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Chelsea: Hello, hello, hello, hennapreneurs! How are we doing today? Look, we are live for our final June Ask Me Anything! Session. So I'm going to come over here and I'm going to share this feed over into the Hennapreneur community so that we can get live. We have, um, we have, actually, some really good questions today. So I'm excited to share all the things with you, as per usual. Listen, I don't know how you guys are doing today. Today, for me, has been fantabulous from start to bottom. Hello! Hello! If you guys don't know, that is Mom Hennapreneur saying hello. So you guys, say "hi" to Mom Hennapreneur. Shab! It's so good to see you here. Look, that makes me super happy. How are you doing? Hey, Bhindi! How are you doing? Um, okay, so... So let's jump in.

Um, so today I wanted- Let me pause. Let me pause. Let me say, thank you guys. Thank you guys. I appreciate you guys' continued support. I've gotten lots of messages. I've gotten lots of even emails and such, just seeing how I was doing. Um, I want you guys to know I am good. Like, I am good. I know that you guys- y'all know that I get passionate. I get excited and I say the things, right? Um, but I want you guys to know that all of those things are- they're not necessarily said from a place of hurt from me, they're said because I want to be sure that I'm creating- that I'm doing the work to ensure a better community left behind me. Like, after I'm dead and gone and I'm not lifting up a henna cone at all, like, I want the community for us as artists to be better, you know?

So I appreciate you guys' support, but I want you to know it is, it's for y'all. It's like, I want us to do better. So that's that. Hello, Christine! Eyyy! Hey, Joy! Look, this is what I'm talking about. All of my people are here. I'm so hyped. Okay. So let me jump into the questions because we had, we had, uh... Oh. Look at this. Here we go. Uh, we had a bunch of questions that came in. I'm just going to look from the group, from my laptop instead, because my phone was wanting to play games with me. So... You know what? This blue? I'm feeling it too. It, you know, it just gives off that, like, "Yes, we're doing it," you know? So we're going to do it. Alright. So the first question that we have, I love that we're going to start with this one because we're talking about mindset from the top, which you already know is my jam.

So this hennapreneur asked, "So, I know you have a deep passion for your business and helping others, which is so inspirational. So thank you for all that you do-" You're welcome, and I love you! Of course. Um, "-my question is that with the world going to pot and it stirring all kinds of emotions, past and present, in us all, what do you do to remain focused on your longterm goals? I've tried to pick up the henna cones and refine my art, but most days I can't. I find that I'm using this time to relax and work through my emotions first and foremost." So, can we break this down? Like I want to one, let me, we're going to mirror this. We're going to do a little coaching, okay. Is that okay? We'll do a little coaching. Why do you feel... Why- I have to ask,

Why do you feel that taking care of you or taking care of your emotions and working through those things isn't part of, like, doing the work and being effective? Like, what's the- what does it mean? What does it d- Are you required to pick up your henna cone right now? Like, let's just be honest, right? So, we are in the middle of a global pandemic, you know. You might've seen it on the news. Not only that, not only that, but we have all of this unrest as a global community. And, um, we're talking about a community also, like, this is a community member who is also a person of color. So when you add that layer on to all of just the trauma and whatnot that the world is in the process of processing collectively right now and under the great stresses that we're already all dealing with.

Like, I do not fault you at all for working through your emotions. First, in fact, and my husband, I see my husband just jumped on. So...Hey, babe! Um, my husband can attest to the fact that even during this time, there have been, not days, I have taken weeks at a time off where, like, no, I'm not working. No, I'm not cooking. I'm not going to do the dishes. Like, I'm not going to fold the laundry I'm off. I'm not doing it. Um, and that is not... Like, I want us to really reframe the way that we're thinking about things. Like it doesn't come from a place of laziness. You're not being negligent. You're not being absent. Like, you're not doing anything wrong by not "grinding", "grinding", during this time. Um, "-because I feel I should be using this time to refine my skills."

