Month: July 2011

Earlier this month, Sharon of anb (all natural beauty) portal wrote a very nice review of one of my products: New Day Aromatherapy Bar Soap. Thank you Sharon!

I really love this soap (okay I say that about all my products ;P ) but New Day Aromatherapy Bar soap was one of the products that helped save my skin during this year’s harsh winter. For this product, I have taken an African black soap and enriched it with coconut milk, and plenty of emollient organic shea butter. I admit, like most African black soaps, this is not a ‘pretty’ looking soap (I have added so much shea butter to it, that over time, some shea butter has risen to the top of the soap, so if you look at it closely enough you can see it!), but what it does for the skin is short of a miracle. And it also smells amazing (I blended sunny orange with sultry ylang ylang, sweet lavender, and deep patchouli)!

I’ve mentioned that I battled a little dehydration this winter, and one thing that helped was my Herbal Cleansers. But there were some days my skin still needed soap (my skin has loved soap for close to a decade, for me, it has been my favorite type of cleanser for a very long time). My skin usually loved the plain african black soaps, but needed something even more emollient during the winter, so I used New Day a lot (and the Herbal Cleansers and Sunset Cleansing Oil on the other days). Because of the extremely high amount of shea butter and coconut milk, it was like combining several cleansers in one (a soap, cleansing ‘oil’, and an herbal cleanser too). My skin loved it during the winter.

Now that it is hot here, I am back to using soap most days, and am still using New Day since it is such a gentle soap. I also love using it to wash my hair (one of my favorite shampoos!) New Day will be in one of the soon to be posted samplers, so check the website soon for the samplers!

Hi everyone

Here is a tentative list of what I am planning to release in the next several weeks/couple months. It could change 🙂 but this is what I am working on at the moment.

Within the next few days, I will be releasing new sampler sets: one with both herbal cleansers, deep cleaning set, one with samples of the newer products, and also a not-yet released perfume sampler. I am just doing samplers this time around so all the products will be in the petite (sample) or xiao (small) sizes). Like all other samplers (and gift sets) in the past, they will be discounted off of regular prices. Edit: Warrior Aromatherapy Liquid Cleanser will also be out back on the site.

August: I will be selling some raw ingredients and containers (things like bottles, jars, and also essential oils etc). I will also start selling xiao (small) and grande (full) sizes of Swan Luna Elixir.

Early fall: a list of some things I am working on that I hope to release: lotion bars, lip balm, other aromatherapy bar soaps, and probably body oils too. I am also working on a bunch of other goodies too (sugar scrubs, other elixirs, etc).
Edit: I forgot to list my Chocolate Banana Berry mask (unofficial name).

Late fall: I will probably release more perfumes, based on feedback of the sampler kits being released this weekend. (I would release the perfumes earlier, but perfumes take a long time to make and properly age 🙂 since they are made different than basic aromatherapy blends).

So if you love a product that you have tried from me that I have not released yet in the full sizes, please post a review on the
forum or facebook or email me at Li@earthalkemie.com
In addition if you have any suggestions on types of products you’d like to see that isn’t on the list yet, please post or contact me!

Thank you! 🙂

Until next time,
Li

My newest eco living article is up 🙂

This month I wrote it on herbal and lavender sachets (the article is mostly on how to make lavender sachets but I have written a little on other herbal sachets too).

I love herbal sachets since they are not only eco-friendly, but have so many uses too! You can use them to scent a room, for clothing storage, as a car freshener, etc. Plus many have other properties too: lavender sachets also helps with stress relief and also helps repel bugs in clothes (lavender used to be used in the olden days to store clothes for its fresh scent and also since it helps repel bugs).

In the article I included many ways to make them (two ways to sew them, a no sewing required one, and also tips on where to buy bags if you didn’t want to sell your own). I have also included tips on where to buy herbs locally.

I hope you enjoy my article!

P.S. Earth Alkemie will be selling some herbs, essential oils, and containers in the near future so keep an eye on the website!

July 13th (wednesday) is the last day for the sale and to play the forum game!

