Fall Update 2014

Hi All!

What is it about September 1st that leaves me feeling as though the "Fall" button has been pushed? Does this stem from spending so many years of my life on a public school schedule? Is it that certain crispness to the air here in Wisconsin that heralds Fall weather? Whatever the reason, I often feel this particular season descend upon me every September 1st.

We've had lots of excitement around Brown Barn lately from adding new stores to new lines. With so much activity I thought it might be handy for our customers to get an overview of all that is going on!

NEW BATH LINES/Line Changes:

1. Goat Milk Products: Alyssa Untiedt, Brown Barn's formulator and co-owner, is busy putting the final touches on the formulas for a new line of Goat Milk lotions and Body Butters. Goat Milk is a wonderful lotion base, carrying with it many skin healthy properties. I've had the chance to test the new body butter formulation over the past few weeks and am absolutely in love with it. It's rich, creamy and oh so good.

This line will launch with three signature scents: Oatmeal, Milk & Honey (Brown Barn Style!), Japanese Cherry Blossom, and an as yet un-named Gorgeous floral custom essential oil blend from Alyssa's personal "vault". The line will become part of our "permanent" collection and be available year round. The body butter will replace our previous formulation and be available for custom scenting in our blending bars as well.

We are looking for a launch date on this in early October.

2. Gem Infusions: Those of you who have been Brown Barnies for a few years will recall our test launch of this line under the name "Gem Aesthetics". For those of you who are unfamiliar with the line, this is a line of lotions and washes made by infusing gem/crystals into the water phase of the product. The stones are hand selected by Brown Barn owner Chris Untiedt and the process is carefully overseen by her to ensure the greatest purification during all steps of the production process.

The stones are researched for their beneficial elements and paired with matching essential oils to bring strong emotional and physical benefits to users. We are just finalizing these scents but tentatively we are pairing Amethyst with a Lavender/Rosemary/Basil essential oil blend, Citrine with straight Orange (the most popular during our testing phase), Herkimer Diamond with a Grapefruit EO/Champagne FO blend (A little deviation with the fragrance oil but how can we resist combining Champagne and Diamonds??).

This line will be unveiled around November 1st to coincide with the opening of our new premiere store location in Chippewa Falls, WI. The line will also have it's own web-site with lots of information about crystals and other fun items.

3. Signature Line Retired Blends: We can't really call any blend retired since they will always be available in the blending bar, perhaps "put out to pasture" is a better term. With the addition of the custom blending bar we've found the following scents have received reduce sales and will be "retired" from our permanent Signature Collection: Lemongrass, Coconut Lime Verbena, Green Tea & White Pear, Orange Patchouli, Tahitian Vanilla, Orange Ginger.

Our Signature line will then consist of these favorites: Lavender EO, Bergamot Twist EO blend, Day at the Spa, Moonlight Pomegranate, Sandalwood Vanilla, and Black Raspberry Vanilla.

4. Build a Bath Bar (or what it will be called until we come up with a better name!): This super-cool display of individually packaged bath goodies will allow you to become your own formulator and create custom bath blends for yourself and others! It will include Brown Barn's new line of essential oils, a nice selection of clays, bath additives, Milks (such as Goat and Coconut), Salts and more - all individually packaged for home use. With this comes a selection of bath "recipe" cards. We'll also be offering pre-made kits designed for your own use and great for gift-giving. Look for this to launch first in our Medford location and on-line in about 2 weeks!

5. Bride's Line: With Alyssa (Brown Barn Owner/Formulator) getting married next year we are taking this opportunity to follow her lead and offer out for sale all of the wonderful items she creates and gifts for her own wedding. From Bridesmaid gifts to Pre-Wedding Relaxation kits...you're sure to love this new offering.

NEW "OTHER" LINES/Line Changes:

1. Look for more new Olive Oils & Vinegars to be added for some Fall Flavor. Most recently we added Sage & Onion and Cranberry Walnut which are sure to bring added flavor to your Holiday meals. We are working on providing more recipes and cooking information to our customers by November 1st.

2. Several new jewelry designers were recently selected to be added to our Brown Barn lines when Alyssa and Chris (Brown Barn Owners) recently attended a fashion buyer's show in Minneapolis. Look for these items to launch with the opening of the new Chippewa store location around November 1st. Also, look for expanded items in our current selection from Lizzy J and Gypsy Leather jewelry.

3. Wines and wine glasses are being added continuously. Medford store staff is currently obtaining their Server's licenses. As soon as all of them have been turned in we will apply for the seller's license and begin Wine sales. We have some very popular wine flavors and are working on pairing these with an expanded/revised food line for November 1st launch. Once all of the staff in both stores are fully licensed and trained we'll be learning/planning some wine tastings in the stores.

NEW STORES/Changes:

1. Medford, WI: As I'm sure you are all aware, Brown Barn added a new store in Medford, WI this summer. It has been doing great! It has been so fun to see our Medford customers more regularly and be able to provide them with easy access to their products while also making new friends. For those of you who are not aware, the store is located on the corner of Hwy 13 and Perkins in the location previously used by Eartha Naturals. This is a very very small store which poses some unique challenges in stocking. We keep saying the store acts like Hermione's purse from the Harry Potter books...we keep putting more and more items in it and the store keeps accepting the items!

