The new line is finished and words cannot express how in love I am with the new line!

Getting to this place has been bittersweet, I had to say goodbye to Lulu Beauty, a line that has been a huge part of my life for almost 15 years.  I had to say goodbye to my old packaging that still delighted me, and I’m saying goodbye to a couple fragrances that just don’t serve me anymore.  I will be forever grateful for having all of the wonderful experiences that I had with Lulu Beauty.  Sephora, Nordstrom, Madonna, Tori Spelling…you made it all super fun for me!

But now I have reinvented my perfume line to be 100% me.  Who I am now, and who I aspire to be.  My life has changed tremendously since I became a Mother.  I have truly learned the value of being 100% authentic for myself and everyone around me.  I am no longer afraid of so many things that terrorized me before, and I have discovered new things that are even scarier than I could imagine!  Olivine Atelier is a new representation of my life, my memories that have made my life incredible and my hopes for what my life will become.

And now for the confusing part!!  I have re-branded four of my old fragrances into the new line, and I will be introducing four new ones over the next year.  Here is your little cheat sheet for your beloved favorites:

Dame = Oxley

Starlet = Olivine

Miss Anastasia = Full Regalia

She Belongs There still equals She Belongs There!

In July I will be launching Amongst The Waves which is hands down my favorite fragrance to date, and I can’t stop wearing it!!  With every full size bottle purchased I will be including a sample of Amongst The Waves to whet your appetite!  I will continue to do this until the perfume is launched in July.

We have a new Etsy store to shop in and everything is available at Olivine as well.  Keep checking back because we plan to be in a lovely boutique near you very soon!!

xoxo…Julie

This is my new logo…Don’t you love it?  I probably shouldn’t put it out into the world so soon, but a girl can only wait for so long!  Thank you Nubby Twiglet for taking such good care of me and my design needs.  I’ve been just a tad bit high maintenance on this one!

So I’ve been racking my beautiful brain trying to come up with the most amazing plan for my devoted perfume followers, and I think I’ve done it…

Over the next 12 months I have heaps of new products that will be unveiled: 3 new perfumes, lotions, candles, soap, skin care, lip balms and gorgeous lip glosses.  I’m not messing around!  So I came up with the following program that I hope you will love…

• Over $200 worth of new products sent throughout the year…Every item will be a full sized product…It will be like your birthday all year round!!

• When you sign up you will receive a full size She Belongs There Solid Perfume, a $40 value!  Please note, this will be in the Lulu Beauty packaging.

• For 12 months after you sign up you will receive a 10% discount on all purchases at Olivine.

And oh yes, the price…ONLY $99!

Are you interested?  Good!  But act fast because I am only going to offer 100 of these memberships (for my own sanity) and I’m going to close the doors on this deal on 2/14/2013.

So click on this link and get on over and sign up!

Any questions about the program?  Just leave a comment with your question and I will answer it!

You may have noticed a few changes around the Olivine web site lately, well buckle your seat belt because it’s going to get bumpy over the next couple of months!!

2012 was a major year for me in business. One of the biggest decisions that I made was to stop selling Prairie Underground and most of my other lines that I was carrying. I decided that after so many years of selling other people’s beautiful things, I wanted to focus on just selling my own beautiful things.

So now it is time to focus on my perfume…

I started Lulu Beauty about 13 years ago, it was a makeup and perfume line that I sold at Nordstroms, Sephora and dozens of boutiques across the country. I had celebrities like Madonna, Tori Spelling and Teri Hatcher wearing my perfumes! It was so fun and I learned a lot in the process.  I am so so so grateful to Lulu Beauty and all of the joy and beauty it brought to my life.

But now here I am. I am 13 years older. Lulu Beauty does not speak to me the way it did so very long ago. One of the things that I have learned over all my years in business is the importance of being truly authentic in how you express yourself in your business. Lulu Beauty does not feel authentic to me anymore…The name, the packaging and a few of the perfumes are no longer who I am today.

So what is a girl to do?? REBRAND!!!

I’m going back to what means the most to me, and that is OLIVINE. The boutique and the name have been 100% me since the day I started it 15 years ago. Olivine is my best girl friend, she is my sister, she is my style icon, she is me.

