Award-winning bath and body products

Six companies were presented with Best New Product Awards at this month's Ex•Tracts show in New York. Tatine received “Best of Show” honors for its Foundry collection of scented candles. Ex•Tracts is one of 10 divisions of the New York International Gift Fair held twice a year at New York City’s Jacob K. Javits Convention Center. The winter 2011 winners and finalists, selected from nearly 100 entries, are:

BEST OF SHOW
Tatine (Chicago) for Foundry, a collection of candles in five unique fragrances with packaging reminiscent of vintage-modern found objects from a motorcycle foundry. The handmade soy and bee wax blends in recycled glass and paper create an allure of industrial tones mixed with the romance of candle light.

Illume's ginger and sea salt lotion candle

BATH & BODY CATEGORY
Winner: ILLUME (Minneapolis) for Ginger & Sea Salt Lotion Candle. A luxurious blend of shea butter, olive oil and soy, the lighted candle provides ambiance and creates a rich lotion as it melts.
Finalist: Caswell-Massey (Edison, N.J.) for ONYX Natural Bath Soap
Finalist: FarmHouse Fresh, Inc. (Frisco, Texas) for Hello! Yellow body cream

Ecoya

BEAUTY ACCESSORY CATEGORY
Winner: Ecoya (Botany Bay, Australia) for Body Nourisher Vanilla Bean, a luxe, rich, hypo-allergenic body moisturizer, free from parabens, sulfates, propylene glycol, silicone and artificial colors.
Finalist: Baudelaire (Swanzey, N.H.) for Baudelaire Sponge Boxes
Finalist: UNII Cosmetics (Arcadia, Calif.) for UNII Cosmetics Coal palette

Royal Apothic

COSMETIC & FRAGRANCE CATEGORY
Winner: Royal Apothic (Los Angeles) for its Society of Scents, a collection of eight distinctive fragrances inspired by the social clubs of England’s Victorian Age.
Finalist: Sonoma Lavender (Santa Rosa, Calif.) for Ocean Air Sachet-By-The-Yard

Jao Ltd.

Finalist: Jao Ltd. (Hatfield, Pa.) for OUTSCENT perfume with insect repellant

Lotus Love Beauty

NATURAL/ORGANIC CATEGORY
Winner: Lotus Love Beauty (San Diego) for Soy Wax Travel Tin Candle, all natural, hand-blended and hand-poured soy wax candles featuring a hand-braided wick and packaged in a recyclable tin.
Finalist: Ton Savon (Manhattan Beach, Calif.) for Pure Provence Moroccan Organic Soap
Finalist: Bare Kiss Skincare (Santa Fe, N.M.) for Deep Sea Soap

PACKAGING CATEGORY

Xela Aroma

Winner: Simpatico-Home (St. Louis) Hobnail Glass Candle, noted for the textured glass that creates its unique knobbed design, the candles are available in a rich variety of jewel tones and include a wax seal from an antique letterpress machine.
Finalist: Xela Aroma (Dallas) for Celebrate LOVE Candles
Finalist: AQUIESSE (Simi Valley, Calif.) for Trump Collection






Award judges were: Mary Bemis, Organic Spa; Leah Genuario, Beauty Store Business; Patricia Norins, Gift Shop; and Meredith Schwartz, Gifts & Decorative Accessories.

Luxury placemats, table linens, napkins

Kim Seybert offers a line of colorful and fashionable table linens made with linen, cotton, silk and beads. The company also carries stemware and bar accessories, and bathroom sets (including soap pumps, trays, tumblers, tissue boxes and toothbrush holders).

Custom-made pendants for the bathroom

Vermont Art Sinks has added pendant lights to complement its custom bathroom sink line. The company introduced the lights at the autumn furniture market in High Point. The pendants are available by custom order. Each is made of 33% recycled stoneware clay. Vermont Art Sinks also makes bathroom sinks, lotion pumps, soap dishes and wall tiles in the USA with recycled content.

