Qi Qi Naturals' "Try Me" Sample Pack

$15 on Etsy.com

Hi Everyone,

I'm so excited to let you know that if you are wondering that Qi Qi Naturals' products may work on you, a simple way to give a shot is getting the "Try Me" sample pack.

Here's the information I got from the Etsy page including what you will get and the ingredients:

(source: http://www.etsy.com/listing/185360576/try-me-sample-pack-handcrafted-organic?ref=shop_home_active_12)

“Try me” sample pack:
It has 5 different handcrafted organic skincare samples. It is a great way to try the samples before you buy the full size.

1 Eye serum-----------------------------------------1 ml
1 Face oil--------------------------------------------1 Dram
1 Rose Face Toner---------------------------------3 ml
1 Herbal Face Cream Or Rose Face Cream----5g
1 Herbal Mud Mask----------------------------------10 g
---------------------

Note: The Herbal Face Cream can be switched to Rose Face Cream. 

Comes with an unbleached cotton muslin bag. (you can recycle the bag, use as tea bag, bath bag and more!)

--------------------
Eye Serum:

Ingredients: *Jojoba oil, *Rosehip seed oil, Grapeseed oil, Carrot seed &
Rose essential oil

(*Organic)

Face oil:

Ingredients: *Jojoba oil, Coconut oil, E.O. *Lavender, *Sweet Orange, Roman Chamomile, Rose & Ylang Ylang essential oil

(*Organic)

Rose Face Toner:

Ingredients: *Rose water, *Witch hazel, *Aloe vera gel, Glycerin, E.O.*Lavender, Chamomile & Jasmine

(*Organic)

Herbal Face Cream:

Ingredients: *Shea butter, *Olive butter, *Kokum butter, *Coconut oil, *Olive oil infused with *Rose,*Lavender, *Chamomile, *Calendula flowers, *Echinacea, *Dandelion leaf, *Comfrey leaf, Arrowroot powder, Vitamin E & Lavender essential oil 

(*Organic) 

Herbal Mud Mask:

Ingredients: Rhassoul Clay, *Oats, Milk powder, *Lavender flowers, *Chamomile flowers, *Comfrey leaf, *Rose petals, *Calendula flowers & *Sweet orange essential oil 

Note: Please test this products on a small area if you have sensitive skin to be sure it will work well for you. If you have irritation please discontinue using the mask. 

Qi Qi Naturals' Grand Opening at Etsy: 10% OFF !!

Hi everyone!

Yay!! I'm so excited to let you know that Qi Qi Naturals is now available at Etsy.com.

https://www.etsy.com/shop/QiQiNaturals

From Kiki's Instagram:

"I am so thrilled and honored today to announce the official launch of my new All-Natural handcrafted skincare brand, Qi Qi Naturals!  It is available on Etsy.com and at local herb store. The past year has been full of challenges and trials. I couldn't be happier than to have my own skincare brand (I have worked in the beauty industry for about 12 years). And it is like a dream comes true!"

And for the Grand Opening event, Qi Qi Naturals offers 10% off for everyone for a minimum purchase of $10 until Jun 30.
Use the code ENJOY10OFF when check out.

Let's stop by, shop, and spoil your skin with all natural skincare products from Qi Qi Naturals. They work wonderful on my skin because "Nature makes the best skincare".

See you in the next blog/event !
Keep our natural beauty!

-dora-

Qi Qi Naturals Event: Sea Mist Botanical Store in Oregon A

Qi Qi Naturals products will be selling at a local botanical store and Etsy.com soon! Stay tuned!!!
Please support small business and cruelty-Free products!

From Sea Mist Botanicals Owner
"Sea Mist Botanicals now carries Qi Qi Naturals. Stop by and check out these wonderful new products.
Mineral Foundation, Cheek and lip stain, eye serum, face oil, Herbal face cream and more....

Sea Mist Botanicals carries fresh organic herbs, salve kits, bath salt, sage, lotions, pet products, soaps and so much more. 

Open Monday thru Saturday 10am to 6pm.