Over the next few months the Lulu Beauty line will be no more. I am discontinuing 3 of the fragrances that don’t call my name anymore…GIGI, LULAMAE and MARLENA. To make it even more confusing I will be changing the names of the remaining scents! Not to worry though, it will be a beautiful transition.

But there is more!! I am working on 3 new scents that will be launching this year, as well as candles, body care, soaps, skin care and anything else I can whip up. I am so freaking excited!!

As my gift to you I would like to offer you 33% off any of the perfumes on the Olivine site through the end of January. Even the ones that aren’t being discontinued!! Just use the code REBRAND2013 at checkout to receive your discount. And there is also free shipping for the month of January. No winter blues around here!!

xoxo…Julie

Enjoy, then share it with a girlfriend!!

I’m writing this on Christmas afternoon.  My little Prince is napping and the house is completely trashed.  It’s pouring down rain and I’m still wearing my PJs.  What a perfect day!  I’ve been getting ready for the New Year and I thought I would share some of my favorite tips to get ready for 2013!

1.  Run to Leonie Dawson’s site and buy a copy of her Create Your Incredible Year Workbook.  It’s only $9.95, and if you can only do  one thing then just do that!

2.  Watch this awesome video and listen to every word that the gorgeous Ophira has to say about the coming age.  It is mind blowing!

3.  Throw away all your old ratty panties.  Do you really want to start the new year with holes in your frillies?  I should think not!

4.  Make a list of 100 things you want to do in 2013 (I got this from Leonie Dawson, see #1).  I won’t lie, this is kinda hard, but once you get going it starts to flow.  I’ve been working on it for a couple days and I am at #82 so far.  I can’t wait to start crossing things off my list.  You can do it!!!

5.  Pick some music you love and do a monumental dance break in honor of 2012.  Acknowledge all the crappy things and all the wonderful things that happened this year.  Put your heart into it, close your eyes, no one is watching…

If you do none of these things then that is wonderful too.  Just have a wonderful & safe New Year’s Eve and I will see you back here in 2013 with some fun new developments…

xoxo. Julie

Photo via True & Wesson

I was reading an old blog post from Leonie Dawson and she mentioned (totally not in these words) that the only unsolicited criticism she takes seriously is the criticism that comes from someone that is happier than she is.  Hallelujah sister.

Can you think of any criticism that you have received from someone that is actually happier than you?  When you see negative comments on a blog or Facebook post, do you think that that person is actually on their way to take a little dance break and buy herself some flowers?  Most likely not…

By the way, Leonie Dawson is so super rad.  I bought her 2012 Create Your Goddess Year last year and it blew me away.  The 2013 Create Your Incredible Year edition is even more marvelous.  It’s only $9.95, so get it now and start creating your new awesome year!!

I originally published this article last year, but after another stressful shopping trip I thought it was time for a revisit!!

Yesterday I was at Sephora and I had a gift card to redeem. I waited in line (just like everyone else) for quite some time, then the nice sales clerk had some trouble with my gift card. It turned into a super long ordeal (all of about 3 minutes) and the line behind me was turning purple they were so mad. I could see them all glaring at her, glaring at me and wishing we would both die. Seriously.

There is nothing that brings out the worst in us like shopping at the holidays. I don’t know what it is, but something seems to snap in people during the holidays in all retail settings…Grocery stores, malls, quaint boutique lined streets. What is a girl to do?

Luckily I have come up with a 5 step plan to make shopping delightful, sexy and fun this holiday season!

♥ Before you even leave the house make sure you are prepared to feel awesome for the rest of the day. This includes…Matching bra & panties, a cute outfit, red lip gloss, a bottle of water and a snack. If you start out positive then you have a better chance of remaining cheery through the trying times ahead!

♥ Download a really good audio book to listen to in the car. This is my saving grace for driving around (and around) looking for parking. While everyone else is getting more and more cranky when they aren’t finding parking, you will happily be driving around engrossed in the book you are listening to.

♥ While standing in line (quite possibly behind someone like me that is taking longer than necessary) start going over all of the things that have happened this year that you are grateful for. Extra credit if you have a little notebook with you that you can jot some of these down in.

♥ Buy something for yourself, this is non-negotiable. I owned a retail store for over 15 years, and every holiday season it was the exact same thing…Women seem to think that the holidays are all about giving to everyone else and that they shouldn’t spend any money on themselves. YOU should be on your holiday gift list, every year.

