Not only is the packaging for GCDSpa.com’s Pink Lady line cute, with each item from the line that is purchased, a portion will be donated to Susan G. Komen for the Cure.

I love that this line is available year round, unllike most other breast cancer awareness items.

This line consists of the new Pink Cupcake Lip Balm, $3 in a tube, which is described as “the flavor of vanilla and rich buttercream frosting, the subtle hint of coconut, and a smidgen of cotton candy for extra sweetness,” a Pink Lady Lip Balm, $2.75 in a pot, with “lemon, grenadine, and cream flavors” reminiscent of a Pink Lady gin cocktail, a Pink Lady Lotion, $7.50, and a Pink Lady Hand Cream, $6.95, both of which have a “sweet cranberry fragrance.”

You can also get the Pink Lady Moisturizers Gift Set, $16.95, pictured, which contains the Pink Lady Lotion, Hand Cream, and Lip Balm.

Which would you choose?

At these prices, I’d probably get the Pink Lady Gift Set and the Pink Cupcake Lip Balm, but if I could only choose one it would be the Pink Cupcake Lip Balm.

I went to Aqua Blue, a local store that sells hand crafted goodies from etailers, and other small business owners yesterday.

It’s been a while since I’ve been there - I know I haven’t been in since I got pregnant, and I probably haven’t been in there at all this year.

Needless to say, I was pretty surprised when I was browsing around the store, and saw a full display of clearance Rainforest Soap Shack products.

What’s so shocking about that, you ask?

The same items were on clearance the last time that I was there, over 10 months ago.

Driving by and never seeing any cars in front of the shop is one thing, but seeing a clearance display that’s remained pretty full for over 10 months, really made me sad, and made me realize how hard it can be, to be a small business owner these days.

I remember the first time I went to Aqua Blue I was so excited to find soaps of companies that I’d heard of, but never seen in person, like Rainforest Soap Shack, and Morgan Street, and even seeing etsy in some of the web addresses that were on the different soaps.

Of course, I never went back, although I have tried to go once or twice recently, only to find out that the store was closed.

There was only one other store that I know of in our area that sold handmade goods, and it closed down over a year ago.

I could probably find one or two lines each at some of the smaller boutiques in town, if I looked hard enough, but I don’t know right off hand where they would be, and I won’t go out of my way to find them.

We can also find some great handmade stuff at some of the crafts fairs, but that’s just a weekend at a time, and I know some people don’t even have these limited options to see, touch, and smell handmade items in their local area.

Do you have local stores that sell handmade items?

If you do, do you visit them regularly, occasionally, or not at all?

Have you noticed a change in the number of stores selling them, or the amount of product they are selling?

I’ve decided to branch out on some of the items that I feature, so you’ll be seeing some different things here.

I hope you like it.

If there’s something in particular that you’d like to see featured, or a particular category, leave a comment, fill out the contact form, or email me, and let me know.

Fall is in the air here, and it’s great weather for a nice bakery scented tart.

These Oatmeal Raisin Cookie tarts ($8.99 for 10 tarts) from Candle Confections look like they would fit the bill.

Of course if you have lots of guests over, they might be pretty disappointed when they realize that they’re just smelling a tart, and you don’t have freshly baked oatmeal raisin cookies waiting for them.

I’ve debated about writing this post for several months now, but I figured that it just might help someone, so here goes.

I review a lot of products for Sarah’s Surprises and Mystical Beauty’s Musings.

Most of the time I purchase the products myself, but sometimes companies will contact me and ask me if I’d like to review their products.

Sometimes I say yes, and sometimes I say no, and sometimes I ignore them, especially if it’s clear that it’s a mass mailing for a product that has nothing to do with my blog.

Remember I said I have two blogs - I also have two different email addresses for the blog, so if I get the same email at both blogs … I know someone hasn’t done their homework.

I do feel fortunate that I get to review things, but it can cause problems.

Although some bloggers do contact companies and ask them if they can review certain products, I don’t unless the company has stated that they are looking for bloggers to review products that would fit in with my blogs, or unless they’ve emailed me personally with press release information and offered samples.

With that said, I’ve had several companies contact me and ask me to review their products, and then I never hear from them again.

Although this is frustrating to me as a blogger, a few of these companies have been companies that I liked, and was considering purchasing from.

Shoot, I’ve even had some items all picked out from the latest company who said they wanted me to do a review, and then never contacted me again, and I was just waiting until I had enough money in my paypal account to afford it.

As a blogger who lives in the Midwest, and who has pictures of an unbroken backyard thermometer showing -40F, it’s important for me to know when I’m expecting packages.

Delivery people often don’t ring the doorbell or knock, so even if I’m home I don’t always know there is a package outside, so I like to have an idea of when things should be arriving so I can listen out for it.

I’ve actually gotten products to review, and I’ve had to wait for them to thaw out before I could use them.

You never really know if being frozen has affected the product, so I can’t be sure that I’m giving an accurate review for those products either.

I’ve also had at least one package that was lost in the mail, so if someone says that they will send something, then I don’t hear that they’ve sent it, I’m not sure if they’re expecting a review for a product that’s been lost in the mail, or if they’ve just decided that they don’t want a review and forgotten to tell me.

And I hate emailing people to ask them if they sent me something, because I don’t want to sound greedy.

I also always eagerly await all my packages because I love to see what’s in them.

Isn’t that the most fun part of getting something new - opening up the package and finally being able to see and touch the stuff?

Most of the time when I’m asked to review a product, and then I never hear from the company again it’s a small business, who’s asking for a review here on Sarah’s Surprises.

That makes things a little bit more confusing for me as a customer, because I want to support small businesses, but at the same time, if the owner of the company doesn’t have the courtesy or the time to email me and let me know that she’s no longer interested in me doing a review, after she’s contacted me and asked me to do a review, how does that translate to how she treats her customers?

In some cases I do get the feeling that people have only contacted me and asked for a review because they want free publicity - and hey, if you want free publicity and you’re products fit in here, all you have to do is fill out the form at Feature Me! or Interview Me! and I’ll feature you if I think it’s appropriate.

So to make a longer story even longer, remember that reviewers are potential customers too - they might even be actual customers if they have an anonymous blog, or if they use separate email addresses.

Treat them with respect, let them know that you will or won’t be sending them something to review, and check with them to see if it’s ok if they need to sign for it - although I’ve never had to sign for anything.

If somone asks me to review a product, then decides that my blog isn’t a fit for them, or something comes up and they can’t focus on their business, or don’t have time to focus on anything other than packaging orders and making products, that’s fine with me.

All I ask is that you let me know that you won’t be sending me anything, so I won’t be wandering three months from now what happened, and if you’re still expecting me to review a product that you sent and I never got.

And in case you’re wondering - yes, I have purchased items from companies that I only learned about because they asked me to review them.

Have you had your products reviewed on a blog?

How did it go?

Would you purchase from an etailer who had great products, but whom you’d had a problem with in a non-business related way?

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