Dear Maven - Skin Care

Dear Maven,

With summer right around the corner and the winter clothes being shed I am gearing up for summer skin! My massage therapist told me that glycerin is the main ingredient needed to reach our sub dermal layer of skin. What is so important about this statement and is there glycerin in any of our EMERGE^® products?

You would be jealous of the great summer skin I already have—thanks to EMERGE of course! OK, I’ve got the gloating off my chest and now I can give you the 411.

Your massage therapist is on the right path, but what we really want to do is keep our skin in great condition overall. Glycerin is one of the excellent skin care ingredients and it has been touted by dermatologists and scientists consistently over the past 40 to 50 years. Glycerin still receives attention today for its positive effects and many of the EMERGE products contain glycerin as a key ingredient.

1.  Raise Your Hand Silk™

2.  Smoothing the Way™ Body Crème

3.  Stepping Out™ Foot Crème

4.  Ready to Shine™ Body Polish

5.  Out on a Limb™ Body Lotion

6.  Renew Your Soul™ Bath Soak

What’s so great about glycerin? Well, glycerin is one of the best humectant raw materials available.

(Humectants are something that attract water to the skin). Glycerin is also thought to have an effect on the skin barrier function, reducing the amount of damage soaps or detergent exposure might do to the skin.* Glycerin's ability to both attract moisture and mitigate damage potential from soaps and detergents is the real advantage of glycerin. 

These EMERGE products contain glycerin, but with all of the EMERGE products you can expect to experience the nourishing benefit of living ionic minerals as well as antioxidant botanical extracts and beautiful botanical essences that all together create a renewing and nourishing experience.

Now that is good news for creating “summer” skin!

Your Summer Skin Expert,
Maven

Dear Maven - Wick won't stay lit?

Dear Maven,

What do you do with a candle, or specifically the wicks, that won’t stay lit especially in the larger size jars?

If you have a wick that won’t light, you’ve simply gone too far. It’s like saying, “now that I have a traffic ticket, how do I make it go away?” The trick is not to get the traffic ticket to begin with! Let me explain…

When you first receive your candle, you may notice that sometimes the top is not completely flat across. This is completely normal. The top becomes caved in when the natural crystallization process experiences slightly differing humidity and temperatures. 

If you come across a candle like this, the trick is not to trim your wick for the first lighting.   I know you’re thinking about that mantra that’s ingrained in your brain about always trimming your wicks. However, this is a special case. I give you permission to not trim your wicks—just this once!

You’ll need to plan on a first burn of approximately four hours to condition the candle but after this first burn it should level itself out. Once your candle is flat, then trim to ¼ inch and continue to burn. 

Dear Maven - Milder Scents?

Dear Maven,

Your candles are fabulous! I always look forward to burning them to freshen different areas of my home. I have, however, noticed that some candles do not seem to have as much fragrance as others. Sometimes I feel like I’m smelling the wax more than the scent and I’m tempted to add some of your Diffuser oil with a dropper to give the candle a fragrance boost. What do you suggest when I get a candle that seems to have limited fragrance?

Well, first let me say that flattery will get you everywhere. I like to think that I had a little something to do with your satisfaction with our candles, as I am always offering our R & D department my sage advice – sometimes solicited and frequently not.

Moving on to your question, my answer is best summed up in the old saying, ‘Patience is a virtue.’ When you receive a candle that does not seem to have a strong scent, the best recommendation is to put it away and smell it again the next morning to make sure your nose isn’t playing tricks on you. Personally, after a long day of latte runs to my local café, slathering myself with cosmetics, heading to the mall food court to grab a bite to eat, re-spritzing myself with my favorite body spray (Your Inspraytion™ Body Mist from our EMERGE™ collection, of course) and pumping gas (ick!), my nose understandably has an identity crisis on its hands and can’t smell the full bouquet of fragrance notes that may be present in one of Gold Canyon’s amazing candles. Bottom line: it’s a good idea to give your nose a break and check out that new candle a second time when you know your nose is fresh and hasn’t been assaulted by the variety of smells you’re likely to encounter throughout the course of your day.

If you have given your olfactory senses a break and are certain your new candle doesn’t smell like it should, please contact Gold Canyon and let us send you an exchange. Everyone here takes maintaining our reputation as “The World’s Finest”® quite seriously and we truly want you to be completely satisfied. Additionally, we may request that you return the candle to us so we can get to the bottom of it if there is a quality issue. Our goal is that every single candle produced be perfect every time.

One last note of expert advice, DO NOT use your Diffuser oil in your candle! This will eventually cause your wick to stop functioning correctly and your candle will not burn. For more information about the appropriate use of Gold Canyon Diffusers (and every other fabulous product we offer), consult the current Product Knowledge Guide at Essentials OnLine/Action/University/Product Knowledge Guide.

