Satin Serenity Pillow Talk Blog

The Art of Giving

Thu, 12 Apr 2012 00:16:00 GMT

Brown paper packages, tied up in string…these are a few of my favorite things. Not long ago, I heard that it was my neighbor’s birthday. This is a neighbor that I don’t really know well, however our kids are the same age and I’d like to get to know her better. Well, I also happened to discover what her favorite candy bar was. Later that day when I was out shopping, I bought her favorite candy bar - one of those super king sized bars that after you’ve finished eating it, you think…”what have I done?” and vow to never eat another candy bar for the rest of your life. At home, I carefully wrapped it up with pretty paper and a little bow and attached a simple handwritten card that read, “A little bird told me it was your Birthday. I hope you have a wonderful day!” I had this little bird deliver the gift. Later, she called me explaining that she didn’t have any plans for her birthday, so it made her day to sit down and indulge in her favorite treat. (Which is O.K. since it is her birthday, right?)

In some ways, spring feels more like the beginning of the year to me than January. I reflect forward, thinking about what’s awaiting this summer such as family trips, wedding events, and birthdays. This leads me to think about the art of gift giving and the love that goes into giving a gift. I’m not taking about the gift giving that we are accustomed to in the polite and obligatory way such as the token wedding gift. We’ve all been there…rushing last minute to the store, hoping to find the right gift illuminated on the shelf and the perfect not too mushy, not too simple card, and “Oh yeah…where are the gift bags?” Throw in a few bright tissue papers and…Presto! Instant gift in less than 15 minutes! No, I’m talking about the special thought that goes into gift giving, which provides joy to both the giver and the receiver. I’m talking about the true meaning of the expression “it’s the little things that count.”

I personally enjoy giving handmade gifts, or ones with special thought put into the wrapping. For example, wrapping the gift in the comedies, placing a fresh flower in the hand tied bow, or using brown paper tied up with string. How about picking a bouquet of flowers from your yard and leaving them on the doorstep of someone that you know is having a difficult time with attached note saying, “I’m thinking of you.” When is the last time you baked a cake? You could make a cake for someone special and pipe frosting on the top stating, “Just because!” If you have a green thumb, then it wouldn’t take long to throw together a window sill herb garden for your “I don’t have much of a green thumb” friend.

I realize our schedules don’t always allow for making each gift special, but we should make time now and then for this special act and art of giving. There is something that feels good about knowing that you put a smile on the face of someone that you care about. So, do something that is not only good for someone else, but good for you too and discover the art of giving!

We would like to hear ideas that you have about how to add a special touch to a gift.

Posted by Lisa Damron

Start Spreading the News....New York, New York!!!

Mon, 19 Mar 2012 05:14:00 GMT

New York spas & salons: We hope you will join us as we make our east coast debut at the International Esthetics, Cosmetics, & Spa Conference (IECSC) in New York April 22-24 at the Javits Center! We will be presenting our unique line of luxury spa linens, apparel, and retail products during the tradeshow, and will be located in booth #2917. Satin Serenity co-founder, Lisa Damron, and I will both be available to answer any questions you may have about our products and help you to create a beautiful, luxurious spa experience for your clients to enjoy. We will also explain how our retail products can allow your spa clients to recreate their spa experience at home, and how our top selling retail product- Satin Serenity Pillowcases, can provide endless nights of "beauty sleep."

We can't wait to experience our first trip to New York, and are looking forward to meeting and networking with other spa and salon professionals. We have made plans to arrive a few days early so that we can have time to do all of the "touristy" things such as the Statue of Liberty, Empire State Building, a walk through central park, some museums, and have already purchased our tickets to see "Wicked" on Broadway. I am also excited about going to a Yankee's game, as it will be my first time seeing them play at home! If any of you have any suggestions for other things that we have to do or see while in NY, please let us know!

See you in the Big Apple! :-)

~Crista Sellman-Jones

My Little Secret

Wed, 22 Sep 2010 06:00:00 GMT

Posted by Crista Sellman-Jones, Co-Founder
Over thirty years ago, my grandmother let me in on a little family secret- a beauty secret that had been passed through our family since the Golden Age of Hollywood. She gave me my first satin pillowcase that she had carefully made with her own hands and told me that “it would keep me from getting wrinkles when I was older, and help to grow my hair long and beautiful.” At the age of three, I really didn’t care about any beauty benefits that this bubble-gum pink, soft and silky pillowcase would bring me when I got older. I just loved how it felt on my face, and quickly began a life-long habit of “wiggling” the satin between my fingers to soothe me into falling asleep at night (which I am embarrassed to say that I still do!) Every year thereafter, the one Christmas gift I could count on receiving from Grandma was a satin pillowcase. Sometimes they were wild colors like peach and green, mauve and hot pink, and sometimes were embroidered with flowers or my name, but always they were made especially for me and each member of my family with much love as my grandmother’s Christmas gift to each of us. I still have many of the satin pillowcases that she has made me over the years, though they have been “wiggled” into near shreds on the ends, and have been laundered thousands of times, I just can’t seem to part with them!

