Summer Jewelry & 100% Skincare Goodies - Sale! & Chance to win a lip balm!

Summer is in full swing here in the Sacramento area... though today has started off a little chilly we are expected to get warmer weather as the week ends.

I recently purchased a macro lens for my Nex-3... why.. didn't I do this sooner?!  It's amazing what difference this has made for taking photos.

I caught a couple good photos of our kitties --

We are also holding a ShopLately sale with a few of our favorite all natural skincare goodies --

^ The half size is on sale-- many of you have been asking for a half size to try it out... so here it is, at a great reduced price!

Basically I'm excited about all the goodies in this sale-- so here's the photo preview!

^ One of my favorites!

^ Another cutie :)

Head on over to our ShopLately sale page.  We have very limited amounts of each piece to create, and sale is for a few days only.

Thank you all for dropping by!

What's your favorite piece from this sale?  Comment with the link to the item below for a chance to win a Lavender lip balm!
(Open to residents world wide, ends Sunday June 23, 2013)

Thank you all!

Love,
Lisa

www.shopheqi.com

FACEBOOK

lisaHQCD@gmail.com

New Sale of Rings & Balms!

Just a quickie note--

There is NEW SALE up on our ShopLately storefront! Click HERE to shop our latest collection of little rings, earrings and some of your favorite lip balms!

Here's a quick peak:

Hope everyone is doing well! The weather here is becoming nicer and nicer-- I'm looking forward to bringing my workout outside in preparation for our July Tough Mudder!

Love,
Lisa

www.shopheqi.com

FACEBOOK

lisaHQCD@gmail.com

What the... salve?

My friend from college, Purrincup, suggested that I do a info session on SALVES!
What an awesome idea :)

What is an all-natural salve? What is it made from?
Salves ointments that help sooth body surfaces.  There are all sorts of salves on the market, but the ones I'm referring to here are the all-natural ones, made from a general base of beeswax, butters, oils and infused oils/essential oils.  Commercial salves often consist of synthetic hardeners, fragrances and fillers.  In the last year I've spent learning about hazardous substances at my day job, it's been really eye opening to see exactly what is being used in modern personal care products!

What are salves used for?
Depending on the ingredients used, the uses are endless.  A base of oils and beeswax makes the product inherently moisturizing.  Some salves are used as moisturizers, some for burns, others to sooth irritated skin.

Let's use He Qi Naturals' Vanilla Lavender Multipurpose Salve as an example:

I tried to formulate a multipurpose balm-- kind of a one-balm-addresses-most-common-bothers kinda product.  I MAY consider 1 other formulation in the future but until pen hits paper and oil hits the glass.... that's for another time.

The base of beeswax, shea butter, mango butter, coconut oil, olive oil, avocado and grapeseed oil really helps provide moisture and nutrients for your skin. This base allows this product to be excellent for healing cracked elbows/heels.  I added lavender essential oil (in a very small amount, since essential oils are highly concentrated) to help soothe and provide a bit of scent.  Vanilla infused jojoba oil has an aromatherapy benefit to help calm and relax. 

A little goes a long way. There's no need to layer it on-- rub your fingers on the balm, rub onto area to be "treated" and apply as often as you want.  So long as you're not allergic to the ingredients, these products are safe for all skin types!

A few people who have used this balm have noticed the following:

- heat rashes are soothed

- no more dry elbow skin

- excellent as cuticle moisturizer, this size would last forever

- spot moisturizer for certain dry areas of the face throughout the day

- great lip balm

Salves with essential oils like mint and eucalyptus can help alleviate chest aches/pains associated with asthma, coughs, etc.  Yes, salves are quite holistic!  These are products (in their all natural form) that do not cause harm to the body.  No fillers, no weird chemicals. 

I just made a fresh batch of our MultiPurpose salve, which you can get HERE.

Thanks for reading!  If you have any questions about salves, please don't hesitate to ask!

Lisa

www.shopheqi.com

FACEBOOK

lisaHQCD@gmail.com

Absinthe and Bling - last day to enjoy Mailing List Exclusive!

Have you seen Moulin Rouge?
Remember the Green Fairy? The Asbinthe fairy?

This lip balm was a play on Absinthe--

Absinthe smells of black licorice-- and though I absolutely despise eating black licorice, this scent is addicting. I added a bit of Stevia to the formulation to give off a sweet scent; attempting to capture the essence of Absinthe prepared with sugar (as it often is).

I had a customer request earrings with more dramatic chains + larger in size... so these are what I came up with-- Olivine SWAROVSKI flat briolettes with dangling gold chains!

These were a customized version of an existing design for a customer:

I found some Cherry Blossom shaped paper stamps, and for the life of me could not figure out how to utilize them. I was cutting out paper from Washi sheets and... ended up glueing them together to create these layered paper earrings:

I've been wearing them to work, and am quite happy with how they turned out :)

And some of the newest findings are featured in these beautiful bridal pieces:

Really adorable bow earrings:

^ These are quite interesting. The bows are definitely all silver, but they are textured so that it shimmers slightly. Very cool!

In a popular application, with pearls!

A few months ago I hoarded some beads I did not know how I wanted to use. I took a minimalist approach and made really simple bracelet with a Clover:

... and Heart

I was unsure about these geometric posts when I first ordered them, but I think it goes quite well with the black teardrops!