Dear Maven - Linen Spray

Dear Maven,

Is it safe to spray Gold Canyon’s Linen Scent on wet clothes before putting them in the dryer? What about ironing? Will it discolor the fabric? 

I’m no detective, but it sounds like you may have had a traumatic experience with applying another fabric ‘freshener’ that caused unpleasant side effects for your favorite cardigan in the past. Am I right?

Well I’ve been there, and I’ve got good news for you! Other than the facts that they smell like heaven and can be used in so many other ways, another amazing feature of our Linen Scents is that they should be safe to use on clothes before putting them in the dryer.

I’ll let you in on a little secret – I actually use the spray on both dry and wet clothing. If I’m in a pinch and a little behind on laundry (which is pretty much the norm for me), I particularly like to spray one of our wonderful Linen Scent fragrances on dry clothes and throw them in the dryer for a quick freshening to get smoke or cooking odors out quickly. However, because fabrics and dyes vary, please note that it is always prudent to test a small inconspicuous area of the clothing first. Better safe than sorry!

You can also spray your clothes and then iron, but again, since fabrics vary, it is highly recommended that you test a small area of the garment first. Another important tip is to use your Linen Scent only on washable fabrics – never on dry clean only clothing. Last of all, never put Linen Scent inside your iron, as this is not the intended use for your iron and could potentially cause its mechanics to deteriorate over time.

For complete information regarding Gold Canyon’s Linen Scent or any other fabulous Suddenly Scented^® products we have to offer, be sure to check out the Product Knowledge Guide at Essentials OnLine/Action/University/Product Knowledge Guide.

Dear Maven - Bath Soak and Body Oil?

Dear Maven,

I have many customers who love the EMERGE™ Renew Your Soul™ Bath Soak and use it as a basic body oil. Is it safe to use it this way or should it only be used as a specified?

Great question. Lucky for us, Gold Canyon has some pretty gifted people on staff (not unlike myself) who can answer just these types of questions so you can rest assured you and your customers are using our products appropriately.

For the answer to your question, I went straight to the top of our R & D food chain to our resident R & D Manager. (She wears a lab coat, so I think she’s legit). She explained that EMERGE Renew Your Soul Bath Soak can in fact be used as a basic body oil. Her only suggestion is to give the bottle a good vigorous shake before using it this way so the ingredients can be mixed together for the optimal EMERGE experience.

I wanted to share some comments from other Demonstrators about just how much they or their customers are enjoying not only the Bath Soak, but other EMERGE products as well. You may gain a new appreciation for a product you haven’t tried yourself yet or a remedy you can share with your customers, family and friends. At the very least, reading about the renewing properties of EMERGE will likely make you want to take a little time to unwind with your favorite EMERGE products – even if you’ve already done that a couple of times today like me.

“The Start Fresh™ Hand Soap is the best, along with the Grains of Truth™ Hand Scrub and Raise Your Hand Silk™.”

- Deb Mill, Sioux Falls, SD

“Customers say the EMERGE Renew Your Soul Bath Soak is absolutely wonderful and relaxing.”

- Lou Dihuzic, Grand Junction, CO

“The Raise Your Hand Silk is great. Customers love how non-greasy it is and how it makes their hands soft.”

 - Dorothy Kelly, San Diego, CA

“Since I work with second graders, I am constantly washing my hands. They would crack and bleed on my knuckles in the winter. The Raise Your Hand Silk and Grains of Truth™ Hand Scrub have cured that problem.”

- Jane Stratton, Hillsboro, OH

“I love the EMERGE Raise Your Hand Silk. I am a stocker for a grocery store and my hands break out from cardboard and this has healed my hands.”

- Barb Kipp, Grand Junction, CO

Dear Maven - New Scents?

Dear Maven, The Diffusers are such a wonderful product and the perfect gift for teachers, but as a Demonstrator I am always getting requests for scents that are not available in the Diffusers. When will Gold Canyon be coming out with more scents?

Ah, the one question I get over and over . . . “Why can’t I have [insert favorite scent here] in [insert product line here]?

Let’s address this now before it’s asked again. Oh wait, too late. I think that’s the ding of my inbox now as I type this.

Well, dear Demonstrators, I admire you for your persistence in trying to please your customers. After all, where would we be without persistent Demonstrators? However, I must explain the reasoning behind this mystery.

The reality is, it’s really not much of a mystery. Gold Canyon is known as “The World’s Finest” and this I KNOW you know. Well, because of this fact, we can’t just offer every fragrance in every product line and still meet our high standard of quality.

