Throwback to: Liv'Ez Co's First Live Event @ Dogwood Brewing
We were ecstatic to be invited to Dogwood Brewing's First Pop-Up Shop on August 15th, 2021! It was a scorcher, but because many COVID restrictions were lifted, we had an amazing meeting fellow artists, artisans, guests, and passersby from all over British Columbia while sipping on some refreshing, organic, Vancouver-crafted beer.
Vancouver has a notorious nickname, "Raincouver", and boy, isn't it an apt one.
Now that we're in the middle of fall, the rain and cooler temperatures makes us really miss the sunshine and warm weather of summer.
For Liv'Ez Co. especially, this summer was the first time ever, that we attended an in-person, pop-up shop event.
We know it's often a right-of-passage for artisanal, handcrafted skincare and wellness companies to vend and sell their wares at craft fairs, farmers markets, and the like.
However because of our strong online presence, and, quite frankly, COVID's impact on public health orders for live events; we didn't want to risk becoming carriers to our vulnerable friends and family.
On the other hand, many of our fellow makers and crafters have told us how great it is to attend events, if not only to make sales, but also engage with the community, as well as build friendships with other artisans and vendors.
For us, the latter was definitely the biggest draw, as, per BC's public health orders and advice from the CDC, we were self-isolating as much as possible, and staying far, far, far, away from others. We had gotten used to Zoom meetings and gatherings; but they were definitely not the same as socializing in-person.
Then in July, a friend of ours at Dogwood Brewing approached us asking if we would be interested in becoming a vendor at their first pop-up shop event in August, and we thought, "well, why not?"
So many of our crafter friends across around the world were celebrating the reopening and restarting of their communities and local events respectively, and it gave us a bit of FOMO!
Once we got the details, we quickly put together a plan to gather or make vending and shopping materials, and started to prepare for the pop-up shop on Sunday, August 15th.
We decided to bring all of our handcrafted, natural, vegan, and sustainable soaps (which was at least a good 75 pounds in total!); as well as some of our natural moisturizers that would be light and refreshing for hot, summer days.
Along with our Bestsellers like: Lavender, Fresh Roses, and Lemon Poppy Seed, we also brought back limited-edition soaps: Sweet Neroli and Red Berry as we had already received requests for more of these soaps.
Sweet Neroli and Red Berry were so popular; with some guests saying how Sweet Neroli reminds them of the charming scents at LUSH stores. It's such an honour to be compared with an industry giant like LUSH, who paved the way for fresh, handmade cosmetics; made right in our city of Vancouver!
And how could we forget about our beer soap, made with vegan, Canadian beer, while at a brewery pop-up? Energizing Body Soap: Cedar Malt was definitely the belle of the ball, fitting perfectly with the beer-enthusiast regulars that frequented Dogwood.
Our Cedar Malt bar is made with pure and rich raw cocoa, skin-cleansing activated charcoal, and gently-exfoliating kaolin clay. It makes for a perfect, super bubbly daily bath bar, and is scented with North American cedar wood, Dutch lavender, and Indonesian citronella essential oils.
While we were working on our Cedar Malt recipe, our men-identifying "test subjects" often gravitated towards this bar.
(Unexpectedly, my mom also loves this bar because of the bold and earthy cedar wood aroma.)
All in all, we are truly so grateful to have been invited to Dogwood Brewing's first pop-up shop in August, and though we were somewhat inexperienced with live events and the demands of serving customers face-to-face, we learned so much and had such a great time.
We even met some amazing, women-entrepreneurs who were doing exceptional things with recycled materials; turning them into apparel, art, pet toys, and more.
It was so lovely to reflect and share a walk down memory lane during a time when we could safely hug and chat with each other.
However, since gathering capacity restrictions are periodically changing based on cases of COVID in our home province of BC, and also having close relatives that are immunocompromised—in preparation for the Christmas holidays, we're sticking to the tried-and-true, ultra-safe method of serving all of our customers by through online and e-commerce channels.
As always, feel free to shop from Liv'Ez Co. 24/7 via our website: https://www.liveeasyco.ca
When things are safe for all, we do hope to see you (again) in-person!
Check out some more amazing photos of the Liv'Ez Co. booth,
shot by a fantastic, Vancouver-based photographer—Cole Bayford:
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