What's New and Why I Haven't Updated

I've been trying to write this off and on for awhile, but it's hard for me to write. However, it has effected my business, and where it's going, so I would like to write about it. Last year I was diagnosed with fibromyalgia. I had been experiencing a lot of pain off and on for about a year before the diagnosis. I'm not sure if it is really fibromyalgia or something else, but for lack of a better diagnosis, that's what it is. I am receiving treatment for it, which has helped, but I still have many days where I'm exhausted or in too much pain to do much. I have various other ailments, so work hasn't always been easy.

So basically I haven't been always up to making perfumes and such. I've gotten to be rather droppy and spilly, so mixing something up can be messy and wasteful. And you really don't want to spill those expensive essential oils, which are the ones I adore the most.

Going forward, I will be focusing on perfume making, and phasing out the bath and body products. Most of the products for sale now are perfumes, with the other products already phased out. I will be working on some new perfumes on days I feel up to blending, and I will be bringing back the solid single notes.

I will begin selling some perfumery materials, including essential oils, floral waxes, and absolutes. I am also thinking of adding perfume bottles, pipettes, etc. I want people to enjoy these materials, and I feel this is a good way to share them with those who might not be interested in the scents I make. I currently do offer several single notes diluted in fractionated coconut oil through my Etsy store, including 12 different natural rose oils.

I do intend to continue making bath and body products for myself, and I hope to blog about my various experiments. I have all sorts of crazy ingredients on hand in small amounts that I've wanted to test, but haven't gotten around to yet, so I hope to work on those soon. I will also continue my alphabetical essential oil profiles, with nutmeg next.

On my Ivre de Fleurs website, I have started adding a few different product categories. One is vintage, since I started collecting small perfume pendants and lockets with the hopes of using them for my products. I have decided not to do that, so I will be adding some of these to that website. I have also started adding a few jewelry pieces and some housewares I have made. Jewelry making has been a hobby of mine off and on throughout my life, and I most recently started it up again last summer after several years of avoiding it. I've found that jewelry making is something I can handle on all but my worst days. If I drop a bead, I don't have to throw it out (I do have to find it though, which can be tricky). And if working on something is hurting my arms, I can generally put it aside and come back to it as desired. It has made the last year bearable by providing me with a creative outlet on days that I couldn't bring myself to work on the perfumes swirling through my mind.