listened to my dream and handed me a flyer. "You need to buy THIS building". When I went to see it, I touched its concrete block walls and knew immediately I had found my new home.

Long story short, after months of negotiation, the price came down to a place where I could act, and we moved into our new warehouse on July 5th, 2008.

Since that time, it has been a whirlwind of growth at TKB Trading. All along I had thought I wanted more space so that I wouldn't have to tighten my buttocks. Turns out that was the least of my concerns, because with more space comes growth, with growth comes responsibility. More employees, more paperwork, more inventory, more stress.

Here we are almost a year later. Although my buttocks are a little less exercised, my "Risk Muscle" is greatly strengthened. I've gotten past of shock of the move, and I've gotten more comfortable with the current level of pressure and responsibility that my small business demands of me. One year later, I am relaxed enough to begin enjoying the creative aspects of my business, including regular blogging.

I'm happy to be here, and I look forward to sharing with you as 2009 unfolds. This is an exciting time to discover dreams, and we are so fortunate for every opportunity we have to do so.

Kaila Westerman
TKB Trading, LLC

Look at Beauty by Saria!

2008-02-25T17:39:00.000-08:00

One of our customers was showcased in an online magazine, Bellevere.

Beauty by Saria was smart to get her products in front of an online magazine and to offer a giveaway to boot. It's this kind of viral marketing which can take your business from here to there!
AC
Not only is Beauty by Saria smart in her marketing, but she is selling herself on Etsy.com.

Etsy.com is a little like EBAY or Amazon.com, but the focus is on only handmade items. I just discovered it recently and my mouse finger is twitching to buy handmade!

Some good stuff in this post, take time to check them out!

Kaila Westerman
TKB Trading, LLC

The Golden Goat gets press!

2008-02-04T13:21:00.001-08:00

http://www.thenorthwestern.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080130/OSH05/801300442&located=FLASH

This hyperlink will take you to the article recently published in a customer's local newspaper. The article describes her business, her clientele and a little about mineral makeup.

Get inspired!

Inexpensive Solution for grinding powders

2008-01-16T16:31:00.001-08:00

This tip was passed along to us by a participant in our Forum(http://www.mixupyourmakeup.tkbtrading.com/). If you haven't checked it out yet, do! There are some awesome tips posted there.

Anyway, for grinding powders, you can use a kitchen blender and a mason jar. Here is the hyperlink for the tip. http://www.elise.com/recipes/archives/001357tip_blender_and_mason_jar.php

It shows you that the blade portion of the kitchen blender can screw onto a mason jar, you then place the jar on the blender motor and press "blend".

Have Fun!
Kaila Westerman
TKB Trading, LLC

Google Pack: office software for free

2008-01-15T14:34:00.000-08:00

In case you hadn't heard already, Google offers a FREE download of office software. The Star Office Software includes word processing, spreadsheet and presentation software. It's completely free, easy to download and it can save documents in all kinds of different formats which can be read by all kinds of computers.

Don't fret about a learning curve, the software is a lot like the programs you are used to working with, there really is little learning curve.

In addition to this free software, the Google Pack includes other options. The one I really like is Picassa, which is a photo downloading and editing program. You can also get spyware, and other groovy stuff.

Kaila Westerman
TKB Trading, LLC

6 Billion Others, an inspiration website for humankind

2008-01-11T16:23:00.001-08:00

This suggested website has nothing to do with my usual topics, but I found it interesting and beautiful, so I wanted to pass it along to you.

www.6billionothers.com is a project site where people from all over the world are asked to talk about various things. Listen to men and women from every continent answer questions such as "what is the meaning of life?", "what was your happiest day", "what are dreams?", "what are your fears?"

Take a moment to share in the babble of humanity.

Kaila Westerman

Me, in Carpet

2007-12-28T10:08:00.000-08:00

I saw an article about how some guy hooked carpets which were portraits of big CEO's and then sold them for 1,000's of dollars. My dad is a carpet-hooker and thought he'd try the scaled-down, little CEO version worth . . . what, ten bucks? Here I am, in carpet.

Kaila Westerman

TKB Trading, LLC

www.tkbtrading.com

Korean/Japanese Household Items as Molds

2007-12-27T16:44:00.001-08:00

I'm lucky to live a stone's throw from Oakland's Koreatown, and I always enjoy shopping there -- especially when on the hunt for soap molds. I found two possibilities in my last expedition I wanted to share with you.

This first one is called a "Kimchi Cutter". Kimchi is spicy, pickled cabbage eaten in Korean cuisine. But for soapmakers this cutter makes a smart little loaf mold. It measures about 11" long, 6" wide and 3" deep. It's especially nice because it comes with a lid and the cutting device stores flat inside the lid, making the whole thing very compact and perhaps a good way to transport loaf soaps to and from a craft show. At the store it cost me $9.99. Google Kimchi Cutter to find one of your own.

This next find looks like a kind of jello mold. Sorry I can't be specific about company brand or name of product, the entire package is in Japanese. For $4.99 I got three small loaf style molds: a half round, a square and a wavy bottom. All three have lids as well as some kind of a release lever to help get the jello out of the mold. The molds measure about 8" long and 2.5" deep and wide.

Another option to consider are sushi Molds. These come round and in triangles. Either way they make great bath bomb molds, as well as soap molds. I found these at buy4asianlife.com, but I image these are pretty easy to find online because sushi is so popular. In fact EKitron.com has flower-shaped sushi molds.

Well, hope you got some inspiration. I just got hungry!

Kaila Westerman

TKB Trading, LLC

www.tkbtrading.com

Pen Turning. Learn something new today.

2007-12-20T16:08:00.001-08:00

Financier Warren Buffet says that he always tries to go to bed at night a little smarter than when he woke up earlier that day. If you are having a hard time accomplishing that goal today, let me help by introducing you to pen turning.

Did you know that there are people dedicated to the hobby of handmaking pens by turning them on a lathe? I didn't until I was contacted by a man named David who asked permission to link to my website so that other pen turners could purchase our colorants for their projects.

Here is David's educational link with photos: MasterdCrafts (p.s., note the TKB Trading liquid colors in use!)

Kaila

Makeup for Women of Color / Marketing your Brand

2007-12-18T10:14:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, I was contacted by the Toni Payne Element5 Mineral Makeup. She asked me to let you know about her company: that it exists, that it specializes in mineral makeup for women of color. Also, that she has an online shop called Tonipayneonline.com.

I am dutifully reporting said facts. I can't comment on Toni's products as I've never seen them (although I imagine they are wonderful, since she is clearly a creative and energetic business woman). Instead I'd like to comment on what strikes me about Toni's "body of work" as a businesswoman.

First, I applaud Toni for branding her own name. A little 'who is' searching shows Toni has several websites. A fashion site called hotntrendy.com was created in 2003 (reseller of a variety of fashion products), Element5 was created in 2005 (focus on makeup) and tonipayneonline was created in 2006 (kind of a blend of the two).

Not only did Toni establish her brand with tonipayneonline, she also uses her name as a subtitle to the other two sites (as in: Hot 'n Trendy by Toni Payne and Elements Mineral Makeup by Toni Payne). Branding your personal name allows you to fluidly move from product idea to product idea while maintaining some consistency in the mind of your customers.

Second, I want to draw your attention to the idea of splitting "best sellers" off your main site into a more focused site. I don't know why Toni created her Element5 makeup site as separate from her hontntrendy site, but if I were to extrapolate from my own business, my guess would be that the mineral makeup was a good seller for her and she wanted to focus her customers and her marketing efforts on that one product concept.

My business (tkbtrading.com), could take a hint from Toni on this one. For example, our bath salt colors are famous for being "the best" for stability and performance. While we sell them consistently every week, it is not uncommon for me to receive emails from new customers who can't find the products on my website. A quick and easy "bath salt" key at the home page might help, but how about if I created a website BathSaltDyes.com? Uh. Hey, wait a minute. That's a good idea . . . 'scuse me while I toddle over to purchase that URL. OK. Done.