Our family beauty secret was even shared with Hollywood starlets during the Golden Age. My great aunt, Amy, was a hair stylist to some of the most famous women of this era, and used to tell them to sleep on a satin pillowcase to maintain their “finger waved” hairstyles that took her hours to create. I have dozens of autographed photos that these elegant and timeless women gave to my aunt to thank her for helping to maintain their beautiful hairstyles. We proudly display these autographed photos in our Satin Serenity booth at trade shows.

Today, many Hollywood celebrities still rely on their satin pillowcases to minimize sleep lines on their face, maintain moisture balance in their hair and skin, and decrease hair damage. Kelly Ripa recently told the “Live with Regis & Kelly” audience that she always sleeps on a satin pillowcase, and suggested that Regis get one so that his hair wouldn’t be so messy in the mornings. Kathy Lee and Hoda were also telling the “Today Show” viewers about the benefits of sleeping on a satin pillowcase, and Kim Kardashian shared with People Magazine that she relies on a Kardashian family secret for keeping skin supple while she sleeps. "I think we all have satin pillows that we sleep on," she revealed to People. "It helps you to not get as wrinkled." (See Satin Serenity featured in People with Kim Kardashian in our News & Press page.)

Beauty professionals today still recommend sleeping on a satin pillowcase for maintaining beautiful hair and skin. Philip Pelusi, Pittsburg-based owner of 13 salons and creator of the Phyto-Life Hair Care line, says to “Keep your strands healthy and smooth by replacing your cotton pillowcase with a satin one. Cotton has rougher fibers that grip and catch your hair. Satin causes less friction [and static] as the hair moves against the pillow, which means less damage and breakage-especially for people who already have weak or damaged hair,” Pelusi tells Shape Magazine, in an article titled “Smoother Hair Overnight.” And cosmetic surgeons to the stars, twin brothers Dr. Roberto and Dr. Maurizio Viel, passionately believe you can reverse the aging process without going under a knife. In an article titled “Discover a Younger You” in the Belfast Telegraph, the surgeons say to “Sleep your way to beauty-avoid skin wrinkles by switching your pillowcases to silk or satin, as they minimize wrinkles.”

Now that I am in my late 30’s, I am so grateful to my grandmother for getting me hooked on satin pillowcases at such an early age. I truly believe it is the single most important thing I have done for my skin, and will always be my best beauty secret. I am so honored to carry on my family tradition through Satin Serenity.

What are your family beauty secrets? Share them with us!

Gifts for your Valentine

Tue, 02 Feb 2010 17:53:00 GMT

Posted by Crista Sellman-Jones~ Valentine's Day is almost here but there is still time to order great gifts from Satin Serenity! Give your Valentine the gift of "Beauty Sleep" with a Satin Serenity Pillowcase- famous for reducing hair damage, minimizing sleep lines on the face, and maintaining moisture balance in the hair and skin. Don't forget- men love them too! Need an idea for your "frequent flier" Valentine? With the recent removal of pillows from all major airlines, Satin Serenity's Travel Pillows are the hot gift item this year! Want to really pamper her with a unique gift she will remember? Satin Serenity Body Wraps are the perfect luxury gift and are on sale now through February 15th! Enter promo code DC0110 to receive 15% off of Body Wraps!

Satin Serenity makes your Valentine's Day gift giving easy. We'll even include a gift card and send your gift directly to your loved one! You will see the "gift" option at checkout that will allow you to include a card and ship the gift to your Valentine. Don't delay- all Valentine orders need to be placed by February 7th for delivery prior to Valentine's Day!

Love is in the air!

Fri, 29 Jan 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Posted by Crista Sellman-Jones Love. While it may not be what makes the world go around, it is what makes the ride worthwhile. Millions of people will celebrate their love for one another on February 14^th, all in the name of St. Valentine. For the benefit of those who may be wondering who St. Valentine is, and why we celebrate him in February, I decided to offer a brief synopsis of the Valentine’s legend. For all its popularity, history doesn’t give us any guarantees as to the true origin of St. Valentine’s Day. The holiday remains based on legend and shrouded in mystery, containing vestiges from both Christianity and ancient Roman tradition.

