Protection racket exposed!

Sunburn is no fun!

A couple of quick facts for you today.  Getting sunburned 5 times results in a dramatically increased risk for skin cancer.  Not 5 times per week, not 5 times per month, not 5 times per summer but 5 times in your life.

Wearing a hat is great but that only controls the amount of sun you get hit with from directly overhead.  Reflected sun is a greater danger.

And did you know that SPF 30 blocks 97% of the UVB rays?  You don't really benefit from higher SPF ratings., SPF 50 has 1% more blocking power.

Knowledge is power. Protect yourself. Use broadband sunscreen.

The Pied Piper

Face that Paint

Puddy is the Devil-Sienfeld

 

Why is face paint becoming so popular?

Check this:

7700 College and Universities (with teams and clubs galore)

140,000 Schools (with teams and clubs galore)

1089 Heritage festivals (What does your flag look like)

5752 Professional or Semi Professional sport teams (Wear your colors proudly)

8,000,000 High schoolers involved in sports (who is rooting for who)

311,591,917 US population –(how many teams do they each support)

THE OLYMPICS

Now toss in art and crafts at camps and in schools.  Add high holidays like St.Pats and 4^th of July.  Include causes like breast cancer awareness.

What do you have?  Unbelievable opportunity!

The Pied Piper

Who's outside? Everyone is!

"In 2011, participation in outdoor recreation reached a five-year record in the U.S. providing hopeful evidence for the ongoing move toward healthier living and active lifestyles according to the 2012 Outdoor Recreation Participation Topline Report.
More than 141 million Americans, or 49.4 percent of the U.S. population, participated in outdoor activities last year, an increase of three million people compared to 2010 and continuing a five-year trend. In addition, Americans made a total of 11.6 billion outdoor outings in 2011, which is 1.5 billion more than the previous year. Annually, participants averaged 82 outdoor outings – from hiking to biking, skiing to paddling.
“This report shows that Americans are getting up and getting outside – a great trend for the outdoor community and the country,” said Christine Fanning, executive director of The Outdoor Foundation, which published the report. “We are encouraged by the growing population of active young people, which reflects recent efforts to re-engage and re-inspire America’s youth to get outdoors.”
The research showed increases in youth and young adult participation – continuing an encouraging, yet modest, trend over the last few years. Outdoor participation increased by one percent in every age bracket, 6-to-12, 13-to-17 and 18-to-24 respectively. This accounted for more than four billion outdoor outings for the younger generation with an annual average of nearly 90 outdoor outings. While encouraging, these rates are significantly lower than those recorded in 2006. For example, 63 percent of youth ages 6-to-12 participated in outdoor recreation in 2011, compared to 78 percent in 2006.
The Most Popular activities among young people in overall participation continue to be Running, Biking, Camping, Fishing and Hiking.
The Most Favorite activities as measured by frequency of participation were Running, Biking, Skateboarding, Triathlons and Birdwatching. Interestingly, adults share a passion for similar recreational pursuits."

So you need to grab your sunscreen, lip balm, sport lubricant and get in the game!
The Pied Piper

Three Amigos embrace the balm!

Classic Moments in Lip Balmness

Click on the link and see a classic moment from the lip balm archives.  Every new product that comes off the board and into production is treated like a classic around here!
The Pied Piper

Alliance Packaging Group regroup

Mr. Economy, Business is booming.  Please follow our example.
The Pied Piper

A little lesson in Anatomy

The Anatomy of a new product.   Development: Part One

We meet multiple times a month to discuss "the week that was" and to toss around new product ideas.  Ideas that are new to us anyway. 

 One idea that came up concerned oil diffusers for the home and office.  We have been making massage oils with fragrances and thought this might be a natural extension for us. 

So we started the process to see what kind of containers we could use but knowing the primary market would be promotional product rather than package for retail.  We quickly discovered that the traditional size jar and oils involved with retail diffusers were going to be too big and too costly. 

 As we started up the path to downsizing the product, a new thought occurred.  Using the existing and available containers we usually work with, can we develop a small tube for use in the car or cubicle or home that held pre-soaked pieces of bamboo?

 

The lab made some up and we discovered that the fragrance evaporated to quickly.  So the project was parked for a few weeks.  Then we got back after it and made the following decision. We need to test a vaiety of substrates to find a workable solution.

We are testing a wide variety of materials from cork to cotton to find  a vehicle that will provide consistent  and longer term aroma therapy…come back and find out how we did!

Calorie free strawberry cheesecake

 

One of the good/bad things about our little enterprise is the wonderful smells that permeate the  atmosphere on some days.  Yesterday it was Chris and Lee making up some strawberry cheesecake lip balm for a client.  Good part was a whole day of a wonderful scent floating around.  Bad part is that it literally ignited everybody's  taste buds and I am sure more food was consumed than was necessary!

If you want to make your own wonderful smells, here is a nice recipe for actual strawberry cheesecake and not lip balm..

Ingredients:

• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
• 1 package (8 ounces) cream cheese, room temperature
• 2/3 cup evaporated milk
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 1/2 teaspoon grated lemon peel
• 9-inch graham cracker crust, baked

Preparation:

In a mixing bowl, beat eggs until thick and light yellow. Add 1/2 cup of sugar and the flour, beating until blended. Pour the egg mixture into a measuring cup. In the same bowl, beat cream cheese with a small amount of the evaporated milk until smooth. Add remaining milk, the lemon juice, and the grated lemon peel; beat until smooth and well blended. Pour egg mixture into the cream cheese mixture; beat just until blended.
Pour mixture into the graham cracker crust. Bake at 325° for 25 to 30 minutes. Cool on a wire rack.
Strawberry Glaze

• 1 pint fresh strawberries, washed and hulled
• 1/3 cup water
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons cornstarch
• few drops red food coloring, optional

Cut 10 to 12 strawberries in half; arrange in a single layer, cut side down, over the cooled cheesecake. Crush enough remaining strawberries to make 1/3 cup; put in saucepan. Stir in 1/3 cup water and heat to boiling. Reduce heat and simmer for 2 minutes. Press through a strainer to make 1/2 cup of puree. Return the 1/2 cup puree to the saucepan. Mix together the sugar and cornstarch and stir into the puree in saucepan. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Continue cooking and stirring until thickened and clear. Add food coloring, if desired. Cool slightly; spoon evenly over strawberries on cheesecake. Cool and store, covered, in refrigerator.