Minimalist,dreadhead,artist,earth dweller.

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pittsburgh, pa, United States

Friday, September 30, 2011

Giveaway Time!!!!!!

Hooray Giveaway!!!!
We have reached 200 facebook fans which leads me to believe that its time for a giveaway!!!

There will only be ONE prize winner! The winner will recieve 2 free full size products of their choice!!! (accessories and custom items are excluded giveaway is products only)

Heres what you need to do to enter you only NEED to do one of these things to get entered..however you can get extra entries by doing all of them!!! Please Leave SEPERATE COMMENTS to tell me each thing you have done to enter! please leave your name and email in the comments so that i have a way to contact you!
Entries will be taken through Oct 8th at midnight (est) any entries made after midnight will be excluded. One winner will be drawn at random and notified on sunday oct 9th.

1) become a fan on Facebook and share this giveaway

2) Follow this blog 

3) Follow me on twitter and tweet this giveaway

4) Visit my shop on Etsy and add me to your favourite shops
Thats it folks each completed task will get you an entry! Everyone loves free stuff!!!

Please remember to leave seperate comments and a name and email address where you can be reached

 

Wednesday, September 14, 2011

All Black Soap Shampoo Is Not Created equally...

I get this question a lot .... what makes your shampoo different from this other one? and I cant entirely answer this question or I'd have to kill you lol but I am going to do my best to explain why ours is different and why some should never be used on dreadlocks.
My black soap shampoo IS RESIDUE FREE!!! this is not something that all black soap shampoos can boast about (even though they might try). Soap making is a scientific process...and while a lot of folks think you can just add water to black soap and throw in some butter or oil they are so very WRONG!!! I've seen this so often its crazy!! First of all adding oil or butter post liquefaction is NOT I repeat NOT residue free! and while some of those oils and butters might be good for your hair applying them to your hair in this fashion is just a bad idea! you can almost always tell the shampoos that have added oil post liquefaction because THEY SEPARATE yes thats right if you see a funky layer of grease on top your shampoo whoever made it doesn't understand basic chemistry. Now black soap can and will settle but this is different than separation I'm talking about the butters and oils separating from the liquified soap and floating on top this shouldn't happen and the only reason it does is because oil and water do not mix so your getting a product that is either too much water or oil that has not been distributed properly either way your wasting your money.

If you have locks its no big secret that you really need to pay attention to what you put on or in your hair. Dreadlocks have a tendency to hold on to stuff,lint,dirt,oil,etc...so you don't want to be washing your locks with something that is predominately unsaponified oils! and if you have caucasian locks washing with something overloaded with oil may in fact ruin your dreads especially during the early stages.

It seems like a lot of people are trying to jump on the dreadlocks and natural hair bandwagon over the past few years and just because you can sell something doesn't mean you should! When i first started selling my product on etsy there were no other sellers who sold such a product but over the last 4 months I've seen 10 new sellers crop up selling "black soap shampoo" some of them may be fine others look a little questionable. Do your research! I'm a very real person making these products and im always willing to answer questions! Ask questions, whats the shelf life of your product? do you use preservatives? look at the volume of sales the seller has. do they keep the product sitting around for months before they make a sale? whats the ratio of soap to water? I get questions all the time and i always answer ASAP I'm not just a seller im a buyer and i know the things that i want answered. Don't be afraid to ask and do your research!!

Saturday, September 3, 2011

Be a featured artist!!!

Ok so here's the deal. I have recently launched my own website,and I've been an etsy seller for quite sometime and I do love my etsy, but I wanted to have the freedom to do some of my own things and a website can really open up so many opportunities! So one thing I want to do is help show support for other like minded artists by creating a featured artists page allowing someone else to tell my customers a bit about themselves and what they do and why! and possibly drive a lil more traffic someone else's way :)

So if you are interested in being a featured artist you must do the following...



1)follow my blog and share this blog post. (there is a share on facebook or twitter button on the left hand side of this page)


2)like my shop on Facebook and or follow us on twitter ( this is more about me being able to promote and get to know you than it is about you promoting me)


3) now the hard work.... You must submit to me an essay telling me about yourself,the nature of your business (this will go on your page for the duration of your time please do your best with spelling and grammar :) why you love doing what you do and why you do it. also Explain why you would like to be featured.
you should do this in the comments below :)


4)Provide me a link to your shop, it can be your website,your etsy,your artfire ,blog or wherever else you are currently selling your goods! (I will Gladly post links to all your social sites on the page as well)

And these are the rules..1 submission per person. I don't care if you have 5 businesses. You can only submit for one at any one given time. You must have a viable shop!! online(somewhere), and a functional paypal acct! I'm sorry if this excludes anyone but I hope you understand I need to keep things professional for the sake of my own good standing reputation..and cant have my customers checking out pics on your Facebook page and being asked to send cash in an envelope. lol (yes people still do that) when it is time to choose another artist and you want to resubmit the same business, all you need to do is comment on the new blog post..eventually I may ask for certain themes and such so pay attention ! :) I don't care what kind of artist you are as long as your you mesh well with my philosophies :) I do spend a fair share on advertising on google and facebook etc and i have a very loyal customer base so this is a good opportunity to expand your base and gain exposure!

Disclaimer..vital goods is not responsible for any business deals you make or lack thereof please be smart :)
by submitting you agree to the uncompensated use of your photos,links,writing and artwork etc... for the page for the duration of your feature!

Submissions now will be for the month of Oct! because its gonna take work on my part to build the page for you, so I need time to read the submissions, choose someone, and build a page!
I will be trying to feature someone new every month or so and sometimes I may feature someone who I really feel I need to give a lil extra love to :)


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Friday, September 2, 2011

Mild yet effective household cleanser

Today im going to share my recipe for household cleanser.(think comet but without all the gross stuff)
What you will need.....
1) empty cheese shaker or large spice shaker (this makes use so much easier)
2) 1&1/3 cups borax
3) 2/3 cups baking soda
4) orange and or tea tree essential oils (optional)

you are going to be amazed how easy this is! Mix the baking soda and borax together, add 2-3 or so drops of each oil, mix it in well. Put it in the cheese shaker you have recycled. VOILA! clean your house! sprinkle on tough counter stains, stove tops, bathrooms...anything! This cleans the drop pans on my viking range like nobody's business! And this is safe for kids to use. no bleach no yucky stuff! and tea tree oil is a natural antimicrobial!
And you thought being green was expensive!  nah ... that's just what big companies want you to believe so you'll buy their "green" products but if you read the labels that stuff is far from the scope of natural! You can't get much more natural than this!
i wish i could make these posts longer but hey it is what it is simple so have fun clean your house :)

Thursday, September 1, 2011

Hemp patchouli facial toner


Ok so I've been trying to come up with a rather simple yet good for your skin facial toner and I've come up with something easy and it leaves your skin looking and feeling soft and smooth!

You will need
1) witch hazel (get the organic if it's available)
2) cold pressed hemp seed oil (unrefined)
3) patchouli essential oil (not fragrance oil)
4) an empty bottle with a flip top lid or spray top
5) distilled water or mineral water
Ok first your going to use 3 parts witch hazel to 1 part water. so 3 oz of witch hazel and 1 oz water or 6 and 2 so forth and so on ....mix it together in your bottle now add anywhere from 10-20 drops of hemp seed oil and 10-20 drops patchouli Shake well! I suggest letting this sit for a day before use to let the oils mingle.

See wasnt that easy? Use as often as you like patchouli and hemp are wonderful for your skin and have loads of anti aging properties!

and no the patchouli isn't a strong lingering scent so your face wont smell like hippie lol