Good New Goods

It’s been quite busy in my life since I last posted!  It seems that’s always the way though, isn’t it?  Part of what I’ve been so busy working on is what I’d like to show you in this post: three whole new product lines!

Well, to be strictly honest, one is brand new and the other has been around for a bit but I’m just getting around to blogging about it.  I’ll start with the one I’m most excited about and I think you guys will be excited about too!

I have a new Etsy shop!  I’m sure you guys know about the one I use to sell my prints through; this shop is for completely different kinds of things.  I’m calling it “Spiritual Skincare!”  Let me tell you how this came about.

I have long been on the quest for the perfect skin serum; something completely natural, vegan, with ingredients which not only help my skin in the short term, which prevents premature signs of aging, but is also extremely gentle, healing and will only make your skin healthier and healthier the longer you use it!  I’d narrowed in on several key oils that I knew my skin responded to well so I decided to create my own custom blend!  And, as it turns out, the oils are all incredibly good for your hair, nails; basically every single part of your body!

In addition to all that, you also have the option of having vitamin C serum added to your oil blend!  Vitamin C acts something like a bouncer for your skin; it keeps all the bad stuff out.  Anything that might try to sneak it, it finds and throws it out on its ass!  I have not been able to find reliable information on what vitamin C serum might do for your hair; until I do, I can’t recommend its use in hair, but it’s fabulous for your skin!

Artos The Bear’s Wares: Spiritual Skin Care Products and More – All images © Sarah Allegra

My exact blend is proprietary, but I can tell you that my blend contains vegan squalene oil, argan oil and rosehip seed oil (and vitamin C serum if you choose).  I won’t bog this post down even more highlighting exactly what INCREDIBLE things each of these oils do, but I’ll give you a brief highlight!  My serum:

• Is all natural, vegan, completely cruelty-free, fragrance-free and pure, with no fillers.
• Is extremely gentle, suitable for all skin types and (despite it being an oil) actually fights acne!
• Fights virtually ALL signs of aging – lines, crows feet, sun damage and stimulates cellular membrane and tissue regeneration.
• Heals scars and stretch marks, dark circles, under-eye bags and acne.
• Is extremely moisturizing, penetrates deeply, yet absorbs quickly and feels light, not heavy.
• Is incredibly good for your hair and scalp!  It can be used as a flyaway-tamer, added to your conditioner or styling product, or a few drops can be used on their own for a light hold (I love using it this way myself).
• Comes in three sizes so you can try a little before you stock up.

In addition, to make it really my kind of serum, each and every bottle is infused with the divine, healing energy of the angels and Unicorns.  Every time you apply your serum, you are getting a little dose of unconditionally-loving, magical, ethereal angelic and Unicorn energy absorbed straight into your being!  Geoff even asks me to apply it to him every night!  I utterly adore it, I’ve gotten wonderful feedback from it and I think you’ll love it too.  🙂

I think you all know that I’m a big fan of the site Fiverr!  It’s a wonderful site where people sell products (mostly digital) and services of ALL kinds – all starting at, you guessed it, $5.  What you probably don’t know is that I have several of my own gigs on Fiverr!

Do you like the textures I use in my images?  I sell my own grunge-style textures in this gig.  For the base order, you get a total of 10 textures, perfect for adding atmosphere and mood to any image!

One secret trick of mine is using layers of light textures!  I use them in almost every single image I create these days.  They can be a bold or subtle wash of color, which helps lend a dreamy, ethereal, beautiful look to your photos!  I have a LOT of these textures which I have all shot myself, so while the base gig starts at $5, if you want more, you can get up to 25 at a time!

sarahallegra.com

sarahallegra.com

sarahallegra.com

 

I’ve been a Reiki practitioner for a number of years now.  It’s a really beautiful and powerful energy healing modality which does not even require the person I’m working on to be in the same room as me.  Pure, healing energy knows no boundaries of time and space!  I’ve had wonderful results from this as you can see by the reviews, and I can also attest to having had incredible feedback from people not on Fiverr!  I offer Reiki sessions for people (yourself, a friend, a child, anyone whose permission I have to send energy to), or I can send it to the animal (wild or domestic) of your choosing.  Animals respond very well to energy healing!

