Author: Li

For my last mini sale, I am letting my customers choose a product to go on sale. Details on my forum (please vote on the thread below). P.S. in order to vote, you will need to log into your account on the forum (and not just be visiting as a guest). (If you do not have an account, becoming a delphi forum member is easy and free. And you’ll have access to all delphi forums, including some of my favorites like Garden of Wisdom’s forum and all natural beauty’s forum).

http://forums.delphiforums.com/earthalkemie/messages?msg=127.1

I am having another mini-sale 🙂

Both the xiao and grande sizes of Karite soap are 20% off!

The grande size of Everlast Elixir is 20% off!

Also one of my most popular items, Balance Toner is also on sale! The grande (full) size of Balance Toner is also 20% off!

The sale will run from now until Tuesday September 7, 2010 11:59 EST.

Edited to add: No need to use a coupon. The sale prices are already listed on the website. Have a nice holiday weekend!

Edited: please see the post below for changes in the price of Balance after the sale.

Also wrote a post on some of the properties of Balance and Karite two posts below.

After the (mini-back to school #2) sale, I will put putting my new toner on the website, and will be changing the regular pricing of Balance Toner.

When I first offered Balance (when I opened my business earlier this year in Feb), it was in an amber glass mister. I had to switch the bottles after a month or so since a couple people reported leakage. So I switched to plastic, with the option of an empty blue glass mister. I changed the prices then since blue glass costs a little more than amber. At the same time, the vendor I was buying the lavender hydrosol stopped carrying it (so I had to buy it from a different vendor which charges more than my original vendor did), my ylang ylang vendor stopped carrying it (it is a rare ingredient, so I started to buy it from other vendors too, which also cost more). In addition I also forgot to incorporate a few costs when figuring out the prices.

I didn’t want to raise prices that drastically (in March) so I absorbed some of the increases in costs but could not absorb them all. It was very confusing figuring out the prices, here’s what I did to figure out the prices in March:

Plastic cost less than glass, but the option with the plastic I kept the price the same as the original amber glass price ($4.25 and $15.00), to cover the rise in the cost of ingredients, and some of the costs I forgot to calculate in the price.

For the cost of the blue glass option: I priced this option only 50-70 cents more than the plastic option. Blue glass misters do not cost 50-70 cents, they cost somewhere between $1.25-1.50 each, depending on the size and also shipping (I currently buy only a single case at a time so do not get the same deals as companies buying in large amounts. This price includes the cost of shipping the bottle to me). The additional 50-70 cents only reflects the cost of the plastic bottle, plus the amount the blue glass cost over the amber glass (so the majority of the cost of the glass bottle is in the base price, and only part of the cost is reflected in the additional costs). The blue glass option does not include the costs in the rise in ingredients, since I absorbed that cost.

I am going to put my new toner on the site (after the sale), and have (properly) figured out the costs of my new toner. I thought that customers would be confused if they saw the cost of the blue glass option was $1.25-1.50 more than the plastic option (which is the true cost of a blue glass mister) for my new toner, and (appears to be) only 50-70 cents more for Balance.

So I have figured out the costs for Balance again so Balance will undergo a price change. Within the last few weeks, I have found a new source of lavender hydrosol, so the cost (though not as low as the original source of lavender) is lower than my current source, so I have considered that too. So I have calculated the price properly for Balance. The cost for the plastic option will go a little down (yay! 🙂 ), and the price of the blue glass option will be $1.25 to 1.50 more than the plastic only option. I am making this change in price so the pricing will not be as confusing as it was, and so the prices of Balance and my new toner are calculated the same way. Please note, although it may look like I have increased prices for blue glass mister, I have not increased prices for the blue glass mister option. I have always charged only the wholesale cost (what I paid) for the bottle in pricing (which is about $1.25 or 1.50–which includes how much it cost to ship it to me. I am not sure if I added shipping to the cost of the bottle in March but I have added it now): the cost of glass was just split before between the base price and part of the additional 50-70 cent.

I really hope this post makes sense since pricing was confusing for Balance but I have fixed it. I am sorry for all the changes/revisions in pricing for Balance; thank you to all my customers for your understanding of this new business owner (I am still learning the ropes of business in many ways!)

**please see post below for the properties of Balance (and also Karite soap)

Since a few products are on sale right now (until Sept 7 2010), I thought I’d write a little more about them.

