Urban Minerals

moth-babe:

if you feel sad:

• make a tree from your favourite fruit
• walk barefoot in soil/grass
• make cuttings
• press some flowers
• write yourself a letter
• take pictures of clouds/the moon

3 day countdown!

Holy cow!

I swear It’s incredible what can happen in your life when you put your mind to something. I know for a fact that many a wise man and woman started out exactly as I am - unsure, feeling like every step was a misstep. But ultimately and truthfully the most important idea to recognize is that success comes one step past the point of failure. Where one felt dragged through the mud and almost forced to stop, those who succeeded fought past that point and made it through to the other side.

That’s where I am.

I reached out for help recently in the BSchool Facebook forum and a very wise woman monikered this particular state as being in ‘the belly of the beast.’

Uh holy accurate batman!

So with anything new I’m just going to try my best to stay open to the new and move forward at the best most benevolent pace for me. I know I can do this.

And in those darker moments, because trust me, those exist too, I will remind myself that we all, all entrepreneurs, go through the belly of the beast and can either be chewed up and spit out or move through unscathed (lol).

On to the next three days! Hazaaahhh!

4 days left and lots of things are consistently coming together. Party decorations to labels, guest list to mixing of the physical product. It’s making for a busy time but one that won’t soon be forgotten.

I love connecting the dots in this way sometimes because it reinforces strength, vitality and certainly just rolling with the punches, a skill that can only be honed through actual real world practice. Moving forward is something we all deserve and it is just as much our jobs to work towards it as it is to enjoy it when it comes. And it always comes, in the end.

I believe that now, with only 4 days left, I am running towards the finish line. I know that there are tests of sorts, things that are meant to teach me certain things about myself and the world, things that will be invaluable to my business. It’s an interesting feeling to say the least and one I know is again useful while always having an underlying feeling of awesome and uncomfortable all at the same time. Is that even possible? Uh, I’m living it!

All to say that I hope that this journey, when it closes, leaves me with a sense of renewal and vitality, the likes of which I will have never had the pleasure of knowing. Now that’s something to look forward.

Off to work I go then, even late as it is. I got a future to court!

Wowza, it’s officially the start of the last work week of my life as an entrepreneur in start up mode.  WILD. 

I can’t believe I’m now here.  This wondrous state of being has me juggling all sorts of things, finishing various tasks, projects and working with all sorts of different people and maintaining all kinds of data and inventory.  It’s cool when I stop to survey what exactly I’ve created and realize that omg, it’s actually kinda fun… whoaaa.

I know this idea is not novel, but for this moment it is to me.  I had no idea I would ever get here.  Truth be told, I simply worked towards my goals in a nonchalant way that had me feeling almost detached from the outcome.  With low expectations, I didn’t realize that the things I was creating could actually be fun to create on an ongoing basis.  That spreadsheets that took the math out of calculations could be fun to work in.  Or that planning a huge event like a launch party would actually have me enjoying myself at said party.

Again.  WILD.

I realize now that I may sound kind of innocent or naive, but hey, it’s all new to me.  I’m a young, female, eco-entrepreneur and I choose to see the world with fresh eyes sometimes.  In fact, most of the time I do consciously wonder how this and all other experiences look to a baby or a kid who’s never experienced them before and I test myself to find that head space.  It’s very healthy for me I’d say.  And to be quite honest, I don’t want to give that up.  I will take the naivete and the fun and move through all of the wonderful things that are sure to be coming my way with those perspectives intact, so that I (hopefully) never lose the vitality I currently have.

So yes, with 5 days left until Urban Minerals launches, I endeavour to keep it together and work towards all that I’ve been dreaming of, for what will surely be a fun time.

Can you dig it??

With nothing but love,

Sarah Devika

With 6 days left until Urban Minerals goes live, I have to give some praise to the reason I’m going into business - mineral makeup. I’ve spent the last year learning the trade, crafting a brand, measuring out a place in the world and maintaining a reverence to something I know can help a lot of women feel beautiful.