Finally, atta-girls to Toni for actually contacting me and asking me to blog about her. Of course, she may not have expected this particular focus on my blog, but getting your name out there is always a plus. Toni is also good at getting her name in the fashion magazines. Go to the press section of tonipayneonline and you will see the results of her efforts to get her mineral makeup mentioned in the magazines.

Ok, gotta go. Too many new ideas thanks to Ms. Payne!

Natural Hair Dyes

2007-12-12T16:48:00.001-08:00

A greying friend recently asked about this topic and I googled up a great article on the subject written by Laurie Berger of the Vegetarian Times in 1998. Here is the hyperlink -- which includes references -- my quick summary follows below: Hair color to dye for: the good, the bad and the ugly on natural cover-ups - natural hair dyes

Studies have linked hair coloring to cancer (! women who dye their hair have a 50% greater risk of developing non-Hodgkin's lymphoma).
Several "natural" hair dyes are now available off the shelf (! Natural hair dyes account for 10% of the annual $1.25 billion hair dye market).
Be forewarned: "natural" is a word without any legal meaning in this industry. A self-claimed natural dye can be just as toxic as your off-the-shelf chemical stuffed Clairol (made from coal tar dyes).
But natural dyes which are safer than the coal-tar-dyes are quite effective and a National Cancer Institute spokersperson says: "Based on what we now know, natural hair dyes are a safer choice. But avoid products with coal tar, which has been found to contain human carcinogens."
Henna is a the most natural (and well-known) plant based dye. Many claim it doesn't cover grey (like my friend), but there are ways to work with it to make it more effective and this article discusses them!

Personal Note. I will always cherish the memory of my mom dying my hair for me when I was 42. At some point during one of my too-rare visits, she delicately suggested that it was time I started coloring my hair. I gave her permission to dash off to the store and pick the product and hue and I allowed her to apply it while we sat kvetching in the kitchen. Because I moved away from home at a young age (17), I have few female bonding memories with my mother. So I guess there is one good thing to say about Clairol.

Book Review: Kabul Beauty School

2007-09-05T17:25:00.000-07:00

Just finished reading this book and have already passed it along to my mother. Now I'm passing it along to you.

Title: Kabul Beauty School. An American Woman Goes Behind the Veil
Author: Deborah Rodriguez and Kristin Ohlson
Publisher: Random House, April, 10, 2007
Available in: Hardcover, 288 pages, approximately $24.95 Also available as an
ebook for $17.95. Coming out in paperback in late December.

Deborah Rodriguez, a free-spirited Midwestern hair dresser travels to Afghanistan to "do good" and discovers her talent lies in teaching Afghan women to open their own beauty salons. The book is an easy, fast read. Be prepared experience two emotions: depression and inspiration.

You are likely to feel upset by the tales of life behind the veil. Deborah's stories aren't "theoretical" -- they are about students and friends she cares for deeply. And you will care about them too, as Deborah draws you into their stories of abuse and poverty, successes and joys. It's as though you are right there, plopped into a chair at the Oasis Salon in Kabul. Deborah is also not shy in sharing her own home-grown tales of abuse and divorce, reminding you that no woman can set herself above any other and stand in judgment.

You will also feel incredibly inspired by the importance of Deborah's work. Hers is an unfolding story: the spark of inspiration, the dream, the dare, the first stumbled step which is followed by the second, the unplanned-for setback, the giving up and then giving in . . . . It is the story of how great things are accomplished by average people through small, non-linear steps. Its the story of what you can do.

Finally, as someone interested in the beauty industry, the book reminds us of the importance of "beauty" to our well-being as a community. In Deborah's own words:

"I believe that beauty salons and beauty schools are sanctuaries for women everywhere in the world–in that sense, the Kabul Beauty School is no different. In every salon and school, the beauticians are there to take care of women. The customers let their hair down, quite literally! Lifelong friendships develop."

Are you starting a business, running a business, wondering if what you are doing is "important" . . . do yourself a favor and pick up a copy of this book.

Kaila Westerman
www.tkbtrading.com

Welcome IndieBeauty Network

2007-07-22T11:24:00.000-07:00

We happily welcome Indie Beauty Network members to our blog.

We think you will especially enjoy:

Our educational video snippets which instruct on how to make cosmetics;
Several interesting link-to's about other successful independent beauty businesses such as yours.
Even more interesting links for resources on growing your internet business.

Don't forget to visit our website, and consider clicking here to join our mailing list.

Welcome!

Kaila Westerman

p.s. You don't know what the Indie Beauty Network is???? Learn More here.

Video Blog: Make Eyeshadow with TKB

2007-07-18T16:26:00.000-07:00

The video snippet shows how easy it is to blend colors in a 3x4 zip lock bag,
and an easy way to fill an eyeshadow jar when you are finished.

Click Here You Idiot (dot com)

2007-07-18T16:14:00.000-07:00

I know the URL name is obnoxious, but I have never forgotten this website. Not just because of the obnoxious name, but because I found the information at the site very useful.

Whether you intend to sell something online or you are a potential purchaser, this webpage opens your eyes to the psychology of the one-page sales pitch.

The site is a tongue-in-cheek example of how you get someone to "click here" and buy a product from you. Read and be educated!

The URL? www.clickhereyouidiot.com.

Video Blog: How to Use a Professional Lipstick Mold

2007-07-10T15:46:00.000-07:00

The person making these lipsticks had never seen nor used a lipstick mold before in her life. With minimal instruction, she was able to make professional-looking lipstick!

Naked Cosmetics, Informercial as Marketing

2007-07-09T16:45:00.001-07:00

A couple of months ago, I was contacted by a vivacious young woman who was a producer for a TV show. She just loved my products and thought we were perfect for her show! How Thrilling!

Of course, after a bit of probing and confusion, I realized that she was selling me something. Her company would produce, edit and air an informercial on my products and in exchange I would pay them money and hopefully reap the rewards. I decided to pass, primarily because our company does not have a finished retail product (we sell bulk ingredients, not finished cosmetics). Another reason I passed was because I had heard stories, some good and some bad, about the value of such investments.

Here we are a couple of months later and I just saw an informercial for mineral makeup which I believe was produced by the very same company I said "no" to. I think the video is interesting, the product being promoted (Naked Cosmetics) intriguing and I think it will probably prove to have been a good investment for the ladies behind the makeup. If you are in the business of making a retail cosmetic and are thinking about ways in which you can market yourselves, I strongly suggest that you take some time to study what the ladies at Naked Cosmetics are up to.

First the hyperlinks:

The Naked Minerals Infomercial.
This is really interesting to me because of what she says, hows she differentiates her product from others, and the fact that she (Marlene) is not a "movie star" type, just an average lady who seems very much like many of my customers.

The Naked Minerals Website.
You can also see the video at this site, and also learn more about the company.

ITV -- this is the organization which produced the videos. To learn more about what they offer specifically, watch the video on the Unique Business Opportunity with Donald Barret.

Let me close by saying that to my knowledge, TKB has no affiliation with any of these companies. I just happened to be watching TV on a Sunday afternoon and caught the tail end of the video. I immediately wanted to pass it on to you, because I thought you would find it interesting. I don't necessarily agree with anything the people are saying, I have no idea if ITV is a good outfit or not, I've never touched the Naked Cosmetics product, etc. etc.

Just lettin' ya know about it. Enjoy!

Kaila Westerman

If you are interested in starting your own mineral makeup company, consider visiting our website at www.tkbtrading.com for your supplies!

Safe Handling Practices For Loose Powder

2007-06-25T16:39:00.000-07:00

We here at TKB are handling loose powders all the time and I want to take a moment to remind everyone that constantly inhaling powders is not good for your health. If you have suddenly found yourself in the business of making cosmetics, please take a moment to remind yourself of the following:

There are people in this world who are particularly sensitive to dust or who have lung disorders which limit lung capacity. It is therefore a good idea to remind your customers that loose powder cosmetics are an inhalation irritant.