There is time and space for that. When we all like, remember, okay, when we all came into this, I told you guys, I don't want you to feel like- I don't want you to feel like, "Oh, just because COVID hit and I can't see clients, then that also means that I can't do work," right? And so I encouraged you guys to do the things that we're going to keep you active. Um, but I don't, I don't want that to be misconstrued as doing the things that keep you, like, if you're not, if you're not actually hands down working, practicing, then you're like, you've dropped the ball. That's not the case at all. You are a whole person with a whole life and henna, as influential as henna might be on portions of your life and other areas of your life, as impactful as it may be and as significant as it may be, it is still just a sliver of your life.

You are a mom. You own a business. You've got a family.

You've got other obligations going on as well. And I'm not here to fault or shame anybody for not doing their daily practice every day. Now, do I hope that you'll make time to do your daily practice every day? Of course. Not necessarily, because I feel that you need to refine your skills. I see that more as that's 10-15 minutes, that you can sit down and be with self and, um, create just from you and really approaching that not from a place of, "Oh, I need to do this because of X-result," but, "I need to do this because creating this art sets me ablaze and it makes me feel good." If doing the art gives you a stress, you know, if you approach it with that expectation and it gives you stress and it doesn't set you ablaze and it doesn't refresh you, please don't do it.

Like, that's the easiest way for you to begin to resent the art form. And why would we want to do that? You know what I mean? So, um, all of that's to say, I want to preface with that. Sometimes you just have to know when to take care of you and intuitively you're going to know what that looks like, right? So like I said, for me, there was, there were, there have been periods of time throughout this lockdown that I've just been like, "Babe, I'm done." Like, "I'm not doing it. I'm not going to-" Like I said, "I'm not doing the dishes. I'm not cooking. I'm not, I'm not cleaning. I'm not doing the laundry and I'm not going to work." Done.

Um, but even as it comes to work itself, even as it comes to henna, if you guys see, you guys know I'm always stained, right. I don't have a bunch of stains on because I, too, have been taking time back just to kind of enjoy, enjoy this downtime. Like, things are going to come back and when they do, we're going to- it's going to be back to work, right? Um, so there is space for you to take care of you. Um, and I think that you should do that. Now, um, in terms of me and how I worked through all of it and what it looks like for me in terms of like, um, how I keep that passion and that excitement alive, I like to approach my art- Like during this time, I like to approach my art without expectations.

This is something that I talk a lot about. Like, if you are starting to feel overwhelmed by the requirement to do the work, or if you start to feel overwhelmed by the art in general, really, step away. Like, give yourself permission to create for the sake of creating. Like, give yourself permission to make art because you want to make the art, because you love to make the art. And with no expectation, it doesn't have to be perfect. I'm not practicing how clean my bridal bumps are. I'm not doing any of that. I'm literally just creating and, um, if it comes out great, perfect. And if it comes out a little less than great, that's cool too, but I'm not approaching it with any expectations. For me, I like to refer to- There's a book, one of my favorite, favorite, favorite books. If you, if you're a reader and like, now's the time that picking up a book makes sense for you for self care,

one of my favorite books is called Big Magic. Um, and it's written by Elizabeth Gilbert and she introduces this concept inside of the book. And, uh, Big Magic is all about creative living. Like, living as an artist, as a writer, as a creator, what that looks like. Um, and one of the concepts that she introduces in this book is the fact that many times us as creatives, we take our art and, um, we approach it at first with like this lust. Um, and she likens it to like a fling, having a fling versus having a marriage, right? So she likens it to having a fling. Like you know, you- when yo hauve that puppy love, like, you do crazy things. And you meet in the hallways and the staircases and it's steamy and it's romantic and there's passion there. And then, once we take that art and we turn it into a business, or it becomes a business, sometimes with that added expectation and that pressure of it's gotta be perfect or it's gotta yield a result for me

or it's gotta yield, you know, a bottom line for me. All of that, then it feels more like a marriage where there is like this almost contractual sort of agreement between you and your art. And you now with that expectation, if it doesn't deliver back to you in the way that you'd hoped, then you start to resent it and it starts to not feel as good. And so when I- any time I reach a place where my work starts to feel that way, then I press pause and I try to make space for me to just connect with my art in that, like, spicy staircase, nasty way versus versus with that expectation. Yeah, absolutely. The book it's called Big Magic. It's called Big Magic: Creative Living. Oh gosh, there's, like, a subtitle, but the primary title is Big Magic and the author is Elizabeth Gilbert.

