Fingers Crossed...

So remember this glancing post about my Thailand trip back in March? I never really got to follow up and post more pictures here, though I did post a few on our Facebook page.

Anyway, since I left, I've felt a very strong pull to return as soon as I could. There's just something magical about Thailand and her people and I haven't been able to shake this yearning to return. Stat. My visit made me realise that Buddhism as a way of life was something I wanted to explore further.

So, realising that I actually had a window of opportunity to return and learn ways to deepen my practice, I finalised my booking back to Thailand in December. I'll be attending a retreat and then spending a few days in Bangkok revisiting my favourite temples and going to new sites I missed the first time around. I'm so excited I'm bursting at the seams. This is going to be an adventure folks! Just me, my backpack (note to self: must buy one) and my Frommers guide.

When I told my friends, while they were all supportive, I have a suspicious feeling that there's a bet amongst them to see how long I can last. Because the thought of Sharonn going on a retreat as in - sleeping on the floor in a hut, waking up at 4 a.m., meditating, chanting, studying, cleaning and taking my last meal of the day at 11 a.m. is something I just don't do. Especially the not eating after 11 a.m. I'm just having my second breakfast at this time! Heck I don't even go camping. "Sharonn doesn't camp," is what I always say. Anyway, I'm eager to push myself and see what I'm capable off. This is such a huge departure from what I would normally do, that yes, I can't fault my friends for placing bets on my latest adventure. As a matter of fact, I'd like to join in :)

Well, that's all I wanted to say. The title of my post is Fingers Crossed because I know life has a way of throwing curve balls and I may have to cancel my trip if something beyond my control comes up. That's why, they offer trip insurance...which I immediately added to my cart.

With that, I leave you pics of my favourite sites in Bangkok...

Pics of the Grand Palace

Homes along the Chao Phraya River

Spirit house - every home and business has at least one

Have I told you how excited I am to be going back? I cannot wait! Keeping my fingers crossed...

Making Green Tea w Envy Hair Conditioning Treatment

Starring:

Green Tea Extract
Banana Extract
Argan Oil
Olive Oil
Avocado Oil
Panthenol

Between its recent feature in the magazine known as the authority on hairstyles, 101 Hairstyles and our current 30% off sale, we've been consumed by everything Green Tea with Envy. So, I decided that the next time I made a batch, I would document the process to give you a peek at how we make this fabulous hair conditioner.

We make everything in small batches to ensure freshness so this batch was made earlier this week and will be depleted by Monday at the latest.

Mise en place

A French term that chefs now use to mean "everything in place." In my case, I am measuring out my oil phase so I have all the ingredients I need for this part of the process within my reach. See that scale? It's a highly sensitive scale that can measure up to 1/10 of a gram and I am in love with it. On top of the fact that, this scale cost me a couple of hundred dollars and my work would come to a standstill if anything happened to it.



Oil phase

There are two parts to making Green Tea with Envy. The water phase, which contains the extracts, water (of course), panthenol and other water soluble ingredients, and the oil phase. This is the oil phase in one pot, ready to be heated. It contains the oils, butters, waxes, emulsifiers and conditioning agents.

Putting it all together aka as Emulsification

In a separate pot, we're heating the water phase and holding it at a steady temperature for at least 20 minutes. When both phases are ready to be incorporated, we caaaarefully pour the water phase into the pot containing the oils. Like so...

Whipping It Good

Once the conditioner has cooled down, we incorporate the preservative and whip it to give it that nice, fluffy, spreadable texture. Without the whipping Green Tea with Envy would be a horribly thick and unspreadable paste that would require a lot of time and patience to work through your hair. Now it's starting to look like the Green Tea with Envy you know and love right?

Tah Dah!

And here we have a gallon batch ready to go. See all the paperwork tacked up on my board behind me? Those are my orders that I need to complete in 2 days. Yikes! Pardon the hair folks...I barely remembered to take off my bonnet and coat for this picture.