Look for Medford store to see some new faces this fall as Lindsey Meyer moves to our Chippewa Falls location while she attends UW-Eau Claire and Megan Dallas moves to Chippewa in the role of Store Manager! If you are interested in applying for one of these newly vacated clerk positions please do so this week as we are interviewing now.

2. Chippewa Falls, WI: Our new Chippewa Falls, WI store location is tentatively slated to open November 1st. There is some renovation required in this location so pending all goes well our customers can look forward to a large, beautiful shopping space. The Chippewa store will then be Brown Barn's "premiere" location, launching what we hope will be a series of stores in more populated areas over the next several years.

This location has a dedicated private space which will allow Brown Barn to offer customer classes in Essential Oils, Soaping, Candle-Making and more. Classes have been requested repeatedly by our customers over the years so we are thrilled to have the space to not only offer the classes but be able to sell the supplies for use in home crafting as well.

The Chippewa Falls store will also house a fragrance bar, the entire selection of Bar Soap scents (over 110 handmade soap scents to choose from!), expanded/full-size Olive Oil/Vinegar tasting bar, expanded wine selection (pending licensure), and expanded gourmet items, Full jewelry and personal care lines, Bath Robes/Pajamas and so much more!

Follow our Facebook page here to see the store's progress over the coming months: https://www.facebook.com/BrownBarn

3. Holcombe, WI: In what can only be described as an unexpected chain of events we find our Holcombe, WI flagship store in Growing Pains right now. This store location is actually part of our manufacturing process. Because of reduced sales due to its remote location/seasonal sales the staff of this store also act as product finishers, bottle fillers, Internet Order processors, and shopping bag/sample producers. In this way, the store sales are supplemented by the needs/sales of our other stores and Internet sales which allow the store to continue to remain open during the very very quiet September thru May sales period.

Brown Barn has experienced a fantastic growth spurt in sales this year resulting in increased demand on the manufacturing/retail production side of the Holcombe store. We anticipate the new stores will increase these demands even more thru Christmas. This is wonderful news for our Holcombe staff! We've even hired two new employees (1.5 FTE) over the last few weeks and increased other employees hours to full or almost full-time.

We now find ourselves in a "Catch 22" type situation. On the one hand we have increased sales in Holcombe over the summer and the clerks are busier than ever with their background duties and on the other hand we know that with the opening of two new locations relatively near the Holcombe store that the Holcombe store will experience reduced sales from our customers who travel to the store from these areas and also from the usual sales dip experienced Fall thru Spring.

We had intended to reduce our sales floor in Holcombe to half so as not to require two clerks during busier days and to reduce our rent expenses so they are more in line with the anticipated reduction in store sales. At the same time, the neighboring Pizza Parlor also left the mall. We'd been using an unused shared bathroom area between the two businesses for temporarily housing unsightly empty packing boxes awaiting break-down or re-purposing and for serving as a waiting dock for the boxes of products being delivered to the other stores. It worked great because the driver could back the van to the door, load the boxes out of the bathrooms and drive away.

When the pizza parlor left we received a call from the landlord telling us we would no longer have use of the bathrooms for this purpose as he would need access to the neighboring unit and be dividing the units out for individual use. This means we have nowhere to go with the unsightly boxes and the cases of products awaiting delivery.

Our only cost effective option, after considering all of the available Holcombe rental locations, is to temporarily close the Holcombe store until we either find another location in Holcombe that can adequately house our production areas and retail sales OR until we build a building (preferable for many reasons). This retail store has to stay in Holcombe as that is where our lab is located. We entertained moving the store to another nearby town in order to serve our regular local customers but it just is not sensible to separate the manufacturing arms of the company at this time. Local sales alone are not enough to support the store acting as a retail store throughout the entire year. Without the additional financial support provided by the Internet order processing and manufacturing support the store would lose too much money to make it viable.

NO staff members will lose their jobs in the store closure. In fact, as mentioned previously, we've actually added staff and increased existing hours. This will continue to happen. Manufacturing and distribution will remain in Holcombe. The retail store will be closed with it's last day being Sunday, September 15.

I know many of you are dear friends of this store and will want to know where your favorite clerks and staff members are going to be working! Here is where you'll see them:

Ashley Jones will be in our Chippewa Store. This has always been planned as Ashley lives in Chippewa.

Brenda Anderson will be stepping back into her role as the Brown Barn delivery van driver, which was also planned previously. Brenda will then work in the lab continuing to finish bags, soaps and make samples on the days she is not seen driving around the area delivering to the stores.

Shelby Justus will be relocated to the lab where she will assist in all areas and learn to make lovely Brown Barn goodies.

Chas Dixon will continue in her role as Lab Manager with even more employees working under her watchful eye. (We also just hired another new part-time lab assistant whose name will be announced later this week!)

Amy Albers will be busy training new employees, smacking the bugs out of our POS systems, overseeing retail store production needs and assisting as needed.

4. Web Sites: The Brown Barn web-site is currently being professionally rebuilt using what we've been promised will be a "state of the art" platform. We are hoping to a see a completely new, more user friendly and beautiful web-site sometime this fall.

