Fall is Near!



         As summer approaches an end and fall nears, I can’t help but become excited that my favorite time of the year is arriving! It’s the time of the year when the temperature cools down the smothering heat, the trees become bare as the leaves lay peacefully on the limp grass and the scents of pumpkin and pecan pies fill the air. I love fall and as I sit patiently awaiting for the season to change, I become readily excited with Jahyah’s fall selection of soy candles. I’m in the “factory” working hard to give you the my best scents of fall! Please tell me, what do you love about fall? What are your favorite fall scents?

How I stumbled across soy candles!

(my first soy candle batch)

My love for blending scented soy candles began in January of 2009. At home, I grew accustomed to mixing essential oils with rich butters to create moisturizing bath and body products for anyone who desired them, but one day as I was sitting patiently at my work desk, waiting for the clock to hit 5:00, a question arose from a co-worker that sparked a newfound interest. “Do you make soy candles?” Now that was a question I had never been asked, nor had I ever thought of looking into, but as I sat across from that co worker I can remember wondering how difficult it could be to make them. I responded that they were not in my current product line up, but that it could be soon, as she nodded her head as if she was pleased with my response and drifted back into her work. As the day carried on, her question continued to repeat in my mind as I found myself surfing the internet for tools, tips and recipes for making scented soy candles. After watching video tutorials and reading articles on how to make soy candles, I was ready to start with my first batch. I had ordered all my supplies from an online store and was eager to get started. I began mixing, and following each basic instruction and as I impatiently waited for the liquid to solidify I found a rather odd looking soy scented candle! Not the result you were looking to hear I assume, but an honest one! The top layer of the candle appeared to be crusted and dented with deep suctioning holes around the center of the wick. I was left looking at the candle puzzled, wondering what I had done wrong to make them look this way! Nevertheless, I was still excited that I had at least attempted to make my first soy candle. As with everything practice makes perfect and I can remember the joy on that coworkers face when I presented her with a blueberry cheesecake candle on her birthday. As she proudly displayed and lit the blue mason jar candle on her bookshelf cluttered with family portraits and memorabilia, other co workers quickly began asking about the dessert fragrance filling the office. I was delighted and each day that she lit the candle, I noticed that the inquires started coming in. More people became interested in my candles, as I became excited with all the new fragrances, containers and such that accompanied making them. Today, I am just as excited with making soy candles as I was in January of 2009. What’s your story on your craft on how it began? Please share!!

My Big Lesson!

One of the biggest problems I discovered that I had while trying to start my own business was my infatuation with studying large and small businesses. Now I know that your suppose to do your research and look into all angles while developing your own product, but somewhere I got stuck in the research phase and spent most of my time comparing, websites, products, and ideas with other handcrafters and would find myself easily distraught and torn away from the goals I had for myself. I would spend hours upon hours online daily studying other handmade entrepreneurs and their work. I can’t calculate the numerous times that I spent, becoming angry with myself when I saw an existing or newer company debuting a new product or packaging that I had conjured up in my mind months before or had written somewhere in my “business plan.” The lesson that I had to learn through it all was that although I had everything outlined in that black notebook of mine, I was missing the key ingredient to making things happen . . . . .I was lacking “action” in my business plan. There were people around me who believed in my dream, and would listen patiently as I would excitedly share my new vision or goal, but as time passed I noticed how even my strongest supporters were beginning lose interest in my enthusiasm. Oddly enough, the day that I came to realize how complacent I had become in my own business affairs, came on a day and from a person that I would have never expected it to come from. As I sat in my bedroom on the large king size bed, gazing at the television screen with my six year old child, I remember her shifting her small frame towards me and gazing at me with her big beautiful eyes. “Mommy, when are you to start making candles again?” As I began to look my young child in her eyes, I found myself without words as she continued on. “Mommy, you have to start making candles again, you have to start making money. You need to go in your office and make candles everyday, one a day everyday. You have to stack up so that one day you will have a lot of candles and sell them to everybody.” I looked at that young girl, feeling as though the roles had been replaced and I was receiving a lecture from my own mother. “O.K. Ajah,” I began as she begin to pause “but what do you think I should focus on, candles or . . “ but before I could complete my sentence she eagerly interrupted and responded “Do everything Mom, I can help. Just go in the office and start making it. Everyday make something, I can help you mom.” As she completed her lecture and turned back to the television, I sat on the edge of my bed in deep thought. What was I teaching my children by doing nothing? I knew that at one point they were both actively engaged in creating soaps, lip balms and candles, but I never took into account how they might be affected that I had completely stopped. My oldest daughter was not interested in the research I had done; she was only interested in the action I had completed. It was the biggest lesson ever taught to me and all by a 6 year old! I am thankful and delighted that she mustarded up the courage to have that talk with me. As I always found it easier to offer excuses to my peers, it was much more difficult to replicate those same lines to the one who I spent so much time in teaching life lessons to. So. . . . deciding to lead by example that very next morning I headed straight to the craft store to gather the one item that I had caused me to lay around and excuse my laziness. Sad and embarrassed to say it was a thermometer!! That one thermometer that I had somehow misplaced while moving my office space into another area of my home had caused me to sit around, offer excuses, search online and feel sorry for myself. Sadly, but effectively it took the wisdom of a young six year old child to give me that needed push to get up and take action!!! Today, I have made many changes in my approach to my business. I decided that I no longer needed to spend hours researching or making excuses but instead create, mix, market my thoughts, ideas and products into action. Whenever I feel discouraged, I go back to the talk and remember how I felt engaged in that conversation with my young child. Jahyah’s Beauty (Ajah and Yah-Yah).