Become serious about what you are doing to protect your health, and the health of those around you. Most of the powders we sell are not particularly hazardous, however any regular exposure to loose powder is simply a bad idea. Please:

Wear a respirator. We offer "casual" dust masks for casual use, but you need something more industrial grade if you are handling powder on a regular basis.
Wear latex or rubber gloves. This serves the dual purpose of keeping your hands from contaminating the powder and keeping the powder from contaminating your hands, where it can then be transferred to your mouth and other areas of your body.
Wash your work clothes regularly. The loose powder that clings to them can be a skin irritant.
Wipe down all work surfaces and utensils regularly. We wipe down with a damp cloth and then follow up with a spritzer of alcohol and paper towel.
Consider wearing eye protection. The loose powder can irritate your eyes.

Always handle bulk powders in an environment which is designed to remove the "dust" from the air. For casual use, simply working in a well-ventilated room may be adequate, but if you are handling powders regularly, we recommend an air purifier at a minimum. We strongly suggest you also use an air venting system. A simple, affordable and effective choice is a stove vent of the type that is above your stove.

Thank you for taking time to review your safe handling practices.

If you have any questions or would like to add a comment, let me know!

Kaila Westerman

OnLine SEO Classes -- For Free!

2007-06-21T18:06:00.000-07:00

OK, I am going to "Pay It Forward" and tell you about one of the neatest free online tools I've ever run across.

If you are working on your website yourself, and you are on a budget, I highly recommend the free Website Development Training Center founded by J. Walker. She offers online courses in SEO (Search Engine Optimization), as well as other things such as marking, website development, digital photography . . .

She'll put you through your paces and you'll need to make a time commitment to get through it, but you'll learn stuff for sure.

It is absolutely 100% free, and there are no "catches" whatsoever. I took a couple of the classes and I was never inundated with anything but useful information. No sales pitches, no junk mail, no nothing. She really is the real deal.

Like me!

Kaila Westerman
TKB Trading, LLC

If you enjoyed this post and you also have need for pigments, cosmetic and craft supplies, visit our company online at www.tkbtrading.com.

Pay Per Click Advertising -- Can it Work for You?

2007-06-21T17:30:00.000-07:00

If you have an online business, you may be considering what is called "Pay Per Click" (PPC) advertising. All the big search engines offer them: Google, Yahoo, Ask . . .

A couple of years ago, I signed up tkbtrading.com for a pay-per-click program with Google. I gave it a monthly budget that I felt was reasonable, set up my keywords, and . . . several years and several thousand dollars later . . .

Does it work? Does it not work? Like many, many other harried small business owners: I really only have a vague idea. I know that it could work, but I'm not sure if it is paying for itself or not.

I recently read two articles written by Ilana DeBare in the San Francisco Chronicle which made me sit up and take notice. The one that most caught my eye is hyperlinked here. The companion article is here .

Here's the summary: Ilana compares two owners of gourmet chocolate businesses. Both sign up for PPC advertising with completely different results. One company spent $3,000 over a three month period on PPC ads but only sold 5 boxes of chocolate as a result. A total bust!

The other company started out small, but currenty spends about $25,000 each three month quarter. I roughly calculated their resulting sales at $450,000 for the same period. Bottom line, one makes the PPC work, and the other doesn't.

Why the difference? The company with lackluster sales didn't do much to understand PPC and didn't really try to make it work. The other company had an inquisitive employee who threw himself into learning the ins and outs.

Read the articles if you are interested in the details. My personal takeaways that I'd like to pass on to you are:

1) I suspect PPC's work best for niche products that people are actively looking for (like gift chocolates). I think that most of my customers are making a consumable that would fit this description.

2) While you may be overwhelmed by all that you have to do as a small business owner, I believe that it your time is best spent doing a few smart things rather than many distracting things. It may be that carving out a couple of hours a week to educate yourself on PPC will be far more valuable than spending those same hours fussing over a label design or a new recipe.

3) If you really can't wrap your head around the ins and outs of PPC, don't beat yourself up. It is the kind of thing/activity/body of knowledge that is not going to appeal to everyone -- like accounting or inventory control. Consider finding someone who is willing to develop a program for you.

Now, if you don't have the money for such a program, look for my next post on SEO (Search Engine Optimization). After you read that, you really will have no more excuses. ; )

Kaila Westerman
President, TKB Trading, LLC

If you enjoyed this post and have needs for pigments, cosmetic and craft supplies, please be sure to visit our website http://www.tkbtrading.com/!

We're b-a-c-k! A short synopsis of TKB's business growth

2007-06-05T15:20:00.000-07:00

TKB Trading has been in business for long enough to go through different cycles of growth and change.

I started in 1994 in my basement with a couple of old back-to-the-land articles from dusty magazines from the 1970's (I was trying to learn soapmaking) and permission from my family to start a business of my own.

Up through 2001, my company experienced amazing growth. This growth was directly tied to the internet revolution (dot-com explosion). We eventually took on about 4,000 square feet of space and I had several people working for me.

Because the internet was still somewhat in its infancy, my customers tended to call on the phone a lot. We commonly received 100 phone calls a day, and we were shipping like crazy. On the face of it, my business could have been written up in one of those entrepreneur magazines because our sales growth was mind-blowing and we were doing lots of creative and interesting things (books, tv shows, trade shows, etc).

But there was a problem: I wasn't making any money! I really didn't know the first thing about running a business and my growth was so crazy I barely had time to figure it out what I was doing wrong or right!

I was working 12-15 hours a day, seven days a week and I was exhausted, my family was neglected and -- did I mention? -- I was not even making any money!

December, 2001, I sat down at the end of another long day and suddenly realized that the business model I had created was unsustainable. Since I didn't know how to fix the model, I dismantled it instead. I peeled off the retail side of my business (about half our sales) and gave it to a key employee at the same time I terminated her employment. It was her 'golden parachute'. I also terminated all but one other employee.

I leased back half my space and discontinued selling quite a number of our products. At the time, we sold all kinds of soapmaking supplies such as oils, and waxes, molds, perfumes and colors. I decided that I would focus on just colors.

Then I sat down with a beer and a cigarette (quitting smoking came about three months later), and I talked to my business like I was talking to a grown up child. I said: "I birthed you, I fed you, I raised you . . . and I'm tired." I told my business that it would have to take care of me until I had fixed all that I had broken. And if it couldn't do that, I was going to let it die.

I was actually surprised to discover that my business could take care of me without much effort. For the next four years, I had a nice, simple life where I could yawn up at 9 am, get a hour in at the gym, work, catch the tail end of Oprah, cook dinner, go for a walk on the beach, enjoy hobbies, snug my family. In other words, have a life. Thanks to the foundation I had laid earlier, the power of the internet and the loyalty of my customers, my business maintained a nice, even pace all those years.

But a "nice, even pace" never lasts forever. More importantly, it doesn't serve the real needs of our customers. Most of our customers are entrepreneurs. Even if they haven't started a business yet, they want to. And TKB's primary purpose is the be an affordable, dependable resource for those dreams.

Since 2005, I have begun rebuilding my business and structuring TKB for long term, sustainable and energetic growth. My biggest mental hurdle was always a fear of hiring staff to help with the increase in sales. So much of my mistakes in the early years revolved around staffing decisions that I had become fearful of acting and could not bring myself to hire the help which we so sorely needed.

2007 is shaping up to be a great year to overcome old fears such as these and move forward into a new, revitalized incarnation of TKB. I am really looking forward to having more time to serve the unique needs of my customers -- sourcing interesting new products, developing new recipes and communicating on a personal level with you about the nuts and bolts of growing a business.

I am really refreshed, really renewed and really excited to be a part of your adventure.

San Francisco 30-somethings clean up with Method dish soap

2006-10-11T12:50:00.000-07:00

SF Chronicle, 10/08/06.

