Our Story

1970’s:

As a girl, Kirsten begins experimenting with homemade herbal skincare recipes from her mother’s large collection of natural health books.

1980’s:

Kirsten goes out on her own, putting herself through school to get a healthcare degree. With money tight, she continues making her own beauty treatments. With her first job at Georgetown Hospital, she finally has the income to experiment with several commercial skincare lines, but remains happiest with the products she makes herself.

1990’s:

Kirsten moves to the Middle East, taking advantage of many unique travel opportunities. Her job in a Saudi Arabian hospital inspires her to create a hand and nail treatment with healthcare workers in mind. Her travels (and fear of mosquito-borne diseases) lead to the creation of a very effective, completely natural aromatic bug spray. She sprays it on her pillow and hair every night, successfully avoiding bug bites – and she knows she’s on to something!

2000’s:

Kirsten begins formally studying Chinese Medicine at Han University in Tucson AZ. Her particular interest is Chinese Herbology and her studies aim towards board certification in that area. She begins incorporating Chinese herbs into her own skincare regimen, using the principles prescribed by TCM.

2010’s:

To put herself through acupuncture school, Kirsten launches her first skincare line based on her 30 years of experience with herbal beauty formulations and which also reflects her more recent affinity for cosmetic acupuncture. She begins incorporating Chinese herbs and herbal theory in the creation of her products. Her first formulas include commercial versions of products Kirsten had herself used for 30 years: Lotus Rose and Orange Flower face creams, Primary Elixir serum, and Ultimate Balanced Cleanser. Her facial products are used in the acupuncture clinic at her school.

2017

After her original brand becomes defunct, Kirsten founds Qi Formularie to continue and improve upon her vision to fuse TCM with modern natural skincare in a way that promotes the best of both.

2023

Kirsten completes doctoral studies at Five Branches University in San Jose CA to receive her DAcHM (Doctorate of Acupuncture and Chinese Herbal Studies).

OUR VALUES

Integrity

Qi Formularie manufactures a line of proprietary skin and body care formulas based on the substances, methodology, and theory of TCM and Classical Chinese Medicine.

We do this with passion and a certainty that we offer the best of science, both Eastern and Western, ancient and modern. While we draw the components of our formulas almost exclusively from the TCM Materia Medica and unique prescriptive dietary principles, we use nothing that has not been proven effective and generally safe by present-day research as well.

Our endeavors are informed by years of formal training, both in modern Western medical science and and in Graduate-level Oriental Medicine studies.

Simplicity

Nothing is added to a formula without a specific practical or therapeutic effect intended. This includes fragrance (even natural fragrance). The intoxicating scents of our products derive entirely from herbs and substances used for their therapeutic properties and symbiotic place in relation to other ingredients.

Respect

Who would we be if we did not show the utmost respect for the natural world that engendered not just TCM but modern medical science as well… pretty much everything? We put great effort into ensuring nothing goes into our formulas that required any creature to… get the short end of the stick, so to speak. We do not test on animals, and maintain a strictly vegetarian standard in choosing base ingredients. One of the benefits of using the time-proven system of TCM: many herbals are so well-established therapeutically that there has been no recent incentive to conduct further testing. We source sustainable resources only.

OUR GOAL

We strive to offer the best skincare products with the purest use of essential ingredients possible. To do this, we combine TCM principles with current research in a way that both respects and educates the consumer regarding both.

OUR FOUNDER

Kirsten Dolby Jacob is a Doctor of Acupuncture and Chinese Herbal Medicine accredited by the NCCAOM as an Oriental Medicine Practitioner. A graduate of Han University in Tucson Arizona, she completed full additional training and credentialing in Chinese Herbal therapeutics along with her Masters-level acupuncture studies.

She is a Skin Care Expert by default: always devoted to natural beauty, she formally developed her Facial Rejuvenation technique in Acupuncture school and incorporated her lifelong passion for formulating her own natural skincare by founding the TCM-based skincare line Qi Formularie.

Her previously decades-long career was as an ICU respiratory therapist. She writes frequently on the subjects of TCM, skin care and chemistry. Her geeky article in Forbes is available below.

CLICK HERE TO READ THE ARTICLE

Her TCM take on the same subject, pH balance, is available here and relates specifically to skin care.

In 2023 she received her DAcHM from Five Branches University in San Jose CA, where she specialized in dermatology, neurology, and immunology.