You guys…Greece was incredible! I had such a great trip! It did me a world of good. I know it might sound strange to say, but two weeks almost seemed a bit long. I flew home on Sunday evening only to leave for school first thing Tuesday morning. During the first week on vacation, I did manage to unwind, but by the second week I was already looking forward to going back to work and school. Of course, I did do some work while I was away, and with fewer distractions I was actually able to get ahead! It took a lot of pressure off my shoulders when I got back home. I LOVED the town of Nafplio, which is about two hours away from Athens. We visited this first stop with Matt’s parents. It’s a beautiful town located on the waterfront and we’d rented a car, so we spent a couple days checking out the various gorgeous beaches. We also rented a boat and I went snorkeling for the first time! I’d always been too scared to try it before. But there, the water was SO clear. It was incredibly beautiful. We also visited a few islands like Santorini and Mykonos, but I think we should have stayed longer on each island to really get a feel for them. The highlight for me though was definitely Nafplio 😊

Summer months at SF are always the quieter ones. It’s certainly not the time of year when we think the most about makeup, so this gives us time to plan for fall. A few days ago, we were finally able to restock our lip oil. It sold out much faster than we had expected! When we launch a new product, it’s always pretty complex. We have no idea how popular the product will be. Sometimes the hype is really strong, but the sales don’t meet our expectations. Also, we can’t really rely on initial sales to make predictions for how much stock we’ll need later on. Sales at pharmacy locations are particularly hard to predict. Companies like Familprix and Coutu handle their own distribution; we give them product that they then store in their warehouses and distribute to their pharmacy locations. So we don’t know how much product they have in stock, and sometimes when they place an order it can be a very big one! That’s what happened with our lip oil. A few days after the launch, because the sales were very good, they placed another huge order which took up the majority of our inventory. Over the years, we’ve learned to prepare as much as we can. One thing that helps is that when we order a certain number of one product, we always order double the amount of the containers or jars. That way, when a big restock is necessary, at least we already have the jars in stock and are ready to package the product as soon as we get it. The lab still has to source the raw materials and make the product though, so it can take 3-4 months to restock. Obviously, we do everything we can to prevent running out of things, but it still occasionally happens.

Personally I can’t believe it’s already the beginning of July…I feel like summer is already slipping through our fingers! For my part, I’m going to try to make the most of it and rest as much as possible because my fall/winter schedule is already looking very full. Am I the only one who feels about about just resting and not doing much of anything? For me, it’s a real battle that never really ends. But this summer I’ve made a promise to myself to rest as much as possible so that I can be very ready for fall. Lots of time at home, definitely a little trip to the hostel, and lots of time with friends and family. Ahhh…surely also a little fishing too. What about you? Any trips planned? How do you spend your summer? Whatever it is, take care of yourself and don’t forget to put on sunscreen!

See you again in September!

Andréanne Marquis, founder of Sans-Façon Cosmétiques and Womance