Friday, June 9, 2023

Wrapping up 2020 with a new adventure~! … + 9 months of Covid summary

So, I’ve been feeling like I wanted to do a post for a long time, but I honestly, just wasn’t too sure what to say. I feel like I have a hundred things to say, but also, like I have nothing to say. It’s such an odd thing.

I feel like it’s been suchhhhh a weird year, for so many. A friend of mine joked a while back that Greg and I were truly blessed because Nutraceuticals (natural supplements) which is my job, and alcohol (beer!) which is Gregs business, are both thriving right now! haha and she was right. My company has been busier than ever these last 9 months, and while the brewery DEFINITELY didn’t have the year they SHOULD have had if this Covid nonsense hadn’t occurred.. they’ve done quite well considering…but nothing compared to what they could have done.

ANYWAY, moving on.

What has our year looked like? I have an amazing employer so a lot of my work has been done from home (though I am still on the road some days depending on what stage of Covid we’re in… it’s changed month to month). I’ve gotten tons of extra time with our beautiful little gal who just turned TWO last week, and I’ve also been blessed with tons of help from both my mom and Gregs mom a few days of week, which makes working from home possible! Greg and his partner have been amazing at transitioning their business and staff multiple times throughout this pandemic and we are SO grateful for a supportive local community here.

I am also SUPER grateful for my Beautycounter ‘side hustle’. It’s so funny because when Covid happened, I thought oh my goodness it’s going to tank for SURE. It’s a premium self care product, and people are scared, and don’t know what their finances are going to look like a week from now never mind a few months from now. And for me personally (not Beautycounter as a whole), it did slow down a little bit the first couple months of Covid. But then, people were realizing that self care is more important than EVER right now, and supporting local is important, too,

I know many of you will argue that Beautycounter isn’t local… it’s a California based company and we’re in Ontario. True. But this little ‘side gig’ is MY business. I share about the company, I use my voice to try to bring safer products to anyone who is interested in learning about them, so my daughter one day hopefully won’t have to read every single label of every single product she uses! So by shopping with me (or even sharing my posts, tagging people you think might be interested etc etc) you ARE supporting local!

Thanks for helping spread the word about safer beauty so when I’m big, I don’t have to worry!!!

And on that note, I have to share that I totally, on a whim jumped into something that I think will support what I’m doing with Beautycounter, but also perhaps reach some of you that feel like Beautycounter just isn’t your thing! I tried Gelmoment (gel nail polish) from a good friend of mine a couple weeks ago, and I loved it so much I jumped on board there, too! I was so pleased with the products, I had already told probably a dozen people about it after I did my first manicure, that I thought I’d add it to my portfolio of things I could offer. Why not, right?!

This is Raeleigh from last year on this ornament, and my new mani ๐Ÿ™‚

A few of the main reasons I fell in love with this polish:
> SAFE (will not ruin your nails like traditional gel polish does)
> VEGAN friendly (this is HUGE for me!)
> 5+ FREE (as well as Eco-friendly, non-toxic, solvent-free, lead-free, latex-free, cruelty-free)
> TONS of colours to choose from
> LASTS up to 14 days
(my 1st mani I did I left for 10 days, it still looked great, I was just eager to change it up!)

I do feel like Beautycounter will remain my focus, but I loveeee how the two go hand in hand and 2020 has really encouraged a WHY NOT attitude! haha – So! Stay tuned for more info on Gelmoment, and shoot me a message with ANY questions you may have. I am still very much learning it all myself, but I WILL be doing another order within the next few days, so if you’re interested in testing it out – shoot me a message and I’ll add ya to my order!

I am pretty embarrassed that it’s been 6 months or so since I last posted… but like I mentioned at the very beginning – I’ve felt like I had so much to say but then again, nothing at all! Better late than never, I suppose!

I also am updated my Clean Living FB group and will do my best to be better at updating it! Beautycounter tips/tricks/promos, and some mani inspo! If you’re not a part of that group and are interested, here’s the link – I’d love to have you !

Hopefully I can be a little more consistent, but only time will tell.

Lastly, we were so lucky to sneak a few photos of Raeleigh by my ever so talented Aunt Venise and … It’s too much! (The two pics at the top of the post are ones she took as well!)

Happy Holidays, my friends! Thanks again for reading and your support!
xxx

Andrea

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