The Week That Went Sideways (And What We Learned From It)

This was meant to be a relatively straight forward week.
Every year, the rhythm is the same: Black Friday madness, a deep breath, then the Christmas sprint.

But this week didn’t get the memo.

Instead of settling into that brief relative lull, we were hit with the kind of week you can’t plan for. The kind where life reminds you it doesn’t care how many orders you have to ship or what your marketing calendar looks like.

Across our small team, we’ve had people dealing with some heavy family stuff, plus sickness, plus everything else December likes to throw at you. Suddenly half the team were off — and when you’re tiny like us, that’s half the engine gone. There’s no “someone else will pick it up.” There isn’t someone else. It’s just you.

So we did what small businesses do: we rolled up our sleeves and got on with it.

All Hands On Deck (Literally)

I spent the last two days in the warehouse packing orders.
Ben has been doing about three roles at once.
Everyone who was still standing just… pitched in.

It wasn't glamorous. It wasn't smooth. But it was honest work, and in a strange way, it was grounding. There’s something about going back to basics — picking, packing, taping boxes — that reminds you why you started.

The orders coming in from Black Friday were incredible, and honestly, they kept our spirits up. It felt like a little anchor in the middle of the chaos — proof that people love what we do, and that what we do matters.

The Comments That Hit Hard

And then, right in the middle of all this, we copped comments online accusing us of being “scam artists” and running “dodgy marketing tactics.”

Normally I’d brush it off, but this week… it landed harder than usual.

We are small. We are transparent. We do everything out in the open because we don’t have a giant machine hiding the messy bits. When people throw those labels around so casually, it hurts. Not because they know us — but because they don’t.

And honestly, if people held the big beauty giants to the same level of scrutiny they put on tiny Australian businesses, we’d live in a very different world.

But here we are. Showing up anyway.

The Part We Keep Coming Back To

Even after a week like this, I wouldn’t want to be doing anything else.

We’ve already seen so many Christmas orders coming in — and that has given the whole team a lift. This is genuinely our favourite time of the year. The gift sets, the packing, the notes from customers buying for their friends and families… it’s such a warm, busy, joyful stretch.

And I want to reassure everyone:
we’re catching up.
We should be fully back on top by the middle of next week.

Christmas orders are being prioritised and going out quickly. We won’t let them fall behind.

What This Week Taught Us (Again)

Small business isn’t predictable. It isn’t cushioned. There’s no safety net.
But there is heart — real heart — and teamwork, and a community that shows up when it matters.

This week wasn’t easy. But it made us grateful.
And tired.
And also, strangely, proud.

We’ll take the win.

Soapy hugs,

Emma x