** Some important news to share... please share this on your blogs, social networks, forums you frequent, etc! **
I am making this the new featured post on the blog and will shortly update the website.
I've decided to allow some more time for all of us here at Aromaleigh, and extend our break a little bit longer.
I've been posting 9/9 in hundreds of Tweets in the Twitter feed announcing the inventories that will be available, but please switch gears with me and the new date will be 9/18, which is a Saturday!
I'll repaste in some of the update information from the original 9/9 blog post, as well as some updates for you!
I hope you are all enjoying the end of your summer, and all of the busy times and excitement of the back to school days and the return of Autumn...
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I'm making this a featured post, since it contains all the important info you'll need to know about what's going on at Aromaleigh right now, over the next several weeks and most importantly, when we reopen with our final inventory sale on September 18th (NEW DATE!)!
The last of the website and vault orders shipped out on AUGUST 19th... all going priority mail, so you should have received them if not already, very soon.
(remainder is previous update from 9/9 announcement which gives you some background about the processes we've been doing with inventory and counting, and what to expect when the final clearance sale begins on 9/18 (MARK THAT NEW DATE ON YOUR CALENDAR!)
Other than that, what's going on is a lot of counting. We're counting out exactly what's left of all products and determining a final number for each color, in every collection. Many of the face powders and items that were unorderable during the chaotic last 2 weeks are now being packaged into what's left of our 20 gm and 10 gm jars... so we're basically taking our backstock (large jars of product) and packaging the small amounts that are left into jars for products such as Perle, Pure Rouge, Gothic Lolita Rouge, Coquille, Silk Powder, Ultra Res Powder, Luminesce Divine, Rocks Rouge, Twilight Supernatural (we're going to pack what's left of these into 10 gram jars!), and others...
Many things are completely sold out- in jarred inventory, backstock jar as well as the ingredients needed to make more. What we're making available on September 18th represents all that we've got left, as we have not made any new backstock for weeks now.
Individual samples will no longer be orderable. We are putting together sample sets of all collections that have full sample inventory, and the remaining shades will be offered as "Grab bag" style selection- how we organize and offer these remaining samples depends on what's left after the sets are put together. More news on that as we progress!
We're going to keep counting and doing inventory for a few days and then I am going to do something unheard of... rest! I will be checking my email, but I will not be working during this time. If you have any order queries or corrections, I will get back to you within 2-4 business days, but anything that needs to be shipped out, etc- will be done when we reopen on September 18th, so then mailed on September 20th.
I'm taking a much-needed break, and am going to be limiting my computer use as much as is humanly possible. With all that has happened the last few years in life and work, and the intense stresses of 2010, I probably could use several months off. But for now, 3 weeks will have to do! Thank you for your patience and understanding.
Here's some important details to note which apply to the 9/18 FINAL CLEARANCE SALE!
1. Delayed turnaround time is to be anticipated. Please allow 5-10 business days for your order to be internally processed. Shipping method will remain Priority Mail for the remainder of the clearance. The minimum order is $20, as it was for the ADIEU35 sale.
2. When you receive a shipment notification, this means that a label has been made for your order and it is moving into the "Filling" stage, where the items are placed in your order, checked off, and the order is packed and labeled. Receiving a shipment notice DOES NOT mean that your order has shipped. Please read the text of the notice- your shipment notification will include an estimation of how many business days you should expect it to take before you order leaves Aromaleigh.
3. I regret that we will not be reopening for International Shipping again. International customers, you will need to have a friend or relative in the United States order for you, with their credit cards or PayPal accounts, and ship to their billing address or confirmed paypal address. Then they can ship the items to you. We are not able to accept ANY international payment forms, so you can't pay with your PayPal account or international credit card and ship to the United States. Doing this will result in cancellation of the order, without notice.
4. All Final Clearance discounts on the website will be as marked. There will be NO additional coupon to enter at checkout. This is a change from the 9/9 update. With many orders coming in where coupon codes were not entered, or shoppers did not know about the ADIEU35 code, I decided that it would be much easier for all of you if the deeply-discounted final sale prices were already programmed. For this reason, NO additional coupons may be applied to the final clearance orders. All coupons will be non-functional. ALL eyeshadows will be marked down to $4 each. Rocks Glitters will be $3.50 each. I have not yet gotten to programming or determining prices for other products, but it will be roughly, 40-50% off site-wide.
4. Vault sales (blog sales) will reopen on September 18th also. Vault sale orders are separate from Aromaleigh.com website orders and no discounts or coupons are applicable to these sales, nor will any work. No international shipping, payment via PayPal only.
IMPORTANT: PLEASE DO NOT PRE-FILL YOUR SHOPPING CART BEFORE SEPTEMBER 18th! This will cause complex issues with our inventory system and will result in availability issues with your order most likely causing it to be canceled. I am trying to find a way to disable the "add to cart" buttons without having to take hours to "undo" each button individually. Yahoo store systems sadly do not have an "off" switch, or a "disable shopping cart" button... how I wish they did! So please, do not add items to your cart prior to our reopening... and if you have items in your cart, please empty the cart prior to shopping with us on or after September 18th. THANKS~!