So here we have our fall line-up! We hope you continue to enjoy shopping our stores and on-line. We could not be more excited with all of the new growth of Brown Barn. Thank you to all of our lovely customers...you have been so supportive and such great friends.

Chris Untiedt
Founder
The Brown Barn Company

Organics - More than Just a Label

Lately I've noticed a new crop of businesses coming up within our handmade community. "Organics". With names that include "Organics" at the end, these new companies lead consumers to believe that their products are indeed - organic. With an abundance of what I like to refer to as "Kitchen Sink" style companies selling everything from Baby Wipes to Bar Soap I am especially wary of this free use of the word "Organics".

*What is Organic?

Organic means that the plants used in the product were grown without chemicals such as chemical fertilizers or chemical bug killers. It means that the products were grown in an all natural manner. Because using chemical controls is cheaper than all natural controls Organic products tend to cost quite a bit more than non-organic products.

In the cosmetics/soap industry if a product contains 80% or more Organic ingredients it can be considered Organic. The reason for this is that products such as bar soap include other ingredients such as lye, which are not organic.

*Is Organic the Same as All Natural?

No. Often I snatch up a product with the word "Organics" on its label or in the company name and flip it over to read the ingredient list. Many times I am disappointed to find the products contain sulfates, parabens, chemical preservatives and more.

All Natural means the product is made from materials that come from plant or earth based all natural origin. Most of Brown Barn's bases are all natural. If a Brown Barn product is scented with essential oil it is usually 100% all natural but not organic. If it uses a fragrance oil (such as Moonlight Pomegranate) it is what we like to refer to as "Nearly Natural" because the only non-natural ingredient is the fragrance oil.

Because of the 80% ruling, products can actually be made with USDA Certified Organic materials and still be "Nearly" Natural because they include fragrance oil or chemical preservatives.

*USDA Organic

There is a difference between a product being made with Certified Organic materials and the company/product/lab itself being certified Organic. The USDA has a stringent and rigorous program which allows companies to have their lab spaces certified Organic. This year Brown Barn has been preparing to undergo this certification process. This calls for taking measures to ensure the Organic materials do not mix with non-organic materials and that production facilities and methods protect against contamination of Organic material with non-organic materials. Because of this Brown Barn is looking to relocate its lab to a larger facility in order to better meet the requirements of the USDA.

*If a Company uses the word "Organics" in its name can I assume it is Certified Organic?

No. I recently contacted a company whose baby products we were thinking of carrying to find out more about them. This company has the word "Organics" in its company name however their product labels did not have the Certified USDA Organic mark.

Here is how this conversation unfolded:

Me: Do you make your own products or do you private label products that come from another maker?

"Other Organics" Company: We make our products in our studio behind our house. It's a really cute shed.

Me: Is your "Studio" certified Organic?

"Other Organics" Company: No - but we use ingredients that are certified organic from another company.

Now this tells me that this company may or may not be following protocols to ensure their products meet the criteria for being USDA Certified Organic. Because they've not gone through the process of having their work-space USDA Certified Organic we cannot know this for sure. This company, whose products are featured in many Baby magazines and used on thousands of babies is not Certified Organic, it just has the word "Organics" in its name. We are asked to trust them based on their word that the products they are making in the shed behind their house are being produced in a trustworthy manner that ensure the Organic materials are not mixing with/being contaminated by non-organic materials.

Because this company is not certified Organic but uses the word "Organics" in its name customers just assume that this company is providing an Organic product that meets all of the standards of Organic production. In reality, this company is not monitored by any agency and we must rely on their word that they are following good protocols.

Brown Barn uses Certified Organic ingredients throughout its line. We also use Organically Grown/Produced ingredients. We do not use the word "Organic" on our front label because we would never want to mislead a customer.

*What is the Difference Between Certified Organic and Organically Grown?

An example of a Certified Organic ingredient is the flowers from a Chamomile plant that is grown in a USDA Certified Organic Greenhouse where all elements are controlled and no chemicals have been used in the greenhouse. An example of an Organically Grown ingredient would be the leaves from a Birch Tree grown in the woods where no chemicals are present or a Chamomile plant grown outside in a field that has not been USDA Certified Organic but whose farmer promised he used no chemicals.

Unfortunately we cannot always just "trust" that everyone is true to their word. Because of this we strongly recommend that if you desire Organic products you either stick to companies that use the USDA Certified Organic mark on their label (it is illegal to use this unless you are indeed Certified Organic) or only purchase from companies you can trust.

Brown Barn hopes to be able to offer USDA Certified Organic products under its Sister Company label "Honest Balance" in the coming year. By becoming certified ourselves we hope to keep our costs down and be able to bring an Organic product to our customers that is affordable and maintains the high quality our customers enjoy from Brown Barn and Brown Burl.

The next time you pick up a product from a company with the word "Organics" in the name look for the USDA Certified Organic seal to be sure you are getting what you are paying for.

Have a great Sunday!

Chris Untiedt
Founder
The Brown Barn Company llc

Brown Barn Artisanal - Who are we? WHAT are we?

