the ramblings of a chronic over thinker

shopping and retail, oh my!

i like a 75% off sale myself…

i woke up this morning to an email from a supplier titled ‘spring something or the other’. the point of the email was to remind me, as the business owner, that i should be looking at ordering and stocking up for spring so i’m 'ready’. spring?! for real? it’s not even christmas people!

retail is a huge portion of my business and now that EVERYTHING is so pricey, it’s tough to decide how to navigate the store and my retail purchasing. we have black friday coming up (we’re not even american), then boxing day and then what? new years, valentines and all the reasons that you can buy stuff? that is what is coming up next. it never ends. i feel like the retail tango is hard on me. do we really need this much stuff? gifts? personal items? is it necessary at all? we buy what we need and that’s fine, that makes sense to me. but, it’s when we buy what we don’t need, buy because of a prompt, or buy because it’s 75% off regardless of needs, that’s the troublesome part.

so you come into the shop and buy some shampoo and conditioner, in three months, you can re-up. if there’s a sale along the way, sure, stock up! but is it necessary to purchase all the time? i can’t expect all my clients to buy items every time they come to the shop can i? it is definitely a conundrum i struggle with. all the reporting says retail is one of the best strategies to make money, but is it? i have suppliers emailing me with black friday preorders and deals, just to follow up with more emails about holiday gift sets or deals. how can i buy every time i get the prompt if MY products aren’t moving off the shelf?

suppliers attempt to deliver this scarcity type concept for the month of december. they try to make us understand that if a client needs a product during the holidays and i don’t have it? shame! shame! i have to make sure that i have all the things ready for a client to come and shop/spend. it makes sense because the formula for retail includes a markup so yes, it’s an ‘easy‘ way to make some revenue. but then i worry about how much my clients spend and if they indeed really need all the things i sell? i know sales bring folks in and sales prompt folks to buy but is that okay? who is policing my clients accounts? i can’t convince someone to NOT buy something if they think they need it even though i believe they don’t. …i mean, retail therapy is one of my fave types of therapy….

these are cool, i like the handles

all of this to say, be smart with your spending. buy only what you need and if you have time, go through your product cupboard and see what you have that you use and what you have that you don’t use. take stock before you purchase and don’t be easily prompted by my sales and marketing tactics to buy my stuff, or do!😉😉

✌🏾-p

Wordless Wednesday

Freshair's fave KM products

the fresh perspective...

FLOW

Flow hair care is the best product line we have found that delivers on all the levels of performance and sustainability.  This styling and wet line is manufactured in a LEED Silver certified facility in Canada and is completely sustainable.  Utilizing water from their own aquifer, Flow purifies this water and converts it to a pharmaceutical grade level.  This rejuvenated water is the leading ingredient in all of their products and sets your hair up for success with the most purified h2o available.  That, coupled with the fact that this line has caused no damage to the earth, make this line a winner in our books!

Oh yah, we forgot to tell you how awesome it makes your hair feel!  Next time you're in, ask for a sample of the 30 second treatment mask, it'll change your life.

That's it.

LiLash update...

So as promised this is my last post on the product LiLash.  I know that my lashes have grown and seem to be fuller but I'm not sure that I would buy this product again.  I ran out of the actual serum a few weeks ago but I think that's cause of the way the bottle is shaped (and I did put the serum on my brows as well). All in all, my lashes grew and seemed fuller.  My brows didn't change at all.  Some people swear by this product.  I had a lady tell me she had to cut her lashes with scissors, they were so long!  I experienced some itching and a bit of a dry eye at night but that was it.

Yeah, that's all I can say I guess.  Maybe try it? Maybe not?

**By the way, my eyebrows are beefed up a bit....

Peace

Renée's Aesthetic

TOP SHELF

Here are my three favorite products of the moment.  I simply cannot live without them.

We all have our go-to hair and makeup products.  Finding those right ones can be a bit of a process.  You need products that aren't only high quality, but work for your skin and hair type specifically (everyone's are different.)

1. KEVIN MURPHY- Young Again (hair serum)

This serum is AMAZING.  I've been dying my hair for at least 13 years, so you can only imagine how dry and brittle it can get.  Ever since we've started carrying Kevin Murphy products at my salon, I've been addicted to this one.  I usually put about two pumps in my hair after I get out of the shower, and throw in an extra pump every other day when my hair is dry.  It's never felt so smooth without feeling greasy.

2. PURE ANADA- Black Mascara

We've recently just started carrying this mascara at work, but 90% of us are already hooked.  Our eyes are incredibly important, so we should treat them well.  Makeup can be quite harmful, but finding natural makeup, including mascara, that actually works can be difficult.  Pure Anada's mascara is naturally paraben-free, gluten-free, and mercury-free.  Not only that, but it does a fantastic job of adding the appearance of length and volume to your natural set of lashes.  What more could you ask for?

3. MAILIE- Koke'e Body Polish

This body scrub is the perfect balance of grit and oil.  The organic sugar makes it gentle enough to use over your entire body (minus your face) yet does the trick of sloughing off all those dead skin cells.  Meanwhile the combination of organic jojoba, sunflower, castor, and extra virgin coconut oil create the perfect amount of moisture that skin lacks, with a scent that is to die for.

Those are three products that I would recommend anyone giving a fair shot.  What are your top three??

-né xo