♥ Try something different this year. Shop online! If you are like me and you like to support indie designers and small businesses then shopping online has never been easier. You can shop at my online store, and I do so much of my shopping on Etsy now. The options are endless for other small boutiques that are online. Of course Amazon is my fall back store for everything under the sun that can’t be made by hand!

Happy shopping!

The Miss Anastasia Perfume web site is here and I am completely in love with it!  Leigh-Ann at Freckled Nest has once again created the most beautiful design for me.  Thank you!!

Creating this perfume has been such a blast and I am loving all of the testimonials that have been coming in almost daily.  You can read some of those here!

Are you following me on Pinterest?   I have been tying so hard to stay off it but I keep getting sucked in for hours at a time.   Oh, I want more time in the day…

Are you missing your Prairie Underground?  I know I do!  You can go on over to Show Pony and use the code PONYLOVE to get 10% off!  The fall/winter collection looks amazing.

I have some fun articles that I am working on so I will see you back here soon!
xo. Julie

Happy Friday!  As you may have noticed, I haven’t posted in a suuuuper long time.  I’ve been enjoying a beautiful summer with my son before he starts preschool (tears) and creating a whole new business model for Olivine!

These are a few of the questions that my friends have been asking, so I thought some of you might have the same questions…

What in the world are you doing now Julie?  I am going to be focusing 100% on my perfume lines from now on!  Lulu Beauty and Miss Anastasia are going to become my full time job!

Why the hell would you do that?  This is easy.  Perfume is my love and it is the one thing that I have been doing consistently in my business for over 20 years now.  I had the honor of doing 2 coaching sessions with Danielle Laporte.  The sessions were a year apart.  In the first session she told me very succinctly that I needed to focus on my perfume and only my perfume.  A year later she was like, “Um, why haven’t you listened to me yet?”.  Here it is, another year after that and I am finally listening to her!  (Thank you Danielle, and I’m sorry I didn’t listen to you earlier!).

But what about Olivine?  Olivine will still be Olivine, but the focus now will be just on perfume and a couple other necessary odds and ends that I know you can’t live without!

But what about Prairie Underground?  I have been selling Prairie Underground for as long as I can remember.  I have never encountered a line of clothing like Prairie Underground.  The designers of the line are quite possibly the coolest women in the entire fashion industry and their designs are timeless and have a cult following the likes of which I have ever seen.  They deserve it more than you can possibly know.  I am honored to pass along all of my customers to Show Pony!  Show Pony has very generously offered all of my customers a 10% discount in their store for the next 6 months!!  Use the code PONYLOVE and buy all the Long Cloak Hoodies you can get your hands on!

What about the Olivine’s Charm School blog?  The blog stays.  Unfortunately it will get neglected, it will get dusty and it will be shoved to the side sometimes…But just when you least expect it I will show up with some Sparkly Self Love!

So what happens next?  Keep your eyes peeled.  Follow Miss Anastasia on Facebook.  We are going to do a big launch in October.  There will be prizes (perfume and other assorted niceties) as well as free samples!  Trust me, you won’t want to miss it!!

I’ll be back soon with more juicy news and tidings!

xo…Julie

I have so much fun playing with different smoothie recipes – as long as you keep the veggie to fruit ratio 3:1 and are not afraid to add ground flax, stevia, sprouts, cinnamon, cacao or a quality vegan protein powder, the possibilities are endless!

Here are my top 3 to get you started and on track to more vitality and clarity:

Morning Zing Smoothie
by Victoria Boutenko

½ bunch dandelion greens
2 stalks celery
½ inch fresh ginger root
2 peaches
½ pineapple

Blend + enjoy!

* * *

The Green Guru
by Kris Carr

avocado
coconut water (or purified water)
cucumber
romaine
pear (or banana)
a dash of stevia (or agave)
a wee bit of cinnamon or cacao
1-2 ounces of E3Live

Blend + enjoy!

* * *

Mango & Spinach Smoothie
by Karen Knowler

1 large sweet and ripe mango (or 2 small ones)
5-6 large handfuls of organic spinach
1-2 dates, if it needs a bit more sweetness

Blend + enjoy!

Have you got any yummylicious green smoothie recipes to share? Post them in the comments below!