When I look back over the last several years and my time in my business, The Brown Barn Company, I am amazed at the transformation - of us, myself, my family, our employees and most of all our brand.

Starting out with the goal of bringing the best quality handmade bath & body products available to our customers seemed simple enough at first - but then we found other products we fell in love with and wanted to share with our customers. Tea, Coffee, Cheese, Ice Cream..Wine, Chocolates, Olive Oil and Vinegar...wait a minute - those are not bath products (most of the time)! We had a problem - how can we sell all of this and still remain true to our original vision? Does our vision fit anymore? Now what?

We have spent the last 18 months pondering and striving to answer these questions and more.

- Have we changed? After much reflection and discussion, Alyssa (my daughter and business partner) and I realized that what we really wanted to bring to our customers had changed. We'd moved from wanting to provide a great bath product to wanting to provide great products that enrich the lives of our customers on many levels. We recognized that creating a soulful lifestyle is about more than a good hot bath (oooooo...I can't believe I just said that!!!). We looove our bath products, our bath products are our heart - our soul - but there is just so much more to share! A great bath is made better when it includes a small tray of chocolate truffles, a cup of tea or a glass of wine. A morning shower is followed by that perfect cup of coffee...Coffee with toast and yummy jam....Jam and toast on a pretty plate....A beautiful towel to dry the plate after you use it...the list just goes on. We find we love all of these products and soon found we wanted to make them all - but that was out of the question - we do a great job of making bath products but we can't make cheese, coffee, tea and towels. We can however, sell them!

- What do we sell? Brown Barn isn't just about baths anymore. Brown Barn is now a marketplace for Artisanal and other quality vendors. We have added culinary, gourmet and home decor products with clothing and jewelry coming next. Our goal is to bring you into our lives and share what we love - from bath to food to home items. We've removed the "bath" boundaries we'd self-imposed and opened our lines up to other vendors and products. Now we are only limited by our imagination and the lines we are able to locate.

- Who do we sell? Even though we've expanded our lines we are still being extremely fussy about who gets to be part of the Brown Barn product line. Vendors are carefully selected based on some simple questions - Will it serve the needs of our customers? Is it good for us and our customers? Is it made well? Packaged beautifully? Does the price make sense? Can it be reproduced so we can keep selling it?  And more importantly - do we, as the owners of the company - absolutely love it??

- How do we sell? We also recognized that it wasn't enough for the customers to walk in the store, pick something off the shelf and walk out. I was always a little let down when selling this way. I have a Master's degree in Education so perhaps its been ingrained into me to teach, and I was a real "hands-on" type teacher so putting up a poster and leaving it at that just is not enough for me. We want the customers to experience the products and the process, to learn and feel when they come into Brown Barn. It's taken us almost two years of research and trial and error but we feel we've fallen onto the right products and selling methods for Brown Barn and our customers seem to agree! When you visit Brown Barn stores now you will find a blending bar where you can sniff and blend your own fragrance and then watch your product being finished in front of you; you can sample a tea and coffee before purchasing; you'll soon be able to sample your own blends of Olive Oil & Vinegar before buying the perfect combination for your table; you'll be able to taste wines before buying. We want you to have a sensory experience as much as a visual. We want the store to be exploratory - smell, sight, taste, touch.

- What does this make us? Well - it makes us more than a bath store but less than a department store. We've been stewing on this question quite a bit. We think we are an Artisanal Marketplace. You may have already noticed a change in our logo to "Artisanal Products - Authentic Living - from Seed to Soul". We are focused on bringing great products from vendors we love and trust, trying to not only focus just on the small hand-makers but also celebrate the ingenuity and superior product lines of larger companies who do it well. We are not going to be locked into a small niche but we are going to create our own niche - the Brown Barn line.

We hope you enjoy your next visit to a Brown Barn store. We are planning on opening stores regularly throughout Wisconsin in the coming years and expanding from there. We are also working on new web-sites and trying to come up with ways to bring the store experience to our customers virtually.

Thank you to all who have remained on this journey with us and welcome to those who are just now joining us! We hope we are able to help you find the perfect products to feed your soul and warm your home.

Christine Untiedt
Founder
The Brown Barn Company llc

Brown Barn Blending Bar Fragrance Encyclopedia

Floral Scents:

Aloha Waikiki: Plumeria and Tiare with sun kissed Sugar Cane.

Day at the Spa: Notes of lemongrass and black currant with hints of patchouli and sugar cane. A great year-round fragrance infused with natural lemongrass, patchouli, and lime essential oils.

Gardenia: Brown Barn's Founders favorite summer scent and perhaps Brown Barn's most romantic floral fragrance. This Gardenia is sweet and soft. Heliotrope, Jasmine and Freesia keep this scent from becoming too sweet.

Green Tea and White Pear: Sweet succulent pears effortlessly complement the fresh green tea scent in this zesty fragrance. Notes of crisp citrus, pears and apples blends well with gardenia, lilac, powder and vanilla.

Honeysuckle: A true sweet honeysuckle.

Japanese Cherry Blossom: A Brown Barn favorite! Tender cherry blossom, sensual white lily and blushing violet petals blended with a hint of warm vanilla. 