So, who was St. Valentine, and why is he associated with love and romance? Today, the Catholic Church actually recognizes at least three different saints referred to as Valentine or Valentinus. Of these, the most likely celebrated on February 14th was a priest that was serving during the third century in Rome. Emperor Claudius II had outlawed marriage for young men, contending that single men were much better soldiers than men with wives and children to worry about. Valentine, realizing the injustice of this law, had defied Emperor Claudius II by performing marriages for young soldiers in secret. Once Valentine’s secret marriage ceremonies were discovered, Claudius ordered that he be put to death. According to one legend, Valentine actually sent the first “Valentine letter” to a young girl (possibly his jailor’s daughter) that he fell in love with while in prison. Before he was put to death, he allegedly wrote this letter and signed it “From your Valentine,” a phrase we still use today. Though there are many variations to the legend of St. Valentine, he is revered as a compassionate, heroic, and, most importantly, romantic figure.

The other association between mid February and romance goes back to a pagan fertility festival known as Lupercalia, honoring Faunus and the Roman founders Romulus and Remus. The festivities that took place on February 15^th began with an animal sacrifice, and then both women and fields of crops were slapped with strips of goat hide soaked in sacrificial blood. The Roman women welcomed this ritual as it was thought to bring them (and the field crops) fertility in the coming year. Later in the day, the single men would draw a woman’s name out of an urn in a “lottery” type of match-making. Though many of these matches resulted in marriage, this Roman “lottery” system of romantic pairing was later deemed un-Christian and outlawed. Some say that Pope Gelasius declared February 14^th as St. Valentine’s Day in an effort to “Christianize” the celebrations of this pagan Lupercalia festival. Another association with mid-February and romance occurred later during the Middle Ages, when it was commonly believed in France and England that February 14 was the beginning of birds’ mating season. (Source: The History Channel, www.history.com, The History of Valentine’s Day)

How will you choose to honor your Valentine this year? We would love to hear your romantic ideas!

Men Caught In The Act!

Thu, 27 Aug 2009 01:45:00 GMT

Posted by Crista Sellman-Jones
....Of stealing Satin Serenity pillowcases that is! Ladies, have you blissfully fallen asleep with your satin pillowcase under your head, peacefully dreaming of protecting your hair and skin, only to awake in the morning finding your pillow is gone and under the slumbering head of your man? You’re not alone! For years we have read your emails and answered your phone calls with complaints that your man has taken over your Satin Serenity pillow, and you have succumbed to purchasing a new one to end the nighttime battle. Since this has turned into a global problem that women of all walks of life are now facing, we at Satin Serenity decided to investigate further.

Why are men so obsessed with satin pillowcases that they would risk bodily harm and humiliation to steal one right out from underneath their sleeping loved one? Are they truly as concerned about the beauty benefits as we are? Or do they just love the soft, cool feeling against their face? Like many of you, we wanted answers, and felt that it was our responsibility as the owners of the company to get them for you!

Perhaps the answers could be found in a recent article from Men’s Health magazine, stating that “stomach sleepers can develop facial wrinkles due to years of friction between bedding and skin. If that’s your style, switch to satin pillowcases.” (Men’s Health. January/February 2008. “5 Ways to Prevent a Breakdown.”) Or perhaps it was the cosmetic surgeons, twin brothers Dr. Roberto and Dr. Maurizio Viel, who advised that you can “avoid skin wrinkles by switching your pillowcases to silk or satin, as they minimize wrinkles.” Could these really be the reasons why our men are stealing our pillows? Our research team was still not convinced, so we decided to go straight to the source – the Men!

Lisa and I set out to poll as many men as we could that were known “Satin Serenity addicts” to ask them why they liked sleeping on our satin pillowcases. The most popular answer? “It stays cool during the night,” followed closely by “I don’t know….it just feels good!” One addict, a fireman, added “I had my best night’s sleep” after sleeping on his new satin pillowcase during his shift, no doubt! Though the men were not as descriptive with their words as we had anticipated, and some even seemed embarrassed to be questioned about why they were sleeping on satin, one thing became crystal clear- the feeling of the pillowcase against their skin and hair far outweighed the benefits of reducing hair damage and minimizing sleep lines. In fact, only a small number of the men polled even mentioned the beauty aspect, but did admit “I think it may be preventing some wrinkles on my face” and “I am hoping to slow my receding hair line.” Or so they say…Lisa decided to dig a little deeper and found quite a few articles stating that men are more concerned about their looks and aging than they admit to!

