Author: Li

I just finished more updates of pictures on the toner, luna elixir, and terra elixir webpages. I hope you like the new pictures 🙂 The toner page was actually updated twice, I posted a new picture the other day, but decided to retake the picture, and also change the banner. The luna elixir page also has a slightly revamped banner and new picture. I also changed the terra elixir page’s banner, and also posted four new product pictures.

I hope to work on the solaris elixirs next.

Please let me know what you think 🙂

So I am finally updating the website with new pictures 🙂 I have finished with updating the perfume page, and am shooting new pictures for most of the other products this week too.

I really like the new pictures for the perfumes (with the new larger petite/sample vials; I used to only have a picture of the old ones on the website, though had pictures of the new ones on the blog).

Like many of my pictures I have taken pictures of a few of the herbs/plants that are in the products. For Hu, the carnations were this vivid pink and red, and their scent was incredible (very fragrant). All the herbs for Paradise smelled so yummy (I love the smell of fresh basil, ginger, and vanilla beans. The vanilla beans I have are organic, and are super intense).

Let me know (on the forum or through email) what you think about the new pictures. 🙂

Will be updating more of the site this week!

I just updated the shopping cart for first class shipping for skin care. Since I added the new products last month, the cart has been underestimating shipping for a lot of orders (the weight of the glass jars, especially the grande size glass jars is really throwing the cart off. My cart does shipping by number of products, and I have to manually input (and guess) how many products=cost of shipping, so it is very limited in how it calculates shipping. So it is not very accurate since products weigh different things). I actually covered the extra cost for several people (I decided to cover the costs for the last few weeks but for future orders will not be able to do that, so hopefully the tweak will reduce the underestimating, but if it still underestimates, I will begin requesting excess funds if needed). So I have tweaked the cart. The cost of shipping has not changed (it may look like it has gone up, but I am still giving refunds for excess shipping, but hopefully the tweak will cut down on underestimating).

I still need to give refunds for several people it is overestimated shipping for (I still have to go through and manually calculate what I owe for all the ones from the last few weeks, and I was just looking at my records and realized I missed giving refunds to several people from further back too so need to go back and give refunds. I am very sorry it is taking me a while. I will hopefully give all the refunds within the next few days. I am changing how I process orders so I will be more efficient in the future).

Congrats to Hamsa for winning the Earth Day drawing for a free custom elixir! 🙂 I will design an elixir just for her skin conditions (made with plenty of organic and ethically wild harvested ingredients, of course! 🙂 ). The cost of her order (minus shipping) will be donated to the Climate Project. As soon as I design an elixir for her, it will later be made available on my site too (sometime next month).

New products:

I didn’t get to release a (one) new product last week as mentioned on the forum. Since I decided to release TWO new products instead 🙂 so it took me a little while longer (to make, package, make the labels, and then update the website, etc). They are both Terra Elixirs.

The first one is my version of rosehip oil-helichrysum esssential oil. I plug this combination a lot; it is an aromatherapy classic. I wrote about it in this old blog entry on my eco blog. Everlast Elixir is my version of this classic ;P I added several other wonderful oils like kukui and certified organic pomegranate, and also a couple co2 extracts including rosehip co2 (so this elixir contains a double dose of rosehip; two different Chilean rosehip species!). This elixir is great for drier/normal skin types (though some people with oily skin may like it too, especially if the oiliness is due to dehydration). However, I do not recommend using Everlast Elixir on active acne (since in some–not all–people, it can make acne flare up more; it depends on the person. Some people with acne can use it, but most can not) but I highly recommend it to help improve the appearance of acne scars. Rosehip is one of my favorite ingredients to use around the eye area, same with pomegranate and kukui and everlast and all the other wonderful in this elixir (in my opinion, the ingredients in Everlast are some of the best ingredients you can use around the eye area).

Scientific studies have been conducted on Chilean rosehip seed oil on scars and also on aging skin (I only use cold pressed, unrefined, organic, which has the highest concentration of vitamins. I also used Chilean rosehip, which is what the studies tested, and which is different from rosehip oils from other areas). Rosehip is naturally high in vitamin A (a natural plant source of trans-retinoic acid) and also contains vitamin C. Helichrysum is a known anti-inflammatory, and has many other uses in aromatherapy.

I named this elixir ‘Everlast’ because Everlast is another common name for helichrysum, and also because of how this elixir makes the skin look! 🙂

Everlast is only scented with helichrysum, so smells very spicy and honey-like (one of my other elixirs, Butterfly, also has a little helichrysum in it, but it is mixed with many other essential oils and absolutes so the scent of Butterfly is not overly helichrysum). Another common name for Everlast is curry plant. (I love the scent of helichrysum but some people do not, so just wanted to mention about the spiciness of the scent).