Jasmine Vanilla: Beautifully garnished silk white jasmine petals. This engaging rose fragrance comes to full bloom with creamy vanilla and classic rose.

Lilac: This Lilac fragrance is so near to the real thing you will think you've been transported when you close your eyes. Not too sweet, just right.

Lavender Essential Oil: The true lavender, made from oil distilled from the plant. Great for relaxing and soothing aromatherapy effects.

Moonlight Pomegranate: Intensively purple with sparkling notes of Citrus, Dewberry and Cassis to dress up the deeper notes of Musk, Sandalwood and Vanilla. This fragrance is deep and sensual with a sweet tart twist.

Peony: An elegant, not to cloying or sweet, Peony fragrance. Sophisticated and summery.

Pink: Neroli and Peony with Violets and Juniper.

Sweet Pea: Very near to the real thing. Sweet and young, bright and fresh.

Tuberose Moss: Sophisticated honey Tuberose with under-notes of green moss. This elegant scent is quickly becoming a Brown Barn Summer standard.

Ylang Ylang: Sophisticated Ylang Ylang blends well with floral notes.

Fruit Scents:

Black Raspberry Vanilla: A Brown Barn favorite! Fresh, vine-ripened raspberries and blackberry notes mixed with Italian Bergamot, Pear with notes of Plum Wine, Vanilla Orchid and a silky, Cashmere Musk. Overall, it's sweet, silky and mouth-watering. 

Cherry Almond: A classic mixture of sweet cherries and rich almonds.

Coconut: A great blending fragrance, this smells just like a coconut picked fresh from the tree.

Coconut Lime Verbena: A tantalizing fusion of fresh coconut, lime and invigorating verbena soothed by luscious vanilla.

Country Apple: Fresh picked apples with a touch of peach, lime and musk have made this a Brown Barn favorite with in-store customers.

Lemongrass Essential Oil: Unique, citrus with a bite. Lemongrass will awaken and energize.

Lime: Another great blending oil, green and tart but not bitter.

Love Spell: Orange, Peach, Cherry Blossom and Jasmine make this popular fragrance a classic.

Monkey Farts: Fresh banana with sweet grapefruit, mandarin orange, kiwi, coconut cream, pink raspberries, strawberries and apples. A Brown Barn favorite, especially for the young or young at heart!

Orange Essential Oil: Another Brown Barn favorite with all customers. Uplifting, fresh and delightful. A sure to please choice.

Strawberry: A freshly ripened Strawberry fragrance. Very true to the real thing. Blends well with 'Champagne' fragrance.

Tart Lemon: A bright, pure, citrus lemon scent. Perfect for blending.

For Men (and Women!):

Black Tie: Sophisticated notes of black peppercorn and leather carefully blended with Patchouli, Musk and Citrus. A Brown Barn favorite!

Cedar & Saffron: Fragrant cedar infused with sensual Patchouli, Sandalwood and Vetiver. Eastern spices and a touch of musk finish this gorgeous blend out. Smokey and sexy.

Green Irish Tweed: A refined gentlemen's scent similar to the same fragrance worn by Cary Grant, Richard Gere and Robert Redford. Sandalwood, Lemon Verbena, Iris, Violets and Amber.

Zanzibar Spice: Mandarin leaf, agave nectar and African lotus perfectly paired with Cardamom, Nutmeg and Black Peppercorn. Undertones of Sandalwood and Tonka Bean make this a great choice for the sophisticated man (or woman!).

Other:

Cashmere & Cotton: Pomelo, bergamot, citrus, vanilla and sandalwood blend to an amazing rendition of fresh sheets blowing in the wind.

Champagne: A great blending fragrant oil, smells just like champagne. Perfect for any special occasion.

Eucalyptus & Spearmint: A beautiful blend of Eucalyptus, Sage, Lavender and Spearmint leave you refreshed and renewed.

Green Aloe & Clover: Fresh mown green fields, deep woods and touch of Jasmine.

Neroli: This fragrance is made with Neroli essential oil strengthened with notes of Cinnamon, Dill weed, Eucalyptus and orange fragrance. 

Oatmeal, Milk & Honey: A Brown Barn favorite. Warm oatmeal with sweet milk and honey.

Patchouli Essential Oil: Earthy and deep. Wonderful for blending, especially with Lavender, Rose or Orange.

Sandalwood Sensuous: Deeply fragrant with rich notes of mahogany.

Spearmint: Fresh and bright. Refreshing Spearmint.

Ylang Ylang Essential Oil: A sweet, deep aroma of sensual flowers. The flower is a small delicate bloom from the Cananga tree native to rainforests. It is known for its ability to lift spirits, promote relaxation and enhance sexuality. Ylang Ylang is considered an aphrodisiac and has a soft, luxurious aroma. It is wonderful to sooth panic, anxiety and calm nerves. 

Vanilla Woods: Rich vanilla with earthy undertones makes this a deep and sophisticated scent perfect for blending.

Warm Vanilla Sugar: Rich and decadent vanilla and brown sugar with hints of musk.


Water:

Dancing Waters: This blend leaves you thinking of beaches and vacations. Cyclamen and Freesia round this scent out to complete loveliness.

