April 15, 2012 had a high point and a low. My high point was that it was Sunday morning,
and I was exactly where I needed to be… arms raised with earnest heart at Faith
Fellowship Church, in Macedonia, Oh.
My low point was when I opened my e-mail later that evening
on Yahoo. The sender was from one of my
favorite people… Aarin, CEO of iviScents!
The subject line was unlike any I’ve received from her before – it was
very harsh and to-the-point.
It read, “Going out of business – Huge announcement”.
I read the e-mail with tears almost welling in my eyes. I
had finally found a bar soap and lotion that I loved and made me feel good.
Aarin is a wonderful young woman with an entrepreneurial
spirit who started her own company as a result of being laid off from her
teaching career. With a lot of prayer, hard
work, research, and the last bit of her savings she began ‘ivi Scents’, a bath
and body line full of soaps, body icings, sugar scrubs, & bath bombs all
completely free of toxins (sulfates, parabens, mineral oils, triclosan, GMOs,
phthalates, and free from animal cruelty).
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| Milk & Honey. Smells yummy! |
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| Ozone - It smells crisp, clean, and cottony. |
After discovering ivi Scents through a YouTube video review
I immediately jumped on Aarin’s website at www.iviscents.com.
I must admit, the website did a
wonderful job in recruiting me! Hahaha The website had a fresh and fun vibe. Not only that, but there were two deciding
factors that led me into making my first purchase: first, Aarin was the owner
and founder of her very own business, yet she stayed humble and regularly
corresponded with her customers, and second, I noticed a small scripture
plastered on the bottom of the web-site, as well as on the corner of all her
products. (Psalms 149: 4 - For the Lord
takes pleasure in His people; He will
beautify the humble with salvation. NKJV)
I truly wanted to support ivi
Scents and made my first purchase in January 2012.
At the time, I was in between jobs
and didn’t have much money so I decided to try the ‘buy 1 get 1 free’ deal on
the limited edition holiday scent – Peppermint Kissed.
Needless to say, I fell in
love! The variety of smells are yummy,
and knowing I am applying products to my skin that are free of toxic scum is a
bonus!
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| Smells just like a candy cane! :) |
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| The body icing butter feels like silk melting in your skin. The consistency is unlike any other lotion or body butter I've ever experienced. It's a bit more work to work into your skin, but worth EVERYTHING! |
Since January I’ve used store
bought shower gel and shampoo only a couple of times and could tell a major
difference!
I have a little experiment for
anyone who would like to test or try out…
Bust out two brand new loofahs - one
specifically for the soap or shower gel you normally use and the second is to
be used inclusive of ivi Scents soaps.
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| Because of my sensitive skin I recently started using Aveeno before discovering ivi Scents, and yes, you may see the slightly more expensive stuff I used to love hiding behind the white loofah. Even the expensive stuff I loved has now become my 'ex' since using ivi Scents. ha ha ha |
Use your normal shower gel/soap for
1 month.
With the other loofah use ivi
Scents soap for 1 month.
If, after your experiment, you’re
like me you will notice a difference on your skin. Ivi Scents truly gets me feeling squeaky clean
after my shower. The other soaps (and may
I remind you, again, they are filled with sulfates, parabens, etc..) leave my
skin feeling like I can’t rinse it enough!
The other thing you will notice is
the difference between the two loofahs.
One will be highly scented and a bit softer. The other may have a slight scent, but you
will notice more of a ‘plastic-y’ smell… the same new smell as when it was
first bought from the store. They will
both feel a bit different.
The loofah that was used with ivi
Scents is the one that may feel a bit more stiff/newer with just a slight
plastic-y smell.
The reason? Ivi Scents is made without any harsh
chemicals and toxins which results in a squeaky clean feel without any left
over residue. The proof is in your skin…
and in your loofah!
The next subject I’d like to
include in my post is about hair loss.
I started losing my hair about 5 –
7 years ago and hasn’t stopped… until recently.
In fact, during these years I
experienced spurts of hair loss that became out of control to the point of
losing clumps at a time! Trust me. It’s NOT a good look, especially when you
have fine hair as it is!
I read somewhere that sulfates
(which are in your shampoos) are an irritant and people with sensitivities (ME,
ME, ME) may experience hair loss from ongoing use.
With this in mind I thought, “What
will it hurt if I try washing my hair with this toxin-free bar soap?”
I never washed my hair with any
kind of bar soap in the past, but I kinda figured I’d give it a try with ivi
Scents since there are no sulfates.
I’m not telling anyone to switch
from their shampoo to ivi Scents bar soap for washing hair, but I am saying
that I will NEVER go back to regular shampoo.
EVER!
My hair loss has significantly decreased since using, and
feels more healthy and full of volume.
This is a first for me in YEARS.
There were two times since January that I used regular old store bought
shampoo and couldn’t stand how limp, greasy, and weighted down my hair
felt. Simply amazing!
Now that you know all the reasons
why I love ivi Scents, I’m sure you understand how sad of a day it was, for me,
to find out this wonderful little company is going out of business. What am I to do now?? The first thing I did was place an order to
keep myself stocked with ivi scents for as long as I can. When I go through my last product I’m sure I
can go to a place like Whole Foods and find a good soap/shampoo/lotion that’s toxin
free, BUT I already know I’ll be paying an arm and a leg for these specialty
items. Not only that, but who else makes
soaps and lotions so delicious you want to eat them!
Can I make a little confession?
The day I read Aarin’s sad e-mail I
instantly thought that maybe there
would be a bombardment of customers buying all her products up in support of
her business endeavor, resulting in a spike in sales and no need for shutting
the doors.
Unfortunately, I’m still holding on
to this last bit of hope.
As sad as it is that Aarin has to
close the doors to ivi Scents, all I can do (as Aarin’s loyal customer) is
purchase and stock up on my most favorite soaps and body icings, and continue supporting
Aarin by my prayers that after this door is closed another door will open.
I love ivi Scents and I love
Aarin. <3