Jahyah's Beauty . . The Beginnings!!

Hello and welcome to my new blog with Jahyah’s Beauty! I am so excited to share my business venture with you all as I hope that you all will love all that I have to share. Jahyah’s Beauty has been a major part of my life since the birth of my first born Ajah in 2004. As a new mother of a child suffering from eczema, I felt helpless as I ushered her into our family physician and watched as he prescribed my young child a topical steroid cream to help reduce the irritation and discomfort she was suffering from as a result of her new skin condition. As I drove to the local pharmacy and picked up my baby girls new prescription, I can remember feeling dismayed at what I had found! This cream was not recommended for her age group as there were not many remedies that were. I can remember calling my mother and asking for her recommendation, but as neither of us had any experience with this new condition, I continued to use the cream sparingly as it seemed that her condition worsened! In January of 2007 I was blessed with another daughter Ayannah, at which she was quickly nick named yah-yah due to her older sister’s inability to pronounce her name correctly. As the months quickly passed, I soon came to realize that Ayannah to was also suffering from the same condition as her sister however much worse. Knowing that I did not want to repeat the same disappointing pattern as I had done a few years back, I began searching online for natural remedies to sooth her discomfort. It was then that I discovered the many health benefits of shea butter. I can remember going to the local reggae shop and purchasing my first portion of this new found raw butter. Knowing that both of my girls were allergic to fragrances, I went home, gathered a bunch of rich oils and began mixing! Hours and hours of mixing were going on in my home, as I would find myself eager to blend more and think of new recipes to relieve my children of their discomfort. As time passed, so did their condition as I soon found that my mixture was strengthening their skin back to its healthy state! I was then hooked! Commercial creams and lotions were thrown out the door as the word quickly spread that I created a recipe for those with dry inflamed skin. Friends and family began asking for my creation as I was eager to share! Within time, I then began to realize that I had something special brewing from inside my home. I realized that I more than just a concerned mother who wanted to aid her children out of discomfort, but that I was on my way to starting my own beauty business. It took time, trial and error, tears and uncertainties, but through the eyes of my daughters and desire of my heart I knew that there was a small place out there in the business world just for me. So I began working on a plan, seeking advice, researching and as it came time to create a name for my new business I couldn’t resist the temptation to combine the names of my beautiful daughters and name it “Jahyah’s Beauty.” As time has passed, so have a lot of my initial ideas which have resulted in a new inner strength and product ideas. With all that I create in my home, my children will always play a critical role in its creation, whether its selecting a new scent, a new color, container or just their thumbs up of approval. I believe it is through them that I have found my happiness as it is my wish that I can someday help them to achieve theirs! Thank you again for visiting my new blog Jahyah’s Beauty!!