Use the coupon code during checkout to get 15% off of products (not including shipping and taxes).
The coupon code is: summer

Click on the link for more information about the sale, new products, and back in stock products.

Play Earth Alkemie’s forum game to win a FREE petite (sample) vial of my not-yet-released elixir called Swan Luna Elixir. This is the custom elixir I crafted for Hamsa, a customer that won a contest last year 🙂

Pictured above is the xiao (small size, 0.6 oz, on the left) and grande (full size, 1.6 oz, on the right) sizes of Nirvana facial creme. Nirvana facial creme is made with cold pressed unrefined apricot kernel oil, and cold pressed unrefined blueberry seed oil.

I am so excited to release Nirvana Facial Creme. Facial cremes are what I call ‘waterless creams’ or balms that are crafted with the facial skin in mind. Nirvana is light weight, fast absorbing, and suitable for many different skin types, including dehydrated, dry, normal, and combination skin. Nirvana is also suggested for dehydrated skin that is oily. It is made with antioxidant and vitamin rich oils and butters, including cold pressed, unrefined blueberry seed oil, and cold pressed, unrefined, ethically wild harvested apricot seed oil.

Nirvana facial creme is based on a formulation I made many years ago for my own skin (which is balanced but can get dehydrated from time to time). At the time, my skin preferred light weight, fast absorbing formulas, and liked products with a little wax in them (the wax along with oils and butters help the skin hold onto moisture better). Back then, my skin did not like very heavy products, so I crafted my facial cremes to be emollient but light: rich enough to help seal in moisture, but light enough so that it doesn’t clog pores. I have to mention that out of all of the products I have crafted in the last decade, my facial cremes (and other balms, like my lip balms, which will be released in the future) are among some of my favorite formulations! 🙂

I have added many oils that are particularly good in helping dehydrated skin hold onto moisture better, including meadowfoam oil and marula oil. Most meadowfoam oils on the market are solvent extracted and/or refined (some cold pressed versions are refined too). I have used a cold pressed, unrefined meadowfoam oil, which is also organic. 🙂 All the oils used in Nirvana are cold pressed, unrefined. Nirvana is also formulated with blueberry seed oil. Blueberry seed oil is a super antioxidant; well known for its high vitamin E content. In addition to being a rich source of antioxidants and vitamins, I have found it is also an amazing carrier oil for dehydrated skin (when my skin gets dehydrated, it is one of the first oils I reach for, along with meadowfoam). I have also added additional naturally derived vitamin E, and many of the other carrier oils are rich in vitamin E too, for plenty of antioxidant goodness!

Since Nirvana facial creme is a waterless product, it is very concentrated (no fillers and no water to dilute it down), and needs to be applied to damp skin (oils/butters plus waters equals moisturizer). Since it is so concentrated, you can use a lot less to get results. It leaves the skin soft and smooth, and feeling like velvet.

Last but not least: the scent of this facial creme is dreamy! I have used a blend of floral waxes, including jasmine, tuberose, and rare champaca wax. There is also a natural almond note too. So this scent is sweet, honey-like, floral, almond-like, and a hint of green and fruits. Some species of Champaca are endangered, but I have used a different champaca species that is not endangered, and the champaca flowers for the wax are ethically, wild harvested.

Hi everyone,

I have made several website updates. First I have updated the ingredients page to include the ingredients for Nirvana facial crème. I have also updated the directions page to include directions on how to use Nirvana, and I have also updated the Dreams and Buttercremes sections of the directions page a little too.

I have also added Balance toner and Nirvana to the ephemeral page.

Lastly, I have greatly expanded the skin care routines page and have added a lot of information, especially for the longer skin care routine.

I am working on writing a post on Nirvana facial creme (which will be posted soon), will be taking some new pictures for the site, and also will be making other updates to several other pages of the site over the next several days.

Hi everyone,

Earth Alkemie is open again after a month long hiatus.

**this post has been edited to add more information.

To celebrate, I am having a sale: 15% off products (not including shipping costs and taxes). Use the coupon code, in the coupon box during checkout: summer

The sale is valid from today, July 6, 2011 until July 13, 2011 11:59 pm EST.