In 2000, two men in their then-twenties decided to transform the stodgy old household soaps and detergent business. Today, their business (Method Home) has been recognized as the seventh fastest growing private company in America by Inc. Magazine. Their current revenue is about $45 million a year.

What they did: they took a look at the detergent aisles in the grocery store and thought "yawn!". The bottles looked outdated, stodgy and just no fun. They then packaged a natural dish soap in a neat bottles and they spiced it up with new, cool scents.

When they started out, they went door-to-door, getting in the face of grocery store buyers as they came in to work in the wee hours of the morning. Once the product was on the shelves, they personally restocked and did in-store demos.

Their big break came in 2002 when they were signed on with Target. They partnered with one of the high end industrial designers to come up with new packaging and pitched the idea to Target.

Now that they are being knocked off more and more, they have lost a little of that which set them apart. So they are going back to their roots of also being a "green" and "good for you" product.

Check out their products at www.methodhome.com.

My take-away from this post: expect to have to reinvent yourself over and over. You may be fresh and unique at first, but competition will always run after your profits. Enjoy the race and enjoy the competition.

And, if you are looking for interesting new products for your own creative endeavor, be sure to let us know at www.tkbtrading.com.

Kaila Westerman

Asian American Makeup Artist creates her own cosmetic line

2006-10-11T12:21:00.000-07:00

SF Chronicle, 06/04/06. Taylor Pham, a local Vietnamese-American woman worked as a makeup artist specializing in wedding makeup. Then she got the idea to create her own line.

Her line is called Thi (pronounced "tea") and may be viewed at www.thicosmetics.com. It includes shadows, blush, lipstick, gloss and brushes. While the color palette is limited, the packaging and formulation are designed to be luxurious. In particular, the line is geared to suit the Asian woman.

Pham's efforts reflect the trend toward boutique "prestige" makup brands. According to industry experts, growth in these brands is very strong.

One thing that makes her stand out is an invention for which she has "patent pending" status. The invention is a unique type of false eyelashes specifically for the Asian eye. More than 5000 were sold in the first three weeks they came out, at $15 a pop.

Pham also worked to develop her own line of brushes which work particularly well to accent the Asian eye.

I think the take away from this post is that if you develop your own line, coming up with an idea, an invention or something that otherwise sets you apart from the crowd is very important. In the case of Pham, for example, her unique false eye lashes got the attention of professionals and made them curious about her other products.

If you are interested in making your own cosmetic line, don't forget to check out all the goodies that we sell at www.tkbtrading.com!

Kaila Westerman

NY Times Article on Mineral Makeup

2006-08-29T12:12:00.000-07:00

Read an article this weekend by Christina Valhouli of The New York Times. Here are the hilights that grabbed me:

Urban Decay now has a line (called Surreal Skin Mineral Makeup)
Neutrogena and Physician's Formula also now have mineral makeup lines
MAC is reissuing its Mineralize line
Prestige mineral makeup brands now account for 4% of the cosmetics market in the US, which is double from when it first came out
QVC (cable shopping network) more than 12.5 million units of Bare Escentuals have been ordered since 1998. Since late 2002, QVC sales have increased 217%
Price Points: Urban Decay and ColoreScience from $28 - $55 for foundation. Jane Iredale is $48. i.d. bareMinerals is $25. Neutrogena and Physicans Formula are around $12.
The term Mineral Makeup was coined in 1977 by Diane Ranger, the founder of Bare Escentuals who is now the founder and president of ColoreScience.
Jane Iredale claims the following as her customers: Madonna, Condoleezza Rice and the cast of "The View".

For many of your raw ingredient needs to craft your own mineral makeup, be sure to visit our site, www.tkbtrading.com (www.wholesalecolors.com).

Kaila Westerman

Website Development: Consider Salonbuilder.com

2006-08-25T15:44:00.000-07:00

I started TKB Trading, LLC the same year as EBAY. Ahhh, those were the days!

Back then, Paypal didn't exist and many websites didn't take credit cards (you had to mail a check in with your order). Customer expectations were low. It didn't matter so much if your photographs were hard to see, your content was in pink-colored script or if your shopping experience lacked such functionalities as wish lists or order tracking. Heck, none of us even new what wish lists were!

Things are sure different today. And it strikes me that someone just starting out might find it all very overwhelming.

That's why I wanted to pass along to you a program which I found recently. I think it will appeal to a certain segment of my customers who are just getting started. I have absolutely no affiliation with the program, and we don't use it here at TKB Trading, but it is one option to consider.

The program is Salonbuilder.com. As of this writing, you can try it free for 30 days and after that it is $29.00 per month for the bare bones package. I think anyone serious about selling online might also want to upgrade to add the ecommerce package for an additional $9.50 per month and possibly the photo gallery ($7.50 per month extra).

You can view a website which uses both of these functionalities here: http://www.naturalbalancemassage.com/.

Anyway, this is just a link I'm passing along.

In the meantime, for all your color needs, please keep visiting us here at www.tkbtrading.com!

Be well!

Kaila Westerman

Foster Pets Are Good for Your Business (and you!)

2006-07-10T17:19:00.000-07:00

The recent issue of the trade magazine Art Materials Retailer (easily found online at www.artmaterialsretailer.com) has an article about the benefit of having pets in your shop to make your customers more relaxed and eager to visit your shop. Additionally, they believe that having pets in the shop can relax and entertain the staff as well!

We couldn't agree more! While TKB Trading doesn't really have a shop for browsing in, we do have some folks who come by for "will call" pickup. We also have one staff member with strong mood swings (also known as Kaila) who needs regular stress intervention.

But rather than commiting to the responsiblity of a company pet, we enjoy fostering animals in neeed for short bursts of time. This allows us to a) do good, and b) not do good 24/7, just as time and space allows.

Our first bundles of love were three kittens with us for less than 48 hours before they were adopted. Next came three siamese mixes named Cricket, Bucket and Sweetie. We hosted them for about six weeks.

A few months ago, we grabbed the opportunity to foster Cookie, a Katrina Hurricane refugee with heartworm. Cookie (pictured above begging for a walk) was with us for about six months. (Lucky her, she was later adopted by a writer for Bark Magazine, a magazine devoted to modern Dog Culture).

Thanks to the article in Art Materials Retailer, we've been inspired to put in a call to our local resuce organization (www.hopalong.org) for more kittens. So, if you see little pawprints on your invoices in the next few weeks, you'll know that we've added a couple of furballs to our staff -- for the moment.

Won't you consider fostering a needy pet? It really is a short term commitment and can really bring good energy to your business, as well as save an animal's life.

Air Cleaners

2006-05-19T09:48:00.000-07:00

The air cleaner that we use here at TKB Trading, LLC is the Friedrich C-90B Electrostatic Air Cleaner, which runs about $450 - $500.

This is an expensive air cleaner for "consumer level" (as opposed to even more spendy "industrial level") products. It is also somewhat bulky and not particularly attractive. But we really like it because it seems to be quite effective at keeping the air in our studio fresh, it doesn't have a huge energy demand, and it is easy to clean.

The fact that there are no filters to purchase and constantly replace was a big seller for us because we generate a lot of dust. You simply remove two pull-out filters and rinse them down with water before replacing them. We wash ours about once a week and always "ooh and ahh" over the amount of particulants that we send down the drain instead of breathe into our lungs.

Also, the unit received a #1 ranking by Consumer Reports (when compared to other consumer level machines).

The machine only really works in about 500 square feet of space, so we actually have a couple of them. We don't run them during the day, because they would be noisy and also they blow fresh air which can actually kick up more dust in our powder studio. Instead, we switch them on every night and let them do their duty while we sleep.

For more information, type the product name into a search box and browse the net. As of this posting, www.sylvane.com was offering the unit with free shipping at $489 each. At that site, there is a lot more detailed information about the product.

Hope this Helps!

For more information about our company and products, visit www.tkbtrading.com or www.wholesalecolors.com.