That's about it for now... please follow us on TWITTER as updates will be made as inventory is counted, announcing what shades we have left, so that you can make note of this and plan your future order.
Right now September 18th (formerly September 9th!) is the date to mark on your calendar. I don't anticipate having to move the date forward again, since this additional time will give us ample opportunity to refresh AND prepare. When we reopen, myself and my staff will be ready to start back to work after a pleasant, long break from the last few months of very intense order processing, shipping and inventory.
As a small indie company, it's always difficult to be able to provide benefits that larger businesses provide, such as vacation time, sick days, paid holidays, health insurance and the like... these are parts of running a business that can be somewhat frightening and overwhelming to us all- sometimes so much that we put off hiring staff because of it!
But... I have to say that my staff has worked so hard in the last few months that they truly deserve every hour of this bonus time off. Out of respect for the very hard work and devotion that my staff has shown for the last 3 months since announcing the closing of Aromaleigh, this is time to rest, relax and rejuvenate which is just as important for them as it is for me. That all is, well... priceless. And I know it will all work out.
My staff will continue to work with me through the final clearance sale and then move forward with me into whatever my next creative journey is. My closing Aromaleigh was not a selfish decision, and in many ways it was not a decision at all. It was something that had to be done. Which is why I never faltered in my announcement. There will be no "dramatic comeback" for Aromaleigh. I will find an outlet for my creativity that brings me joy, and in turn, I hope... others! But my goal in life right now? Peace. Serenity. Healing. Solitude. Precious time with my son. And in time, a new creative path that is rejuvenating, beautiful, and a great metamorphosis.
I've been doing a lot of reading lately, and some of the books I'm reading are "Care of the Soul" by Thomas Moore. "The Molecules of Emotion" by Candace Pert. "Love, Freedom, Aloneness" by Osho. But the book that some of you might find most relevant to the constant conflict of our positive and negative aspects is "The Secret of Shadow" by Debbie Ford. It's about accepting your entire being... "warts and all"... because the parts of yourself that you want to hide, lose, cover up, cast off or bury... are part of you- every single aspect of you is part of an overall "recipe" that creates "you" as a whole.
There are many things about myself that I have seen as weaknesses, faults, or shortcomings- that I have been trying to change or "fix" for years now... and honestly? I think it didn't do a single bit of good. Instead of working with my weaknesses or faults, I was fighting against them and trying to remove them. It's only in having time to slow down, rest, and let my mind be at peace, that I am now able to see these things. I know that many of you also have these constant opposing forces within yourself (not sure that there is a human being who doesn't!). Accepting your whole self and integrating all of your qualities rather than separating them and trying to remove certain ones is the key to overcoming the shadows that each one of us, over time, have attached ourselves to.
For example, I am very sensitive. I have always seen this as a fault, even though this sensitivity has very positive aspects to it. I am learning how to view it differently, and how to see this aspect of myself as something which I can effectively integrate into my life- in other words, allow my sensitivity to work for me, rather than against me. It's not about getting rid of my sensitivity, but rather about seeing it from a different perspective and joining it with the rest of the things that make me, well... ME. If I continued to try to remove my sensitivity, I'd also be removing a crucial part of me which is, for instance- the part of me which that creatively interfaces with the world around me, allowing me to react artistically/creatively at a deeper level. I wouldn't want to remove that part of me.
I highly recommend the book "The Secret of Shadow". Because without darkness, there simply cannot be light.
So take some moments for yourself... life is so short, really... Stress I do believe, is slowly killing us cell by cell... not to mention the havoc it wreaks on our neurons and the delicate balances in our bodies.
So yes, I do intend to regain health, peace, joy, and many things... but I also intend to embrace my shadows and see them in a new light. Because they are part of me in as much as the positive things that I am blessed to have. This concept is, of course, nothing new. Yin? Yang? Chi.
When I arrived home from my first Kung Fu belt test and was cleaning out my bag, I found a large yin & yang "chip"... I carry it in my wallet as a reminder of the need for constant balance between light and dark. It's a mystery to me where it came from, but I think it ended up in my bag for a reason!
I know that other than tweeting inventory updates and Aromaleigh news stuff, I've been pretty quiet lately. I've barely sent more than a handful of emails, and then- only for customer service related things. I've been very internally focused, which is just where I need to be, and where I'm experiencing the most benefit from this time off.
I think of many of you very often... and I have a stack of letters and cards, and several folders of emails that once I am in a better place, you will hear from me... I want each and every one of you to know personally how much I appreciate your support and kindness. I never knew the feelings that many of you had about Aromaleigh, so reading them has been difficult, but extremely special... and has allowed me to get through what has been sort of, a time of mourning... but also in time, a rebirth!
xoxo,
Kristen