16209 W Hoffeldt Ln Suite C, Behind rice bowl. Look for the big red flag."

Here are some preview photos: 

All of the products are handcrafted by Kiki with love and are cruelty-free

"Try Me" Kit

Also, we are currently developing our Etsy store at: https://www.etsy.com/shop/QiQiNaturals

Please stop by and spoil yourself by letting natural products touch and improve your natural beauty!

Thank you!

In Love with Coconut

Lengkuas Island, Belitung Indonesia

Tropical Fruit
Coconut is very common in tropical countries. Growing up in Indonesia, I get used to coconut. Some traditional Indonesian soup use coconut milk as one of the ingredients. Coconut water/juice is common for traditional desserts along with coconut meat. At some restaurants, we can order young coconut for our drinks (with or without extra sugar/ice). It comes with the whole fruit so we can eat its meat as well. I loooove it! The water always feels refreshing especially for hot and tropical weather. One coconut can be used for food/drink/oil, and its fiber (aka cocofiber) can be used at home as door mat/roof, its shell can be used as charcoal and many more.
I think it's amazing that somehow the world is balanced. Tropical and hot weather places are blessed by the existence of this fruit!

The Water
It is believed that drinking coconut water is equal to drinking milk. It has protein, amino acids, antioxidants and anti-toxic agents. Its Vitamin C contents is known for creating bright and clean look on baby's skin when drank during pregnancy. It provides a powerful energy source as if drinking an energy/isotonic drink and of course this also means that coconut water is really good in preventing and treating dehydration. I always look for coconut water whenever I feel tired and weak and when I don't feel good. Its anti-inflammatory property helps me feel better. The sugar content in coconut water is enough to make us feel full for a while which is good for those who are trying to lose weight.
Remember what antioxidant agents do? Yes, they protect us from free radicals. This means that coconut water is good for our body and skin as anti aging source. Yay!

The Meat
Young coconut meat is good for desserts while riped (or "old") coconut is good for grated coconut, coconut milk and coconut oil. Basically what the coconut water offers, the meat will also provide. For example, its fatty acids, antioxidant and anti-toxic agents.

Coconut Oil
Coconut Oil is derived from coconut milk by warming and separating the oil from the water used for pressing. So, it is not hard to make coconut oil from a riped whole coconut. Many people use coconut oil for cooking, baking, and skincare. Even I do too.
I use it for baking and cooking. For baking, I substitute some of the vegetable oil or butter with coconut oil. It makes the baked goods smell good.
I use it on my skin when I have itchy dry skin and to soothe my skin from burn.
I use it on my scalp as natural hair treatment. You can find the simple recipe for hair treatment below.
I use it as make up remover.
I use lotion, face oil, and body butter* that has coconut oil as ingredients.

Coconut Oil works impressively. Not only it costs relatively cheap (as skincare) but it provides more benefits than other skincare products. Moreover, it is natural. The worrisome of putting on harsh chemical ingredients could be eliminated.

I hope you enjoy reading this blog. Please leave any comments if you have any experience with coconut in any forms. Keep our natural beauty!

-dora-
*the products mentioned are handmade by Kiki the founder of Qi Qi Naturals.


DIY Hair Treatment
(Great for breakage, frizzy, conditioner, dandruff, hair growth)

1 tbsp Extra Virgin Coconut Oil (in liquid form, you can always warm it up by putting the closed jar into warm water)
Juice from 1 lemon.
2 drops of Rosemary or Lavender E.O. (optional)
Mix all ingredients. Start putting on the scalp by giving massage. Work on giving 1-inch space in between. Always massage 2-3mins when applying. If you have extra, cover the hair til hair ends. Leave it on hair for at least 30 mins. You may use cap to avoid dripping. After 30 mins, wash your hair with your shampoo. (Note: try to avoid hair dryer as it dries hair and makes hair dull and frizzy).

If you don't have lemon but you have (raw) honey, you can substitute the lemon juice. Use 1 tbsp honey instead.

If you have sweet almond oil, you can mix both in equal parts and they work well together as hair mask.

If you don't have any of the ingredients except the coconut oil. That's fine. You may need at least 2 tbsp of Coconut Oil. You can simply follow the directions above when applying.

Oil as Anti Aging

What are the oils that can be used as Anti Aging ?

