behind the scenes

You know, I've always been interested in seeing just exactly what happens to my recyclables once I've thrown them in the container, and the waste management trucks have picked them up! So I finally did some investigating, and it's rather interesting! Check it out!

lovin' the lavender

method's french lavender (and pretty much all of their lavender scents) are some of my favorites! The lavender hand wash, the dish soap, multi-surface spray cleaner; lavender + juniper dryer sheets (may you rest in peace! I've currently got nine packages of these in my method vault! Nine! Crazy!), and the lavender + lemongrass aircare! Lavender, lavender, lavender! And believe it or not, there was a time I didn't like the smell of lavender at all; until a friend of mine got me to plant my very own lavender bush, and I've lusted it ever since!

What's all this lavender talk about, you ask? Well, I went walking into my local Target this weekend, and noticed the lavender dish soap was on clearance! I dropped to my knees, wailing and releasing horrifying words that shall not be repeated in the presence of small children, kittens, or the faint hearted elderly; and cursed the very idea that, could method really, truly be discontinuing the lavender dish soap?! What would I do? First mint, now this?! (Cause seriously, pink grapefruit and cucumber. Gah. That's all I have to say on that subject.)

So I ran home, forgetting that I'd driven to Target, quick as I could in order to contact method and see what exactly was going on. In the meantime, noticing that two other Targets had already cleared out their lavender dish soap. It was gone, empty, only the ghostly space remaining where once stood many a happy lavender dish soap bottle.

And then I got my answer. Apparently pink grapefruit and cucumber are Target's top two method dish soap sellers (let me rinse and repeat, gah?! Seriously?) so they're abandoning the lavender (probably in order to make more room for Downy dryer sheets or Tide laundry detergent; cause well you know, there just ISN'T enough of those products sitting on Target's shelves. Word!) So from now on, it looks like our best bet for lavender dish soap (which PS. is NOT being discontinued!) will be Lowes Hardware!

I am now breathing a grand sigh of relief. And dreaming of my hands frolicking in method lavender dish soap bubbles floating in the sink. Cause, well, those are just the kind of whacked out dreams I have, ok?

famous founders

A quick bit that brings a tad more light into why the method vroom brand went bye-bye, from the article Seven famous founders share money mistakes, smart moves By Laura Petrecca, at USA Today:

"Adam Lowry and Eric Ryan, the Method co-founders (notice in the article, they get the names on the above photo confused. "Adam Lowry, left..." really, now? Is that my left, or your left?)

In 2000, two roommates had a brainstorm: eco-friendly cleaning products. They whipped up some samples in their bathtub and handed them out to friends. Method was born. The company in 2008 reached $100 million in sales and is sold in retail outlets such as Target.

+ Money mistake "As an entrepreneur, you just feel a desire to just grow, grow, grow and show top-line (increases)," Ryan says. "Sometimes it leads you astray."

After the founders expanded their brand into the car-cleaning marketplace with a product called Vroom, they realized they moved a bit too fast.

"We ultimately ended up selling the line (to another company), but it was a big distraction from our business at the time," Ryan says. "There are times that you need to preserve fuel and be careful about how many growth opportunities you pursue, because you burn capital."

+ Savvy move "Hiring a CEO as our first employee was one of the best money moves we made," Lowry says.

The more-experienced Alastair Dorward helped the founders make better management and financial decisions. Dorward had the acumen "to grow smart rather than just grow fast," Lowry says.

+

I still say an auto line would rock, and sell well!

pardon me, do you have any q+a?

Oh, get ready for something fun! - And new! - But not improved! Cause well, we've never done it before, so how can you improve something before it really exists? I don't know! Ask your science teacher, and get back to me on that! Until then, let's move on, ok? Alright!

Let's get ready for the first ever method lust q+a session! I'm always seeing comments with questions, thoughts, rants, raves, and it got me to thinking! (Which is sorta rare.) Why not take'em to the experts? Great idea, Nathan! Why thank you, I couldn't have thought it up without your help! Oh pish posh, but I do appreciate a good pat on the back every now and then! Well, pat pat to you, my good sir!

Are you ready, cause here's your chance! I want you, oh yes, YOU, to give me your questions! Anything! Good, bad, happy or sad! Mean or pleasant! Don't hold back! Carte blanche, baby, carte blanche! Throw method lust your questions in the comments section of this post; once we've rounded up a bunch, I'm going to sift through them, selecting a wide variety, and send seven or so on over to those method advocate experts! Then they're going to ANSWER your questions, and I'll post the results here on method lust's first ever (did I already say that?) q+a session!

Sound like fun? So get to askin' already! And like I said, don't hold back! This is your chance to be heard! If this goes well, we might make it a semi-regular thing here on ole' method lust! Oh wait, those experts don't know that yet, do they? Shh, I won't tell anyone if you won't.

Now get! Why haven't you asked a question yet? (OH, you're thinking of one! Well, ok, in that case...)

method quickies

UPDATED

Thought I'd answer a couple various comments section questions/concerns real quick here! I think I'll start doing that from time to time, in case some of you might not always read the comments section, etc. So, here we go!

+ The method pro chef line has just been announced, and it's already got some people up in arms over the pricing of the products. I stepped into one of my local Bed, Bath & Beyonds tonight, and indeed found both the granite and the stainless steel cleaner. Apparently they had yet to get in any shipments of the multi-surface spray cleaner.

The multi-surface cleaner comes in citrus cilantro; while the stainless steel and the granite appear to (as I gave them both a sniff test!) come in their orchard blossom scent (the same scent the small bottles sold at Target come in.)

Apparently these are specialty exclusives made for method lusters who are also foodies supposedly professional versions of method's three cleaning sprays; At first glance it appears they have a higher price point! Each bottle (28 oz.) comes at a cost of $8.99!

