Spring is just up the road a piece and we are getting so excited!
INTRODUCING “SCENT OF THE MONTH”
This is something new for us and we want to keep it going as long as you all find it fun and beneficial for you. The aim is to highlight a specific fragrance for an entire month – from the first day to the last…
During the month you will find that every item we make using the selected scent will be on sale. For this reason, we will focus on scents that you will find across most categories. If that comes to be a problem, we will offer 2 scents for the month – one that is limited to J&L and the other to JÖL. We may make special limited edition items to help round out the variety of products with the scent – you know, have options. Offering a discount will maybe entice you to try a new scent and if it is already a favorite of yours, you can save as you restock.
First up is BAMBOO FOREST for March. This is the perfect scent to introduce this program and the ideal time of the year. Bamboo Forest is one of our lightest and freshest scents and can be found in every category. With a light warmth and a touch of “grassiness”, it leans to becoming a great neutralizer scent. First introduced as a generic scent for lotions, we make it a seasonal scent for our Beard Care line. Most recently we have put it out there as a candle fragrance which has done very well.
We plan to announce the next month’s scent in the final days on a current month. This is to keep a little suspense; building a some excitement. We are also open to suggestions on what scents you all would like to see in coming months.
ALSO, THE NEW SEASONAL SCENTS ARE HERE!
We have 2 returning Spring/Summer scents along with 2 all new scents for 2022! All set for you to check out. Returning scents are CITRUS GREEN TEA, a lighter scent with notes of mandarin and lime; RED SANGRIA, rich, sweet and fruity with notes of red wine.
New this year are: NIGHT SWIMMING, a “fresh water” scent with the tiniest floral touches and warmed with subtle musk notes. We are certain this will be a very popular scent with there being nothing else like it out there! SUBURBAN SATURDAY captures fresh cut grass layered with notes of sage, moss and lemongrass.
NIGHT SWIMMING is available in candles, melts, room spray, soaps and beard care. SUBURBAN SATURDAY is available in candles and melts
There will be 2 other more Summery scents to come… expect them in MAY
NEWS FOR THE POGONOFILES
We have updated our scents for all Beard Oils and Butter to include NORSEMAN as part of our Standard Assortment. This scent has become widely and wildly popular and we plan to keep it going as long as the love is there. You will find it in every Beard Oil formula, Beard Butter and Beard Shampoo.
The Spring/Summer Scents are available: BAMBOO FOREST, LAKESIDE, GIN + TONIC and NIGHT SWIMMING. We decided to retire Seaside as a beard care scent, we find that Night Swimming builds upon some of the same notes to make it stand out more than Seaside had. If you think Night Swimming may be too strong for you, Lakeside will suit you well. GIN+TONIC is new-ish. It was planned to be released as a late summer limited edition scent but we jumped right into Autumn before it fully launched. It is on the lighter side with bold notes of juniper. Night Swimming will also be available in a bar soap and beard shampoo.
We have updated some product details for our Seasonal beard care product descriptions. All seasonal oils and butters will be scented/made to order. This is how we can offer more fragrances with less risk if they don’t catch on. When it comes to our Pop-Ups, we are looking into scenting on the spot. Possibly offering even more scents.
Do you have “Beardruff”? An itchy, flaky beard? We are currently testing an anti-beardruff shampoo that will contain salicylic acid, a common dandruff fighter, to help wash away the flakes and leave a soft clean beard behind. We do not plan to make this in scented variations at launch. Look for this come summer if testing goes well.
SHAVING UPDATE
We are still working on revamping our shaving products line. We hope to have the new Shaving Oils and Soaps by May 1st. After Shave Lotions may come a little later. Supply chain issues are causing many of our new product delays. We hope that we can get caught up this Spring as we get ready for festivals.
CELEBRATING PRIDE 2022
We have not made much about us being an LGBT+ owned business, nor have we done much to celebrate or even acknowledge any Pride month celebrations. It is not that we are opposed to doing such or worried that what we do could negatively impact our business. It boils down to not really having a way to do it that really means something. We can put up rainbow flags and other iconography, make a well conceived official statement, both of which are nice to see or hear coming from big corporations that take millions of dollars from the community. But that is not our style. If we are going to do something it has to be real, come from the heart and be something product related that brings it all together.
This year I had a tiny piece of inspiration. A nugget of an idea that grew into something that means a lot to me personally as it reflects a role I have taken in my life – not by a conscious choice but by default. By being my real self and not willing to hide a part of me from my family, I have been a very OUT AND PROUD Gay Uncle. I became an uncle at the age of 11; an age where I was just getting to really piece together my sexual identity… or any identity for that matter. By the time I graduated High School, I had 2 nieces and 2 nephews that I became very close. I did not come out until the age of 23, but my humor and hubris was already there. I exaggerated myself to hide my insecurities all while working to put my best forward for these kids who already had too many negative influences. By the time I came out, I had 13 nieces and nephews.
While still relatively young and with a level of disposable income, I found myself doing a lot for these kids. I never treated them like babies. I talked to them as people with ideas and voices of their own. I respected who they were at the core and called them out when they were being posers. I offered sensible advice and a good laugh whenever I could. Now those kids are all adults and building their own families. Recently, my “favorite” nephew welcomed his first child into the world. I had already been a Great Gay Uncle for 16 years or so… but this started me thinking. I was reminded by all the things I taught and shared with him over the years. I cannot wait to teach his new son all those things and tell him the embarrassing stories about his father as well.
I believe I am “The Fun Gay Uncle”… and in this role I have met a lot of others and our counterparts, The Amazing Lesbian Aunts. We all serve well in our roles to help nurture stronger loving people in this world.
With a sense of humor and a poke at stereotypes we have been inspired to celebrate all the Amazing Lesbian Aunts and Fun Gay Uncles in the world. Those who take their role seriously to support nieces and nephews and all younger people around them. To do so with warmth, caring, love and humor. We are doing this through scented candles. There will be our own unique spin on patchouli for AMAZING LESBIAN AUNT and a crunch berry cereal scent is being used for FUN GAY UNCLE. Both candles are available for pre-order now and will start shipping in mid May – just in time for June PRIDE celebrations. Once June is over, so will these candles.
In full honesty, we do not plan to donate any of these funds to a cause outside of J&L. We do not foresee there being enough profits that will be meaningful to donate when we are still struggling and working to build a better us. We feel that we can do better for our community by reaching our goals; to eventually open our factory store where we can directly impact the lives of those we hire and serve those in our neighborhood through a safe and welcoming place for them to hang out, shop or work. [see our coming post on our concepts for a factory store.] We hope our fans embrace this position. If we are wrong about the popularity and revenue potential, we will look to find the right small charitable organization to give a donation.
A FINAL WORD
The hits keep on coming… as the impact of COVID is lessening another threat has blossomed. We are horrified about the news in Eastern Europe, with the hostile and unprovoked invasion of Ukraine but a wannabe Stalin. Having friends in Kiev who are fearing for their lives as they are unable to evacuate to safer places is something I have never encountered in my life. We wish that calmer heads prevail and work is done to protect the rights of a free sovereign Ukraine. Our love and thoughts are with the people of Ukraine.