But now that we’re entering spring, it’s time to add a little sun-kissed shine, too!

Today I’m sharing my super-secret personal recipe for custom luminizer.

You’ll need: organic castor oil (1 tbsp); organic coconut oil (1/2 tbsp); organic beeswax (1/2 tbsp); vitamin E (you can use the drugstore capsules, about 1/4 tsp); rosemary essential oil (1 drop); and eye-safe mica in the color of your choice (1/4 tsp).

1. Clean your double boiler like you’ve never cleaned it before.
2. Melt your castor, coconut, and beeswax over low-medium heat — should take about ten minutes (heat too fast and the consistency will be off).
3. Add your vitamin E capsule and rosemary oil for another minute.
4. Finally, stir in your mica until well-blended, one more minute.  And pour carefully into heat-safe container.  (I like to use a little glass dish.)

Voila!  Spring glam.  Dab onto skin at the corners of your eyes, onto your eyelids, or over your cheekbones for a gorgeous glow.

(The knock-your-socks-off shine isn’t reading at all above; check it out on the knife.)

Anyway, I know they say “no news is good news,” but we’ve got plenty to share in the next few months.  I can’t say much yet, but for now, think bigger.  Better.  Beautiful-er.

As always, thanks for being so Crude.

However, we’re also full of new ideas, so there will be some changes to the Crude line in the coming months.  As a result, we’re going to discontinue BOTM starting in February, which means the last BOTM orders accepted will be on January 31, 2011.*

Now go enjoy some old Bowie.

*To clarify, all BOTM orders placed through January 31 will be fulfilled as ordered.  If you have any questions, please send us an email.

All orders placed by December 17 will ship no later than December 18, which the USPS assures us will leave enough time for your package to get into your hands and under your tree.

And if you can’t decide in time, you still have the option of a priority shipping upgrade.

If you need your Crude by Christmas, and you’re ordering between December 17 and December 19, you must select Priority upgrade shipping.

Please let us know if you have any questions!

With holiday love,

Jess at Crude

Tomorrow the big holiday begins in earnest.

I love December, with all its frivolously red and green sweaters and overplayed songs, but as much as I eat up all the shopping and gifting and holiday cocktail drinking, this year, I’m going to try to focus more on the gratitude, joy and generosity that also come with the holidays.

Let’s try to ignore the busy grinches grunting over sale prices and “it” products, and focus instead on taking care of our families and ourselves, so we can all put more cheer out there, and help others with all the energy we didn’t spend on competitive holiday angst.

In that spirit, for every Crude order in the month of December, we’re going to donate 20% of sales to my favorite NYC organization, City Harvest.

To celebrate the season’s first truly cold days, we’re giving away one tube of Sweater Weather with every order placed this week!  No code necessary.  Just order by Sunday, November 7, 2010 (11:59 PM EST) and we’ll send you some warm vibes to ward away the chill.

Anyway, to celebrate the occasion we should all take every day, Crude will donate proceeds from the sale of all Find the Power balm all month long.  And to honor survivors everywhere, we’ve developed a new color available in October only: POWER PINK.

I hope you find your power today.

“Finish each day and be done with it. You have done what you could.
Some blunders and absurdities have crept in; forget them as soon as
you can. Tomorrow is a new day. You shall begin it serenely and with
too high a spirit to be encumbered with your old nonsense.”

- Ralph Waldo Emerson

So please pretend that you’re opening your mailbox right now.  Here’s [some of] what you’ll find.