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Back in our Summer 2011 issue, we featured The 7 Virtues line of perfumes. Company founder Barb Stegemann of Halifax started the brand, which sources organic scented oils from legal crops in war-torn or impoverished communities. What we didn’t say was that she took her product to CBC’s Dragons’ Den – successfully. They’ll be running an update about the company on tonight’s episode.

I asked Stegemann about the experience via email:

Was Dragons’ Den as scary as it looked?
Yes, I was so scared I thought I was going to pee my pants. They do this countdown as you “walk the plank” into the Den…ten, nine, eight…and you begin to wonder how crazy is this? But I got through it because I focused on my mission, the chance to share with millions of Canadians that we must do trade with nations that are experiencing war or strife to build peace by helping them rebuild.

When I am scared I always think of something bigger than me and I get through it. It works every time.

What were the best moments and the worst moments?
Best moments were when they offered the deal and hugged me. I seriously never ever in my wildest visualization imagined that!!! W. Brett Wilson invested in me and became the mentor I dreamed of. And right after you walk out of The Den, the producers and the entire CBC family come running out to hug you and talk to you and cheer for you and then the Dragons’ VPs of business talk with you and applaud you and make you feel really special. It’s quite a feeling I will never forget.

Worst moment is the time spent in the greenroom before you go on. You are so nervous and the other pitchers are there and everyone wants to try their pitch on you and it can psyche you out, so you want to remain somewhat reflective and quiet. Because otherwise you can begin to doubt yourself when the TV in the green room plays an old episode of a pitcher being told to get out of the Den, it’s unnerving.

So you really have to quiet your mind and focus on the bigger mission. Then your spirits are lifted by Sean Wise, a professor of business at Ryerson. He vets you just before you enter and he really helped me.

What advice would you give to someone looking for capital?
DO IT!!! Please do not live your life with any regrets. If you have a burning passion to launch a company and if it can make our world a better place, then you have nothing to lose.

Do your homework before you go on. I met with several amazing venture capitalists in my own community first to learn the language and to ask tips on the pitch. They were so generous with their time they even let me practice my pitch on them. I had never met these people in my life. I just reached out.

One of them, Mickey MacDonald, carried my fragrance in his boutique when I was literally out of my garage and in two stores. He taught me some of the language I used in my opening pitch. You have 90 seconds when you start to wow them. Also, listen to the producers. I was assigned to Molly Duignan. She is a business genius and really fun and she helped me contain my wild dreams into a clear, focused opener.

What impact has going on the show had on you or your business?
I was the first woman from Atlantic Canada to land a deal on Dragons’ Den and it changed my game. It gave me the confidence to cold call The Bay and now we are in The Bay across Canada at the beauty counters. The over half a million in fragrances we have had in sales in our short time in business allowed me to buy all the essential oils from my supplier in Afghanistan so that he is able to employ many farmers and their families benefit.

Beauty does have the power to transform lives.

For more information, and for Barb’s book, The 7 Virtues of a Philosopher Queen, visit the7virtues.com

Find the fragrances at The Bay across Canada!

Photo: Peter Schafrick

And if women entrepreneurs are your thing, don’t miss:
How four women launched their businesses – for peanuts
Reinvention is the best revenge
What it takes to be a civility coach
Our reinvention channel

Update: Barb shared that her pitch was called the best ever on Dragons’ Den on the show! Congrats!

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Can you guess which movies these dishes represent? They were served at the Oscars party editor-in-chief Linda Lewis attended. Each guest is assigned a type of dish (Main, side, dessert) and a movie. The rest is up to them.

The dishes were:
1) Spinach salad
2) Black and white quinoa
3) Hot dogs, candy floss and popcorn
4) Tropical fruit with bittersweet chocolate

Comment with your guesses before midnight ET Wednesday, March 7, 2012 (please be sure to use the numbers with your movie titles) and we’ll choose three winners at random to receive one of the following cookbooks (sorry, you don’t get to pick – we have one of each to give away):

The Looneyspoons Collection
The Best of Bridge: The Best of the Best
The Best of Bridge: The Rest of the Best

Legal stuff: By entering you agree to the following terms: You must be of the age of majority in your province to enter. One entry per contestant. You have to accept the prize as awarded, or a substitution of equivalent value ($15). Unfortunately this contest is not open to residents of Quebec.

Update: And the winner is rumiko, who is the only one who got all the films right! You win all the books rumiko; check your email!

House McQueen: Editor-in-chief Linda Lewis will be walking the runway tonight for Wellspring’s Well Dressed for Spring event at Holt Renfrew. And yes, she’ll be wearing a dress from the same house that dressed Jessica Chastain at last night’s Oscars.

We’ll be sharing shots from that event – check back – but in the meantime here are the accessories the personal shopper selected for her at Holt Refrew:

Prada laser cut leather peep toe pump
YSL black patent leather “Muse” handbag with brushed gold details
Lanvin matte gold large chain link necklace
Philip Stein rose gold watch with black silicone strap
John Hardy silver hoops with gold circles

A whole collection of proof that style and grace often develops with age – I love this slideshow of Supermodels: Then and Now from – of all places – NBC Chicago.

Hope this will be fabulous: J.K. Rowling’s signed a deal for a grown-up book.

We’re talking about Wanderlust and Jennifer Aniston on our Facebook page. And this weekend I’ll be posting on Facebook during the Oscars, and Linda will be tweeting from her party, so don’t miss those!

Meanwhile Marlo Thomas asks, at the Huffington Post, whether women are breaking new ground in this year’s Academy Awards. (So far commenters don’t seem to think so.)