But then I started doing some breakdowns. Math isn't my strong suit, but I figured this one out. (Clap for me, clap for me!) The target bottles of stainless steel and granite cleaner both come in 12 oz. at $3.99. So two bottles at 24 oz. would be $8.00. Break down the 12 oz. price per ounce, and you get 3 oz. for $1.00. 12 oz + 12 oz. + 3 oz. = 27 oz. at a cost of $9.00 Target price. So you're actually getting a deal with the Bed, Bath and Beyond bottles; receiving an extra ounce for free! Cool!

Now the down side is, (according to reader Josh (getting mixed reports at the moment. Ha ha! Wow, this sounds like live coverage!) the multi-surface cleaner is $5.99; which would match the pricing of the Whole Foods exclusive ginger yuzu cleaning spray (but is still $3.00 more than any of the method cleaning sprays available at Target.) Apparently BB&B decided to just hit that price point line wide; giving the multi-surface spray cleaner the $8.99 price point, as well (according to method luster Jamison.)

+ Reader Karin mentioned having no idea what method was thinking when they went and recolored their lil' bowl blu bottle, turning it into a somewhat garish blue! And I sorta have to agree! They've kept the original color with their le scrub; perhaps they're testing both versions to see which sells better. But I have to say, I really liked the nice, spa like, clean blue they originally had. So YES, to answer your question Karin, you CAN pour the contents of the new bottles, into the old ones. I did a test just today! The squeeze top twists off (don't be afraid if it feels like it won't give) and then there's this little piece inside you just pop out, pour the contents of the new (not pretty) blue bottle into the old blue bottle; pop the piece back in, twist the cap back on (the cap is exactly like the dish soap, if you've ever taken that off. It also has the little piece in the center) and tada, you're ready to go! So, yes, perhaps we're a BIT insane to do this just so we can keep a bottle color/design we like. But I say, be insane! Design (and color taste) matter!

All for now!

ring-a-ding-done?

Curious what everyone is doing (or about to be doing, if you're not out yet) when it comes to aroma ring refills? Since method has apparently discontinued them, leaving the only option at Target stores to purchase the full set (ring and refill) each time you want more refills (though the refills are at this moment still available on their method home store site).

Are you just gonna hang up your aroma ring lust? Break down and buy the full sets? Discuss!

now you can be the pro chef!

Ugh, I've had one heck of a weekend (you don't even WANT to know!), which ended with me being sick and feeling rather crappy; which has lead me to taking today off in an attempt to kick this thing! But never let it be said I won't sacrifice my health and happiness for method lusters! Ok, so perhaps that's a SLIGHT exaggeration? Who knows, I'm too stuffed up to think it through clearly...

I just had to take a moment to crawl out of bed and let you know about method's new pro chef line! The new line features, well, let's just let method do the talking (and me do the sneezing):

"whether you’re a serious cook or you think cooking involves a phone and a take-out menu our newest pro chef line will be sure to please you. kitchens tend to be the central gathering place in the home and pro chef is just the right line to get your kitchen ready to greet guests or make a sandwich.

the pro chef line is now available exclusively at Bed Bath and Beyond stores.

the line includes a stainless steel cleaner that is a whopping 28 oz. of superpowered formula to avoid leaving any streaks behind. so not only can you purchase less often you can also finally wipe those nasty fingerprints off the fridge.

also included is a 28 oz. spray bottle of granite cleaner, specially designed for granite, marble and other natural stone countertops and surfaces. natural stone is classic and durable, but it needs special care to be sure you don’t strip the sealer and allow water to get in the stone.

lastly, we have a special multi-surface cleaner to get rid of grease and food splatters while leaving behind a yummy citrus cilantro scent. it smells so good people will think you’ve been chopping fresh herbs and lemon wedges with a touch of lime."

Cool! I'm curious if the method line of products will continue to expand in Bed, Bath and Beyond stores. Some people find method products there already; but mine are (currently) method free. So perhaps this new line will help get them jump started in all their stores!

You can head on over to method's people against dirty blog, and have a chance at winning this new line! Contest ends October 2nd, so hurry!

+

And uhm, can I just be the (only one, probably) to say UGH! to citrus cilantro. I know there are plenty of fans out there that lust this scent; but method is loving reusing old scents this year, and between citrus cilantro and citron leaf (two scents I feel are very, very similar; and neither one do I really lust) I'm hoping next year shows them bringing us some new scents to sniff! Cause I for one am citrus cilantro/citron leaf/citrus leaf'ed out! (But I still lust you, method!)

surprise finds!

I've noticed my exclamation point over usage has seeped into my post titles now! They're everywhere! Everywhere, I tell you! Ah!)

I took a quickity-quick trip into Ross today (a store in the same vein as Marshalls, TJ Maxx, etc.) because I knew they carried clearance Target items every once in a while. Specifically Target brand candles, etc. So as I wondered down the candle/fragrance aisle, what did I stumble upon but some lavender + lemongrass candles! In the new glass bowls! Now, these were the old "hard to burn" formula, so I sorta passed, but they were only $2.99! Then I noticed around five cut grass aroma pills (the whole set, pill and refill) for a mere $4.49! And finally I saw two cinnamon bark aroma stick sets for $4.99 each! (A perfect find for the upcoming holidays! Especially since we won't be getting aroma sticks in this year's holiday line.) Wow!

If you have a Ross near you, a trip to the store might be in order! Let me know if you happen to find anything different, or what you pick up, method style! (You can also tell me what you pick up non-method style, but then I don't want you to think I'm straight up nosey, so really, you don't have to, alright? Cool.)