 

Now that I am an officially certified Unicorn Healing™ Practitioner, I can also offer Unicorn healings, again for yourself (or any person who has given permission) or animals, wild or domestic.  Unicorn healing is like nothing else I’ve worked with or done before.  It has a very different feel than Reiki energy; neither is better than the other, they’re just different.  The best way to describe it is that Reiki feels more earthy and grounded, while Unicorn energy feels much more celestial and divine.  I have been COMPLETELY blown away by the incredible changes I’ve seen in myself and others, often after just one treatment!

Both kinds of energy healing work to restore balance and vitality to every part of you; mind, body, emotion and soul.  By its own nature, it can never harm and will always work for the recipients’ highest good.  I highly, highly recommend trying one of them, it can be an absolutely life-changing experience!

Last for my Fiverr gigs, I now have an oracle card reading gig!  I tested this with both friends and strangers before I decided to start charging, even just $5, to make sure it would be worth peoples’ money.  Boy, was that an overwhelming success!  I really enjoy doing oracle card readings, especially with the beautiful deck my sweet friend Andrea gave me!  Got a question?  It doesn’t matter what kind of question it is, the cards will help reveal the answer to you!

Lastly, this is not a new product, but it has a whole new price!  My online self-discovery-through-photography course Introspective: An Online Quest is currently hosted on Udemy.com.  Udemy recently changed its pricing structure and capped all its classes at $40, which is WELL below what Introspective is worth.  However, until I figure out a better way to deal with a host for the class, I’m happy to let people get in on this deal!  Prior to this, Introspective was priced at $75 for the entire 8-week course, so enjoy getting almost 50% off until I have time to deal with this!  🙂

Here’s a brief description of what Introspective is all about: Introspective is an eight-week, on-line course in which you will use your camera to explore your inner self.  Each week, you will receive assignments challenging you to delve into your secrets, fears and joys.  This is not a class about camera basics such as f-stops, apertures and shutter speeds…although links to helpful technical articles will be provided.  This class is about digging deep into your core and capturing what you find there in photographs.

So there you guys go!  Enjoy, and please feel free to leave feedback on any of these!

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A Cry From The Darkness: A Self Portrait

A self portrait that belongs to my Eternal Storm series, which explores depression, anxiety and other mental illnesses. A Cry From The Darkness © Sarah Allegra – a self portrait – detail

Wow, it feels like FOREVER since I finished my last piece!  This year has not been conducive to creating art.  I’ve done my best despite the circumstances which kept popping up (moving, medications, long ME flares, devoting a ton of time to the gallery show, stress from my recent battle among other things) but it’s felt like a very dry year creatively.  All I can do is my best though, and even when the ME really cramps my style, I still manage to get pieces finished… just much more slowly than I would like.

It was in this depressed feeling of “I haven’t created anything in the longest time imaginable” that today’s image was born.  When my regular creative outlets are blocked to me (by, say, solid weeks of migraines as I adjust to each new medication dosage), I become despondent and depressed.  Life slowly loses its flavor and color and if I’m not careful, I’ll sink into a pit of despair just like Artax in The Neverending Story.  Luckily, I have Geoff and my friends and family around to cheer me on and make sure I never sink too low, but much of it is outside of anyone’s control.

As I mentally pictured how I felt, this was it.  A big, ugly cloud of despair, depression, worthlessness, swirling around my head.  But this time, unlike my last self portrait which explored a similar theme, I wanted to show a bit of hope at the same time.  The cloud is surrounded, penetrated and pierced by beautiful, golden rays of light.  They stream in through the darkness, weaving through its thick blackness.  The darkness cannot survive in the light.  It will be broken up and dissipate.  And while I know this will probably not be my last battle with depression, I also know that each round will eventually be over… and once again, the light will have won.  That is the hope I cling to when the clouds cover me.