One thing you may not know is our R & D (Research and Development) department Coworkers are super perfectionists. When we hire for R & D, we actually look for this on their resumes! These highly trained scientists worthy of Gold Canyon aren’t exactly falling from the sky either. With the experts we do hire and their mission of providing “The World’s Finest”, they don’t exactly have extra time on their hands. Currently, only the best-performing fragrances are offered in Diffusers. But don’t worry—R & D is always developing and testing more fragrances that may be offered in the future!

As professor at GCU, I use Diffusers to keep my classroom from smelling stale. We have developed the Give Teacher an “A” Gift Giving set that is the perfect back-to-school gift for teacher of all class ages. It is flameless, comes with a cute ruler ribbon exclusive to the set and a full set of decals to ensure your Diffuser is always in season. And, since the fragrance lasts 3-5 months, you don’t have to worry about ordering a refill until winter break!

Bottom line: I know how you and your customers all love Gold Canyon fragrances so much and I really can’t blame you for that. So, I’m sure this won’t be the last time you or I hear this question, but maybe now you can explain things a little better. Perfection takes hard work people and no one would want their Sugar Cookie fragrance to be under par now would they? I didn’t think so!

Dear Maven - Why are the Pillars leaving?

Dear Maven,

I have been a long-time fan of the Pillar Series and have customers who are loyal followers as well. Can you share with me why the Pillar Series is going away? Are there issues with the candles? Will you be bringing them back?

With all your questions, I think it’s safe to assume you feel pretty passionately about these pillar candles! I have to admit that like you, I went through my own brief period of shock and denial when I heard they would not be returning.

Having said that, I have confirmed with reliable sources that it is indeed true that the plan for 2010 is to discontinue the Pillar Series.

Our amazingly knowledgeable Research & Development squad assures me there are absolutely no performance or quality issues with this product line that brought this decision about. The decision was made based solely on sales data and market trends. As they say, business is business!

The good news is that anything is possible, and what I mean is there is always a chance the Pillar Series could come back. Gold Canyon always responds to the needs of our customers, so if the company was to receive an influx of responses asking to bring pillars back, we would reevaluate this decision and consider their return to the product line.

Fellow Fan of Pillars,
Maven

Dear Maven - Pineapple?

Dear Maven,

For years I have loved the fragrance in Pineapple & Cilantro pillars. Now I see the Pineapple & Cilantro description in the summer catalog’s fragrance guide says “refer to Pineapple Coast”. Is it true that Pineapple Coast and Pineapple & Cilantro are really one in the same? I think they smell so different!

Sincerely,

Perplexed over Pineapple

Dear Perplexed,

Believe it! The scandalous truth is that these two fragrances really are one in the same. But don’t feel too betrayed. There are a couple of perfectly reasonable explanations for why this two-timing fragrance has you faked out.

First, if you’re detecting a slight difference between the two fragrances, it may not be your imagination. Any difference between the way the two fragrances smell could be attributed to the difference in wax bases. The vegetable wax blend in the pillars has a slightly different natural odor than that of the paraffin wax blend in the Heritage jars.

Also, you may have heard it said that perception is everything. That couldn’t be truer in the world of fragrance. Fragrance is very experiential. For example, a name like Pineapple Coast with a beach-themed label in a Heritage jar may conjure up different visual images and invoke a different feeling than a Tuscan-inspired pillar with a name like Pineapple & Cilantro.

Your Pineapple Private Eye,
Maven

Dear Maven - Cutting Corners?

Dear Maven,

I recently went to the grocery store and was disappointed to see that my favorite ice cream has been shrunk down to a miniature sized container. It got me to thinking – what if Gold Canyon starts cutting corners to save a buck in this shaky economic climate? Should I be worried?

Oh, Honey. I can almost feel your disillusionment leaping at me off my computer screen. On those bad days when all we want to do is change into some giant sweatpants and have our way with a gallon of ice cream, the last thing we need is to see that someone’s trying to rip us off and charge the same (or even more!) for a lesser product.

Well rest assured that Gold Canyon is dedicated now more than ever to delivering “The World’s Finest”® products to our consumers and Demonstrators and always will be. Every component that goes into our products is selected because of its capacity to out-perform the competition at every turn.

Sure, it’s tedious to test 37 different wax and wick combinations only to toss them all and start from scratch, but at Gold Canyon, that’s what our Research and Development team does. It’s that tireless spirit that ensures that you and every one of your customers is pleased with the end result – a flawless product that you deserve!

So the next time you find yourself lying awake at night pondering which of your favorite products is going down the tubes next (“Will it be my lip gloss? What’s next? My wrinkle cream? Maybe my chai tea latte?”), just know that you can always count on Gold Canyon to maintain the same level of quality to which you’re accustomed – “The World’s Finest”.