Author: Li

Hi everyone

Alata Samina is relisted/back in stock on the website! Yay!

I have just finished revamping the webpage for the African black soaps. There are new pictures of the products, and the webpage has a slightly new look and feel to it. I redid the banner (graphic at the top) too. I may change a couple pictures (the new picture for Karite soap looks a lot better than the one that used to be there, but it is still a little dark. I also need to retake pictures for Ose Dudu, since I am not happy with how they came out, so I just left the old picture up there). Otherwise, it is basically done, and I hope you like the new webpage for the African black soaps. Thank you for being so patient with me, as I am slowly revamping the website! 🙂

A couple notes on the African black soaps: Alata Samina is now being cut directly from the blocks, so they are different sizes and shapes than before (I used to form them into square shape bars, but now they are more like rectangles). Northern Ghana also changed sizes and shapes a few weeks ago (I mentioned the soaps were bigger in March).

Alata Samina’s price is the same per ounce as before, but the sizes are different (the small blocks that Alata Samina comes in differ in weight, so some bars weigh 3 oz when cut and some weigh 2.5 ounce when cut. Future batches may weigh less or more, and I will change the sizes on the website as needed).

The price for Northern Ghana was increased very slightly a few weeks ago, about 6 cents per ounce for the grande (full size) bar (so both the grande and xiao sizes are a quarter more). The xiao (small) size for Karite has just increased by 15 cents (the grande size of Karite has NOT increased). So they did not raise by very much, but thought I would mention it.

Ose Dudu has not changed its price, shape, or sizes yet. However, once the current batch runs out and I need to buy a new batch, the price will increase significantly; I still have a few pounds of soap left so it won’t be for a while. Just mentioning about the price increases in advance. I am so sorry about the future increase in price for this soap, but the company I buy from stopped carrying its 15 lb size many months ago. The largest size they are carrying now is the 5 lb size, which is much more expensive per pound of soap (the 15 lb size made it one of the least expensive African black soaps I carry, but the 5 lb price will make it the most expensive soap I carry in the future). So if you love this soap, you may want to buy some now before I have to restock and prices go up (soap stores well and has a good shelf life).

A lot of ingredients (over a couple dozen ingredients that I use for Earth Alkemie and also my own crafting) have gone up in price within the last couple years. I will eventually post about the changes in prices (I think I have mentioned the price increases of ingredients on the forum and maybe on the blog too a few times before), but right now most prices that have those ingredients will not increase (since I still have many ingredients left). However, once I restock ingredients, those products will increase in prices. Hopefully the prices will go down by the time I am ready to buy more ingredients (but in my experience, over the last few years, prices for many ingredients usually stay at the new price and many increased even more, and the few ingredients that went back down in price, only went back down a little, and did not go back to its original price. Many of those ingredients increased in prices months ago and have not decreased at all). I still buy many ingredients at the retail or small wholesaler level (since I can’t make the minimums of large wholesalers) so will have to increase prices when that time comes. I will try to give a heads up of a few weeks for each product before that happens.

On a brighter note: you may notice a new category for products under cleansers called Herbal Cleansers. These are some of my new products that are coming out shortly. They are divine (basically they are soap less and detergent less herbal based cleansers), and I am so excited for them to be released soon! Hopefully I will get the webpage for that up by the end of this week or the beginning of next week. There will be a couple other goodies released soon too so please keep checking the blog, face book, forum, and website for updates! 🙂

Cheers,
Li

Hi everyone

Over the last few days I have been tweaking the site (and will be continuing to work on it over the next few weeks: I will be adding new pictures, changing banner sizes, and also adding some new information/changing the text for some listings, as well as adding some new goodies to the site 🙂 ). Please let me know what you think of the changes and new products, or if you notice any mistakes or broken links etc. Thank you!

Cheers,
Li

My new Eco Living article is a simple clay mask recipe 🙂 (This is for a wet type clay mask, so a mask made with liquids. It is preservative free, so would need to be used immediately).

Earth Alkemie recommendation: you could use any clay based Earth Alkemie masks (Cinderella or Pina Colada masks) in place of the clay in this recipe, if desired. Although you don’t need to add any additional ingredients to EA masks–aside from water, since the masks are loaded with ingredients that are great for the skin–you can definitely use EA masks in this way to create some amazing blends! 🙂

ANB (All natural beauty) mall’s spring sampler is now available!

Earth Alkemie is participating again in anb mall’s sampler!

What is the anb mall sampler? Basically several companies (including Earth Alkemie) have contributed some fabulous products in a ‘sampler’ from anb (all natural beauty) mall. All of the companies are anb mall stores, meaning that they are all natural to natural based companies that are as natural as possible and contain little to no synthetic ingredients.

