My business week v. 26

The week has consisted of two things: Products, products, products and a deep dive straight into my brain ghosts haha!

Lots of text today, sometimes that's how the Sunday posts are :) Enjoy!

Paese sale, news and new packaging
Arranging a sale and bringing in news may sound like a quick thing to do. But not this time haha. Partly because there is always a lot more work than can be seen from the outside, but above all because Paese is always a bit awkward.

Note I love Paese! But it is a complete jumble of nuances, almost all of them are just numbers that are also completely random. Now some have started from certain series and it is very difficult to remember what the shades are called so you always have to double check everything. Just counting stock balances to the sale made a complete end in the head "8 pcs 686, 10 pcs 668, 12 pcs 345" in 30 different shades. Then all these will go into the webshop as well.

In addition, I want to ask the person who made their nuance pictures how the process went, because I am really curious about how it can be so bad haha. When I was going to put the pictures in the webshop, I had to edit them myself in photoshop!

Of course, shades can differ a little on different screens, but on the glitter shadows it was extreme! Example: A light gray shade with a slight pull towards the beige side. To the left you see Paese's picture and to the right you see mine that I edited myself:

If you buy the shadow on the left which partly looks very dark but above all blue (!) And gets the eye shadow on the right, then do you think you got the wrong color home?

I think this kind of job is fun but not when you do not have time.

Shopping online is not the same as in a store, so you have to work extra hard not to disappoint anyone. In addition to editing the product images, I also took swatch images on all 19 new eye shadows!

Here I sit at half past ten on a Saturday night and take eye shadows haha. If I have decided to finish that week, I have! ;)

I updated our Insta Story (do you follow @ creativemakeup.se on instagram?) With all swatch pictures at the same time!

So useful and SO nice! You will find them in my web shop here! Soon you will see make-up with these nice eye shadows!

You know that you are injured at work when you take a shower, but realize how nicely the eye shadows shimmer and go out to pick up the phone haha.

Now the pictures are taken so next week I will blog about them in more detail! I will photograph the new blushes as well, but it will be next week too :)

Take role models for the Fitness family
In a Sunday post a few weeks ago I wrote about the company Fitnessfamiljen which we will start up again with Hampus. He ran it very successfully 4 years ago and went from being overweight all his life to super trained!

But due to life's circumstances, he stopped both the company and taking care of his health and now he is on square one again - 128 kg and 128 cm around the waist (how easy is it the same number? Haha) and yesterday we took role models for tomorrow he will start again!

Tomorrow is July 1st and Monday, how nice but new week and new month on the same day? As done for a fresh start :)

Ready to shoot role models! I also took pictures of the first time Hampus stood on the scales, which was on the verge of getting me, it is quite anxious because Hampus is not fat because he lives "the happy life" but because it is destructive for him. Everyone is different, another friend of ours is fat, happy and satisfied, but for Hampus it is darker than that.

At the same time as you get to follow Hampu's weight journey, we start working to receive new customers, build a website, log in and various questionnaires and documents are on the go! Soon we will start publishing more info on Instagram and Facebook and start searching for test persons to get more before and after pictures :)

Email me at helena@creativemakeup.se if you are interested in testing for free and post on before and after pictures. The face does not have to be visible. I received two inquiries when I wrote the last post and I have already written down your email addresses!

Follow The fitness family to support Hampus when starting tomorrow !!

It looks almost rigged haha but this is Hampus two days before the "journey" begins. He hates when I call it "his journey" but I do not know what to call it otherwise haha. Redbull, folk beer and cigarettes at the same time as we have a meeting out in the shade. I just had to take a picture!

New make-up brand on g?
You know that I used to go quite far in my research to make my own make-up brand with a special niche, it is quite unusual with make-up concepts that do not already exist and I really believed in the idea - and then you have to test!

For several years I have had two make-up brand ideas, 1. a brand that is colorful, fun and unique! And 2. a more professional brand with a niche in a specific area.

A year ago, I looked at the possibilities for both of these and realized that the "professional" brand was not relevant at the time for various reasons, so I started putting my teeth into the colorful brand first!

I still believe in the idea to be added, but after I did my research, I put the colorful make-up brand on ice, maybe forever. That concept had many difficulties:

1. The concept is based on the products being cheap and our idea included a way to bring down the prices, but it turned out that it is mostly packaging and handling that costs and not the content itself. So it cracked a little there.
2. However, it would still work if you produced an extremely large amount at once to reduce prices, but the costs are calculated per shade and not per product and to make this concept work, a huge number of shades are required, which would have resulted in a much larger investment. than we predicted.
3. And these points simply do not go together, we with the help of investors might have been able to do this IF we were sure of profitability. But to get a budget brand profitable, low costs are not enough, you also have to sell to so extremely many customers. Because even if the profit per product sold would be 90%, it will still not be many kronor per customer if the product is very cheap.
4. This had been a colorful brand that had demanded that there was always news, limited edition, themes, campaigns, collaborations, etc. and that was what I previously thought sounded most fun! But I have reevaluated a bit. When I started getting testers and color samples from manufacturers, I realized that I do not want to work on getting a lot of new products out quickly, especially not for a budget brand where you always have to prioritize to keep prices down. I can not choose a ready-made formula that they already work with because there are always small things that need to be adjusted - and then it costs accordingly!