How to Make Eyeshadow

2006-05-16T14:20:00.000-07:00

The colored micas that we sell can be used "as-is" as eyeshadow.

However, you can save money and actually improve the adhesion and feel of the colored mica by extending it with a filler. The cheapest filler that we sell is Kaolin Clay. At $6 per pound (as of this post), that makes it a super-inexpensive filler. It also adds adhesion to the colored mica.

Other fillers which we recommend include: magnesium stearate, boron nitride, talc, silica microspheres, ronasphere, authentic silk powder and bismuth oxychloide.

Any time you mix a colored mica with a filler, you will change the look of the powder. Typically, the additives will make the colored mica less intense in hue and sometimes less shimmery. This can be a good thing, if it is what you want. You have to experiment.

For example, in the photo above, the color to the far right which is deepest in hue is our Deep Blue mica "as is". Below and to the left is the color mixed with equal amounts of our Authentic Silk Powder. You can see it becomes somewhat more matte, more translucent, and duller. Above and to the left is the color mixed with equal amounts of our Boron Nitride. It retains more of the shimmer and opacity, but it is also paler.

If you used less filler (in our examples it is equal parts filler to colored mica) the result would be a darker, more vibrant hue. You just have to experiment!

The easiest way to do your experimenting is to spoon your colored mica into a small zip lock bag (we sell 2" x 2" bags for this purpose) and then spoon in your filler. Then, zip the bag closed and mix by mushing between your fingers.

When you are doing this, start with a measured amount of colored mica and then add a small amount of filler to it (for example, start with 1 teaspoon of colored mica and add only 1/16th of a teaspoon of filler). Mush and then test it on your skin. Look for color, slip (how it feels going on), sheen (how shiny it is), and translucency. Slowly add more filler in small amounts, as you desire.

You may have heard that you should mix the products with a small grinder such as a coffee bean grinder or bud grinder (a handheld machine used to grind "herbs"). While this is a good idea if you are using pure oxides and ultramarines (heavier, more intense colors), we don't recommend it when you are working with colored mica.

These machines damage the shine and brilliance of colored mica. Colored mica is specially manufacturered and that kind of blending (called "high shear") breaks the powder up and makes it duller. Since gentle mushing between your fingers is sufficient, we suggest it!

Finally, don't forget that you can use this technique to blend your own colors. For example, you could do a blend of the Deep Blue mica, Patagonia Purple mica and then some boron nitride. You can also use different kinds of fillers. For example, maybe you'll want to use a blend of boron nitride and bismuth oxychloride for your filler. You just have to play!

Hope this helps you get started playing with our colors! We sell our samples for an affordable price just for this purpose.

For more info, visit our site at www.wholesalecolors.com (or www.tkbtrading.com).

Coloring Lip Products

2006-05-08T11:11:00.000-07:00

Lip products are essentially a blend of oil and wax. To that, we add color.

The 3 kinds of color products used in lipstick includes: dyes, pigments and mica.

When you think "dyes", think "food dye", because it is essentially the same thing. The good thing about dyes is that they are very intense and they actually stain the lips, making the color last longer. The down side is that most dyes are chemically manufactured (aniline dyes). Folk who want to sell only a natural lip product tend to avoid dyes. There are a handful of natural dyes, however, which are popular in lip products. Foremost among these is Carmine, a lovely red which, while natural, is unfortunately not vegan as it is derived from insects.

An example of a natural lip product company which uses Carmine would be Burt's Bees.

Pigments (typically the Oxides) are another color additive used in lip products. When you think pigments, think "like paint". They are opaque, and while they may also stain the lips a little, mostly they "sit" on the surface of the lips to impart color. This is why pigments are best in lipsticks, and OK but not so great in lip balms, which tend to come off quickly. Dyes are better in the balms.

Most lip products are actually a blend of dyes and pigments, using both to get the best of both worlds. In addition, people will add Mica. Mica is an uncolored mineral which imparts shimmer. Often people will purchase a colored mica (for example: Bronze) and use that to color their lip products. Colored mica is really just mica blended with either pigments, dyes or both. In the case of Bronze, for example, it is mica with iron oxide pigment.

Finally, you can also use the metallic color additives. We offer a great red color called Crucible Red which is made from copper.

How much color do you use in your formula?

The general rule of thumb is that colorants are 10-20% of the formula by weight. This assumes that you are working with a dye which is predispersed in castor oil (such as our liquid lip colors) and/or pigments and micas in powder form.

Here are some sample formulae:

1) 2.5% of our Ruby Liquid Lip Color, 2.5% of our Rose Liquid Lip Color, 15% of our Australian Amber Mica (in powder) mixed with 80% by weight of our pre-made Lipstick Base.

2) 1-1/2 tsp. Dye (powder form) or Iron Oxides, 1/2 tsp. colored mica add to 3 tablespoons premade lipstick or lip balm base.

For more info, visit our site at www.wholesalecolors.com (or www.tkbtrading.com).

Coloring Salts, Crystals and Salt Potpourri

2006-04-27T10:42:00.000-07:00

This is an email I sent today in response to a customer query. This customer was purchasing salts from www.saltworks.us (we recommend them for all your salt needs) and had questions about coloring:

Hello Melody,

After doing some research, I've reconfirmed my initial thoughts on what would work for you.

First, this information came from the saltworks.us website:

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Making Salt Crystal Potpourri is a simple process. The trickiest part is the coloring of the crystals. You have 3 choices for colorings: Liquid Based, Glycerin Based or Mica Powders. The liquid based colorings will dry the best, glycerin will be a nice translucent coloring and Mica gives you opalescent options. You can also simply rinse the crystals for a "glass like" look.

Add Fragrance and Color. Lay the Crystals out on Parchment to dry. If you’re using liquid or glycerin colorants, an easy way to color the crystals is by wearing rubber gloves and rubbing the color on the crystals. Mica’s you will have to sprinkle then mist with your fragrance.
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The colorants we sell here at TKB are going to be either the “glycerin based” colors they mention or the “mica powders”. If you want “liquid based”, the simplest thing would be to go to the grocery store and purchase some food colors (if you don’t already have them in your kitchen!).

I have gone to our website and updated it so that if you type “salt dye” into our search box, you will get the colors which I recommend for your project. These colors are both the “glycerin based” liquid colors as well as a handful of unique micas that will add shimmer, shine and irridescence.

For the liquids, I suspect that 4 ounces of colorant will tint your 55 pound bag of salt to a medium shade. If you were also going to add mica to the product (and I do suggest you consider using both), you will probably need about 1/8th teaspoon per pound of salts, so it would take about an ounce or two of mica.

If I were putting together a trial order for myself, I think I would go with this:

Sample of each of the Salt Dyes (Yellow, Blue, Red and Fuchsia) for $6
Sample of liqud Teal Blue (a lovely green/blue) $1.50
Sample of the following micas: starlight blue, sparkle turquoise, sparkle violet, starlight green, hilite gold, for $1.50 each or $7.50.

Total: $15 plus $5.50 for shipping = $20.50. But of course, you can always order more or order more variety.

Finally, here are some other instructions that I picked up in my research:
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Coloring Sea Salts: Be sure to use FD&C approved, or herbal, colorants for bath salts. It is recommended scenting the salts first and then coloring. Once you mix in the color, let sit in a sealed container overnight. The color will disperse for a more even coverage.

How to use: the crystals can be colored with mica or liquid coloring. To color, place the crystals in a sturdy plastic zipper bag, add the mica or colorant and shake until the crystals are coated to your liking. Mist with fragrance oil or essential oil as desired and spread out on parchment paper to dry. For a more translucent appearance, the crystals can be rinsed with water and air dried prior to coloring and scenting. They’re pretty when used in their natural state too.

Hope this helps!

For more info, visit our site at www.wholesalecolors.com (or www.tkbtrading.com).