Aging is Inevitable
As I have written in the previous blog called "Oil and Our Skin," I believe that some oils do give more benefits to our skin as natural skincare compared to manufactured skincare. We all know that dryness could cause aging, wrinkles, itch, flakiness. We are aware that sunlight could cause aging with its free radicals and leave us dark spots or skin discoloration, not to mention having sunburn after being exposed in the sun for a long time. We also notice that being old may cause having sagging skin because of losing collagen and elastin. Yes, we all know that all those could happen to anyone of us. Sunlight is something inevitable if we like to go outside for a walk, hiking, tanning, playing at the beach, etc. Age is unavoidable as I am writing this blog, I'm aging by seconds, minutes, or maybe an hour or two!

What to do now? We always count on some skincare. But, the only question is are they really dependable to prevent me from aging? I mean, I understand they have dermatologist's approval; they also have some people to try and test their products before launching which is great. The thing is that sometimes some skincare contain harsh chemical ingredients. Every time I looked at the ingredient list on an item, I would frowned and stunned because I'm like "I don't understand what in the world is this, this, this..."
This situation has led me to be more aware of choosing a skincare product. Honestly, I would love to make my own skincare. But, sometimes when I read the recipes, it takes at least ten to twenty ingredients to get a well-balanced and effective skincare. For that reason, I give up. The best thing is that Qi Qi Naturals is owned by my best friend, Kiki. With her passion, she makes wonderful skincare from natural ingredients. Even better that most of them are organics. So, thanks to her, I don't have to make my own skincare, yay!

Oil Checklist
As we know that choosing the right skincare is crucial because we want to have the maximum benefits of each product we use. We want to make sure that we prevent ourselves from sign of aging prematurely. Yes, we, ladies, want to look youthful and radiant no matter how old we are.
A good natural skincare product will always include at least one of the oils below.

I believe many many more can be added to the list. However, for example, knowing that your product contains Jojoba Oil and Almond Oil at the same time might be such a relief. I hope this helps you to find out which products are good for you. So, really. Oil does work as anti aging and it gives you more benefits than a manufactured skincare could give at some point.

Keep our natural beauty! Ciao!
-dora-

Here's the list:

Vitamin E Oil
It helps treating skin from sunburn, scars, acne, and wrinkles by speeding up skin cells regeneration. Vitamin E is also known for its antioxidant properties.

Coconut Oil
If you like to have simple skincare and your skin is not so sensitive, you may consider to use Extra Virgin Coconut Oil as your face oil. In fact, according to my research, a lot of people have been using EVCO alone as night moisturizer. Coconut Oil contains antioxidant agents that help prevent aging and fight free radicals. It's believed to help with wrinkles and flakiness.

Olive Oil 
It is rich in vitamins and antioxidants and highly effective in neutralizing damaging free radicals. It also helps balance your skin's moisture without clogging pores.

Castor Oil
As antioxidant, it nourishes our skin and fights aging signs. In addition, it also has antiviral properties.

Camelina Oil
Rich in Omega-3 fatty acids, it improves skin elasticity. It also has Vitamin E that works as an antioxidant to protect our skin from free radicals.

(Sweet) Almond Oil
This oil helps nourish the skin making it smooth, delay aging, lighten dark complexion, eradicate irritation, inflammation and skin rashes, soothing itchiness and moisturizing. It makes skin supple to touch, glow and look healthy.

Jojoba Oil 
It absorbs easily to our skin without feeling greasy, clogging pores or blackheads or promoting acne. It rejuvenates cell growth and helps dry and damaged skin by improving skin elasticity and suppleness because of its vitamin E content.

Rosehip Seed Oil
Full of vitamins, antioxidants and essential fatty acids to correct dark spots and hydrate dry, itchy skin, reduce scars and fine lines. It rejuvenates the skin and leaves the skin glowing.

Kukui Nut Oil
It could penetrate the skin easily and leaves the skin feeling silky and smooth without greasy feeling in addition to its antioxidant agent that protects the skin from free radicals.

Avocado Oil
It contains vitamin A and antioxidant, nourishes, moisturizes, cleans skin, eliminates wrinkles, condition hair and protect against harsh environment.

