Sweet celebrity dreams for Brandon’s Blush Silks

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 28/02/2023 (1264 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

It’s a dream come true for Brandon-based business Blush Silks.

Christine Steele and business partner Leanne Wrobel were over the moon when they heard their silk pillowcases would be included in the Everyone Wins Oscar nominee gift bags.

The bags will be handed out at the 95th annual Academy Awards in Los Angeles on March 12 to nominees in the categories of best actor, best actress, best supporting actor, best supporting actress and best director, as well as to the host of the show.

“It’s a great feeling; I’m just soaking it all in,” Steele says. “It’s overwhelming. I can’t believe it’s happening… it’s hard to fathom.

“It’s so neat to know people like Steven Spielberg, Angela Bassett and Jamie Lee Curtis are going to get a gift from us. I am super excited to get our name out there.”

The pillowcases, in their specially designed gift boxes, were weighed and posted last week through Canada Post at the Victoria Avenue Shopper’s Drugmart post office in Brandon.

“They all know me there. It’s where I usually send out our orders from and they were saying, ‘Is this it?’ when I went in with my big box,” Steele says.

She sent out a total of 72 pillowcases; 10 samples posted to Distinctive Assets, which produces the gift bags, 35 for the satellite media tour that takes place during Oscar week, showcasing all the products in the giftbags, and 27 for the nominees.

“I applied on Oct. 30 and was approved on Nov. 2; they came back to me almost immediately and said we were a good fit. The packaging was really important to me, I wanted it to be really pretty. I have white boxes personalized with each nominee’s name in gold lettering. Then inside the boxes I made little postcards and wrote a quote and a message: it makes it more personal if you do something like that,” Steele says.

Steele started Blush Silks with Wrobel two years ago after a conversation about how Manitoba’s harsh weather was affecting their skin.

“It was just one of those girl conversations about the weather wreaking havoc on our hair and skin and it just led into starting out our own company,” Steele says.

The pillowcases are made from 100-per-cent pure mulberry silk and produced by the same manufacturer that has supplied silks for Disney.

“Silk pillowcases are such a luxury item. They are hypoallergenic, temperature-regulating and very easy to clean. The benefits of sleeping on silk are amazing.”

The brand currently supplies its products to more than 40 different outlets across the country.

The pillowcases as well as other silk items such as scrunchies, can be bought online at blushsilks.ca or via the Instagram page @blushsilkspillowcases.

“Celebrity placement is nearly impossible for small companies like ours to obtain, so this is a dream come true having our brand associated with such a highly recognizable event,” Steele says.