I’d like to mention my friend and very talented photographer Robert Cornelius’s Dust to Dust series as it provided some inspiration in my planning out of the darkness cloud.  Thanks, Robert!  🙂  He’s an incredible photographer and all-around cool dude, so check out his work if you’re not familiar with it!

A Cry From The Darkness © Sarah Allegra – a self portrait

This image belongs to my Eternal Storms series on depression, anxiety and other mental health issues.  These topics are still seen as quite taboo to discuss, something I hope to help with by portraying what living with them is like openly and honestly.  Silence and shame never helped a single illness get cured.  We need to be able to speak openly about our experiences, without judgement or fear, if we’re ever going to healed from them.

A Cry From The Darkness © Sarah Allegra – a self portrait – detail

A Cry From The Darkness © Sarah Allegra – a self portrait – detail

 

Do you have depression?  Try being a little more honest next time a trusted friend asks how you are.  You don’t have to go into excruciating detail, but try to avoid the temptation to simply answer “fine,” unless you actually are.  And if you have friends or family who you suspect or know suffer from any kind of mental ailment?  Invite them to tell you about it, ask some questions, assuring them that talking to you is safe and you will not judge them or call them crazy.  It is crucial that you answer whatever they tell you with love.  It is incredibly hard for people to open up and talk to others about these problems, so take their trust very seriously and treat it with the gentlest and greatest respect.

A Cry From The Darkness © Sarah Allegra – a self portrait – detail

A Cry From The Darkness © Sarah Allegra – a self portrait – detail

As we approach Thanksgiving, let’s be thankful for the help and support we have.  For the people dedicated to helping us win our fight.  For the people who will listen to us with only love and understanding in their hearts.  The people who give us hope.  The inner strength we are able to find when we think we’ve exhausted it all.  Those extra beams of light when we need them the most.  We need more people like this in the world.  Let’s try and all be them to each other.  The simple fact that there are people in the world who try to reach this goal is something I am very thankful for!

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Summer’s Winter

One of the unexpected perks of being a photographer who often shoots in natural settings is that I have been able to witness some examples of incredible beauty and wonder that I never would have seen if I wasn’t out in it so frequently.  One example of this is the sudden winter that fell over a nearby forest in the middle of summer.  The forest is rich with a certain kind of tree which apparently reproduces in much the same way a dandelions does; growing a downy, fluffy seed which the wind carries far and wide.  I have searched and searched, but I still have no idea what the name of the tree is; if you know, please tell me!  Regardless, the result of the trees was that huge sections of the forest was covered in a magical “snow.”  I couldn’t have asked for a setting more perfect for DreamWorld.

Naturally, I leaped into photographic action.

The first photo of the series featured Dedeker amidst the snow trees.  She carried such a feeling of wonder and awe, much the same as I had felt the first time I saw the snowy landscape.

All Of Winter In A Day

All Of Winter In A Day – detail

All Of Winter In A Day – detail

All Of Winter In A Day – detail

The second photo I created was with Katie.  I decided there should be someone who ruled this forever-winter corner of DreamWorld, a benevolent being who would keep things always winter, but it would be a spring-like winter full of life and growth.  I’m sure a lot of my fascination with this idea has to do with the brutal Los Angeles summer we all go through every year, and the fact that heat makes all of my symptoms much worse.  I dread summer every year, and I long for a place where summer could never reach, so the Snow Saint was created.  I wanted her to have a semi-religious quality, something that hinted at a spirituality as well as power over nature.  Katie easily embodied all of these elements at once.  The Snow Saint looks like a queen, like someone to be revered, but also someone you could approach and who would hear your supplications.

Where Summer Dares Not Tread – detail

Where Summer Dares Not Tread – detail

Where Summer Dares Not Tread – detail

And yes, on both occasions my models and I were shaking “snow” off our clothes and out of our hair for hours, but it was well worth it 🙂

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