Alchemist, aromatherapy expert, connoisseur of the power of phytotherapy, passionate about life, nature and above all a visionary. Forty years ago he created Alqvimia, the 100% natural cosmetics brand, into which he poured all his love, passion and creativity in his quest to transform beauty into light. He said: ‘My work is a meditation in itself, it is an offering to the world, a prayer. This is the secret of the noble art of alchemy’.
Idili was born in Oran and spent his childhood in Paris, the city of lights that already illuminated his first steps and awakened his dream around the world of perfumes. When he was only 7 or 8 years old, he visited the perfumeries of the time around Place Vendôme, to discover new scents and fragrances. It was during those years that the world of perfumes took root in his heart and he challenged himself by saying ‘when I grow up I will do it better’. He succeeded, his dream came true.
In 1975 he returned to Spain after a forced family exile and settled in Altea (Alicante), his mother's hometown. Moved by his existential restlessness, he enrolled at the University of Valencia, in the Faculty of Philosophy, to begin after his degree a period of initiation and travel, spending almost a year in India. There he got to know the Eastern philosophies of tantrism, meditation, Hinduism, Buddhism... During those years his dream was consolidating and back in Spain he opened his first alchemical laboratory in the Alpujarra of Granada, where he learned the secrets of the medicinal plants entrusted to him by the shepherds of the area. He reconnected with the world of flowers and plants, distilled his first essences and created his first perfumes and cosmetics. The connection with nature gave him the impetus to look for an area rich in medicinal plants and so he arrived in La Garrotxa, in the heart of the Girona Pyrenees, settling in a 14th century farmhouse, Can Duran, where ALQVIMIA was born in 1984, a paradisiacal area where the headquarters are currently located. ‘I wanted to found ALQVIMIA in the heart of nature because I wanted to show the world that it is possible to create wealth, to create a company in the heart of nature and with absolute respect for Mother Earth. According to the thinking of the ancient alchemists, we can merge with her instead of trying to dominate her, at the risk of trying’.
Idili created ALQVIMIA to offer authentic cosmetic jewels, different and exceptional, following the technique of the ancient alchemists, uniting tradition and modernity from formulas made with 100% natural extracts. Each of the formulas created by Idili Lizcano go beyond the transformation of the skin, they are therapeutic jewels that treat emotions, health and the soul. He himself said ‘I create formulas of happiness’. Each extract, each essential oil, each ingredient is selected from the best quality depending on the area, the climate, the type of cultivation and harvesting in any part of the world, seeking the excellence of the product. In 1991 the company began its international expansion, opening markets as complex as Holland, Belgium and Italy and in 40 years it has managed to position ALQVIMIA in 20 countries all over the world, with a successful positioning in Asian countries where the demand for the quality of essential oils is extremely high. He implemented his philosophical knowledge of spiritual cultures in each bottle of ALQVIMIA, formed his own team of therapists and developed rituals with cabin protocols, opening his own ALQVIMIA Store & Spa in 2003 in Barcelona, Madrid, Girona and Hong Kong, which today are rituals that are offered in the cabins of the Spa and the most important hotel chains around the world, such as the Ritz-Carlton, Marriott...
And since love has always been present in everything Idili has created, because ALQVIMIA is his own love story, he also wanted to transmit all that love not only to his family, but also to his company by creating the New Economy model. He called it Humanised Economy, respectful of people and the environment. An economy that from day one promotes the productive economy as opposed to the speculative economy. This way of working has earned him national and international awards, such as the Greenpeace Green Label in 2004 for the quality and authenticity of ALQVIMIA products.
A visionary, true to his principles, a pioneer of authentic 100% natural cosmetics for 40 years, Idili Lizcano created and lived his great adventure, which he now leaves in the hands of his beloved children. Drolma Lizcano, CEO of ALQUIMIA, reminds us of her father with Plato's words that inspired Idili ‘beauty is an ascending path to light and now he has reached that maximum splendour, shining his light stronger than ever from wherever he is’. D.E.P.