The second elixir, Serenity, is one I designed for sensitive skin. It contains no essential oils, only carrier oils and also a co2 extract. I only used carrier oils that are usually well tolerated by sensitive skin (though people are sensitive to different things, so if your skin is super reactive, please do a patch test before use). I added oat co2 extract which is soothing to the skin. This blend is rich in natural vitamins and contains many antioxidant rich oils like certified organic camellia and pomegranate oils. I have called it ‘Serenity’ because it was designed for sensitive skin in mind. Highly recommended for people who want to avoid essential oils and most herbs.

Both Everlast and Serenity contain certified organic pomegranate oil (none of my other elixirs contain the carrier oil; Eden contains pomegranate co2 extract which is a little different).

I have also edited or added more information to the following webpages:

Directions
Eye care
Ingredients
Legends
Perfumes
Skin Care Routines
Terra Elixirs

I still need to retake a lot of pictures.

Lastly, the xiao sized elixirs are now being shipped in blue glass 5 ml bottles. They are a little shorter and thicker than the old green glass, but still hold 5 ml and still have orifice reducers (the little plastic dropper).

Hope you enjoy the new products and like the new bottles!

I almost forgot to post about this!

In addition to the donation I am doing for Earth Day (which is still going on, the donation for that will me made at the end of the drawing), I also donated a nice gift set to the Asian Arts Initiative in Philadelphia Pennsylvania, for their benefit auction.

Asian American issues are important to me, not only because I am Asian American but because I studied Asian American issues and was very active in my school’s Asian American organization during my undergrad years. I learned a lot about my heritage and culture, and who I am, during that time.

The Asian Arts Initiative provides Asian related art and cultural activities and programs in Philadelphia. I have not been to one of their programs yet but their programs and workshops look great; I hope to go to one soon. (my brother in law is one of their board members, so E and my sister J have gone to many of their events and programs).

Every year they have a benefit auction to raise funds to help keep their programs running. The funds will go to running programs such as their arts education programs for youth and adults.

I donated a gift set containing a full size of Eden Elixir, a full size of Hu perfume (of course ;P), and a very nice coupon.

So if you live or will be in Philly tomorrow (the 30th), here is a link to info about the banquet (an eight course Chinese banquet) and auction. Go there and support the Asian Arts! 🙂

http://www.asianartsinitiative.org/goingOn/Banquet10.php

Congrats to K! She has won the xiao (small) Vanille Lavande Buttercreme from my Earth Day mini-game on the forum 🙂

A new Earth Day mini game is up on the forum. Please list your eco tips for a chance to win a prize! (please post between April 22, 2010 until April 25, 2010).

Also please read my blog entry below for my Earth Day drawing (for a free custom elixir) and donation 🙂

Cheers,
LI

Happy Earth Day! I believe that every day is Earth Day! 🙂

During the next three weeks (from now, April 22, 2010, until May 13th, 2010), all orders will be entered in our Earth Day drawing. One lucky person will be randomly chosen to receive one very nice surprise: a custom made elixir. I will make the winner ONE elixir that is catered specifically for their skin type or condition or scent preference (for example: if their skin type is oily, I will make a product for oily skin. Or if they have a scar and want a scar product, I could craft a product for scars. Or if their favorite scent is lavender (or whatever their favorite scent is) I will add lavender to the elixir). The elixir will then become part of Earth Alkemie’s line (depending on the ingredients, it may be part of the regular line, or it may be an Ephemeral product (limited edition)).

Please note: ingredients will be limited to what I have in stock. I craft with a very wide selection of ingredients but there are still a lot of ingredients I do not regularly carry in stock or only have very small amounts of. The elixir will be oil based only (so oils with herbs and/or essential oils, with the addition of vitamin E or roe). I do not craft with most lab derived or synthetic ingredients.

In addition, I will donate the total amount of the winner’s order (not including tax and shipping) to the Climate Project (which is a non-profit founded by Al Gore that promotes educating the public about climate change).
http://www.theclimateproject.org

For Earth Day tips, please read my environmental blog (Solarkat’s Eco Blog) which has hundreds of eco/green related posts (you may have to do a search in the search box as most entries are not linked to the main page of my blog). Also my Eco Living articles on anb (all natural beauty) mall’s site.

Please take my poll on scent types for future body products! Thanks!