Brown Barn Oil Infusions

Infused shampoo, infused oil, herbal infusions, botanical infusions, gem infusions...you name it and lately it seems to be on market shelves. We know its good for us but what is it? Why do we want it?

What is "Infused"? Infused means that plant material or some other component has has been instilled into a base oil, water or other liquid. Think of it like making tea, you infuse the flavor and antioxidants present in the tea into water which you drink. It's that simple. Brown Barn makes botanically infused oil using plant material. We also have made limited edition lotions with Gem Infusions such as Turqouise and Citrine. (You will see a whole new line of this in the future at Brown Barn!)

Why Infuse? Each plant has special characteristics. We love the qualities that can be added to Brown Barn products by using the infusion method. Some plants, such as Raspberry Leaves, are full of Polypeptides and Flavonoids to help fight aging while others, such as Calendula and Chamomile, soothe irritated skin. By infusing our oils with these natural skin enhancing plants we are able to bring a wide variety of qualities to our products without the use of chemicals.

Why not just use Essential Oils? Aren't they the same thing? Essential oils are much stronger and more highly concentrated than infusions. They are wonderful too and Brown Barn uses them freely in conjunction with their infusions. Think of the difference between Essential Oils and Infusions as the difference between a really strong cup of coffee (the Essential Oil) and a weak cup of tea (the infusion). Essentials oils are made using a different type of process, they are distilled thru a process that often uses expression, steam, or solvents to pull the oil from the plant. It takes far more plant material to make essential oil than to infuse. For example it takes about 150 pounds of Lavender plant to produce 1 pound of Lavender essential oil! When deciding between using an Essential Oil or Infusion we think about how much of the quality we are seeking is needed, for example we use Lavender primarily as an Essential Oil because we want to take advantage of the aromatherapy benefits Lavender brings with it as well as the physical skin enhancing traits of Lavender.

We love the gentle nature of infusion, the smaller footprint made on the environment and the fact that we can perform the infusion ourselves in our own labs. We love that we can actually grow and trace down that exact cultivar of Calendula that will bring the perfect color or attribute to our product. By growing the plants themselves or harvesting them from our own plots we can trace their origins - we know what storms that plant struggled thru, how old it is, what day of the year it was harvested. Why, we can even sing to it to help it grow if we want to! 

By infusing our own oils we can also bring uinque plant materials to our products that are not readily available thru distributors. For example this year we launched Brown Burl wildcrafted products which use materials we harvest ourselves from the forest. Essential oils can drive the price of your products up very quickly with little real difference in outcome between using essential oil or infusion. Also, because essential oils are so strong we can sometimes be limited in how much essential oil is used in a product where infusions can be countless because of the type of process we use. 

How is it done? There are several methods Brown Barn uses to infuse their oils. One is to simply place fresh or dried plant material into a container and pour oil or another base on top, mix and allow this mixture to sit for a length of time. Another is to warm the oil/plant mixture over very low heat or by solar heat for many hours until we are confident the plant has released its properties into the oil. We typically choose oils that have already been selected to be included in the formula such as apricot kernel oil or soy oil. 

Do I have to use Infused Oil in another product? Can I just use the oil straight on my skin? Yes! You can use infused oil straight on your skin! It's so gentle it actually makes a fabulous body oil. You can purchase infused Calendula, Chamomile or Lemon Balm Oil from Brown Barn. You can use this oil as either a massage oil, body oil, bath oil or a product booster. For example, just put a bit of it in your hand, add your favorite lotion and mix together and you have boosted your lotion! Even though we refer to these oils as "unscented" they do carry a very light natural plant scent brought to the oil by the plant material infusion process.

Who can Infuse? Anyone can infuse. There is no FDA regulation on infusing products. However, you should seek reputable formulators when purchasing any body product. Unfortunately, due to lack of FDA regulation and enforcement of the rules they do have, there has recently been a surge of people claiming to be "home" formulators and making bath products that they have learned to make from shared You-Tube videos or other questionable resources. We are not against new people entering the marketplace and encourage all new ventures, afterall, we started out on a farm and in our greenhouse! However Brown Barn has a history of generations of women who have passed down their plant knowledge and infusion methods to us, with myself learning at their knee. Our formulator (and my daughter, Alyssa Untiedt) is a certified Aromatherapist and holds a University degree in Biology, we are members of the Cosmetic Chemists Society and National Association for Holistic Aromatherapy and are experienced researchers. We research...all the time, everything. We have created our own databases of plant knowledge that we apply to our formulas. Our formulas are tested and are constantly being revised for improvement. And we utilize sound manufacturing practices in our production labs to ensure our customers are receiving healthy products.

What is the future for Infusions at Brown Barn? We began expanding our infusion practices this year and are planning a much larger expansion in 2014. This year we began adding our infusions to our formulas and educating customers about infused oils, we launched Brown Burl wildcrafted products, which use plant materials we harvest and infuse from our private farm and woodlands. Unique plants such as Birch, Pine and Violets are used in these products. We also launched a small selection of Artisanal Infused Oil for our customers to purchase. Lastly, we launched our all natural Skincare line which uses infused oils and astringents. This line represents our techniques used to full advantage and has been proving itself effective over and over.