The Guardian‘s excerpt from Rachel Cusk’s upcoming divorce memoir (and at the left side, a link to an interview with her): “The first time I saw my husband after our separation I realised, to my surprise, he hated me.”

And for something light: Browse the New Yorker cartoons. While you’re there don’t miss In defense of Liz Lemon.

Is our hyper-sexualized culture hurting our kids?

That’s the premise of Sext up KIDS which premieres tonight on CBC TV’s Doc Zone at 9 pm/9:30 NT. One of the points raised in the press release: Kids today can not only watch porn online; they can produce their own. That’s pretty scary. Here’s the trailer:

Do you worry for your teens or their friends? Let us know, and if you catch the documentary tonight, let us know what you think!

ETA: You can watch it online right here.

I was recently privy to what became a pretty heated argument among a group of women: What’s the best brand of nail polish, OPI or Essie? I am not stepping into the fray — I love colours in both lines and for me it’s all about the colour.

But in that discussion one thing became clear: The critical issue is does it chip? So I asked associate editor Kate Daley to get the scoop for us and she tracked down the best tips for making your polish last longer. Maybe we can call a truce and all get out our base coats?

Do you have a favourite polish brand or colour? Share in the comments. Just give peace a chance okay?

What’s caught our eyes on the web this week:

If the Grammy (gramophone) Awards got you nostalgic for vinyl this week, check out this burn-carved art. Hmmm I might have a copy of Olivia Newton-John’s Physical still somewhere…

No, it’s not your great-aunt: The Oldest Living Things in the World. (Pretty pictures.)

How Carrots Became the New Junk Food. (I ate three while linking to this article from Fast Company.)

If you’re rooting for The Iron Lady at the Academy Awards, don’t miss this Telegraph piece on how Thatcher’s style was remade.

Embrace your inner girl:

In “crazy things people say” check out this video on menopause and…err, death. Because really – I’m kind of speechless.

But it does remind me of a childbirth class I attended when I was pregnant with my first child. An over-enthusiastic second-time father described the pain of contractions in great detail, complete with hand motions for the opening of the cervix. His wife, surprisingly enough, still went home with him at the end of the evening.

Happy Valentine’s Day! You can’t miss it can you? And yet sometimes in the flood of red and chocolates and roses I think actual love gets lost.

So I wanted to share this. I wish I’d kept better notes on where it came from – it’s been a file on my personal computer for years. These are the requirements for trust, and to my mind, the foundation of a good long-term relationship. When it comes time to talk to my son about how to be a good partner – and how to spot one – this will be one of the things I pull out.

Acceptance: I may not agree with you or like the way you do or say things all of the time, but my love for who you are is unwavering.

Openness: I will take risks with you and share who I am, what I feel, what I do in ways that respect you and me.

Reliability: You can count on my being there. My support for you will be strong and nourishing.

Congruence: I will work to make my words and actions match, and when they do not I will acknowledge it to myself and you and work to grow beyond the incongruence.

Integrity: I will honor my word to you. If I fail you or me I will own it and make amends.

If your kids – or nieces or nephews or friends – were asking you about real true love, what would you share as a foundation?

Yes, it’s our obligatory Valentine Day’s week post on online dating. Did you know 1 in 5 relationships now start online? As someone who met her husband online — 19 years ago over a 2400 baud modem — I’m going to put it out there that if you’re not happy with your relationship status, I think you should go for it this spring.

Not because, dear reader, you need a man to make you happy, but because some man is missing out on you right now.

I recently had the chance to speak with Kimberly Moffit at Match.com about online dating, and I asked her about mistakes to avoid when online dating. Here’s what she shared with me.

Don’t negate the power of your picture
Any picture at all will get you 10 times the views for your profile that a profile with no picture will get – and remember, online dating is a numbers game. Other things to avoid: Don’t focus on who you were in the past – leave out kids, dogs, holiday sweaters and so on. Get a friend to take a new picture and take a picture that features your face – that’s what people want to see. It’s best if it’s a picture that makes you feel great when you log in.

Don’t mistake dating for sales
Yes, your online profile should be positive – but it should also reflect who you are. Don’t claim you love hiking when you prefer takeout. Share what you really love – that author you think isn’t highbrow enough might just be what draws someone’s interest.

Don’t be vague
If you’re not interested in dating anyone under 35 – say so. There is no sense wasting your time and theirs when you’re going to go home and decide there is no way you can continue to see anyone who thinks Madonna’s version of “American Pie” is the original.

Don’t treat email like a novel
Keep your first message short, specific and focused on setting up the next step – usually a date. The point is to see if the other person’s interested, not to share your life story in the hopes of discovering you’re soul mates. The soul can wait a week.

Don’t waste your time or theirs
Over 90% of people know within the first 15 minutes of a date whether there’s hope for the relationship or not. If you already know there’s no spark, it is just fine to say “thanks for your time, but I really don’t see us together.” It might seem a little harsh, but remember that you’re there for a goal: To find someone you want to date, not to provide conversation for all comers. (Kimberly points out that Match.com helps you manage your time better by learning your preferences with their “daily 5″ feature – something to keep in mind when choosing a dating site.)

Don’t give up too soon
It’s rare that your first date will be the person you find suitable long-term, so give yourself room to keep looking. Keep a time frame like six months in mind, and push yourself to try one or two dates a week during that time. You’ll be more likely to meet someone compatible than if you go in bursts of frantic dating followed by periods of keeping to yourself.

If you are entering or have entered the world of online dating, share your tips and tribulations in the comments! And for more don’t miss Everything you wanted to know about midlife dating.