I love mineral makeup because its made me think about beauty, multiculturalism, fashion, style, urbanism, environmentalism and sustainability. It’s forced me to consider and reconsider what I thought was possible for myself and its especially made me focus on how much I love to help people. In something as wonderfully simple as feeling and looking good, I know I can make an impact. A year ago I knew this fact and through the course of the journey, today it’s just been reinforced a hundred fold.

I hope that I can keep communicating to you, more clearly as I go, how this impacts my life and why I thi its important to continue telling these stories. I want to share my world with you and I want to more important share Urban Minerals with you. So in 6 days, come back here and get ready to witness something totally new!

It will be the start of something new for all of us.

With one love,

Sarah Devika

So this is it guys, the last week until the launch of Urban Minerals.  Can you believe it?  I know I sure can’t.

But I can.  When I sit down and really think about the journey I’ve been on, it amazes me in a way I never thought possible.  A journey that began as the hint of a dream, and inkling of what adventure meant, and then a full blown fantasy and finally a powerful, intuitive and enlightening saga that is about to come to it’s own close in just a weeks time.  

So what have I learned?

To really, truly, madly and deeply appreciate beauty.  Through this experience I’ve realized and honed my sense of beauty, the way I want to perceive beauty in the world, and what makes me feel beautiful, so that I can translate that into the work I put out into the world.  My personal style has gotten more fierce, I’ve become stronger, first emotionally and spiritually and then physically, and my mind has blossomed as a result and opened up like a flower, waiting to be watered anew.

I love that I can tie these kinds of thoughts more importantly with my brand and begin the process of communicating exactly what that means and feels like to you.  In 7 days time, you will have the opportunity to actually buy and try the Urban Minerals Loose Mineral Foundation and to feel the difference that love, beauty and respect can make in your skin.  That’s right party people, there’s a whoooole lotta love in them too! (I secretly put some Reiki love energy into my mixes so that they just feel better energetically too!)

Through it all, I’m just so gosh darn happy to know that I’m at the beginning which is found at the close (and yes that’s a Harry Potter reference too.) But it’s true.  With the closing of one year’s worth of hard work, comes the beginning of many more years to come.  It’s like giving birth to the product of my manifestation, and I gotta say, mama’s proud!

I can’t wait to share it with you guys, and I can’t wait to feel how happy you are and see your individual beauty pour forth from your shining (matte) faces!  

So with nothing but love, and a whole lotta enthusiasm, I bid you adieu and good night.  Until tomorrow,  

Sarah Devika

When I first started down this path, there were so many things I was uncertain of. I had no idea how I was going to do any of these things, make anything, mix the minerals, where to buy them or even what I wanted in my finalized product. I didn’t have a space, I barely knew the difference between titanium dioxide and zinc oxide and truthfully was really unaware of how much work was ahead of me.

But you see, I was in exactly the right place for me at the time, because I was given an opportunity to learn and to grow. So I put one foot in front of the other and I stepped up to the plate.

12 months later, here I am, with thousands of hours logged on the Internet, hundreds of hours spent mixing and colour adjusting, dozens of hours planning and strategizing and moments spent enjoying it all. And I gotta say that I feel as though I’ve created my dream pretty well.

So what did I do? What was my trajectory? Well I spent the first half of my year just researching the heck out of every part of the puzzle, learning about how things worked and with whom, where. I learned about other companies and what they did right and wrong, good and bad. I event spent lots of money educating myself formally with business courses and mineral crafting courses to ensure I was doing the right thing. Then the second half of my year was devoted to action. Learning how to create from the ground up, collecting samples and compiling opinions and most importantly buying the ingredients to pull it all together.

I took each step as it came to me and in the manner I felt was right for me too. I created when I was happy and I saw the benefits and created when I was mad and saw the downfalls too. It was truly a year long lesson in patience. But one that I would never give up because I learned so much about myself and about the beautiful women I love to surround myself with.

So through all of that I realized that yes we all have different life paths but they will all take a certain level of concerted effort, study, concentration but those are the exact ingredients that will help you manifest this crazy thing we call a dream. Follow it, step by step and reap the rewards and making something out of nothing!

