|
|
|
|
|
|
MEMORIAL DAY WEEKEND
OPEN EVERY DAY 10-6
As promised last time, we will spend some time this month
on "how we make it" Some people can't believe it, but we make our products right here. So in this issue and the next we will spend a little time in the "lab" Plus we have a new GIANT size soap that is VERY popular, and we have some other news and specials. We hope you enjoy this issue!!
|
|
|
|
|
BENTLEY HAS IT MADE
If you remember, Bentley was looking for a home last time. Being 3rd man out as a rooster isn't much fun, and he is a great rooster - just like LT his old man. This picture went up in the local feed store with the note that Glen is focused and picky about where these guys go.
Bentley replaced a beloved pet rooster who died and now has 6 hens of his own in a well groomed back yard and a doting family. They were delighted to get such a tame good looking rooster.
He's a happy man!
|
|
|
NEW GIANT SOAP! $5 SPECIAL INTRO PRICE!
Weighing in at almost 6 oz, these new bars are a real handful and usually sell for $8 in our store!
Meryl has liked these big bars for a long time and decided we should get several BIG SOAP molds and put lots of them out and see what happens. What has happened is we now process almost 40lbs of soap a week!!! These are a REAL HIT!!
Fleur de Lies or Celtic design.
CLICK HERE TO GET ONE AND IF YOU WANT A SPECIFIC PATTERN, MENTION IT IN THE "NOTES" SECTION .
|
|
|
|
DON'T FORGET WE DROP SHIP
If someone lives elsewhere we will ship directly with whatever note you would like to include. Just put the name and address to send to in "Ship To" when filling out the order and in the "notes" section tell us what you would like us to include for a note! Call us at 805-688-7505!
|
|
BODY SCRUB SPECIAL: $14 FOR THE 10 OZ AND $8 FOR THE 5 OZ
Here is a great product for the tub or shower. We make this with the best of salts, a little sugar, glycerin, jojoba oil and special extracts so it helps not only deep clean and exfoliate, but doesn't dry out the skin either. Just put this on a washcloth and scrub - not too hard if it's on the face. Also we don't use very much sugar. As one of our customers pointed out, the sugar dissolves faster. If you use it in the tub, it has the same effect as the bath salts after its all melted. You feel so clean and relaxed!!! While not many of our customers will find this useful, one thing Glenn uses it for sometimes is mixed with liquid soap to remove grease on the hands after working on cars or tractors.
CLICK HERE to try the BIG one
CLICK HERE to try the 5 oz size.
|
|
OLD NEWSLETTERS AND ARTICLES
Some people have told us that they look forward to these newsletters and like to peruse them. So we now have most of the ones that are not too old posted on our website. CLICK HERE to see the "NEWS" page on our site.
|
|
We believe that one of the reasons why people like our products is that we make them right here. Because of that we can not only control the process and quality, but it gives us a LOT more flexibility in the range of products we can offer and what price point we can meet. Its vitally important to us that people find our products to be consistant, of the highest quality and a good value. We avoid preservatives whenever possible, and always avoid parabins. With over 40 products that we make, its a very busy short run manufacturing operation. If you count different sizes of similar products the number increases to over 60. And another advantage of what w ae doing is that everything is fresh. For the most part the materials that we are selling on the weekend had their ingredients arrive that week. From a production and inventory standpoint that means we have almost no inventory, and we turn our inventory MORE than 52 times a year. These sorts of statistics are one of the things that we are really proud of. Glenn worked for 25 years running electronics manufacturing operations - finishing up with carrier class switches and routers. While it might seem that that lavender and electronics have nothing in common - its not the case! Process, process, process. Once a manufacturing operation grows to the point that it has to produce a lot of goods, having a sound process is the key no matter what you are making. And we pay a lot of attention to our processes, ingredients our quality, and we hope that our customers find this reflected in our products.
|
|
|
FIRST COLOR
Its become sort of a rite of Spring around here to look around the field at this time of the Spring and find a few plants that are statting to show color. And here are a few if the early bids. We think that it is going to be another banner year for the lavender. The olive trees were loaded this year to the point of breaking - we had to do a lot of trimming because of the weight of the olives.
|
|
SAM POURING MASSAGE OIL
Here is Sam Lyon helping us get ready for the Memorial Day weekend. Sam is a godsend. We order materials on Monday and Tuesday and they arrive mostly Wednesday and Thursday. With all the different products we now have and the volume of them we are preparing on a weekly basis, its become more than a full time job making products.
It also takes patience and focus not to spill.
|
|
|
MIXING BODY BUTTER
So here it is - a real high tech process. For both body butter and the hand lotion we use, yes, a paint mixer and a strong electric drill to do the mixing. The percentage of lavender oil is pretty fixed across the product line at 1.5%.
This gives a REAL lavender scent, but is not overwhelming.
Consistency is very important, and we use a series of labe grade graduated cylinders and Erlenmeyer
Flasks to measure.
Just like Chemistry
in High School
But MORE FUN!
|
|
CANDLES COOLING
Here is a batch of candles cooling. The way we make these is to melt the ingredients in a small fry pot to something like 180 degrees, glue the wicks to the bottom of the glass or metal container with a hot glue gun and them add about 20 ml of oil to each candle. Candles take a LOT of oil to "throw" a scent. That's why they are not inexpensive - lots of oil and no paraffin. We use soy and a small amount of beeswax.
|
|
 HAND AND BODY LOTION PUMPING For a long time, pumping lotion into tubes and bottles was a real chore. Then we found this drum pump and adapted it to the poly barrels we had been using with mist making. With this pump we can put the already mixed lotion in the barrel and pump pretty efficiently. Without it we could never do the volumes we have now. A motor driven one will be the next step up - but we can make a LOT today pretty efficiently. |
MAKING BIG SOAPS
Again, here is Sam hard at work. When we make the soaps we get 20 lb bricks of the glycerin and goat milk base and add scent and a little more oil for extra moisturizing. When we process it we process a whole brick at a time to avoid reheating which is not good for the product. If you happen to buy any of the soaps on special, you might get one of the ones in this picture!
|
|
|
|
June 25th is the date of this year's Ojai Lavender Festival.
We will be there. Its a great way to spend an afternoon - if you like lavender there are several other farms there, but there are lots of other kinds of things too. For more information CLICK HERE to go to the festival's site.
|
|
|
|
As always if you want to contact us, call us at the number below. Or email us at info@clairmontfarms.com
Sincerely, Meryl and Glenn
Clairmont Farms Lavender Company
805-688-7505 |
|
|
|
|
|