In 2014 we will expand to utilizing our own greenhouses to grow the majority of the plant material we use in our infusions (right now we use a combination of our plants and those purchased from reputable dealers). Brown Barn customers will enjoy an expansion of the infusions in their products - making Brown Barn's already unique and fabulous formulations even better! 

We hope to have both of our labs and our greenhouse USDA Certified as Organic Processing Facilities by the end of the year. We will be revising and expanding our line of Artisanal Infused Oils to accomodate a higher demand for non-GMO base oils. And we will also be addressing this same issue in all of our Brown Barn products. We will be adding more Solar infused oils by using our glass greenhouse as a processing facility, allowing the oil to heat and soak in warm sunshine as part of the process.

Lastly - and I think most exciting - we will begin using our infused oils in Bar Soap production. When Brown Barn opened its first store, we made all of our own Bar Soap in our lab however we grew so fast and all of our products were so popular we found we had to find help from another fine handmade soaper to keep up. While we continued to produce our own Shampoo Bars and Molded Soaps, we distributed the bar soap. This also allowed us to concentrate on our higher end formulations such as lotions and facial products. While this soap is fantastic we want to bring our own formulation to the table as well. We will continue to sell our distributed line (because our customers love it so much!) but will be adding to this line our own bars to choose from. Now we are almost done opening a second lab, located on our little farm, dedicated to making bar soap. This soap will utilize our infused oils and other plant materials, with the goal of bringing a truly luxurious and therapeutic level to our bar soaps.

We look forward to sharing more Infusion Information with you as we add new infusions and products in the coming year!

Christine Untiedt

Founder

The Brown Barn Company llc

The Birth of a Product - From Idea to Market

"Do you have This?", "Why don't you have That?", "You know, you really should carry These". We hear this all the time at Brown Barn. Bringing new products to Brown Barn market is a long and complex task, requiring a series of steps to ensure that products meet Brown Barn standards.

1. An idea is born. Typically, Brown Barn product ideas come from a hole in the line or one of those conversations that go like "You knoooow...it would be really cool if we.....".  Ideas come from customers, our own imaginations and things we see on the market that we know we can improve on or need.

2. The idea is reviewed. Alyssa (my daughter and business partner) and I meet regularly to plan production and the introduction of new items. We seem to have a never ending list of needs in the research and development area of our company. Currently we are preparing to launch our new facial line this week. Yesterday we introduced a great new foot polish. By October 1st we hope to launch the Brown Burl's wild-crafted bath and body line along with the new Honest Balance on-line magazine (a much better blog and fun articles with recipes and other great info). After that its Christmas planning and then we will be working on a Mommy & Me line as well as a Men's line. No wonder we are often tired!

3. Development. If we decide the idea is a good one the next step is to decide if we are ready and have the ability to develop the idea into a product. This is mostly a conversation between ourselves with a realistic look at where we are and where we are headed.  New items need to pass the following questions: Is it something we have a need for? Is it something we are interested in? Is the item something our customers would like/buy? Can we make it for a price that is reasonable? Is the product able to be made using all (or nearly) natural ingredients? Does it fit Brown Barn's line? Is this an "emergency" item that is needed right now or can it wait until some other things are finished first? 

4. Formulation. Alyssa generally takes the lead in the product formulation. She draws on her wide background and education to develop a formula for us to try. Often formulation requires research on-line or a call to a teacher or expert. I then look over the formula Alyssa develops in order to add input in terms of ingredients. For example if her formula calls for soy oil, I might suggest we use one of our new infused oils instead so as to add depth to the product and that Brown Barn personal touch. We also discuss fragrance and whether this item will be in our signature line or all natural line. 

Alyssa working at the computer at the packaging station. The most important part of the product development happens while formulating at the computer.

5. Production. Once the formula is finalized it is sent off to the Brown Barn lab where Chas makes a "test" of it. Chas has become a fabulous soaper in her own right and we are so happy to have her as part of the Brown Barn family. 

Chas is blending up something yummy!

6. We then "live" with our new product for awhile. This will include everything from watching for separation to testing for mold. Trying it out on ourselves, family, friends, innocent by-standers to get input and check for skin reactions. We may have to go back to the drawing board several times during this phase (driving Chas crazy!) while we tweak the formula or change ingredients. Our new foot polish was reformulated several times as it started out too hard and then went through a switch out of ingredients followed by a suggestion to add blue jojoba beads for fun and color. We find the more time we take in this phase the better the product.

7. Ingredients are Sourced. During the development phase we use small amounts of ingredients that we either have on-hand or order in. Before we can enter production we must source our ingredients to ensure they meet Brown Barn's high standards. Ingredients must pass a list of questions including - Is the supplier reputable? Can we find the ingredient grown/sourced in the USA? If not, where does it come from? Can the ingredient come from a renewable resource? Is the price of the ingredient reasonable or will it drive our final price too high? Is this an ingredient that will be in steady supply? Sometimes we find that we have to go back to re-formulation because we cannot source our desired ingredients reasonably or consistently. Once ingredients begin to arrive we check them carefully to ensure they meet our standards for quality, color and scent.

