(sit down with a cup of coffee/tea/wine):

When I first had my beautiful daughter 12 years ago I was suddenly overwhelmed with the realisation of the responsibility to protect her was my responsibility.  I realised that as a nurse we administer drugs through the skin e.g. pain patches, nicotine patches and so basically “what's put on the outside goes inside”. Everyone was talking about the chemicals in food, so naturally when treating wounds and listening to patients with skin conditions I started to wonder if the lack of transparency around food was also transported into skincare.  What I found horrified me.  Not only were the terms on skincare products not clear but many of the ingredients in very well known brands including those calming to be “natural” were infact know immunosuppresses, neurologically damaging, carcinogenic and hyper allergenic just to name a few. This is not a scare tactic on my behalf nor is it a conspiracy.  It is fact...but I beg you don’t believe me go and research it for yourself. It is not hard to research any ingredient on the back of a body care product all you have to do is Google the ingredient and safety, you will inevitably find a government or official website or two.  More specifically look for what’s called a “Material Data Sheet”, even natural ingredients have one.  Be warned though I've spent literally thousands of hours reading these sheets and deciphering them and they're a little on the scary side. So why does the government allow it? The argument is that in small doses of these ingredients they are safe, but how many products a day are you using and how many times in your life are you putting a small dose of that same toxic substance on your body.  It doesn't take a mathematical genius to work out that it all adds up or should I say builds up. Allergies, cancer, diseases such as Alzheimer's are all on the rise and we say we don't know why...but hold on the material data sheets actually state in black and white that these substances are harmful...ummmmmmm.  So at this point of realisation I freaked out, just what was safe to put on my baby? In the meantime I became sick with a fatigue causing autoimmune disorder, which also affected my skin and led me to being genetically tested to find I had chemical sensitivities and that 30% of the population also have. I then decided that the only person in all of this that I knew I could trust was myself. 

I stared training myself in the handmade manufacturing of soap and body care products.  I discovered that most moisturisers are MOSTLY water the first ingredient on the label is meant to be by Australian law the highest percentage in the product and then as you move your way down the label it is the least ingredient used.  However water is unable to be absorbed into the skin, that refreshing ahh feeling you get is in actual fact either a chemical or the water evaporating.  The active ingredients are the oils and then because oil and water don't mix emulsifiers are used.  BUT the emulsifier also blocks skin pores and with the addition of water it can then potentially grow bacteria and fungi which means that the product then needs a preservative. During this search I tried to find a natural preservative as synthetic ones are seriously nasty  (so are the bacteria that can fester in moisturisers without enough preservative) but I was never satisfied that it had enough research and trial to prove it was effective without harm. It was then that I realised that skin DOES NOT NEED THE WATER and if I don't have the water I don't need the pore blocking pimple causing emulsifier (e.g. soy wax, bees wax) or the preservative.  If I could just find a way of making body care products just using the active oils. I trained in different areas of natural products, I researched the ingredients used, sourced them from reputable wholesalers, spent years of trial and error making things and finally I arrived here.

Here a place where I know the contents of all my oils from the antioxidant properties, mineral content, vitamin content, absorption rates, skin benefiting characteristics, fatty acid contents, phospholipid and phytonutrient content.  I source from reputable suppliers and where possible get organically certified products.  I use only oils that are  extracted via a cold pressed method or steam distilled as some oils use chemical processes to remove them.  My oils are raw, untouched, unrefined hence their characteristic smell (especially the fruit oils...yum) and yes they're  brown, cream to green coloured, as I use nothing bleached. It all sounds rather complicated and this was the simple version...the truth is it  has been hard work that’s why its taken all these years (I'm also extremely fussy when passionate about something)! Each oil used is deliberately and very specifically chosen for a purpose. Couple that with my health care knowledge and BAM you have my  very precious skin care range that I’m immensely proud of. Best of all it safe for my forth little baby on its way and is also nurturing and feeding their skin.  Time to fly free of the nasties!