Gemstones & Crystal Beads

Unlike with big crystals, diamonds and metals, there are no bodies that can trace the gemstone and beads chain from mine to market which makes transparency regarding ethic sourcing difficult. Majority of the gemstones are mined in a small scale mining by families and co-operatives that get moved so often that make small scale mining difficult to trace exportation.  We have a small handpicked suppliers of our gemstone and beads. Whilst some come from another small business, a variety of our gemstone and beads come from America, India and Africa. Majority of our beads are hand cut, with the odd beads by machine. We do not buy from the cheapest supplier but go for the highest quality. We choose our suppliers with due diligence to ascertain that their values and morals on ethical sourcing align with ours. 

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Crystals

We state that our crystals are ethically and consciously sourced. We are able to track the journey of the crystals and are able to track our crystals to the mine they have been sourced from. The crystals’ journey is very important to us, our values are based on gratitude, spirituality, light and love. We ensure that our crystals can be traced to the mine and not exploited. We also ensure all crystals are cleansed, charged and reiki infused for your highest good. Our prices are fair and reflect the value of the crystals, we do not have a huge profit margin that would allow for false discounts or sales. 

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The crystal mining industry is often unregulated and therefore it is important to us to invest our own money and time into researching the quality of the products and the suppliers together with the environment conditions of the mines they come from. We are passionate about crystals but more important we respect and are hugely grateful for what we have acquired from Mother Earth. Majority of the time crystals are merely a by-product of other mined materials that are used in everyday technology i.e. watches, televisions, phones, other devices etc. We thrive not to stock man made, fake crystals and imitations such as opalite (man-made glass), fake malachite, fake rhodochrosite and so many more. We also do not stock crystals that have been falsely been inflated in value due to social media trends. We also invest time in learning about what we sell, learning about the history, their healing properties and we continue to learn and research. 

 

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Diamonds 

The ethical situation regarding diamonds is different to that of beads. Historically, the diamonds industry has been used to finance rebel groups and militia in various countries, hence the terms “blood diamond” and “conflict diamond”. Appropriately, a Scheme called the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme was established in 2003. This now regulates and tracks the trade of diamonds and rough material across borders from mine to customer. A bulk of our diamonds are sourced from a family run business in India. 

 

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Metals

Our gold is ethically sourced and conflict free, assurances of which have been provided to us from our suppliers. Most of our gold and silver is recycled, where feasible. The supply and demand has increased resulting in a decrease in recycled metals. Whilst we endeavour to ensure our metals are recycled, our suppliers are reluctant to guarantee every single gram is recycled. 

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Palo Santo 

Palo Santo (Bursera Graveolens) is a sacred tree that grows in select parts of South America. “Palo Santo” means Wood of the Saints, Sacred Wood or Holy Wood in Spanish. It is used in ritual prayer, ceremonies and healing and has been used for centuries. It is rich in brain-oxygenating terpenes such as limonene and a-terpineol which give the Palo its uplifting and positive qualities like its close botanical cousins, Frankincense and Myrrh.

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There is a lot of misinformation out there about Palo Santo. Yes Palo Santo is an endangered species but only the “bulnesia sarmientoi” species. We will never stock this in our shop. The only Palo Santo species we stock is “Bursera graveolens” which is not an endangered species.  Bulnesia sarmientoi is a wild, native tree growing largely in the Gran Chaco region of South America and accordingly, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species 2018 has listed the same as an endangered species. 

Bursera graveolens is not an endangered species and is also native to the Gran Chaco region of South America, extending to Central America and Ecuador. Our suppliers at Ispalla harvest bursera graveolens under strict regulated licensing and conditions from Cerros de Amotape National Park, a protected area located in the region of Piura in Northern Peru. This National Park is a part of a growing effort on behalf of Peruvian Department of Agriculture to conserve and restore the fertile populations of Bursera graveolens and continue to support future generations of indigenous people. 

We are confident and trust that our friends at Ispalla Incense treat Palo Santo with respect and gratitude during every step of the hand making process of every single incense stick. They are handmade from 100% Palo Santo (Bursera Graveolens) wood and tree resin that have naturally fallen and dried for 5 years, certified sustainably harvested in accordance with the Peruvian government, in addition to containing no chemicals at all, their formulas is a mix of flowers, herbs and exquisite essential oils. We have a close working relationship with our Peruvian suppliers and absolutely love their business ethos which also supports the local communities of northern Peru. We are currently the only UK distributors of Ispalla Palo Santo Incense.

 

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Smudge 

Our white sage and smudge products come directly from California and have a close working relationship with our suppliers. Our suppliers are a family owned business, have various fields of sage, herbs and plants along the coastal regions of San Diego and Baja California in Mexico that have been growing for over a decade. Their smudging products are never harvested from public lands or Native American reservations, it is grown and harvested sustainably aligned with our own ethically values and morals.