Perfume > Getting Personal ? Customization Trend Hot for Holidays

Getting Personal ? Customization Trend Hot for Holidays

Why look like everyone else when you can stand out?
Look on the cover of any magazine or newspaper these days and you will realize that the customization trend is hot right now.
Once a privilege reserved for the well-heeled, customization is now catered to the rest of us with product lines such as NIKE ID, Target-To-A-T and Reflect beauty products, along with independent boutiques offering everything from custom t-shirts to custom blended perfume.
Savvy consumers are demanding products that they can customize to their lives, as well as truly personalized presents for the holidays. One company at the forefront of this trend is 5 year old 1154 LILL STUDIO ? a custom handbag retailer and manufacturer with stores in Chicago, Boston, Kansas City and Online at www.1154lill.com."When I formed the company in 1999" said owner Jennifer Velarde, "the custom shopping trend had truly not yet begun.
1154 LILL began simply out of a desire to give customers the same experience that I was having.

I loved the creative outlet of playing with colors, textures and fabrics to create a unique handbag that expressed my personality or mood, or simply created a look that stood out from the rest."
This original custom handbag concept has proved very popular as thousands flock to 1154 LILL STUDIO's creative, colorful and friendly stores each month to design one-of-a-kind "LILL Bags".
Customers may select from over 20 handbag styles, then mix and match their fabric choices from hundreds of ever-changing and limited-edition textiles for the exterior, interior, pockets, trim, straps and more.
"Our customers love the fact that they have a truly one-of-a-kind bag from a brand they believe in," said Vice President Robin Newberry, "and we love helping them to create, getting to know them as friends along the way."
"Every time I carry my LILL Bag I feel unique and creative ? what a great feeling!" said one customer.
Another raved "I walked 3 miles in the hot, hot sun to get to 1154 LILL and I would do it again for another LILL Bag!"
With such strong customer devotion, it is no surprise that 1154 LILL prides itself on customer service.
"We believe that 1154 LILL is as much about the interactive custom experience as it is about the handbag" said Velarde, "I started 1154 LILL as a way to express my creativity and independence and our goal is to give that same experience to our customers.

Their LILL Bag is a reflection of their tastes, their personality.
The design of it should be a fun, creative and girly event to share with friends."
In fact, though individual shoppers are always welcome, many groups choose to get together for private LILL Handbag Parties after-hours at the studio, where they can socialize and create together. In addition to the Chicago, Boston and Kansas City boutiques, 1154 LILL offers handbags both custom and ready-made on it's website ? www.1154lill.com.
Mix, match and design a custom handbag for a friend this holiday season, or give a gift certificate and allow her to experience the ultimate in handbag creativity.
Price is always based on style, not fabrics or accent options, making a custom bag the same price as a ready-made.

Bags range from the upper $50's for a wristlet clutch, upper $80's for a handbag and around $150 for a versatile tote or baby bag.
Makeup bags, wallets and coin purses range from the upper $20's to low $40's.
Custom bags take around 4 weeks and may be picked up or shipped for a small fee. 1154 LILL has been featured in media both national and local, including: Lucky Magazine, The Style Network, The Washington Post, Chicago Magazine, and the Kansas City Star.
And though other custom handbag lines have sprung up in the last year or two, 1154 LILL's original commitment to quality, design, service and creativity remain unmatched.

With 1154 LILL, customization is not just hot, it's here to stay..

Getting Personal ? Customization Trend Hot for Holidays

Why look like everyone else when you can stand out?
Look on the cover of any magazine or newspaper these days and you will realize that the customization trend is hot right now.
Once a privilege reserved for the well-heeled, customization is now catered to the rest of us with product lines such as NIKE ID, Target-To-A-T and Reflect beauty products, along with independent boutiques offering everything from custom t-shirts to custom blended perfume.
Savvy consumers are demanding products that they can customize to their lives, as well as truly personalized presents for the holidays. One company at the forefront of this trend is 5 year old 1154 LILL STUDIO ? a custom handbag retailer and manufacturer with stores in Chicago, Boston, Kansas City and Online at www.1154lill.com."When I formed the company in 1999" said owner Jennifer Velarde, "the custom shopping trend had truly not yet begun. Getting Personal ? Customization Trend Hot for Holidays
Perfume > Getting Personal ? Customization Trend Hot for Holidays

Aromatherapy Favorites: Patchouli Essential Oil

Patchouli's History and UsesAh, Patchouli oil - people seem to love it or hate it. This well know essential oil has a somewhat deserved reputation as the scent of the Hippy generation (according to one source, it's use began as a mask for the odor of a particularly cherished herb), though it's traditional use dates back hundreds, perhaps thousands of years. Today, Patchouli oil has a well-deserved reputation in aromatherapy, with it's deep, musky, and sweet odor, and Earth and Fire balancing energy. It is an exotic aroma that can forever leave an imprint on the olfactory memory.Patchouli (Pogostemon cablin) is a perennial herb native to Southeast Asia, growing wild in Sumatra and Java at elevations between 3,000 and 6,000 feet ? though it's cultivation is more pervasive in lower tropical jungles. This bushy plant grows to the height of 3 feet, having a strong stem and soft, hairy leaves.

For essential oil production, the plant is cut two or three times per year, with the...

Aromatherapy Favorites: Patchouli Essential Oil

Perfume > Aromatherapy Favorites: Patchouli Essential Oil

Mom Makes a Better Shampoo for Babies and Everyone Else

Adena Surabian never figured she'd be looking up chemical compounds on the internet, but that's exactly what she did when her one-year-old daughter broke out in a mysterious rash all over her body. After trying for days to find the cause of her daughter's blotchy and inflamed skin, Adena sat down at the computer with an armful of products?everything from shampoo and conditioner to sunscreen and baby lotion. Though she couldn't even pronounce some of the ingredients on the labels, Adena researched each and every item she regularly put on her daughter with increasing dismay. She discovered that many of the elements in these commonly used products came with biohazard warnings or were listed as potentially harmful in certain conditions. Although she ultimately discovered that her daughter was allergic to the sunscreen, Adena could not, in good conscience, continue to use the other hair and skincare products in her cabinet.

So, she turned to nature for a more wholesome way to care...

Mom Makes a Better Shampoo for Babies and Everyone Else

Perfume > Mom Makes a Better Shampoo for Babies and Everyone Else