I’ve previously blogged about the properties of Everlast Elixir here. My facial skin really loves this combination of oils, and Everlast is great around the eye area too (it has some of the best ingredients for that!).

One of my most popular products is Balance Toner. It is made with only hydrosols and an eco-cert preservative, and unlike many other toners on the market made with hydrosols, it is not diluted with additional water (so you are getting pure, undiluted hydrosols). I named it ‘Balance’ because other aromatherapists believe that many of these hydrosols have a balancing effect on sebum, whether the skin is too dry or too oily. Several of the hydrosols are also thought to be helpful in improving the appearance of blemishes, such as lavender hydrosol. (When I had acne about nine years ago I did not get clear my skin by using harsh or stronger synthetic treatments, lab derived acids, or lab derived ingredients like retin A and mandelic acid, etc. I used a much more gentle approach by using all natural products, including many of the hydrosols used in Balance).

Balance is also soothing on the skin, many of the hydrosols are well known and well studied for their soothing properties, including super gentle chamomile hydrosol. Like many of my products, Balance Toner has many uses: use it to tone, hydrate throughout the day, set mineral makeup, use it to help improve skin clarity, mist it on blemished skin, and use it to soothe the skin (perfect on sun burned or irritated skin).

Karite african black soap is usually not plugged very much on my forum but it is a great soap! It is super gentle, and cleans without over drying. All of my african black soaps are different from each other. I named this one Karite because karite is another name for shea butter!

I love african black soap because it is soap made the old fashioned way, using plant ash as the alkali. The ingredients used to make this soap are: shea butter and plant ash! That’s it. Because the only fat used in this is shea butter, this soap is super gentle (not all of shea butter converts into soap, so this soap is superfatted). In addition, the natural glycerine is not removed too. (most commercial companies’ ‘soaps’ are really not real soaps but syn-det bars, which are made with synthetic detergents, or blends of detergents and real soap. And the few commercial companies that make real soap usually do not super fat their soaps enough, and also remove the glycerine to make money).

Karite is a little different than the other african black soaps I carry in that it comes in pieces/chunks rather than a bar (I form the other soaps into bars but couldn’t with this one). When the soap gets wet, it creates a very silky emollient cleanser–pure heaven. It doesn’t lather as much as my other soaps but it gets the skin clean, while leaving it super soft. To use the soap: just wet a few small pieces (they will stick together when wet). After use let it dry in a well draining dish drain.

Karite is an awesome soap, but it is an ephemeral product (limited edition product) because my supplier only has a limited amount of it (so once it is gone, it is gone).

I have just posted a new article on the forum. I have defined the difference between oil based products and water based products, and have provided examples of Earth Alkemie products that fall into each category. (This questions seems to pop up a lot on forums so just wrote an article on it!).

I graduated from grad school not too long ago, so I understand what it is like to be a student on a budget. So for the next few weeks, different items will be on sale (on different days) at greatly reduced prices. Each mini sale will last only 2-4 days, but there will be a few mini sales (so keep checking the forum and also this blog for more information on the sales!)

The first sale is the grande (full) 1 oz size of the Solaris Elixirs: Bliss and Pangaea. They (the regular prices) are already priced low for elixirs/serums (most companies usually price oil based serums/elixirs made with basic ingredients in the $25-40 or more range for 1 ounce, though a couple small companies like mine undercharge for them. Natural ingredients cost much more than many synthetic ingredients, and Bliss and Pangaea are all natural formulations. Bliss and Pangaea are also made with a few organic and ethically wild harvested ingredients, which cost more than conventional ingredients). I priced my basic elixirs (Solaris Elixirs) low, since I wanted to offer a few basic skin care products at affordable prices.

But for this back to school sale I decided to reduce the grande (full) sizes of Bliss and Pangaea further and put them on sale for 20% off (I have never done a sale this low on any of my products before), because I understand how tight money can be around the start of the school year, especially in the current economy. The sale will run from now until Sunday August 29, 2010, 11:59 EST. NO coupon is necessary; the sale price listed on the site is already 20% off.

These are great deals especially with all the increases in the costs of ingredients (Two ingredients for Pangaea have increased a lot. I will write more about ingredient cost increases in a future blog post).

Please read the new blog post below for properties of the Solaris Elixirs.

I decided to write an article on some of the properties of the Solaris Elixirs.