With love,

Sarah Devika

With 9 days to the launch of Urban Minerals, I find myself reflecting on all sorts of things and taking breaks from the frenetic pace of it all just to sit and think.  One such topic that has been on my mind are all the makeup moments that have led me to this path.

My whole childhood you see was peppered with longings to wear makeup.  I always wanted to experiment and try new things, feel sexy and look good, even at a the age of 5, long before I even knew what sexy meant.  I remember walking down the stairs on Sunday mornings after having pleaded for half an hour to wear some of my moms lipstick, and feeling sooo glamorous.  

I remember the moments I bought my first eyeshadows (pastel blue, pink and white cream shadow, yeeoowza!), eye liners, mascara’s and foundations and how those instances impacted me for the better.  The foundation in particular just made me feel invincible, a sentiment I won’t soon forget.

I remember scouring the internet for how to’s and video tutorials that would help me to better understand what makeup was all about and absolutely devouring one after the other as if I was on some kind of personal mission. 

I guess those moments do count.

It’s through all these moments that I realize now more than ever, with just 9 days until I launch my own brand of mineral makeup that it’s so important to shine a light on who you are and recognize that all those little moments really do add up to something big and beautiful.  I will be the first to vouch for it, because here I am after all working towards my dream and seeing it come to fruition.

I want to just spread the love that I’ve felt for my personal experiences and my experiences with others that have greatly helped me on this path and just go to show that your dream is right in front of you with the stepping stones of past wonderful moments leading you on up to the next important milestones.  You can and will capture it, you just have to shine a little light on it.

So take a moment, sit and reflect on what those moments mean for you and make the most of them.  You won’t soon regret it!

With nothing but love,

Sarah Devika

10 Day COUNT DOWN!

Oh Snap, so here we are.  It’s 10 days until the launch of the one and only Urban Minerals and yes folks, this is a super freakin’ exciting time!  I know that’s a lot of enthusiasm for 3am but hey, who else would I share it with (no ones awake…)

But on the reals, I absolutely get some of my best work done this way it seems.  I used to be the kind of person who thought that I had to do all of my work before I shut down for the evening.  Well yet again, this path has shown me something new.  Because here I am, writing emails, looking stuff up, uploading files to be printed and the like, all at an very odd hour.  

It works for right now, because as the 9-5er keeps on going and I keep devoting my daylight 8 hours to it, I need to fit in my work somewhere as well.  We all get the same 24 hours in a day and I would be remiss if I just let that pass me by as I slept.  

And to think that I don’t drink coffee…

It’s like what I’ve said before.  One of the best pieces of advice I’ve ever gotten is that it takes 2 things to be a successful entrepreneur - passion & commitment.  Without those two key ingredients, the ship sinks, the sails lose their deflate without their winds and the rudder stops steering.  It’s impossible to make any strides forward and soon enough all creation halts.  That’s why, somehow, and I honestly don’t really know how I’m doing it, this all continues to go on and here I am just trucking along, ship on course and setting sail on the wide wonderful horizon of the world.  Passion and commitment folks will get you far.

So make it worthwhile, and if you realllly want to make it happen, stay up to do it.  There’s no harm in taking a nap either.

So stay tuned over the next 10 days as we get closer to the official launch of Urban Minerals!

Goodnight from the witching hour!

Ooooh Girl, it’s 3am and business is still going onnn.

That’s because the official Urban Minerals launch is 10 days away and there are loose ends that need tying.  I hesitate to wonder if this is normal, but I think that in fact yes, it is.  When starting up a business, longgg hours are to be expected.  Which is exactly why people will caution you before going for it.  You will have to WORK IT.

But I already knew this day would come.  I expected it.  I recognized the kind of hard work and dedication that would come with the kind of success I was looking for long before I even registered my Master Business License. That’s why I’m awake you see.  To make sure I make good on that promise I made a year ago.  

It all sounds kind of cryptic but in a few days it will all make sense.  Everything does come together in the end you see.

One love!

Sarah Devika