While they didn’t have a liberal history of times shared together, Donna Cristino and her grandmother Rose had a strong connection.
When Rose died of breast cancer when Cristino was a young teen, she became determined to help others confined by the affects of cancer.
“My grandmother inspired me with her enduring love,” she said. “It wasn’t like we had these 20 years together, because we didn’t.”
Rose had a cancerous lump in her breast, which spread to her lung and brain.
“I just think about her every day of my life,” the 48-year-old said. “She was just very special to me.”
Every month, Cristino, in homage to Rose, volunteers at the American Cancer Society. In her role as a licensed cosmologist and esthetician, she educates cancer patients about the changes to their hair, skin and nails that they will experience as they undergo treatment.
Through Cristino’s 25 years of work and research in the beauty industry, she has worked for many big brands, studied abroad in England in the 1980s with Vidal Sassoon and has now created her own make up line known as Jing Ai.
“This grew as a seed in my brain, literally, like five years ago,” she said of her brand.
After a launch three years ago, many tweaks and a repackaging, her line was given attention from buyers from QVC last October while at Henri Bendel in Manhattan — an event she said was trafficked by many Haddonfield residents.
More than 10,000 people submit their products to QVC each year, she said, with only 500 being accepted.
“I had this very strange feeling go through my neck and my spine. I knew they were going to change my life,” she said of the buyers.
Jing Ai, which means “pure love” in Mandarin Chinese, comes in eco-sustainable packaging. The line is gluten free, vegan and certified by The Leaping Bunny as a cruelty-free product.
Each piece is named for a different rose from around the world.
The make up is made from USDA certified organic wild rose oil from South America, grapes sourced from the Napa Valley and sunflower oil. Vitamins are loaded in to fight free radicals and hydrate the skin.
As an added bonus, they come with seed paper.
If the customer plants the seed flower, gives it tender loving care and water each day, wildflowers will rise and bloom.
Five percent of the proceeds are given to a grassroots organization called “Feel Your Boobies,” which is based out of Middletown, Pa.
Cristino, who has been a Haddonfield resident for five years, lives with her husband, John, and two sons, who are her biggest cheerleaders and support system.
According to Cristino, last year, $9 billion of sales were produced from QVC’s West Chester, Pa. studio.
She will be heading there on Monday, Aug. 20 at 3 a.m. and Tuesday, Aug. 21 at 9 p.m. for eight-minute appearances.
“It’s a big show,” she said, pointing out that she will be seen alongside many bigger brands.
While she said she is not nervous, she also admitted, “When I really think about it, the tips in my fingers get a little numb.”
“But I’m ready,” she added.
Recently, QVC sent her a tweet to welcome her to the “Q Family.”
“I’m shooting for the stars and hoping to land on the moon,” said Cristino. “The American dream is still alive and well.”
For more information, visit http://jingaiskin.com/, email [email protected] or call (888) 466-ROSE. Follow Cristino on twitter at https://twitter.com/JingAiSkin or visit her Facebook fan page at www.facebook.com/JingAiskin.
