Be yourself. Love yourself. Take care of each other.

Hello, world! Shelly here! Time for another edition of Take Care, a weekly-ish bit of tips and updates to help you be yourself, love yourself, and take care of each other (and yourself!) I’m Shelly of Geek Out of Water.

In This Edition:

• YouTube posting schedule for the holidays
• Want to come to JMU and be my boss?
• Thanks for helping me pick a logo!
• What I've been formulating lately
• Upcoming events in Virginia

YouTube Updates

This week on YouTube, I've got an eye look with the Tartelette Juicy eyeshadow palette, part of my November Ipsy box, and Friday will be a review of the Prada Reveal Skin-Optimizing Foundation!

A couple weeks ago, I decided to reduce my posting schedule from 3 videos per week to 2 videos per week, at least through the holidays, since every weekend I'm out doing vendor events right now. It has helped enormously to take that pressure off and give myself some of that time back (though it has mostly been diverted to additional responsibilities at my job at JMU). Speaking of JMU...

Want to be my boss?

In case any of you are in higher ed or know someone who is... my department at James Madison University, the School of Media Arts and Design, is hiring a new academic unit head (aka departmental director). Review of applications starts this week, but we have not closed the application submission portal - so if you know anybody that wants to come be my boss, get an app in sooner rather than later! Candidates must hold an appropriate terminal degree (MFA or PhD) in a relevant media-related field and have attained the rank of Full Professor within a media program or be an Associate Professor with a record that would support promotion to full professor at an R2 University upon appointment.

New Logo!

Thanks to everyone that helped me pick my new logo! The votes were close but clearly in favor of the eventual winner:

I've started transitioning my skin care labels to the new logo, along with using a new process altogether for my labels. I was previously printing them on my thermal printer, but that limits me to black and white, and thermal print doesn't hold up very well to daily handling; it fades pretty quickly. So I've started doing labels entirely from scratch - printing them on vinyl, laminating, and cutting custom sizes on my Cricut. This takes a little longer but it's SO nice to have labels that fit the bottles perfectly, and I'm really happy with how they're turning out.

What I've been formulating lately...

It's been a whirlwind in my little formulation lab, as my goal was to get a basic skin care routine ready to go for my holiday vendor events. Mission accomplished! I've been working on running all of my formulations through ingredient comparisons to Sephora's "Clean at Sephora" and Ulta's "Conscious Beauty" lists, and so far everything I've formulated is "clean" according to their standards. I've also been calculating percentages of my formulas that use natural ingredients (which, to me, are ingredients that pass either ECOCERT or COSMOS natural certification), and everything I've made is at least 95% natural.

Creamy Cleanser

This Creamy Cleanser took some time to get to my liking! I had a big wish list. It had to be gently cleansing and non-drying, but also had to remove makeup (including eye makeup) effectively and without irritating my eyes. As it turns out, that's harder than it sounds! The ingredients that make it easy to remove makeup are often drying, and the ingredients that make a cleanser hydrating tend not to remove makeup very well. But after many iterations, I've finally gotten this formula to the point where I now prefer it to all of my store-bought cleansers. This is also a sturdy, refillable bottle (refills will be available very soon!)

Key ingredients: Niacinamide and Provitamin B5 are anti-inflammatory and soothing, while rice ceramides reinforce the skin barrier. Rosehip seed oil is packed with essential fatty acids and vitamins A and C, helping to rejuvenate the skin, improve texture, and reduce signs of aging. 

Hydrating Toner & Rejuvenating Serum

Finally, a 7-skins-suitable toner! I've been talking about making a Hydrating Toner for a LONG time! Key ingredients: Centella asiatica is a moisturizing, healing, anti-aging powerhouse herb in the parsley family. Also known as "tiger grass" because tigers have been known to roll around in it when they're injured, it has been used all over the world for thousands of years. Reishi mushroom extract is hydrating and anti-inflammatory to the skin, and can help fade dark spots. Snail mucin is deeply soothing and hydrating. Allantoin is moisturizing and very gently exfoliating to the skin.

The Rejuvenating Serum is meant as an everyday serum for all skin types. It's got aloe and glycerin for soothing and hydration, niacinamide for barrier support and to smooth and even skin tone, panthenol and allantoin for calming and repairing, and soothing, antioxidant-rich extracts to fight environmental damage (chamomile, mulberry, blueberry, and mugwort).

Lip Sugar Scrub

I'll be restocking peppermint this weekend for everyone that has asked! This lip sugar scrub is - dare I say - creamy! It's a pretty amazing texture if I do say so myself. It's 100% natural with ECOCERT ingredients (and is edible!) I've got a bunch of different flavors and more to come - stop by my Patreon to vote on your favorite flavors and I might make your favorite!

Skin Care Starter Set - Holiday Bundle

Special holiday pricing! Dip your toes into natural skin care, start a new skin care routine, or gift this Skin Care Starter bundle - any which way, it's a collection of my favorites at a great price - $29 for a mini cleanser and toner and full-sized serum, bakuchiol moisturizer, and lip scrub - with a makeup removing face cloth and a clear zippered pouch ($44 retail value - that's a 34% discount!) This bundle is 97% natural ingredients and comes with a step-by-step how-to card to help you build your routine. You can find the bundle on my web site by scrolling down to the bottom of the page of any product in the bundle.

Upcoming Events

If you're local to me in Virginia, I've got one more set of holiday vendor events this year! You can find me every Friday-Saturday-Sunday, Black Friday through Christmas, in the Whetzel Vendor Pop-Up Shops at the Valley Mall in Harrisonburg (inside the old Victoria's Secret store). I'll have my entire skin care lineup as well as my original designs of graphic tees and handmade tie dye tees. I've already got a couple events on the books for 2025, so I'll share those as I start receiving confirmations of my registration!

That's all the news on this end! I hope your fall is off to a beautiful start and you're doing well!

Find me on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@goow

Shop my designs & handmade skin care: https://shopgoow.com

Thanks and remember: be yourself. Love yourself. Take care of each other,

💜 Shelly

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