You Love It! You Really, Really Love It!

Green Tea with Envy was featured in the Summer issue of 101 Hairstyles and we couldn't be more proud. Work it, work it.

And while we never turn down a good press opportunity, nothing beats hearing from our customers about how much they love this conditioner. Since the launch of Green Tea with Envy, I've seen a steady increase of e-mails coming in singing its praises. I've heard from customers with curly, straight (as one customer put it - painfully straight), fluffy (yes, someone actually used the descriptor fluffy), coloured, damaged and uh-oh really damaged hair and there's a common strand running through all your feedback. That no matter what hair type, hair style or hair condition you have, Green Tea with Envy has improved the strength, health and general appearance of your locks. And that, my friends, is music to my ears. What's more, for those of you with damaged hair, continuous use of Green Tea with Envy has restored health, softness, shine and bounce to your locks. Yessss!!!

The fact that this one conditioner has such wide appeal and broad application is truly great. It conditions without weighing hair down, restores shine to dry, damaged hair, tames frizz and improves hair's overall health. I for one can't live without it...and I know a few of you who feel the same way.

Back To Work to Make More

Whew! This is the most I've written in a while and I quite enjoyed it. Thank you for reading and keep the feedback coming.

We love hearing from you.

What I Did This Summer

It seems like every one of my blog posts of late starts off with, "Whoa, time flies and sorry I've haven't been posting as much.

In an effort not to ruin my track record, I will start off with my now customary, "Whoa time flies and sorry I haven't been posting as much." There. Now that that's out of the way, here's what we've been up to at CLC.

Party over here!

Last month, we had the honour of attending the Best of Westchester party to celebrate our award. Dahling, I must say it was ultra-glam and oh-so-fabulous m

ingling with other Best of Westchester winners. That's me, not about to miss a photo-op for posterity, on the red carpet. Cheese!

Welcome to CLC family!

While most of us can barely fathom the thought of snow and the Holiday season, now's the time that most spas start thinking about their Fall and Winter offering. To that end, we've been working with a few spas to come up with some delicious treatment protocols that's perfect for the Fall.

We recently had the pleasure of working with Janet of Addison Street Spa in Larchmont, NY to add some amazing body treatments to their current menu of services. Addison Street Spa is actually one of the first to carry one of our newest products. Stop by or call for a delicious Thai Coconut & Lemongrass Salt Glow body scrub. While you're there, make sure to stock up on Aloe Smoothie Lotion. We just delivered a fresh batch to them a week ago. Here's a picture of the bottles ready for Chris to pack.

Aww, look at the little lotions and packed tight and ready to go.

And for those of you in California, stop by Century Sports Club and Day Spa on W. Olympic Blvd. in LA. I heard they've got a take-no-prisoners body scrub treatment that will leave your skin smooth and glowing for weeks!

23 years later

To close off the summer and to get some much needed R&R before the mad-busy Holiday rush, I took a quick trip to the Cayman's to visit a childhood friend whom I haven't seen in (geez, I'm dating myself now...) 23 years. And you know what the best thing was? We picked up exactly where we had left off. Neither time nor distance really had an effect on the way we talked to each other. I love that. I have very few friends who go back this far with me and even fewer in whose company I'm absolutely comfortable. She brings the best of these two worlds and I consider myself lucky to have a friend like her. Besides...now I have a place to stay when I need a little bit of this...

Not too shabby eh?

So, that's pretty much my summer in a nutshell. We're gearing up for our busiest time of year. I expect our new Fall scents to launch some time next week and then our Holiday fragrances around the end of September.

Crater Lake Company Named Best of Westchester 2011

It's been so busy here at the office lately that I haven't had a chance to update our press page. To date, we have 15, yes 15 magazine covers that are waiting to be posted. From the prestigious Les Nouvelles Esthetiques & Spa Magazine coverage of Crater Lake Company's Flutter Butter, to yet another shoutout for our Zambian Coffee Body Scrub in Woman's World (thanks Shavon!), we've had a great run of press coverage lately. These trade and consumer magazines have such wide, global coverage and I couldn't be more proud to be featured in them.

