CUSTOMER CARE

Having happy customers is my number one priority. I want you to love your mala and enjoy it for years to come, making it part of your practice, a treasured object, a comfort to hold, a healing tool for your own treatments. If you are not happy with the quality of the make please do be in touch to discuss any issue you might have. I will always do my best to make sure you have what you need. Malas tend to be quite expensive and it took me a long time to actually buy one due to this. Therefore, I work very hard to keep costs down for you to make these malas affordable. I work honestly (in line with the reiki principles!!) to give you fair pricing so that this is a sustainable business, not driven by excessive profit! 

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ETHICS AND SUSTAINABILITY

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Crystals:

I mostly use Grade A or B crystals.  Higher 'gemstone' quality beads (Grade AA and above ) are no more effective energetically speaking and using these lower grade crystals prevents them from being discarded.

 

There is much discussion around the issue of mining and the negative impact it has on the Earth and the conditions that workers are subject to. Sadly the full supply chain for crystals is very difficult to trace. From the research I have done, it seems that large-scale ore and mineral mining is the far bigger problem regarding both the environmental impact and health and safety of workers.

 

The majority of crystal raw material comes from smaller deposits, these are known as small scale mines or SSMs. These mines are often run by family or co-operative groups and are much less impactful on the earth. There is low mechanisation in these practices but that does mean there can be high labour. There are many of these kind of mines so regulation is very difficult but they do provide a much needed income for the local areas and there is good work being done by various organisations to ensure that SSMs do not end up funding illegal activities or exploiting workers. It is by no means perfect nor transparent but it is also said that boy-cotting is not the answer either as it removes the income entirely for labourers and destabilises the area. Better regulation is needed and I do my best to keep up to date on these issues to make informed choices about what I use in my work.

 

I buy my beads in small quantities from a UK based wholesaler who are better placed to vet the companies that they source from. The raw material that gets turned into crystal beads can be sourced from many different countries from SSMs all over the world. Some of these are 'Western' countries where the welfare standards are well known and approved.  Some are harder to trace (see above). All manufacturing of the raw material takes place in either China, India, Sri Lanka or Thailand. The Madagascan mines are actually owned by the Sri Lankan and Thai manufactures so there is better traceability there.  My supplier has given me good assurance that each of their suppliers adheres to strict welfare standards regarding their workers and that the manufacturing processes are also strictly within all government regulations.

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Wood beads:

I use one of my bead suppliers to source my Australian sandalwood beads. This is a species that is not endangered and not subject to legal protection. The beads are sourced from sustainable plantations. Occasionally I buy rudraksha through them too and this is also from a sustainable source.

 

The Indian sandalwood is a protected species and I only buy from a charity in India that supports widowed women through their hand-carving of beads and crafts. The sandalwood they supply is from a legal plantation (all sandalwood from India must be). The same charity organisation supplies the tulsi or holy basil wood and rudraksha. 

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Gold and Silver Findings:

The jewellery findings I use come from a UK based company that have good ethical policies in place. The gold and silver  is conflict- free and ethically supplied as well as a high percentage of it being recycled too.

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Cotton and other materials:

I use cotton bags from a UK based company, who source from carefully chosen suppliers in China and Europe. They do not dictate the price paid for the cotton and regularly carry out supplier audits which cover process, quality, social and environmental aspects. They  also visit their suppliers and follow their supply chain from the source, to ensure compliance throughout the process. They also use sea-freight as much as possible and water based inks in their printing processes. I have sourced a natural rubber, wood-mounted stamp which I sometimes use instead of having my bags printed and this is also used with a water-based ink.

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I use nylon or hemp for threading and am careful to source from companies that have a good ethical and sustainability policies in place. These are usually manufactured in the USA or Europe and the company offsets their carbon. 

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The cotton I use for tassels is from a long-established company with a robust ethical policy, ensuring high welfare and fair prices paid. 

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Packaging and Printing:

I do not buy in anything plastic for my packaging. I do receive my supplies in plastic wrap sometimes and so I may recycle this packaging in sending orders out to you (bubblewrap around a selenite plate for example) but I never throw any of it away if it can be avoided. I source (recycled if possible) paper Kraft envelopes instead of bubble lined, cardboard boxes, paper tape and paper stickers and recycled tissue so everything can be recycled easily. I do my best to source card stock from recycled sources, for my postcards and business cards if this is possible. 

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Altar Accessories:

All the products I stock in my Altar section have been checked to come from sustainable sources. I decided to only stock Fluorescent Ranch smoulder sticks because they grow and harvest all their own plants and do much to move people away fro some of the over-harvested plants like white sage. The palo Santo I buy is from fallen trees only. Palo Santo only gets its fragrance after the tree has been dead for some years. The abalone shells are from South Africa or Mexico through sustainable shellfish farms - they are a by-product from the food industry. 

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PRIVACY POLICY

Click here for the full policy. 

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WHOLESALE POLICY

I would love to see my malas go far and wide so if you would like to stock Solis Malas in your store, please get in touch via my contact form or email hello@solismala.com with a little bit about your store, social media handles etc and I will take a look. I also love to collaborate so if you would like a range for your store or your clients, talk to me!

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Past Collaborations:

The Enlightened Apothecary (online)

Emma Cannon Fertility Clinic (London)

Lynne Taggart - Highly Aligned (online)

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Stockists:

Sunshine Cafe and Yoga (Penryn, Cornwall)

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