BEYOND HER WILDEST DREAMS

BELINDA NEVER EXPECTED THE SUCCESS A PRODUCT CREATED WITH NATIVE PLANTS FROM AUSTRALIAN BACKYARDS COULD BRING

- •By Emma Levett

Holidaying in Port Douglas, Queensland, in 2012, Belinda Everingham was reading the novel Perfume by Patrick Süskind about a man who's passionate about fragrance. At the same time, she was visiting rainforests and fruit farms, and suddenly becoming aware of all the rich native flora and fragrance on her own doorstep.

"It was like an a-ha moment," says the mum-of-three from Bondi, Sydney.

Over the previous few years, she'd been getting headaches from using supermarket cleaning products and a rash from sulphates in her shampoo, but also hadn't found anything natural that worked well as a replacement. Discovering native plants that not only smelt amazing but had useful antibacterial and skin-friendly properties, her vision fell into place.

"After that, I spent six months working with natural oils and ingredients I bought from the internet, developing a hand wash and bench spray," she says.