She's the same author who wrote Eat, Pray, Love. Um, so it's one of my favorites. Literally, I read it or I listen to it on audio book every single month. It's one of my favorites, hands down. Um, uh, so yeah. That's... Yeah. Now you don't need another marriage, for real. Keep, keep henna... Let henna be your boyfriend in the staircase, okay? Like, let it be that affair. Um, okay. So, so, um, that's kind of... That's me. I hope that's helpful. I hope that gives you some context. Um, uh, yeah. And of course, anytime those sorts of things pop up, feel free to ask about them. There's such good questions and all creatives, all artists, we all experience this. So, yeah. Okay. This next, hennapreneur asked, "Do you find it harder to attract clients during winter? How do you keep people coming in when the weather turns cold?"

I. Love. This. Question. So you guys know, for years I've been saying, "Y'all, you have to build sustainable businesses that, like, work throughout the winter." So I'll tell you, for me, I don't find that it's harder to attract clients during the winter time. Um, what's worked well for me is by structuring my business in a way that supports, um, that supports having clients year round. Now, most people, most henna artists, structure their businesses in what I'll call the "traditional way" which, at least the Western traditional way, which is focusing on the summer season because summers, weddings, festivals, all of those things overlap. We work for four-ish, five-ish months, maybe. Like animals, like dogs, we work, right? And then through the winter we hope that we've squirreled away enough money to not have to work. Um, I don't think that that's a thing.

It's definitely not sustainable. It definitely is not something that I recommend. So instead, what I recommend is that you start to build your business around services that can be offered and can be provided year round. Um, so for me, I do see a dip in my private appointments. If you guys know... If you're new-ish- You know what? Pause. I didn't even say hello to y'all today. I just went right in. So, hey, y'all! If you just popped in, if you're new here and new to Hennapreneur - Hi, my name is Chelsea Stevenson. I am a professional henna artists and business strategist here in Baltimore, Maryland. And this is what I do. I help henna artists all around the world to build, and grow, and expand their henna businesses, both with technical design and such instruction, but also with this, business strategy.

So, um, for me, I've shared in the past that the majority of my business has done with private appointments, individual appointments, and parties. And those parties can be private parties, or they can be corporate events. So, um, it really doesn't matter what the structuring is of that offering, but just allow it to be an offering that's not dependent on the winter or a festival or like, the worst thing that you can do is base your business on festival work. Like, I really strongly feel that. Um, and so, for me, I do see that the majority of my work in like, independent sessions, individual sessions, does dip. It doesn't disappear by any means, but it does dip in the colder months, mostly because, at least here in my area - and of course, you'll take into account what's going on in your area -

but at least here in my area, it snows. Like, we get snow. It gets bad. People don't want to be out on the roads. And I tend to work in the evenings. People just don't want that, perhaps, experience of going out. So I do see a like, a small dip in my individual appointments at the henna boutique. But what I always see is an increase of appointments of parties. And parties, events, all of these are instances where I'm going. I'm the one doing the traveling to them. And I market it that way. Um, in terms of attracting clients, there are two things that you need to keep in mind, and it doesn't matter what service you're offering, right? This is- there are two things you need to keep in mind. People purchase things for one of two reasons. They purchase them either off of a pain point or they purchase it off of a pleasure point. Us as henna artists, we always have to keep this thing in mind, right? So many times you might think to yourself like, "Well, if I'm offering henna, like, there's no pain involved." Uh, you know, "If they don't hire me, there's no pain involved." There is a pain point. There's always a pain point. Maybe they have a concern in this case, in the winter, the pain point is, I'm bored. I'm bored,

It's cold. There ain't nothing to do. I have cabin fever. There are pain points. I don't want to, you know, what do you do beyond going to get my nails done? What do I do beyond going to get my hair done? Like, I'm looking for something that feels like an ou- like an entertainment, but I don't want to be inconvenienced with going to seek that out. Or I don't even know where to start a pain point in the winter? Always, always birthday parties. Moms, parents, can you attest to that? Planning a party for yourself, for your child, for a girlfriend, and what do you do with winter birthday parties? Nobody ever knows. Nobody.

