One year later...the work-life balance sheet!

For those who wonder what starting my business from scratch was like. The Beauté Naturelle work-life balance sheet for the last-odd year: Exhibitions at 15 different venues, about 250 photographs taken and edited, 15 promotional documents written or designed, numerous contacts, collaborations, screening of 200+ products, surveying 7 shop locations in 4 suburbs....juggling 1 child, 1 dog, 6 family illnesses, 2 schools, 3 day cares, 1 interstate move, reading articles and documents too many to count. Rewarded by 1 awesome boutique, 2 newspaper features, 4 internet articles, 1 award consideration, several blog mentions, 700+ Fb followers. Thanks to many friends (you know who you are!), 2 mothers and 1 exceptional husband.

My Own "Little Bet"!

 Came across this interesting little book, recently. It was like a nod from the Great Spirit for Beauté Naturelle!

“Little Bets-How Breakthrough Ideas Emerge From Small Discoveries” by Stanford Business School Alumnus,  Peter Sims.

  ‘A fascinating, eloquent and rigorously rooted in reality exploration of the creative process in innovation. At its heart lies the concept of the “little bet” — a small, low-risk action taken to discover, develop and test an idea, a potent antidote to some of innovation and creativity’s greatest obstacles: perfectionism, risk-aversion, endless rumination.’

‘Little Bets is a living testament — the opposite of a fluff-lined “manifesto” — to the power of life experience in innovation, of insights and principles and creative codes developed through years of being intellectually and creatively active, curious, and awake in the world, rather than staring at the PowerPoint slide on the screen of an MBA lecture hall. And what makes the “little bets” approach most noteworthy is that it applies to anything from artistic endeavors to policy to social entrepreneurship to real-time media and beyond.’

(For the full article, click here: http://www.brainpickings.org/index.php/2011/05/23/peter-sims-little-bets/)

Why is Beauté Naturelle my “Little Bet?”

• Small discovery, Check.  No secret really.  Nearly everyone wants to do their bit for the environment, just that the “wanting” is in various degrees of strength. But everyone wants to look their best and invest in their looks over the long term. What Beauté Naturelle (BN) does is bring these 2 things together in one happy form!

• Creative? Hell yeah. From photography, to site design, look and feel, to this blog, BN has been one lovely journey along the creative path.

• Averse to risk? Not us. For a former biomedical scientist and a mechanical engineer to create something like this, for every entrepreneur worth his salt...taking a risk is key.

• Cross-disciplinary innovation, check. Amply illustrated.

• Intellectually and creatively active, curious, and awake in the world- Check, check, check!

                                                                            

Beauté and the City

If you live in a city, like I do, you must think that clogged roads, smog, exhaust fumes and the last vestiges of green are your lot.

Well, so did I- till I trained my eye to spot beauté in the chaos. Its an acquired skill in today’s mad rush. But like everything, it gets better with practice and in no time my view of the world changed. Try this:

Take an early morning or evening walk. Look for the beauté in:

• The blue of the abyss, the green of treetops, the white of clouds reflected in the glass windows of a highrise

• A gulmohr tree burst into vibrant flame defying the sun’s fury…as if saying, what you can do, I can do better!

• Flowers dropped over the sidewalk, still clinging to freshness, an example of Nature’s abundance.

• The velvet of a dog’s ear.

• Sunlight reflected in a child’s eyes as he looks up at you.

• Quiet, tree-lined, old settled neighborhoods at mid-day.

• The symphony of hundreds of people going about their daily business. A musical note you hear only when you stop your own mad rush for a moment and listen.

• A deep, deep breath first thing in the morning.

You’ll be rejuvenated. I promise.

Welcoming the rains!

The skies have burst upon one of the hottest summers of all time!!!! Hope all you beautéful people are enjoying the soak!

Time to start thinking about altering your personal care routine to accommodate this weather change:

For starters, don’t skip the sunscreen just because the sky is overcast! The harmful uv rays can penetrate cloud cover and are still very much present and having a field day ageing your skin, rain or shine.

The nice thing about all the humidity is that you sweat out all the toxins. But don’t forget to replace the water lost!

Continue using a light moisturizer all day and night.

Use a pore refining face pack once a week.

Spritz on a little freshening toner. Better still, carry one in your purse or the glove compartment of your car on the go.

If you can predict when it’s going to rain by the frizz in your hair…despair not! A little dab of olive or coconut oil, or a creamy, moisturizing leave-in conditioner will keep it in check.

Love the smell of wet earth? Infuse earthy, woody, citrusy scents in your bath with an aromatherapy bathing bar to get Nature into your bath!

Wear bright colors to counteract the grey of the skies and uplift your mood.

Rejoice, turn your face up to the downpour, dance in the rain, don’t curse the traffic jams!

The goal for Beauté Naturelle

Of course it is tremendously satisfying to see the business grow. More than that, what I want to really see happen, is the formation of a wonderful and ever-growing Beauté Naturelle community:

• Wherein more and more people will “think green”
• Stop to consider the impact of their actions on other forms of life
•  Teach the green way of life to their children
• Discover Beauté at no cost to the environment, and take their first step to beautifying the planet.

  

A community of Radiant people who will know inner peace through kindness, good acts, and giving back to the Earth.

Beauté: Beginnings

We all possess a gift, obvious or latent, for seeing beauté in living things. So I am confident that the idea of Beauté Naturelle has universal appeal. Once it is fully understood, adopting the Beauté Naturelle philosophy as a way of life, will only be a matter of course. 

I’d been in Science for years, but the ever-changing river of life brings new opportunities and viewpoints. By 2010, I discovered a different purpose for myself. I felt a fierce need to create something that will truly make a difference, bear my essence and potentially touch lives beyond my own timeline. 

One fine Sunday morning, I sat with my husband, brainstorming possible career options when the idea of Beauté Naturelle began to form. A boutique for hand-made, Earth-friendly, Nature-derived, personal care products not tested on animals. A chance to give back to our nurturing planet at the same time. Seemed right up my alley!

Beliefs, passion, every skill converged into a business plan so motivational that all challenges in its path were met head-on, with solid backing from my husband every step of the way. Friends were excited for me and generous in their faith, from the moment I floated the idea. I met like-minded individuals and discovered more social and environmental causes to support along the way. Block by Beautéful block, the Beauté Naturelle e-boutique has become a reality.

This blog will tell its story from the beginning and share events and learnings along the way. It will talk Beauté myths and tips, outer and inner radiance, healthy lifestyle choices, examine phenomena like body image, the obsession with fairness, ugly truths and melanoma.  Your comments are invited! This will be an open space to discuss your experiences along the road to Beauté. Naturally!