Best new products from the textiles show

Five companies participating in Home Textiles Market Week in New York were presented with Best New Product awards last week. Designers Guild received the “Best of Market” award for its Orangerie Cushion. All of the winners exhibited in the At Home division of the New York International Gift Fair.

BEST OF MARKET
Designers Guild (New York), for its Orangerie Cushion, designed by Tricia Guild. Manufactured in the United Kingdom, the Orangerie design features hand painted florals on a fresh white base—which are digitally reproduced and printed onto the cushion’s cotton percale front fabric. The cushion’s trimming and solid silk back provide some extra contrast to its patterned front.

BED CATEGORY
Bōdmer Blankets (Carlton, Ore.) for its Jaspé Blanket, designed and hand woven by Craig Bōdmer. Made of 100% natural baby alpaca yarn and bound with 100% hand-woven silk, the blanket provides both beauty and comfort. The non-dyed blanket has an all-natural alpaca color, which is revealed as its color subtly transforms from dark to light, and is woven with a classic 2/2 twill weave structure and available in twin, double, queen and king sizes.

BATH CATEGORY
Brahms Mount (Hallowell, Maine) for its Linen Towels, designed by Claudia Brahms. The towels, which are woven in North America, are 100% linen and naturally anti-microbial and available in 3 sizes: and six colors. 

DINING CATEGORY
Blissliving Home (Rockville, Md.) for its Samsara Table Linens, designed by Mei Xu and Amber Kleiner. The Samsara Table Linens include a runner, square placemat and matching dyed linen napkin and is available in two colorways. The linens traditional embroidery is borrowed from their Samsara decorative pillow. 

HOME ACCESSORIES CATEGORY
Alicia Adams Alpaca Inc. (Stanfordville, NY) for its Travel Set. Designed by owner, Alicia Adams and manufactured in Peru, the travel set comes with a blanket and eye mask, which conveniently fit in a travel-size pouch. Made of 100% baby alpaca, this soft blanket provides the ultimate in luxury for travel. 

Award criteria included innovation in design, creative use of materials/construction and new fiber, material or technology.

The third-generation, family-owned Matouk company makes bed, bath and table linens.  At the New York International Gift Fair, the company introduced Lowell and Mirasol table linens, elegant top of bed styles Bryant Park and Greenbrier, fragranced candles and soaps, and new small-scale prints. Shown are examples of Matouk's style.

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Retailers: Contact the manufacturer for prices and minimums.

Shoppers: Ask your favorite independent retailer to order this item for you.

Extra-long shower curtains in 22 designs

The Legacy Groups introduces “The Bath Collection,” its collection of extra-long shower curtains from its linen division, Legacy Linen Group, LLC.The curtains extend past the top of the bath tub to the floor, allowing for a more finished look.
The Bath Collection includes 22 designs. The 90-inch-long curtains are produced in the USA from high-end fabrics and trims available in an array of solids, damasks, stripes, animal prints, and traditional French toile patterns. Designer touches include an 8-inch bullion trim along the header of the Lion Eyes pattern (representing a lion’s mane) and attached valances and trims for the French toile patterns.

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Retailers: Contact the manufacturer for prices and minimums.

Shoppers: Ask your favorite independent retailer or designer to order this item for you.

Colorful housewares from Spain

The Spanish company Casa Vigar showed its colorful accessories for the kitchen and bath at the Housewares Show in Chicago in March. The caddy (below) from the Cactus line can be used as a fruit bowl or as an organizer.

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Retailers: Contact the manufacturer for prices and minimums.

Shoppers: Ask your favorite independent retailer to order this item for you.

Accessories for the bathroom

Simplehuman had a vertical tension pole. It turned it on its side and introduced a shower caddy (top photo) at the Housewares Show in Chicago last week.It fits spaces 55 to 73 inches wide. The aluminum rod is rust-proof and corrosion-resistant.

The company also introduced wall-mounted shampoo and soap dispensers (photo above). They come in single, twin and triple compbinations. The dispensers install with specially formulated waterproof silicone glue and double-sided adhesive tape.

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Retailers: Contact the manufacturer for prices and minimums.

Shoppers: Ask your favorite independent retailer to order this item for you.