Nothing however, makes me really beam than being named Best Skincare Line in Westchester Magazine's Best of Westchester 2011 issue. I'm so proud and honoured to be recognized with this award. As you know, Crater Lake Company and I call Westchester County our home so this accolade really holds a special place in my heart. We've gone GLOCAL!

Funny how CLC has grown through the years. Come to think about it, how we've grown is truly a sign of the times and the world in which we live today. After much prodding and encouragement by my friends and family, who were CLC's initial customers, I launched the online store not really expecting to see much action. Then word of mouth spread - blogs wrote about us and drove traffic to our site, people reviewed our products on forums and next thing you know, I'm shipping 700 # of CLC love to Singapore, meeting a customer from France in NYC and calling a bunch of sassy, gorgeous gals from Australia and New Zealand my friends. Then Good Housekeeping wrote about our Honeysuckle Fizz Sugar Cloud (thanks April!), Real Simple recommended our Creamy Lavender Milk Shower Smoothie (thanks Sarah) for sleek legs and now, we just got named Best of Westchester 2011. CLC's products have found their ways into the homes of beautiful women all over the world - Greece, France, Hong Kong, Australia, New Zealand, Philippines, Japan, Estonia, Portugal, Spain and Israel to name a few. And now, with this most recent recognition, I'm excited to finally share the gospel of exfoliating with my fellow Westchester County residents.

Many thanks to Karen for writing such a superb article. She turned an afternoon of excited babbling over coffee and pastries into a wonderful piece about CLC's humble beginnings. And of course, the gorgeous Nancy Claus for bestowing Crater Lake Company with this honour. See you at the party Nancy! And be prepared to get tackle hugged!

What do tigers dream of???

If you're a Hangover fan, you'll know the rest.

Here are some long overdue pictures of my trip back to Thailand and Cambodia. These pictures were taken in Chiang Mai and according to Chris, "it was the best day ever." Why? Because he got to ride an elephant in the morning and spoon a tiger in the afternoon. Then ended the day with a delightful foot and leg scrub, reflexology and an hour and a half long Thai massage. Seriously. Best. Day. Ever.
Here goes...

We visited an elephant camp during our stay in Chiang Mai. They are amazing, soulful animals. Thailand is trying to save their elephants from the abuse that man has put it through. Elephants are seen as beasts of burden and are used to harvest teak. Some are drugged with opium so they can work longer hours. Picture above: Elephants and their mahout during their morning bath. Below: Elephants showing their mad skillz rolling logs into a pile. I wish I had an elephant to push a car that's taking up 2 parking spots.

And we're off on our trek through the jungle...


In the afternoon, on the way back to our hotel, we stopped by a tiger camp. Though it wasn't in our itinerary, our tourguide was gracious enough to indulge us. You get a choice of 2 pictures - one with a baby, small, medium or large tiger. Chris & I chose small & medium. Believe it or not, it's more expensive to get your picture with a baby tiger. Probably because of the high incidence of theft as tourists shove the cubs in their backpacks!

Here's me hugging the medium tiger. I asked if they were tranquilised or drugged in some way and I was told they were not. They were just full and sleepy. It was the middle of the day and the heat was really intense and that's the time of day they like to sleep. Fresh off my elephant ride, with a belly full of Thai food, I decided to take a nap with the tiger! Chris can attest to this: better to approach a napping tiger than a napping Sharonn.



Below: Chris goofing around with the tiger. I'm glad this was the worst he did . At one point, I thought he was going to hump it Hangover styles. I don't think the tiger was very happy about his bunny ears.


At one point, I thought Chris was going to give the tiger a zerber belly.