The verdict? Whether Men love the feeling of soft, cool satin on their skin or they are concerned about the health (and beauty) of their hair and skin there is one thing we know for sure- Men love Satin Serenity pillowcases!

There have been significant increases in online purchases from men of Satin Serenity pillowcases. Although some of these could be gifts, maybe…hopefully…they have decided to purchase one for themselves and they will not ever have to interrupt your beauty sleep again!

Beautiful Dreams,

Crista

Looking Outside of the Tunnel

Thu, 30 Jul 2009 06:00:00 GMT

Posted by Lisa Damron, Co-Founder
Owning a business has been a lot more trying than I had originally imagined. It has taken me almost five years to begin to learn how to start balancing my life. I say begin because I still find myself occasionally getting back into the tunnel – experiencing what I call business tunnel vision. Since the start-up of Satin Serenity almost 5 years ago, I often found myself completely immersed in it, which is pretty much what you have to do to get a business off of the ground. However, the difficulty lies in trying to figure out how to do this without sacrificing yourself, your family, and your friends. This past year, I began to realize that I was neglecting some of the things that fed my soul and made me feel alive. One of these things was spending time in nature, as I am an avid lover of the great outdoors.

Recently, I went on a 7 mile hike with some friends into the beautiful Sawtooth Mountains near Sun Valley Idaho where I camped overnight at the edge of a crystal clear serene mountain lake. During the hike, my mind was still stuck in “work mode” and I often found my thoughts drifting back to business and “to do” lists. After setting up camp, spending a leisurely evening by the campfire and laughing with good friends - I began to feel myself unwind. The next day as we began our journey back, I started noticing things along side the trail that I hadn’t noticed on the way up - mountain flowers, odd-shaped trees, and colorful rocks. I even heard birds singing. It was as though we were on a different trail! You see, the beauty that surrounded me was there on the way up, it’s just that I was in business tunnel vision like I had been so many times before. It took getting out in nature where my mind and body could rejuvenate and my soul could wake up before I could look outside of the tunnel and witness the beauty that surrounded me.

This is the promise that I have been making to myself everyday – to make sure I don’t neglect the things that feed my soul. Do you get tunnel vision in your busy everyday life? Tell us about it and share how you are able to look outside of the tunnel!

Sit it out, or Dance

Tue, 14 Jul 2009 06:00:00 GMT

Posted by Crista Sellman-Jones, Co-Founder
My little brother is getting married next month to a wonderful girl that our entire family adores. He told me that the song he chose to dance with our Mom at the reception was “I Hope You Dance” by Lee Ann Womack. At first I thought it was an odd choice for him, but then I thought about the words to this song, and realized that this is what all mothers would want to say to their children.

“I hope you never fear those mountains in the distance,
Never settle for the path of least resistance
Living might mean taking chances but they’re worth taking…”

Then I began thinking about when I was faced with a decision to “sit it out or dance.” My “dance” began under the most unlikely circumstances- when Lisa, my business partner, and I were working together as paramedics in Boise, Idaho. We had worked together for about 10 years as paramedic partners, and were making a decent salary with a great benefits package. We were both highly committed to our careers, and involved in specialized teams such as High Angle Rescue, Hazardous Materials, and Terrorism Task Force. Though we were both very good at our jobs, we were no longer passionate about it, and dreamed of owning our own business. I will never forget the day when we made our life-altering decision to “throw caution to the wind”, quit our jobs, and begin working full time on our business. A lot of people told us that we were crazy, and it would never work, and that we would regret our decision. Maybe we were a little crazy, but the important thing was we took a chance. We didn’t want to look back at our lives and think “what if?” Now, I’m not saying that everyone should quit their jobs (especially in this economy!) or that they have to do something completely outrageous. But take chances, try a new activity, meet new people, be adventurous, and as my friend and business partner always says “dance like no one is watching!”

“I hope you still feel small when you stand beside the ocean, Whenever one door closes I hope one more opens,Promise me that you’ll give faith a

fighting chance,
And when you get the choice to sit it out or dance-
I hope you dance....I hope you dance…” ~Lee Ann Womack

When have you been faced with a decision to “sit it out or dance?” Tell us your stories!

Authored by Crista Sellman-Jones