Website Update and V-Day Offerings

Hey guys, sorry for the lack of updates recently! We are still very busy working on the website. It is unbelievable how much work it is but we're very happy with it so far. I definitely understand why the web designers charge what they do - these things definitely do take time. We're doing a lot of small custom details while keeping it functional and easy to navigate without any overly complicated functions or designs. All the products I've ever made (and will offer again or seasonally) are loaded now and we're working on all the other aspects at this point like policies, testing the e-mail, etc. We will only list the actual products in stock when we go live but wanted to load everything so we had a full catalog ready behind the scenes.

I think the shipping costs will be the biggest hurdle to learn and test but we've done a great deal of research and know which direction we're headed in to make it as easy as possible for everyone. I'm hoping to refine the shipping to be as accurate as possible so that I can eliminate doing the shipping overcharge refunds.

I really think the site looks great so far and can't wait for it to be public. We've been using a little downtime after the holidays to focus on finishing it up because there wasn't a great deal of time to work on it through the busy fall and winter season. When loading each listing, we copied and pasted the description from my ETSY store. Some of these descriptions were really dated so we are going through each and every listing to clean it up so that when the site goes live, everything is accurate and up to date. That is what we are currently in the process of doing. The master scent list (for both general and seasonal catalog) is now loaded as well.

The site will feature the ability to checkout with or without an account. If you have an account, you may create a shipping profile for faster checkout, create a wishlist and eventually earn points for every purchase that may be applied to a discount or free item on a future purchase (redeemable points). It will be just like the ETSY checkout system where you may use paypal or a credit/debit card to purchase.

Another option that will be activated at Solsticescents.com is a permanent 10% off discount for all orders being shipped to an APO address. We look forward to doing a fundraiser for Second Chance Farms (one of the animal rescues we support along with the local Humane Society) in the future as well. Gift cards are another future option we plan to offer on the website too.

Anyway, there will be a few offerings for V-Day that will be launched in a few days (exact date and time will be forthcoming here and on my Facebook page).. I have started on all of these and just need to finish them up and take a few photos for scents we haven't photographed yet. The scents offered are below along with which products you may find them in:

Violet Truffle Perfume: Dark chocolate violet ganache truffles topped with a violet-vanilla infused sugar. Contains cocoa and vanilla absolute, violet leaf absolute and fragrance. On cold sniff and initial application, rich chocolate with a hint of wet and Earthy violet absolute draws you in. The soft powdery note of violet fragrance emerges then rises to hover just beneath the chocolate note. This is definitely a morpher and the vanilla-violet sugar sweet notes become more evident the longer this one is on the skin as the soft powdery violet note slowly retreats to the background. Inspired by a dear customer of mine named Kat. (Perfume only).

GERMAN CHOCOLATE CAKE ~ Moist layers of rich chocolate cake filled with mouth watering coconut and pecan icing. Contains cocoa and vanilla absolute and fragrance oils (Perfume, Burnishing Glace, Ganache, Whipped Soap). The German Chocolate Cake Whipped Soap contains fragrant Virgin Coconut Oil and Organic & Fair Trade Cocoa Powder.

CHERRY CORDIAL ~ Very fragrant and delicious blend of deep rich chocolate, a bit of raw cocoa and sweet juicy maraschino cherries. Contains cocoa absolute and fragrance oils (Bar Soap only).

CHERRY VANILLA AMBEROSIA ~ 2 different AMBERS, Black Cherries, Maraschino cherries, vanilla fragrance and absolute and a tiny hint of sweet mandarin orange slices (Perfume only).

This is a small collection but with trying to finish the website in hopes to do the Spring Collection release there, we are focusing as much additional time as possible on that goal. I do have the whole Spring Collection planned and all supplies ordered and here as well. Am looking at a mid to late February release for the Spring Collection and I'm making some new, awesome and different spring scents: Spirit Tree in a variety of products, Linen & Ivy in a variety of products, Black Tea & Bergamot in Whipped Soap and Bath Salts, Banana Nut Bread Whipped Soap, Dellamorte in a few products and more will be arriving for spring! I also have a new really awesome resin and incense blend I am working on that I hope to release in late February/early March as well.

All in all, lots of work is happening so though it may be a bit quiet, know that good things are in store and that we are working hard.