That's when you come in. That's when you come in and you share how special what you can offer, how special that day is going to be for them through the henna, through the service that you're providing. So you're going to either, and I recommend that you address one of both, address a pain point that they have, and then also tackle a pleasure point. Introduce a pleasure point. Introduce how it is that you're serving them is going to benefit them. So in my business, that's what that looks like. In the winter time I market to parties, specifically. Um... And even in my pricing structure and so forth, I've structured my pricing to make sure that, hey, if I, you know, if I book a party that week, or one party a week, two parties a week, like, I'm good. It doesn't matter to me that I've lost a portion of my regular bookings for the individual sessions, because with two hours of time I've made that and more.

And it's, um, and I'm being well compensated for my time, not only in the service, but also in the travel to get there. So that's my recommendation and that's how I keep people going. Now remember, with every single time you work a party because people buy what they see, okay. So let's, like, remember to tie that in, people buy what they see. So if you're offering party services and you're killing it, then every guest at that party now is walking around with your henna for two weeks. And during those two weeks, people are going to ask them about it. And so it's word of mouth, like, by the bucket loads. So that's what works for me. And that's what I recommend. And that's- I hope that that's helpful for you as you're starting to plan what you might add into your winter marketing stretch. So, okay!

Oh my gosh. This leads perfectly. Ahh! This leads perfectly to the next question. So the next question says, "How do you prep for a henna party? I kind of have an idea, but I want to make sure I didn't miss something. I have my first official henna party coming up this weekend. And it's 10 ladies that rented a house to celebrate one of their birthdays-" Y'all! What did I just say? Um, "-they're in their late thirties, early forties." Perfect. This is my demographic. This is the demographic that I serve. Okay. So when I prep for a henna party, of course ,let's go through the basics, right? When you book your henna party, you're booking with a contract, you're securing your service retaine, you're getting everything in order on that regard. You make sure that you're paid in advance. I don't show up anywhere until I've been paid in full by 48 hours prior. So if the party is on Saturday, I need to be paid in full by Thursday. If I'm not paid in full by Thursday, I'm not showing up, period. Like, that's that. So, same for you. Now in terms of like a technical prep? Um, when I... Some of the things that I include inside of my contract, I make sure that my guests, my host, or my hostess, that she understands that I need to have access,

I need to have access to water which, in the past, was primarily just for me. Now, because of COVID, this is something that I'm highlighting. I actually- I'm sending my clients extra emails about this, just to make sure that they're aware that I want to be placed next to somewhere that has water so that people can wash their hands before getting serviced with me. Um, so I set up next to water. I also am specific that I don't want to be set up next to speakers. Like, if you've been doing this for a while, you know, that this happens and it's trash. It makes me crazy every time. Um, I don't bring a table. Um, I have a small folding table that I keep in my trun,k in the trunk of my vehicle, but I don't bring the table inside.

It's a part of my contract for them to provide all of the setup. I just show up with me and my henna, and I'm ready to go. In terms of like, the actual... Well, I'll just walk you through how I arrive, right? So I arrive to a henna party, the first thing I do, I walk in, I greet whoever greets me at the door, which more than likely is not the hostess. More than likely it's one of the guests. So I ask them can they point me to the hostess, I go and I chat with the hostess, "Hey, let me check in. Where would you like me to set up?" I go get myself all, you know, organized at this table that they've provided. Hopefully everything is great. Sometimes they provide you weird tables, which is why I have my table in the back. My contract actually shows them links of exactly, like, pictures of exactly what type of table I want, but sometimes you get awkward situations.

So I always have one just in case, because I'd prefer to not have to with the chaos of working with a table that that sucks. Umm, I set up. I let them know that I'm ready to go. Normally I show up somewhere around 10 minutes, 10,-15 minutes before I actually need to begin. So I go wash my hands and whatnot and set up. Then as people start, like, as the working with the guests starts, I encourage people to just come over and like, I let them self organize. I'm not going to keep a list. Like, I will not keep a list of your guests. I'm not going to keep them in order. That is not my job. My job is to offer the service. So if they want to have someone have a list with names and so-and-so's going first, then so-and-so's next and whatever, that's fine.