Mineral Makeup for Women of Color

2006-03-20T09:49:00.000-08:00

06/22/06 UPDATE. After posting this, I received an email from a woman who had followed our link to Ada Cosmetics in order to make a purchase. Her experience was frustrating and she asked me to advise potential customers of that fact. While her money was refunded on a lost or never sent shipment, the process of communicating with the company was not to her satisfaction and she felt it was completely unprofessional.

So . . . . now that you have read my warning, here is the original post:

A new line of mineral makeup catering to the ethnic market has been announced. Please visit www.adacosmetics.com to view their 18 unique foundation shades and other products. I don't know the owner of this company, but I wish her well. It is a market that is definitely underserved with regard to the mineral makeup products.

Be sure to visit our site at http://www.wholesalecolors.com/ (or http://www.tkbtrading.com/).

Color Trouble Shoot #2: How to Adjust Colors

2006-03-01T13:24:00.000-08:00

Adjusting a product's color as a last step in processing is not uncommon at all -- people in industry do it all the time. It's kind of the nature of the business.

The first step is to first figure out in what way a the color of your product is off. The big guys use computers and sensors for this and have very precise ways of measuring hue. We have to depend on our eyeballs and a good sense of color.

Here is what we do at TKB Trading, but it is not the only way to handle things.

Let's say we make a foundation which has a very simple recipe of: 10 grams titanium dioxide white, 20 grams sericite mica, 4 grams yellow oxide, 1 gram red oxide (this is just for discussion, please don't run out and make this foundation as I have no idea what it will look like).

The "Base" of this recipe is the titanium dioxide and the mica. The "Color" is the yellow and red.

We start by mixing together the base ingredients. Typically, we will mix more than what we need (in this case we'd mix twice the amount, 20 grams of white and 40 grams of mica). We measure out what we need (10 grams of white and 20 of mica) and set the extra aside in a zip lock bag.

Next Steps: we mix together the colors; we add the colors to the base ingredients; we compare the results with the original sample that we are trying to match. To compare, we may use any of the tests which I discussed in the Color Troubleshoot #1 post.

If we determine that the color is, say, too red, then clearly we need to add yellow. But to just add pure yellow oxide directly to the batch we are working on could be a disaster. Pigments are very intense and it is easy to add too much color.

Instead, we take some of the pre-made, set-aside Base and to it we add some yellow. For example, we might take 5 grams of base and add to it 2 grams yellow. The result is kind of a "color corrector" of yellow.

We then add small amounts of this "color corrector" yellow to our batch, little by little, keeping careful notes all the while.

I hope this gives you some ideas for how to make color adjustments on your own. If you come up with suggestions, feel free to share.

Be sure to visit our site at www.wholesalecolors.com (or www.tkbtrading.com).

Color Trouble Shoot #1: How to Test for Color Variations

2006-03-01T12:46:00.000-08:00

As suppliers of raw materials, we try to make sure that our products are consistent batch to batch. But that doesn't mean that we always succeed. Once we received 100 pounds of a brown oxide which was definitely more red than the "old brown". Another time, we received a titanium dioxide white which was heavier than the "old white".

The result in both cases was frustration for our customers who found their finished products were "off-color" as a result. (In the industry, we call this being "Off-Spec", short for "Off Specification").

Receiving raw materials which are Off-Spec is not as uncommon as you think. So, I recommend that when you come up with a formula you like, you make a point of keeping samples of each of the raw materials used in the formula, as well as a sample of the finished product. Label these and set them aside in a safe place so that you can refer to them in the event that you run into problems.

The day that you find your formula is turning out completely Off-Spec, go back and pull out these samples. Then look at the raw materials you used in your new, Off-Spec batch. Then compare. Here are are some of the tests that we use:

Visual. Usually, you can just look at the color and see a difference. In the case of our Off-Spec Brown, it was obvious.
Touch. Sometimes the product feels different. In the case of our Off-Spec White, the color looked the same, but it felt heavier. We confirmed this by weighing 1 teaspoon of the old and new and finding a significant difference.
Draw Down Test. This is useful when comparing colors. Take a small amount of each sample and put them side by side on a sheet of white paper. Using a palette knife, press hard and then pull the knife down the page (do each color one at a time). By doing this, the difference in color sometimes becomes more obvious.
Paint Down Test. Similar to the Draw Down, take a small amount of each sample and wet each with water and then draw the color down just as if you are painting a line.
Whiteout Test. This test is also useful when comparing colors. Take a small amount of each sample and add it to a larger amount of titanium dioxide white, or a similar whitener. Whitening the colors really makes the differences "pop".

The purpose of these tests is to first of determine that there is a difference, and then secondly to figure out what the difference is. You are looking to determine if there are differences in intensity or hue (or both).

If the colors are different in intensity, they are essentially the same shade, one is just darker than the other. In this case, the fix is too use less of the darker color (or more of the lighter one).

If the colors are different in hue, they are essentially the same intensity, but they have a different shade. For example, the brown may be more red and less yellow. Or the blue may be more red and less violet. In this case, the fix is too adjust your recipe by adding a little bit of the missing hue. I cover how to do that in my next Blog Post.

Finally, and importantly, if you do not see a big difference in your colors or raw materials, you need to take a hard look at your manufacturing process. A big, big factor in variations batch to batch is how you mix your products. If you normally mix for 30 seconds, and then one day mix for 2 minutes, the shades are very likely to be different. If you normally mix in a small coffee bean grinder and then switch to larger batches in a blender, you are very likely to see changes. The changes in this case should mostly be related to "intensity", and can be adjusted by using less or more of your total color blend.

Be sure to visit our site at www.wholesalecolors.com (or www.tkbtrading.com).

Labeling your Mineral Makeup

2006-02-02T09:41:00.000-08:00

Recently, a customer asked me this question:

I am creating a line of "multi purpose mineral cosmetics" with micas.
Let's say one of the colored micas contains mica, titanium dioxide, iron oxides, and ferric ferrocyanide. Does the ferric ferrocyanide have to be listed on the ingredients list?? Is that considered something that would be a "trace" ingredient, and therefore I'm not required to list it?? I see a lot of little mineral companies list on their sites: multi purpose minerals - contains mica, titanium dioxide, iron oxides. May contain: chromium oxide green, ferric fero., etc.... , but it doesn't seem they list it on their products. Is this right?
Labeling of cosmetics is regulated by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The laws require that your label do the following:
State the name and place of business of the manufacturer, packer or distributor
Give an accurate statement about the quantity of the contents (e.g., "3 grams")
Include any safe use and/or warning statements
Include an Ingredient Declaration.
That last one, the Ingredient Declaration, has lots of exceptions and subrules, which can be confusing.
For example, flavors and fragrances can be listed in the Ingredients Declaration without mentioning their ingredients, instead you can just list them as "flavor" or "fragrance".
Another example: While you need to list the ingredients that are greater than 1 percent of the formula in descending order, you can group the "less than 1 percent" ingredients together and list them at the end in no particular order.
Color additives are another exception. These are listed at the end of the Ingredient Declaration, regardless of order of predominance. The FDA also allows colors to be listed in a "May Contain" phrase. This lets you have one label for multiple products that are the same, just different in hue (like several different foundations).
The best place to go for a full understanding of the rules and regulations is straight to the FDA website. They have a very easy to read "Cosmetic Labeling Manual".
Plan on spending about 30 - 45 minutes just sitting down and reading, browsing and learning. Because of the potential liability in "misbranding", you are ultimately going to have to rely on yourself to figure out how your labels should read. Your vendors (such as TKB Trading) can provide information and guidance, but they are never going to give you specific instructions.
The good news? It really is not that complicated nor difficult. The other good news: once you are done, you don't have to think about it again!
Be sure to visit our site at www.wholesalecolors.com (or www.tkbtrading.com).

About MSDS Sheets

2006-01-19T09:51:00.000-08:00

MSDS stands for "Material Safety Data Sheet". People often think that a MSDS sheet is an ingredients list. While it does disclose ingredients, this is not its purpose. Its purpose is to be an instruction sheet on how to safely handle the product.