There is a fantastic brand new product, Nirvana Facial Creme. It is essentially a waterless cream (balm) and smells like heaven! Will post another blog post about Nirvana, I am excited to release this one!

Balance toner is back in stock too, for a limited time. I found a new source for owyhee hydrosol which should arrive this summer, and I am still looking for a source of real ylang ylang hydrosol–all of my previous vendors either stopped selling them or went out of business. They are both hard ingredients to source, since they are rare hydrosols (not a lot of places distill them, and some places claim they sell them but they are not selling real hydrosols). I had some frozen or refrigerated, so have made a batch with what I had left. So for now it will be given an Ephemeral (limited edition) status, until I am positive I have found a stable source of ylang ylang hydrosol.

The grande size of Sunset Cleansing Oil is back in stock. The xiao (small) size is still being packaged in 2 oz glass treatment pump. I had to change the packaging of the grande (full) size though (since the lotion type pumps popped open during transit for someone, so I can not ship them in the lotion pumps), so now I am packaging the 4 oz size in a plain 4 oz plastic PET #1 bottle. I am offering it in two different options for the grande size: the first option is Sunset packaged in the plain 4 oz plastic PET #1 bottle. This option is meant to be used as a refill (since the bottle is a plain plastic bottle. I will order different bottles in the future, but for now they will be packaged in plain plastic bottles). In the second 4 oz option, the plain plastic bottle of Sunset comes with an additional empty blue glass lotion type pump.

Warrior Aromatherapy Liquid Cleanser will also be back on the site probably within a week or so. It will be available in different sizes (it will now come in a petite (sample) size, that is packaged in these really cute tiny plastic sample bottles I just bought. They will contain enough product for a couple uses, so they are a great inexpensive way to try them). The 2 oz size (which was previously the xiao (small) size) will then become the grande (full) size. I am getting new bottles for those.

Website updates are still occurring. I have updated the links page (so most of the links to my sites now have better pictures/banners; it just looks nicer 🙂 ). Many pages will be getting new pictures up soon too. I will update the ingredients, directions, and skin care routine to include information on Nirvana Facial creme, sometime by this weekend. And just about to update the Ephemeral (limited edition) page in a bit.

I will hopefully be adding the containers and raw ingredients section within the next week or so. I will be selling limited amounts of raw ingredients (like carrier oils, essential oils, herbs) on a limited basis, so the stock will always be changing! 🙂 I will also be selling a few containers (bottles and jars).

Don’t forget to play the game on the forum for a chance to win a petite (sample) size of my upcoming elixir: Swan Luna Elixir (this is the one I took a year to create for Hamsa, a customer that won a contest for a custom product last year). This is an amazing elixir that has really helped Hamsa’s skin!

Hi everyone

I hope you are having a wonderful holiday weekend 🙂 Happy 4th of July!

I am busy getting ready to reopen (Earth Alkemie will be reopening on July 6th).

I have just posted a forum game for a petite/sample vial of my not yet released Swan Luna Elixir. This is the elixir that I crafted for Hamsa, who won a contest last year (I spent almost a year crafting and perfecting it. A few others may have tried one of its versions; since I had sent out some samples or small sizes with orders, during a couple specials. It had a different name before). Thank you Hamsa for being so patient with me as I was crafting it, and also for helping to choose its new name! I am glad you love Swan Luna Elixir!

Details for the game, for a chance to win a sample of this lovely concoction, are on the forum.

(The game starts now and ends July, 13, 2011).

Cheers,
Li

I wrote this Eco Living article sometime last year. It is another article on skin care when traveling. I don’t like to carry around several containers of products when I travel (aside from a few Earth Alkemie essentials ;P ), since I am a pretty light traveler. So I wrote this article on a few fresh ingredients that you can use, and that are easily found in almost any area. This article includes an idea for an all natural hand cleanser, and mild sanitizer. And more! Great ideas for summer time travel, or travel year round! Enjoy the article and the 4th of July weekend. Can’t wait to reopen Earth Alkemie! 🙂