But that's not something that I do and it's not something I'm going to facilitate. So, for me, I'm just like, "Keep a body in the seat and I will continue to do henna." Once... I don't know, that's not really prep, I guess once we we're like, getting into the actual whatever ,one of the important things though, before I leave, after everything is done - after I've serviced everyone - I clean up the space. I make sure to clean up the space. Anything that can be cleaned with a paper towel, I clean. So I clean up the space. I want to not leave my host with, you know, more of a mess, and you guys know how it is with glitter and such. So I'll clean the area where I was set up and I always check out with the host as well.

So I'll stop by, you know, normally I'll give a hug. With COVID, eh, but you know. So normally I'll give a hug, let them know I had a great time and that I will be following back up. Now this is important, I always let the host know that I'm going to be following back up with them in an email: "Hey, I'm going to get ahold of you with an email" And I'll say, "I'm just going to send you some stuff. I got some good pictures.' Normally I'll snap pictures. "I got some good pictures. I'm gonna send you some stuff, so keep an eye out," And she'll say, "Okay." And so after the party is done, normally, I'll give it about two days and then I'll send some pictures of some of the designs that I captured.

And at that point I'll also ask for her to leave a review. "Can you give me a review? Like, I'd love-" That's just to gather feedback from what she heard from, not only her experience, but also things that you heard back from her guests. Because within two days, she's heard back from her guests already, okay. Christine asks, "Do you think it's okay to bring henna kits to purchase?" Uh, I wouldn't. I don't see why you couldn't. Um, I wouldn't, just because it adds another layer of management and now am I, you know... Are you on the clock working? Like, I've signed a contract with you that I'm going to be offering a service for two hours. Am I actually using that two hours for service or am I using that two hours to be present and also selling another product?

So I feel like I, as a consumer, would have some concerns about that. Um, so I probably wouldn't as a service provider, unless it was like, okay, I'm going to offer the service and then after I'd finished, I'll be available for another 30 minutes or whatever, to sell extra cones or sell henna kits and whatnot that were left after the service was completed. I don't see why not, in that case, but I wouldn't want to do it, like, concurrently. Um, so yeah, I hope that this answer is the first, like, how to prep. Um, I don't even... That's chaos. I was going to show y'all this bag but this bag is literal chaos. You don't want to see it. In terms of prepping and the things that I bring, I literally just show up with a bag. I show up with my, with my - it's so bad y'all - um, I show up with my bag.

I have just my ice pack with my henna and whatnot. And then I come with my glitters. I come with, you know, hand sanitizer, um, my paper towels. I come with a light, um, and I do require in my contract also that they give me access to electricity so that I have a light in case, like, I'm in a position where I don't have the best lighting. Um, so I have a light with me. Um, and yeah, it's really... Honestly, it's not bad. I don't bring books to parties. I should share that. I feel like I should share that. I don't- You really- Y'all first of all, I think my husband might divorce me if I showed you what's- Like, it's that bad. It's so bad. I want you guys to keep loving me and not judging me, okay? So, um, so... The shade.

Okay. So, um, but for real, in terms of just the things that I bring, it's very easy to bring everything just in one bag, Bring cards so that people have option to follow you,and to gather, like, aftercare instruction from you also. Uh, and yeah, I'm thinking prep, prepwise, honestly. That's it. I hope that that answers that thoroughly enough, like, maybe. Okay. So if you have any other questions about- but outside of my bag. Look, I think I have a video of me showing the inside of my bag. You just do not want to see this space, I promise. Okay. So, um, if you have any other questions though, about henna parties, just let me know. Okay. Uh, next question. "What are good tips to leading a henna workshop for young girls? I have one of these coming up this weekend. I plan to share some history of henna, do basic drills and show them how to put a simple design together. These are elementary and middle school aged girls." Love this! Okay. So, um, keep it simple. Keep it super freaking simple. I teach classes for middle school, high school, age students and I really love, I 'really' love working with them. Um, elementary is a little bit- if you're including elementary students, I have a handful of students that are like higher elementary and they can follow along. What to expect? Honestly, they're super excited about henna. They're super excited about the idea of trying it out and, um, it does get a little bit messy, in most cases. So as you're leading the workshop, be sure that you have, like, plenty of paper towels and whatnot.