Though the Solaris Elixirs are made with basic, moderately priced ingredients (mostly basic ingredients, with a couple fancier ones) they were designed with specific issues in mind. They are simple formulations, but sometimes simple is best! 🙂

I originally created Bliss for blemished, oily/combination oily skin, but it is great for a wide range of skin types including normal, and mildly dehydrated and dry skin types that are also blemished. (Although many people with mildly dry and dehydrated skin can use them too, I do not recommend Bliss for people with VERY dry or VERY dehydrated skin, because some of the ingredients can reduce sebum levels TOO much in some–but not all–people. So if you have extremely dry or dehydrated skin, I suggest either trying Pangaea Solaris Elixir, one of the Luna or Terra Elixirs, or trying a xiao/small size of Bliss Elixir first to see if your skin likes Bliss or not).

Bliss Elixir contains oils, such as jojoba (which is really a liquid wax that is similar to sebum), that are great for balancing sebum levels. It also contains grapeseed oil, which is slightly astringent and is rich in antioxidants (grapeseed and jojoba are often used in ‘anti-aging’ skin care). Unlike most companies, I do not use a solvent extracted refined grapeseed oil in my products (most grapeseed on the market is solvent extracted and highly refined. While the solvent extracted kind is light weight with a nice texture, it is stripped of many of its nutrients). I use a cold pressed grapeseed oil.

Here is a good article from wise geeks on grapeseed oil.

Shirley and Len Price’s excellent aromatherapy book for health practitioners has a description of jojoba oil in their book.

Bliss is rich in many vitamins, nutrients, antioxidants, including vitamins E and C, linolenic acid & linoleic acid & oleic acid (which are omega essential fatty acids), and proanthocyanidins (antioxidant).

I like to use Bliss during my moon days to help keep my skin in balance and clear, and on the rare occasions I get a blemish, Bliss helps improve the appearance of my skin fast! It is a very light weight formulation and is quickly absorbed into the skin. I suggest applying 2 to 5 drops to damp skin (dampen skin with an Earth Alkemie toner, hydrosols, or distilled/spring water. The combination of waters and oils creates a moisturizer for your skin).

Bliss is a true aromatherapy product: the essential oils were not only chosen for their scent (which smells delicious, by the way: like candy!) but the combination of essential oils are often recommended by other aromatherapists and herbalists for blemished skin and to help balance sebum, and for skin clarity. The scent is also very uplifting.

Pangaea was designed for all skin types, especially dehydrated/dry and balanced/normal. Like Bliss, it is a light weight formula, however Pangaea is a little more emollient. Some of the oils like sesame and camellia are some of the best oils to use for dry skin: they not help improve skin clarity but are rich in antioxidants and nutrients (camellia is from the green tea plant, and sesame is one of the most nutrient rich seeds). Some of the antioxidants, vitamins, and nutrients in Pangaea include: vitamin B, essential fatty acids, and also vitamin E, polyphenols, sesamol, and sesamin (which are antioxidants).

The essential oils in Pangaea were also chosen to help improve the appearance of blemished skin. Frankincense is also wonderful for aging skin too (the Egyptians used it in cosmetics, as well as to preserve the mummies!). I use Boswellia frereana, which is a species of frankincense that is thought by many to be the finest in scent out of all the frankincense species.

Here is a link to an article Jeanne Rose (my teacher) wrote on frankincense.

I suggest applying 2 to 5 drops of Pangaea to very damp skin (dampen the skin, then apply the elixir and massage slowly in, and then spritz the skin again for extra hydration).

I like using Pangaea when my skin is in balance or when it is feeling a little dehydrated or dry. My skin really loves camellia and sesame oil (camellia makes my skin glow, and my skin really likes the nutrients in sesame).

One reason my skin loves both Bliss and Pangaea is the cherry kernel oil, which is really light and rich in antioxidants (like vitamin E) and high in essential fatty acids. It is such an underrated oil!

Earth Alkemie is back open. Thank you for all of your prayers and understanding during this time.

Take care,
Li

Earth Alkemie is closed immediately until mid next week. My grandfather passed away today. I will try to finish the few orders I have left before I leave. The cart will remain open, but EA is closed.

Li

Hi everyone

I have left up the sale for one more day. It ends today (Aug 4) at 11:59 pm EST. (I did get some sales this morning, I will manually adjust the discount for the ones that didn’t use the code).

Cheers,
Li