I want to put all the gunpowder on a few products instead! So I realized that it is makeup brand no. 2 that I want to do, the more "professional" but which was not relevant. So all spring I have only worked with the salon and things that I already have, not started anything new when I did not know how to do.

But before midsummer I was told that there may be a possibility for make-up brand no. 2 anyway! So now I have started to specify exactly what I want for products etc. and started a presentation. Part of me is afraid to start dreaming too much (more on that later in the post) but part of me is SUPERPEPP!

Saturday started with a long shower where I thought about my make-up brand and sang at the same time haha. Then I started writing a presentation! It's pretty fast because I've had these ideas in my head for so long. Has already come up with a great name for the makeup brand too, woop, woop!

Am I afraid of failure?
On Tuesday, Miska and Annika and I sat and had an "inspiration meeting" where we talked both loud and low, among other things, we stuck for a long time on this makeup brand I will put my teeth into now.

I said something along the lines of "I do not really recognize myself, I am usually someone who dreams away immediately and jumps into everything without thinking, but now I think almost only realistically and problem-solving from day one". And after talking back and forth about all the "problems", Annika said "but I feel almost cheated now, none of this is a problem!" Lol.

So we went a little more psychologically into my mindset (Annika has spent many years in therapy so she is almost a self-taught therapist haha) and finally I realized that this is how I feel:

It's part of my personality to work hard and if I start something I'll finish it! But since we started the salon, there are so many ideas and projects that either have not gotten off at all or that we started but put down because it did not work as planned. Everything from small things like a simple routine change and new treatments to larger projects like that colorful make-up brand. And now I almost feel that I would rather not start at all than start and realize that I have to put this on ice as well. It has been like too many "failures" in relation to "number of wins" for my personality to cope with haha. I'm afraid of being someone who just talks and starts a lot of projects but never completes anything.

Annika's response to this was "welcome to life as a creative!" Lol. And she's right, to dare to try new things is part of being a good entrepreneur and to finish things quickly that you notice does not work is not a failure, it's smart!

I really know that I am not one who just gives up, but you have to say it out loud and realize why you feel like you feel to be able to shake it off :)

So now I can let it go and become myself again haha. Hey ho let's go!

Here I swim and think about the future and my make-up brand haha. We were on Gotland over midsummer and the first two nights we stayed in a hotel and I started every morning by swimming and bathing ♥ Best meditation!

My horoscope for June 27 - July 19 is: Cancer: ”Hello new income opportunities! With quick Mercury in your income and money house, you may have good opportunities to sell you or your product. The result is more money in the account or perhaps a whole new income opportunity.”

Sounds promising iiih! As always, I read Helena's Horoscope at Amelia.se :)

Well-needed active holiday
Sometimes you need a holiday in different ways. To spend time alone with Miska and just rest in a deck chair and eat good food, I need when I have worked physically tired. But right now it is more mental work with decisions, problem solving, future plans, etc. and then I need an active holiday to disconnect everything.

So our midsummer vacation could not have started better: Two hotel nights on Fårösund Fortress at the top of Gotland! Can highly recommend that hotel! It was quiet, calm and harmonious at the same time as it was a cool environment and you had to borrow bikes and cycle around as much as you wanted :) And very easy to take the ferry over to Fårö.

My darling on a bike ♥ The most fun person to go on adventures with! Get flashbacks to the feelings you had when you were little, Miska is the cool guy who does tricks on the bike and shouts at me excitedly over a giant toad that chills among bone remains in a cave. And I'm the giggling girl who comes swaying on a saddle that is too high and needs help to climb too high rocks. I think Miska is the most fun in the world and Miska thinks I'm the most charming in the world, haha! Kind of like our days were! :)

I realize I have the same dress in all the pictures haha! But it is so practical when it is sunny outside because it is strapless because I do not want sun stripes. Perfect everyday dress in the summer :)

Then Friday-Monday we lived at Frida and Björn's house on their magic farm they moved to last week! So it is absolutely amazing! And there it was full of guests until we went home so there was a lot of talk and excursions all weekend, so nice! Just what I needed right now!

Idah, me and Frida in front of the stately midsummer pole! Behind you see Frida's horse paddock which soon has two horses in it. We helped to paint the fence, the perfect mix of enjoying the sun, hanging out and doing good at the same time ♥ So thankful that I have Frida as my best friend, she is the best!

Now it is 11.15 this Sunday morning and I will have a coffee in the sun and then I think about sewing a little maybe. It is also a good active holiday :)

Hope you had a fantastic midsummer weekend and week you too, no matter how and if you celebrated!

Hugs are ♥