Lastly, I made a more dramatic bracelet. I was scared it would be overkill but I ended up really liking how it turned out:

In closing, my housemate was planning to use this dish as a bread basket. But Kratos decided that he was going to take over..

He tried really hard to make himself small to fit.

Lastly...

Today is the last day to enjoy the 20% off anything on the website!
Check out our Newsletter #1 for details HERE.

Ciao!

Lisa

SHOP

TWITTER

FACEBOOK

heqicrystaldesigns@hotmail.com

Excuse to Bake, Bath Salt Winner + Matcha Mint Lip Balm Launch + Giveaway :)

Happy Valentine's Day, everyone!
I don't care for Holidays much (because every day is a holiday, and I more than half serious about this), except for that I get an excuse to bake.

Last night, I made these sugar cookies w/ tinted Vanilla frosting, decorated with sugar pearls + other sprinkles.



For the most part they were simple, I got a little impatient with decorating towards the end, haha.
Today, I brought them to work to share with the office :) There's truly few things better than sharing something homemade.

Last week, I had the pleasure of customizing some little cuffs for Annie's wedding:

Thank you, Annie, for letting me be a part of your big day!

I am also excited to show off these cute sterling silver resin flower studs:

^ I have my own pair in cream, and I've been wearing it to work, with lots of positive feedback :D


The mint blue and deep purple are lovely, as well.


Last post, I asked for creative ways that you are eco-friendly in your daily life. Everyone had great inputs, and the random winner of the Grapefruit Bergamot bath salts is:  Paula 
Congrats! Please email me your full name and shipping address to receive your sample!

I'm pretty stoked to be announcing the new formula and packaging for my CLAY FACIALS:

They're in little foil pouches now, and 1 pouch lasts 3 uses. I have decided to go with 1 universally beneficial formula instead of many different types. Please read more about it in the listing!

And last, but definitely not least, I am SUPER duper excited to be introducing my Matcha Mint Lip Balm!
Conceptually, Matcha Mint is quite unique; I thought long and hard about the most beneficial ingredients, and everything I make is created with a purpose.

I was fortunate to have received tons of feedback on the prototype version of the balm. With your suggestions, I was able to improve the formula. The result is a quality lip balm that many of you have been a part of.



Lip balms are individually packed in biodegradable glassine bags, and comes with a description card and sealed, ready for gift giving.


I am giving away 2 full-sized lip balms to fellow readers!
All you have to do to qualify for a chance to win is to leave a comment to this post with a link to an item you're most likely to purchase in my SHOP, as well as your location (country is fine).

Thanks for dropping by; don't forget to spread the word about this mini giveaway! I will announce the winner in my next post :)

I hope you all have a great rest of the day. Happy Valentine's Day!

Lisa
SHOP
TWITTER
FACEBOOK
heqicrystaldesigns@hotmail.com

Home-Made HEALTHY power bars, Cuff Earrings!

In attempt to eat healthier and also save money, I made my won power bars recipe.

I have an amazing friend who is a nutritionalist-- and she makes this amazing bread pudding dessert out of sprouted bread and delicious chocolates. I've been making a drier version of it, and slightly more toned down with less sugar and things like that so it can be consumed as a power bar.

I don't have an exact recipe for it, but here's the gift of the ingredients I used. It's pretty crucial you keep it whole grain only or else it defeats the purpose of it.

INGREDIENTS:
- 5 -6 slices of whole grain, organic sprouted bread (you can buy this at Trader Joe's or Whole Foods, not  more expensive than regular bread)
- 3-5 Tablespoons Organic Blonder Coconut Palm brand sugar (low glycemic index)
- 2 TBS honey
- 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
- 1.5 cups milk (I used low-fat)
- 3 eggs (only 2 pictured, helps hold the mixture together)
- nuts, chocolate chips, dried fruit to taste and cocoa powder
OPTIONAL but recommended: additional flax seeds, amarynth flour, oatmeal





Cut bread into small cubes:


Combine ALL WET INGREDIENTS + sugar and honey/cocoa powder if you used any if you want chocolate flavor.

Put the cubed bread in there, LET THE BREAD SOAK UP the wet mixture.
It should be pretty slimy and gross looking, but I promise it'll be delicious.

Add in the dry ingredients, mix until combined:



Put into 9 X 13 pan:


Bake at 350 degrees F for 45 minutes. When a knife inserted into the center comes out clean, it's ready! Do note oven temperature vary from oven to oven!

Unfortunately, I did not remember to take a photo of it when it was done, oops! But it was delicious and co-workers loved it. Woot! I think I'll make more since it only lasted 2 days...

But things are only as healthy as your portions, so just because in inherently healthy doesn't means you can eat  half of it in one sitting. Though you'll want to.

In jewelry news, I've replenished the stock of cuffs :)
Made 3 new cuffs yesterday!








Also, if you are a reader and you'd like to score a FREE SAMPLE of my new Lip Balm (this is NOT released yet!), please send me an email here: heqicrystaldesigns@hotmail.com and name the message "lip balm sample". US Customers only please (sorry!!!) and don't forget to include your FULL NAME and SHIPPING ADDRESS.


Till next time,
Lisa
lisaHQCD @ Twitter
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