Full of bravado at first, that's me when I came face to face with the large tiger. That's the trainer who holds nothing more than a drumstick to keep the tigers well behaved. In this picture, the trainer is telling me to spoon the tiger and I'm like, "What? Spoon the tiger? Does "spoon" mean something else to Thai people or do you seriously want me to hug that beast from behind and whisper sweet nothings in his ear?"


Above: From this perspective, you can really appreciate the size of these gorgeous creatures. That's me in the very far background asking Chris if his life insurance is up to date. But seriously though, aren't they just breathtaking in their beauty?

We ended our day with a trip to the local spa. That's us getting a foot and leg scrub before entering the main area of the spa. The scrub they used was - in a word -divine! And yes, I'm working on a CLC version.

Thanks for reading. I hope you enjoyed these pics. Now I have to post Cambodia pics.

New Summer Collection

Here in NY, it feels like we went from damp, high 50 degree weather for weeks on end to muggy 85 degree days. We didn't have a spring. We technically went from late winter to mid-July in a span of 3 weeks. Not that I'm complaining mind you. But somehow, I can't help but think that this is exactly what happened to me!

One moment I'm launching our runaway hit Kiss & Make Cupcakes Collection for Spring and then WHAM! It's summer and we're days away from launching our summer collection. Speaking of which...I'm really quite proud at how this collection turned out. It has a little bit of this and that and a whole lot of character. There isn't really a particular theme to this collection. It's just a well edited collection of scents that speak of warm days, balmy nights and laid-back 'tudes. I think my favourite part about this entire collection is how we managed to take a traditional note, yes even one as ho-hum as vanilla and give it an unexpected treatment. The mango note we use in Horizontal Mango, for example, is not your run-of-the-mill scent you've ever smelt before. Large inspired by my recent trip to Thailand and Cambodia (and I really need to post more pics of my trip), I created a green mango accord that's absolutely mouthwatering, but in unexpected ways. There's a certain tartness to the blend not normally found in traditional mango scents. Plus the sweetness is bold, robust and multi-dimensional. And seriously, if this scent does not find its way in your shopping cart, I'll be putting a sample of it with your order because you're going to want it once you've tried it. Trust.

I'm working on finishing the scent descriptions and adding them to our dropdown menu. Don't forget to join Crater Lake Company's page on Facebook. That's where we announce all the goings on at CLC first!

Before I sign-off. Here's some love from the amazing people at Cravings Magazine.

It's Open Bar!

Okay...the Fbar is finally open! Whoo! Just a few things to note as you fill up your shopping carts:

1. We've changed our jars to the low profile kind as pictured below. This type of jar tends to look underfilled, but please note that fill weights remain the same. With the increase in shipping costs, switching to low pro jars allows us to fit a bit more into the flat rate boxes. Besides, we think they're absolutely adorable. Also, note the change in our labels. Product labels and directions are on the top lid, ingredients are on the bottom and the scent label is on the side.

2. The hair lotion. I know, I know...it really needs to launch like STAT. But here's the deal...we can't come up with a name and so we can't make a label for it! So...we're leaving it up to you to do so. For those of you who've tried this fabulous potion, please post your suggestions on our Facebook page. We're awarding 2 - 2 oz. bottles of this fabulous stuff to the winner.

3. Speaking of product names, the lovely Justine, our super-talented collaborator in the scent-mixing department pretty much came up with the name of our new lip balm. We'll be including samples of our final formula in select orders. If you'd like to be a tester, please let us know in the notes section at checkout. Note that the formula contains beeswax and is not vegan. After taking a few tubes to test on my recent Thailand and Cambodia trip where temperatures got as high as 90F in the sun, I've finalised the formula. It's now a bit harder to withstand hotter climes, but with the same glide (read: no drag) and moisturising power that our initial testers raved about. We're soooo excited about this new product!

4. Fbar pages are a work in progress. We've updated the master page, but over the next few days, we'll populate the category pages. Okay, I think that's about it in terms of an update and details regarding the sale. Don't forget to join our Facebook page for the latest updates and exclusive offers.