8. Containers are selected. What color and size of jar or bottle will the product be sold in?

9. Production. FINALLY...we enter production. Brown Barn typically moves to production with a small "starter order" for its Outlet Store.  Chas is called in again to produce the final products. Depending on the product she might get to use new tools or larger equipment, such as our bottle filler.

Chas fills a bottle using our bottle filler.

10. Labeling. Once the items are made they are carefully labeled with batch numbers and logs are filled out indicating everything we've done and every detail of the batch. The products are then loaded up and moved from the lab to the Outlet Store where the labels are applied. Store clerks spend their time labeling when they are not busy with customers or filling Internet or Wholesale orders. Brenda has become an old hand at label application!

Brenda carefully applies a label to a lotion bottle. The labeling center was set up so staffers could enjoy a view of the woods while they work.

11. Photography. Kathy takes all of these wonderful product pictures in our Photo Lab which has light boxes and other props. Kathy didn't get a picture for the blog of herself taking pictures of products! Kathy's pictures are used on Facebook and web-sites as well as some of them going into our brochures, emails and sent out to wholesalers for their own marketing.

This is called a "glamour shot" of Lavender Sugar Scrub.

12. Quality Control. Once labeled, the products are moved from the labeling area to the Quality Control rack. The clerk fills out a form indicating their name and which products they labeled in case we encounter problems such as crooked labels or mislabeling. Alyssa then reviews each product carefully to ensure the labeling meets Brown Barn high standards.

13. To Market! Once the product has passed thru QC it is entered into our inventory system and assigned a product number. Some of the products are placed for sale in the Brown Barn Outlet Store while others are put in the warehouse, where they will await sale thru Internet order, shipped out to wholesale or eventually sold in the Outlet Store as inventory is restocked, At this time the products are added to our web-sites and announced on Facebook and in customer emails. 

Bar Soap lined out for sale at the Brown Barn Outlet Store in Holcombe, WI.

14. We Re-evaluate. Brown Barn is constantly evaluating and re-evaluating its product line to determine if a product should stay, be dropped or changed. It is thru this constant reflection that our line has developed. 

And there you have it! The birth of a product! The next time you pick up a Brown Barn product think of all the thought, time and care that has gone into bringing that product to market just for you. 

Have a great Sunday!

Chris Untiedt

Founder

The Brown Barn Company llc

Artisanal Infused Oils 101

This week Brown Barn launched an all new product line!  Artisanal Infused Herbal Oils. Brown Barn began producing these oils in Spring of 2013. We've been incorporating this rich oil into our bath product formulas for several months now and love it so much we decided to sell it as a direct oil for you to use at home.

We began small with two Soybean oil based products infused in Chamomile for skin relief and Lemon Balm for relaxation. We also included a Calendula infused Olive Oil for those with very sensitive skin. More oils will be introduced regularly over the coming year.

Different from regular body oil, our infused oils are lightly scented to unscented natural oils that have been infused with plant stems leaves and/or flowers selected for the specific benefits each plant brings to your skin. To learn more about the individual oils we've introduced visit our web-site at: http://www.brownbarnbath.com/Artisanal-Herbal-Oils_c77.htm

These oils have a number of uses but the one we like the most is as a lotion or product "booster" to your existing favorite bath items. Do you suffer from dry, itchy skin? Try adding a bit of our Chamomile Soy oil to your lotion to boost its effectiveness, making a custom formula from your existing products! The oils are also wonderful as bath and body oil or massage oil.

What makes Brown Barn oils special?

Brown Barn produces its own herbal oils using an age old process of steeping the herb directly into the oil for a period of time and then dispensing the infused oil. We only use plant materials cultivated or wildcrafted (harvested from our own woods) fresh from our Wisconsin farm or sourced from other reliable organic growers. We feel that the more plant material Brown Barn can produce itself the more control we will have over the quality, cultivation, choice of cultivar and growing conditions of these plants. In other words - our good Karma will hopefully pass on thru the plants and into your products!

Why Soybean Oil?

Most of our oils are based in Soybean Oil (we chose Olive Oil to give a very mild alternative for Sensitive Skin). We gave careful consideration to the many types of oils available on the market and chose Soybean oil for its skin-loving qualities as well as the fact that many of our surrounding farm fields grow soybeans. What better way to celebrate our local farm heritage than to utilize a product grown locally?

Benefits of Soybean Oil: 

- Improves overall skin tone
- Reduces the appearance of wrinkles and fine lines
- Effective moisturizing due to its small molecular structure, enabling Soybean oil to easily penetrate skin
- Less irritating to sensitive skin (with Olive Oil providing an even finer alternative for sensitive skin)
- Reduces blotchniess and discoloration by evening out the appearance of skin pigment
- Rich in Vitamin E, antioxidants, essential fatty acids and lecithin
- Soybean oil stimulates the synthesis of collagen, elastin and other proteins
- Soybean oil is a locally grown renewable resource

We are sure the Brown Barn Artisanal oils will find an important place in any skin care routine. You may purchase the oils at our Outlet Store or on-line at http://www.brownbarnbath.com. Please feel free to contact us for suggestions on how use of these valuable oils can assist your specific skin needs.

Have a great weekend!

Christine Untiedt
Founder
The Brown Barn Company llc