They want all the affirmation. Like, they want all the affirmation. They want you to look at it and tell them, did I do it right? And like, ahhh, like, those are the questions that you get. And because they're so young and so, like, uninhibited, they're excited to try new things. So, I- for that age group, um, in my workshops, I don't know how long... Umm, yeah, how long is the workshop going to last? For me, my workshops are an hour long and, um, so I don't cover anything like history. For an in person workshop, I would probably just send them home- I'd, be sure to send them home with a flyer of some sort about natural henna, specifically, because you're not going to have all of the time to describe that and explain it. Um, but if that's something that they can take home and share with their parents who are ultimately going to buy them henna later, when they say, "I really want to do it again," then they know how to reach you and how to buy it and why it's important for them to buy it from you. An hour.

Awesome! So yeah, do the flyer. Do the flyer. Um, also- so I wouldn't even worry so much about history. I would do the flyer, for sure, about the importance of natural henna. You might share a little bit of like, you know, it's been used around the world and point out a couple, you know, countries around the world that show inclusion, um, of where henna has been used. Um, and then drills. Super, super simple. Literally, you guys want to see my workshop from yesterday? I will show you my- look.

This was my work from our workshop yesterday. Yesterday I had a- so, okay, now these are my middle school, middle schoolers. So we literally start every class with drills. I give them three different drills. Every ti- every class we meet is different. So we always start with lines. This is a drill that they have to do every time. They do drills. They do another something. Normally it has to do with bridal bumps, but it varies. And then we do another third something, but this is our drill. And we do our drill together and the drill takes about 15 minutes or so, okay?Theirs is not going to look like this. There's is going to look really choppy and you are going to congratulate them all the way around. And they're amazing because they're so positive. And so you're going to feed that, right?

We're going to feed their creativity. I always like to remind them that they are their own agents in their creative journey and they get to do the things how they want it. So for example, yesterday, as I was working with one of my students, she said, "Miss Chelsea, is it okay if my bridal bumps are wide? If they're wide and fat? Yours are so tall and skinny." And I said, "Of course they can be wide and fat." And she said, "Can I show you?" And she lifted up and she showed me page. And, um, they were very wide and very fat. Um, but they were so well done and she was so proud of them. And so knowing how to just engage with them in that way is perfect. That's what they are wanting.

Um, and that's what their parents are paying for too, yeah? They want their kid to have a good time. So, um, then after that, then I take them through a couple of motifs. So we have this, this, and this over here, right? So we do three drills. Then we do three motifs. With the three motifs then, um... And the motifs vary, but the motifs are based off of something that we're going to use inside of our design. And the motifs normally take about 10 minutes or so. 10 minutes. And then last we do our design. So they- we creat a design altogether step-by-step. So I walk them through, Okay, this is what we're going to do." And here I show them like, "Draw your guidelines and this is what it looks like." And, um, then I will walk them through everything that they need to do to create their design with me, along with me, right? Um, using the concepts that they practiced, right? They practiced, they've built up, and then they put it into a design. And so it's- for me, that's how I run my workshops. They run for an hour and it's really been fun. So if you want to give that structure a try, it's already tested with that age group. And it really, really works well for me. I've gotten lots of good feedback, both from parents and from the students who choose to join me every week. So, yeah.

Um, okay. I saw a question that came on here. Where are we? Oh, where did it go? It was about eucalyptus. Let me... Here, let me refresh. Refresh. Refresh my life. Here we go. I love that you're doing the workshop, by the way. Like, that... It's so much fun. Okay.

"What's the-" Yes, "What's the story with eucalyptus. I've heard both that it helps achieve a darker stain and also that it's not good to use because of skin sensitivities." Mmm, you on to something! So this is... The deal with eucalyptus, the short story is, eucalyptus isn't reliable. That's the short story.