The MSDS gives information such as "What do I do if I accidentally eat it, or get it into my eyes, or inhale it?" Or, "What do I do if I accidentally spill it, or start a fire with it?" Or, "Do I need to wear rubber gloves to handle it, or a face mask?" An MSDS describes the hazards of working with the material in an occupational fashion.

MSDS sheets are not meant for consumers; no OSHA (U.S. Occupational Health and Safety Administration) nor FDA (Food and Drug Administration) regulation requires that you transmit them to consumers. MSDS sheets are meant for workers who handle your products, employers of those workers and emergency personnel (such as firefighters).

Therefore, let's say you make a line of mineral makeup foundations with three shades, "Ivory". "Beige" and "Caramel". Each foundation contains iron oxide, titanium dioxide, zinc oxide and mica, in varying amounts.

If you are selling this line direct to the consumer, you do not need to create or provide an MSDS sheet.

If you have employees, however, you do need to create the MSDS sheets and keep them on file at your office, because OSHA requires that you make the information available to your employees.

If you are wholeselling the line to a retailer, then you must create and provide MSDS sheets for each of the three products. You may provide them as a hard paper copy, or you may provide them electronically. The retailer requires the MSDS sheet so that they are OSHA-compliant. Also, while not required by law, retailers like to be able to show them to consumers who are particularly interested in making sure they understand the product they are purchasing.

In the case of our three colors, Ivory, Beige and Caramel, each MSDS sheet would be exactly the same (except for the title), because they all have the same exact ingredients. The MSDS sheet does not require you to list the "percentages" of the ingredients, just the fact that they are in the product.

OSHA has a suggested format for MSDS sheets which you can download by clicking here. You may also wish to take a look at TKB Trading's MSDS sheets by clicking here.

For the complete, more-than-you-want-to-read compendium on MSDS sheets, I direct you to the following URL: The MSDS FAQ

The requirement for an MSDS sheet is not connected to the FDA requirement for consumer labels. That is a different topic entirely.

If any of these hyperlinks do not work, please let me know!

Be sure to visit our site at www.wholesalecolors.com (or www.tkbtrading.com).

Safe Cosmetics: a new law, a great organization, and a database to look at. If you are a cosmetics formulator, read this post!

2006-01-06T11:15:00.000-08:00

In October, 2005, Gov. Schwarzenegger signed a law that requires any company selling a personal care product in California that contains any ingredient that's a human carcinogen or reproductive toxin to disclose that to the Department of Health Services starting in 2007.

Personal care formulators don't like the law, because they feel it misleads consumers into thinking safe products are unsafe. For example, a product that is a potential carcinogen in powder form (because you inhale it) would not be in a liquid form (as in a shampoo or toothpaste). Yet, the company would still be required to disclose the fact that a potential carcinogen is in the liquid product.

The reporting information will not be on the product label, but it will be available online. For now, you can do some research at the Skin Deep website, which was created by an environmental NGO (non-governmental organization). Here is the URL: http://www.ewg.org/reports/skindeep/

Advocates of the law counter this by saying that having to make such disclosures will motivate companies to reformulate to make their products safer, and to make them rely less on known carcinogens or reproductive toxins.

200 companies have promised to do just that, including Body Shop, Kiss My Face, Burt's Bees, Avalon Natural Products, and Zia Natural Skin Care. The list of companies may be found at www.safecosmetics.org. This is a very interesting website and organization and if you manufacture cosmetics, I encourage you to visit it and consider participating. (For the industry response to this organization, visit www.cosmeticsaresafe.org).

Be sure to visit our site at www.wholesalecolors.com (or www.tkbtrading.com).
Hope you find all this helpful!

How Lori Polette took her studies of ancient Mayan paint and turned it into a business that's good for all of us.

2005-12-30T12:53:00.000-08:00

http://www.mayanpigments.com/

Mayan Blue is a 2000-year-old, lustrous turquoise blue that can be seen in ancient Mayan ruins, even to this day. Until relatively recently, no one knew how they made such a vivid paint so resistant to weather, extremes of pH, chemical solvents and biodegradation.

Research conducted largely by PhD student Lori Polette revealed why the mix of organic dye from the indigo plant and inorganic clay is so long-lasting. The clay has a fibrous channel-containing structure. Normally, these channels hold water. What the Mayans did was heat the clay in order to remove the water in the channels. They then mixed it with the indigo. The newly-emptied channels filled themselves with indigo and the result was a paint made from clay which was supersaturated with blue dye.

Nano-technology in action, thousands of years ago!

Our "hero" Lori Polette took her discoveries and, with the help of angel investors, founded a new company, Mayan Pigments Inc. Polette's palette (pun intended) is hoped to generate $10 million in sales within five years by targeting the industrial paints market (plastics, printing, etc.)

Why should we applaud her? Because she is promoting:

Paints without heavy metals. Heavy metals are used to make paints stable (think: lead paint) and they are not so great for the environment or our health.
Sustainable agriculture. Indigo is a dye-crop which means that if demand can increase for this and other dye-crops, then farmers in third world countries will have another option for their farms.
Improvements in industry. These paints have been shown to keep their same color under different lighting conditions, which is a big plus for packaging folk.

You Go Girl!

Be sure to visit our site at www.wholesalecolors.com (or www.tkbtrading.com).

Breath Palette -- 31 Flavors of Toothpaste

2005-12-27T12:55:00.000-08:00

Japan offers an innovation to tooth brushing, with a 31 flavor set of novelty toothpastes for $9 per flavor or $160 for a full set.

The toothpastes use only all-natural and plant-derived ingredients and is being imported by entreprenuer Tracy Holland at her website www.breathpalette.com

What happend was she was travelling in Tokyo and she ran across them in the store. The clerk told her the products were so popular they could not keep them in stock! According to Tracy, the best selling flavors so far include: white peach, cola, and bitter chocolate. In Japan, they are rose, white peach and Kyoto tea. Here's the complete list of 31 flavors:

Amajio, Tropical Pineapple, Peppermint, Freshness Yogurt, Green Tea, Rose, Monkey Banana, Honey, Kiwi, Cafe au Lait, Plum, Apple, Vanilla, Curry, Strawberry, Orange, Kyoto Green Tea, White Peach, Ume, Lavender, Darjeeling Tea, Cinnamon, Kyube, Lemon, Bitter Chocolate, Blueberry, Caramel, Espresso, Grapefruit, Pumpkin, and Cola.

There is also a flavorless style.

Takeaway from this post: keep your eyes peeled when travelling, you never know what import you might find!

Be sure to visit our site at www.wholesalecolors.com (or www.tkbtrading.com).

Tips on Naming Your New Products

2005-12-20T13:24:00.000-08:00

Ever wonder what neat name to give your most recent blend of brown micas? How about Electric Mud? Or Moondance, or Coppertunity, or Currant or Jolt? If your brain needs a jumpstart on color names and color trends, check out The Color Marketing Group (CMG).

Every year, this trade association gets together and goes through a five-step process to come up with the palettes of the future. Fortune 500's and others eagerly await CMG's forecasts for what colors will be hot for the next one to three years. Not just for cosmetics, but for everything retail such as furniture, clothing, consumer electronics . . .

Remember 2005? Here is their predicted color directions for that year: The spa experience is adding a spiritual nature to color, resulting in a fresh, rejuvenating and clean palette. In fashion, the resulting color palette included Clay Pot (spice brown), Good Earth (rock red), Thistle Bloom (dusky purple), Late Night Blue (dark blue) and Sulpher (neutral khaki).

And . . . what's ahead for 2006? Warmer, clearer and brighter colors. In the home look for Asian Rose, Bliss, Decoesque, Elemental Gray and Flemish Gold. If you want to know more about CMG (or want to know what these colors are) or want some ideas for some neat names for colors, then visit their website www.colormarketing.org!

Be sure to visit our site at www.wholesalecolors.com (or www.tkbtrading.com).