Grapeseed Oil 
It helps regulate our natural oil production, assists with skin repair while it has mildly astringent, antioxidant and antiseptic properties packed with skin-brightening vitamin C.

Butter
Kokum Butter
It contains of fatty acids and antioxidant agents which reduce degeneration of the skin cells and restore elasticity of the skin.

Cocoa Butter
It also has antioxidant agents to slow the signs of aging.

Horsetail Butter
It's believed to treat cutaneous dryness, rebuild and regenerate damaged skin cells from rashes, wrinkles, acne, burns because of its anti-inflammatory, antibacterial, antioxidant actions.

Raw Shea Butter
It's believed to help improve skin, hair, beauty and health because it renews, repairs and protects the skin against aging/wrinkles and harsh climate.

Essential Oils
Rose stimulates the skin and helps from dry and aging skin.

Sweet Orange (aka Orange Oil) slows down aging process and leaves the skin look radiant and glowing.

Vanilla works as antioxidant and anti-inflammation. It also promotes repairing damaged skin.

Immortelle (Helichrysum) has antioxidant and anti-inflammatory benefits to help skin with acne, allergies, sunburn, ezcema and aging signs.

Sandalwood relieves rashes and itches, eczema and psoriasis, soothes acne and slows skin aging.



Note:
All those ingredients above are used by Qi Qi Naturals.
I didn't write about them in details. The list are genuinely by me, but the contents are from the internet, collected bits and pieces when I did some research. I may have rephrased it with my own words. Thanks.

Oil and Our Skin

to keep our skin moisture, oil plays an important role

I heard about Tea Tree Oil about ten years ago and bought it since I heard about it's anti-acne role. I have dry-to-normal skin type and TTO was too strong to be applied without any dilution that my skin ended up cracking. I also had Rosehip Seeds Oil two years ago that ended up being used twice which caused my skin dry. But, seriously, I didn't know how to make use of them. I mean, what would I do with those oils. I was ignorant. Well, that was me until a year ago.
Okay, so what with these oils? Thanks to the booming of Body Oil, Face Oil, Skin Oil. Yes. O-I-L. But why? how?

As I get older, I started to use skincare products. I need to take care of my diet and skin! I want to have healthy and glowing skin. I began using moisturizers and night cream on my face, eye gel/cream on my eye lids and around, body lotion all over. However, deep down I realized that those regular skincare might have side effects. We know lotion contains fragrance to make them smell so damn good! Also lotion mostly contains water. Water is used to moisture our skin but it dries quickly so we apply more lotion. I think fragrance is toxic and water dries our skin. So, I began to research for a better solution. The answer is oil. In fact, some people have oily skin, while others are lack of skin oil. Why are we lack of oil? Well many reasons, I would say 5 reasons: aging, stress, life-style (alcoholic or smokers), sunlight radiation, and gene factor.

Anyway, I started with my body due to bad experience with my face. I use Cocoa Butter Body Oil as lotion. It smells wonderful and it works really good on my skin, especially during winter time to fight my cracking skin. I put Cuticle Oil that contains Vitamin E Oil on my nails. I use Virgin Coconut Oil as hair mask. It smells good and makes my hair smooth. As for Tea Tree Oil, I have the one that already diluted and I use it on my itchy skin. I think it works better now. It's a bit greasy but it helps with my skin problem. As for my face, I try to give a second chance with Qi Qi Naturals Face Oil. OMG! It works wonderfully, quickly absorbed without greasy feeling. It makes my skin feel smooth and improved; it helps me fighting flaky skin on the face.

Well, I have done some research about different types of oil: pure oils (olive, coconut), essential oils (lavender, chamomile), seeds oil (grape, hemp), TTO, etc. I believe that we could make use of oil in any ways as our natural skincare, however, you must do a little research what oils are good for you and whatnot. Google it before you get it, make sure that your skin type are not prone to the oil you want to use. In fact, some oil works for oily skin but not for dry skin, for instance TTO. Some oil contain sebum that similar to human skin's sebum which means could blend well with our natural skin oil and absorbed quickly. Some oils contain anti-oxidant agent that fights UV radiation or free radicals.

So, Oil? Yes. Why not?

-dora-