So we know why we're adding essential oil into our paste, right? We are adding the essential oil, the monoterpene alcohol content is then coming in and it's extracting. Essentially it's creating an environment inside of the, um, in terms of like, chemical chain reactions, it's creating an environment where the dye molecule can be further released and preserved, isolated, inside of the henna, right? Well, there are other things that also have terpenes and many of those terpenes are things that are not safe, like, like freakin' kerosene, right? And turpentine, and things like this. So what happens with eucalyptuses? There are hundreds, there are hundreds of eucalyptus varieties, and depending on where that eucalyptus has been produced- and I say, varieties meaning different- Like, literally there are like hundreds of, uh, what's it called? Eucalyptus plants, like, um, like tomatoes, you know? There's so many different types of tomatoes.

There's so many different types of eucalyptus. And because of that, you have variations in the distillation process. You have variations of what sort of monoterpenes alcohol content you're going to get back from that eucalyptus, what's going to be contained in that eucalyptus essential oil. The problem is, because there are so many different varieties, and also there's not a lot of regulation around the production of essential oils. Most of these essential oils are being produced in countries that already don't have the best processes in place in terms of, not only the quality control of mass produced products, but also, just safety and health, like, hazard things. Like, it's not- These are not standards that are the same as what you might expect here in the West, right? It's just keeping it real. So, uh, what you'll find is that, in instances where you have a eucalyptus essential oil that is perhaps not of the greatest quality anyway, you'll find that it is cut - many times, many times - it is cut with other compounds in order for it to have enough of that terpene content.

Now, obviously that means that we've introduced another chemical that isn't helpful. That isn't, that isn't well, helpful. From technical sense, i does the job, but it's not safe on skin. So, um, with that, um... So with that, you have to be kind of cautious. So any time you're dealing with eucalypt- I actually don't use eucalyptus at all. But if you like eucalyptus and you want to use eucalyptus, the recommendation that I would have for you is to use Australian eucalyptus exclusively. Australia has very specific guidelines and regulations around the production of eucalyptus essential oil and tea tree essential oil as well. So you know every time you purchase Australian eucalyptus essential oil, that you are going to get consistent results across the board in terms of what the quality is going to be like, if it's actually eucalyptus essential oil and not a little bit of eucalyptus essential oil and also some turpentine, for example. So that would be the route that I would recommend that you go, and that's the why behind it.

Um, so it's not necessarily that there's anything wrong with eucalyptus, it's just that there's so much variation out there that it's very hard to know that you're actually getting something that's quality unless take that very specific route. Um, So yeah. There you go. There, you have it. So, um... Yes, Joy, different strains. Look, where wer-

Look, where were you? Like, how- where was that comment, like, five minutes ago when I was trying to, you know, articulate? You know? Now let me, let me get my life right. Okay. So I think,

I think, I think that I've covered everything. I think that I've covered everything. Um, there-

I felt like there was another question that I saw pop up, but then maybe I didn't, maybe it was in my mind. You guys will have to let me know. Is there, is there something else that I need to know about this? Um, "Does eucalyptus cause photosensitivity issues? I heard mixed reports about using it in summer." So I don't know. Eucalyptus, as far as I'm aware, eucalyptus is not phototoxic in the same way like- well, definitely not in the same way as any, like, citrus based essential oils. Um, because I don't use it regularly, I don't, again, I don't use it at all. Um, I can't say that I'm I'm not a hundred percent that there aren't any, like, any level of photo toxicity. It wouldn't surprise me. Um, but as far as I'm aware, there aren't any phototoxicity issues with it. I think that it's likely just an issue of someone who's using,

"using an eucalyptus essential oil". Like, if I had to guess I would put my money on that. Um, and then maybe it just wasn't the best quality. Um, let's see. "Thanks. Will continue investigating." Yeah, do. Like, uh, and if you see, if you see something about it, come back and let us know. Come back and let of us know. Um, okay. I saw- Dang, I thought that I saw a question, but maybe I didn't. Maybe it was just in my head. All right. Well then, if that's all for now, then I will jump off of here. Um, there was something... Oh, for the love...

No. No, I think I'm good. I think I'm good. Okay. I think I'm good. So I'll talk to you guys later. All right. Love you. Bye!