In addition to being an anb mall store, Earth Alkemie is also an all natural beauty website and also an anb portal partner too (the companies listed on these two sites are considered ‘all natural’, so it’s harder to get listed on these two sites). I am proud to be associated with the anb websites, since Sharon (the owner of these lovely sites, who is also my friend) has extremely high standards when she accepts stores for her sites; Earth Alkemie’s products are as pure as can be, so is listed on all three sites 🙂 I have been posting articles and recipes on all natural beauty website and anb portal on and off for many years, but I have a particular place in my heart for anb mall’s site, since I am the Eco Living writer for anb mall (I started writing the Eco Living articles long before I even started a company).

This year for the spring sampler, I have packaged a grande (full) size of Northern Ghana African black soap (which is now bigger! It’s 4 oz now!) in a beautiful reusable organza bag. The soap itself is packaged in a biodegradable cello bag which can be composted. In addition I have included a VERY good coupon too!

There are only a limited number of bags, and they are an awesome price, so please check it out!

Hi everyone

Orders that were placed last week are still being processed, but I will finish them within the next couple days. Thank you so much for your patience! (all orders that were placed from March 5th until the 13th will receive the special).

Orders placed today will be shipped within a few days (so shipping will be back on track 🙂 for orders placed this week).

The special is currently over (the special ended yesterday, March 13th at 11:59 pm EST), but I decided to extend the special for a day, and orders placed today (monday, the 14th) will still receive the special. 🙂

Hi everyone,

To thank my customers for their patience with current shipping times, there is a new special! Please read about our current shipping times (in the post below).

Orders that are between $10-$25 (before shipping costs) will receive a free xiao (small, 1.5 oz) size of Karite African black soap.

Orders between $26-$40 (not including shipping costs) will receive a free xiao (small, 2 oz size) size of New Day Aromatherapy bar soap.

Orders $41-$60 (shipping costs are not counted) will receive a free grande (full size, 4 oz) of Karite African black soap.

Orders between $61-$84 (does not include shipping costs) will receive a free grande (full size, 3.8 oz) New Day Aromatherapy bar soap.

Orders $85 and over (before shipping costs) will receive the following: a grande (full size, 3.8 oz) New Day Aromatherapy bar soap AND a grande (full size, 4 oz) Karite African black soap.

The special starts today and ends March 13, 2011 11:59 pm EST.

Karite African black soap is super gentle and forms a creamy, rich cleanser when wet; perfect for sensitive and blemished skin types. New Day Aromatherapy soap smells like heaven (a blend of juicy orange, floral ylang ylang and lavender, and a touch of earthy aged patchouli). It is made with African black soap and lots of emollient certified organic coconut milk and organic shea butter; awesome for blemished skin! A gentle, non-drying cleanser.

Please note, I am in the process of changing the sizes and shapes of the African black soaps and Aromatherapy bar soaps, so in the coming weeks all of the sizes and shapes of our soaps (except for Karite African black soap) will be changing (they are the same soaps; I have not changed vendors for the African black soaps, and have not changed the formula for New Day).

Over the next week (from today until March 13th), shipping may take a couple days extra. (I usually ship within 2 to 7 business days; shipping may take up to 7-9 business days). I will try to ship orders within a few business days, but just thought I’d mention shipping times may be a little slower this week for some orders. Thanks for understanding! 🙂

I will be announcing a special later tonight, to thank my customers for their patience.

New special! 🙂

All orders placed now until the end of the month will receive a free surprise gift! Some of the surprises will be Earth Alkemie favorites. Some will be upcoming products, not yet released. Others will be products I am considering releasing. (I will choose the gift for you 🙂 Smaller orders will receive a petite (sample) sized gift, while larger orders will receive a larger gift). This special ends at the end of the month, Feb 28, 2011, 11:59 pm EST.

Those who place an order (from now until the end of the month) will also be entered into a drawing for one of our new grande size products (winner’s choice of products not yet released yet). Over the next couple months, I will soon be releasing more aromatherapy bar soaps, more mineral makeup, a perfume for Chinese New Years, and a couple other goodies, so the winner can choose which of these new products they would like to receive. Contest ends Feb 28, 2011, 11:59 pm EST. Winner will be announced March 2nd.

Tomorrow (Saturday Feb 12, 2011) is the last day for the current special (a free xiao/small Karite African black soap OR a free petite/sample of mineral makeup with every order). Karite soap forms a creamy lather, is very gentle, and non-drying. The mineral makeup colors are beautiful, shimmery (but not overly shimmery) colors that you can wear lightly for a soft natural look or more heavily for an intense look. More details on the specials, a couple posts below.

February’s new eco living article is now on anb (all natural beauty) mall’s website. In this article, I shared a recipe for a green tea toner, that is very hydrating! Green tea is often used in chinese skin care (I use other ingredients from the green tea plant in EA products like camellia oil).

http://www.allnaturalbeauty.com/articles/eco-living