Home Made and Natural Paint -- some resources

2005-12-13T11:42:00.000-08:00

I'm always attracted to news stories about people who start up a boutique paint company. Maybe because in my heart of hearts, I'd love to do the same!

This month, there was an article in the San Francisco Chronicle which showcased two Portland, Oregon women who started out as a "Custom Finishes" company (the kind of people who come in and paint your interiors in interesting ways) and ended up making their own line of paints. You can visit their website at www.yolocolorhouse.com to read more about their mission, their products, and their prices.

Reading the article reminded me of 2004, when I got it in my head to write a book about natural paints, and so promptly tore through the house testing out ideas. My family was very patient as I painted my bedroom using a natural paint made from curdled milk. This required gallons of milk and bags of lemons. The result was very close to exactly what I wanted: a completely flat wall finish, with a soft yellow/beige/coral hue that was complex and ever changing as the daylight traveled through the room. Sometimes, in the early mornings, I swear it is green!

I loved working with natural paints with regard to the complexity of hue and tone, but the actual "making" of the paint was a real pain, and each batch varied with regard to texture (how thin or how thick). So, while I'm still a huge fan of natural paints, I definitely suggest you consider a premade product backed by a paint professional -- maybe even the Yolo Colorhouse paints (I haven't tried them so I can't say for sure).

If you want to read up on natural paints, here is my shortlist of great books:

The Natural Paint Book by Lynn Edwards and Julia Lawless. This is the book that I was trying to write but never finished. Julia Lawless is also famous for her encyclopedias of essential oils.

Color: A Natural History of the Palette by Victoria Finlay. I can not say enough about this book! I keep shoving it under the noses of anyone who makes it to my coffee table and once I get them to start reading, they are fascinated. Doesn't matter if they are into paint or not. It is like a travel book and history book and color book all rolled into one. I love this book so much I should probably sell it. Maybe I will.

Anything written by Annie Sloan. She's a pro and has been at this for years. I want to save up my money, go to England and take one of her workshops just so I can kneel at her presence. Alternatively, I'd settle for growing up to be her, except that I'm already grown up.

Be sure to visit our site at www.wholesalecolors.com (or www.tkbtrading.com).

What are Organic Pigments and Dyes?

2005-12-05T16:33:00.000-08:00

What are Organic Colorants? . . . How about I start by explaining what they are NOT.

I get lots of queries from well-meaning customers who want to make their products with only organic ingredients. They want to make sure they only purchase natural, organic pigments from TKB Trading! "No," I explain to them "You really don't!"

The confusion comes from the use of the word "organic".

In the natural products world, "organic" refers to agricultural products (like fruits, veggies, oils, etc), which have been produced in a sustainable system of farming without the use of pesticides, herbicides and fertilizers. (here is a hyperlink which defines organic: http://www.organic-ingredients.com/Organic/faq.html#faq1)

Agricultural products can definitely be used to color things (example: blackberry juice is great at staining your shirt), so you could definitely use certified-organic color additives in non-cosmetic products such as soap or potpourri.

However, only three agricultural products are approved by the US FDA for use in coloring cosmetics. So there are only three things which you might use in your cosmetic products which you could might be able to source as being certified organic: annatto (a yellow dye), caramel (brown dye from sugar), carotene (yellow/orange as from carrots). I'm not even sure if these are available in a certified organic format. There is one other natural ingredient use in cosmetics which is approved by the FDA, and that is carmine. Carmine is a red dye made from squished insects. I have no idea if there is an organic bug farm out there, but I kind of doubt it.

The rest of the color additives used in cosmetic products are generally synthetic dyes or pigments. And here is where the confusion sets in. In the world of color chemistry, we speak of colors as being either "organic" in origin or "inorganic" in origin. The use of the word organic has an entirely different meaning than the one discussed above

In science, "organic" colors are simply colors which are "compounds which contain carbon". Most of the organic colors used in cosmetics are exactly those colors that the naturalists try to avoid. For example, the FD&C and D&C dyes are "organic" dyes; but they are also considered irritants and allergens by natural cosmetic manufacturers.

Inorganic colors are colors which don't contain carbon. For example, all those lovely minerals which natural cosmetic manufacturers like to tout in their natural mineral makeup products -- these are all inorganic color additives.

If this has confused you even more, email me! I'll take another stab at it.

Be sure to visit our site at www.wholesalecolors.com (or www.tkbtrading.com).

Cosmetics as a High School Science Project

2005-11-30T15:45:00.000-08:00

Recently, I had a Mom from Florida call to order our mineral makeup kit for her daughter. The daughter wanted to explain the making of cosmetics in a science exhibit for her school. Brilliant!

In addition to selling them the kit, I immediately directed them to this very excellent, non-commerical website about pigments, Pigments Through The Ages: http://webexhibits.org/pigments/

This site has lots of pretty pictures and easy-to-read historical info about pigments but it also drills down into fascinatnig details on chemical structure and manufacture.

The sister sites include Causes of Color and Color http://webexhibits.org/causesofcolor/, Vision and Art http://webexhibits.org/colorart/, both wonderful sites for your budding scientist/artist.

The Next Big Thing -- Three Custom Color Cosmetics

2005-11-29T11:56:00.000-08:00

Where I stumbled last time I was websurfing . . .

Trae Bodge, a New Yorker has partnered to create a business called Three Custom Color Makeup. She started as a tiny mail order lipstick and blush biz and started going gang busters after just a year. read her technique for custom-making lipsticks at $50 a pair.

Trae's business site, which www.threecustom.com. She has some very interesting information there about how to i.d your "cool vs. warm" tones, and what will look best on on you as a result.

I was also nicely wow'd by her "Press" section. You can see why her business is booming -- she's got some savvy PR partners working with her, getting the company name into lots of flashy magazines. And Trae was even featured in Elle magazine in April!

Be sure to visit our site at www.wholesalecolors.com (or www.tkbtrading.com).

Zubbles -- Non-Staining Colored Soap Bubbles

2005-11-27T14:09:00.000-08:00

There is a fascinating article in the December 2005 Popular Science magazine about the invention of colored soap bubbles. You will no doubt see this unique invention on the market by next summer -- at the latest.

These soap bubbles are vivid colors -- purple, pink, etc., and yet, when they burst the dyes do not stain or color. Instead, they simply disappear. Read the article to understand the science behind this, it is fascinating. FASCINATING!

What's the use of this new invention? Aside from the joy of colored bubbles, and the use of colored bubbles for special events (think pink bubbles at a breast cancer awareness fundraiser), the invention is mostly a breakthrough in dye technology.

For example, imagine having a sponge that leaves behind a trail of color to show you where you have wiped . . . and after a few minutes the color disappears. Or a toothpaste that colors the inside of your kid's mouth to show where they have brushed, until it disappears.

Be sure to visit our site at www.wholesalecolors.com (or www.tkbtrading.com).

Nanotech and Makeup

2005-11-23T15:46:00.000-08:00

Interesting blurb in Business 2.0 magazine about nanotechnology as used in color cosmetics (November, 2005, pg. 36).

It says that L'Oreal will release a new line of lipstick, eye shadow and nail polish in 2006. The products will look white in their packages, but when they are applied and interact with light, the makeup will shimmer with vivid colors.

What's happening is that the color in the makeup will not come from dyes and pigments (as is the case now). Instead, liquid crystals will be microscopically layered in such a way that they will reflect light and thereby produce different hues. Think of how an oil slick reflects light, or a soap bubble.Wow!

Be sure to visit our site at www.wholesalecolors.com (or www.tkbtrading.com).

What this Blog is About

2005-11-23T11:47:00.000-08:00

In our weblog, I will be posting things that I find interesting about the industries of color, crafts and color cosmetics.

I also plan to post some of the more interesting questions which I get, along with my answers.

Feel free to add your comments.

Be sure to visit our site at www.wholesalecolors.com (or www.tkbtrading.com).