Christmas Newsletter 2022 - And Our Christmas Wish

A big Welcome to all our new customers who have trusted us with their purchases this last year!  And special thanks to those who have been with us for many years and keep coming back. You gladden our hearts, help us grow, and make our work so very worthwhile! 

We treasure you all as part of our amazing Hidden Valley family, and we thank you for the incredible moments we experience daily for true honest human connection and joy. Despite all the current chaos in the world, these moments of glad intimate connection seem to be even more present than ever! Please do not hesitate to call us on 08 91937036 with any feedback - we value this as it helps us improve and grow. Love spreads out through the world like a web, through you!

Broome in October

 

It's warming up here, it's Laja our Hot Season, but there are such benefits, such as the beginnings of magical sunsets like this one in the photo above taken last week at Cable Beach by Lars Schmidt! October is SO flamboyant, with its new green growth and strong colours of yellow cassias and orange poincianas beginning to flower. See how we have copied these colours in our soaps! Mangos are ripening. In the lab we have just made green mango chutney (an old recipe from Abdul Casley, the first camel man in Broome). Ali's beloved caladiums have exploded into their glory, and the many deciduous trees (including boabs) are bursting into leaf. This always seems magical to us with not a drop of rain in sight yet! Just plain heat. Kimberley folk start following the Facebook weather groups and entering competitions for the first decent rain.

Hidden Valley News

 Back L-R: Ali, Smokey, Katrin   Front: Kathrine, Rachel, Sabine

Here is our incredible current team! Katrin (full time production manager) and Sabine (part time) are our product creators. Kathrine joined us this year as our wonderful shop & customer services manager, and Sabine or Katrin help out there on most Wednesdays. Smokey packages up and takes all the daily mail orders to the post office each morning, is general Mr Fixit, and runs Saturday morning markets. Ali designs new products, orders all our ingredients & packaging, manages the finances and rather reluctantly works on admin. Rachel is taking some time off while her little Madalena is a baby, but  helps us in admin when she can.  We have such a beautiful blend of skills right now. And threaded into the hard work is much laughter, singing, counselling, hugs and mutual support.

The year has flown past -  we have almost maintained the good sales from the exceptional ones last year (when borders were closed & West Australians had to take holidays internally). We have really enjoyed the new coolrooms and soap kitchen which allow us to manufacture and store throughout the year, despite the climatic ravages of Broome. The team is especially high level - such advanced and capable souls! Our Kat went back to Germany for almost 2 months in August - September, seeing her family.  We were still able to function as Sabine stepped up wonderfully and our production and online sales systems are increasingly streamlined. (But it's good to have Kat back!)

 A goal finally kicked recently was our new sign on the Broome Highway! Next year we look forward to some new lab equipment, new custom made soap moulds. And also, look out for us at the night markets!

We are pleased to repeat last year's 10% automatic discount from now until the end of November. Last year we found this relieved the last minute Christmas pressure on ourselves and Australia Post, and helped people get organized early. Deliveries are usually within a week but occasionally can take a lot longer, especially during the Christmas rush. We also wanted to do something nice for you all after the price rises you may have seen on some products lately. A few we reduced! Ali found it so  hard emotionally to increase prices. But it had to be, with all the cost increases we have had to bear. If products can't survive the cost increases, we will just have to drop them. Fortunately, all the soap and soap box prices have been kept the same for now.

What’s New? 

We have resurrected our lovely Christmas Goodwill soap, our 3 soap box Aromas & Colours of Christmas, and our Christmas Giftlets. There are lots of lovely boxes and gifts available here in Christmas Gift Collections. 

Imagine our two soapies with German heritage, chatting in German about how Christmas smelled and felt in Europe, and you have a potent mix of nostalgia for northern hemisphere smells and feels – that Gezelligheid/Gemutlichheid or Geselligkeit/Gemutlichheid which simply don't translate well in English but are about a warm and cosy feeling of being with friends or family to celebrate together. Celebrate! Soap came from this – a wonderful warm blend of spices  in a light watermelon red with gold & white marbles. We love it and hope you do too! Perfect to team with Peace (aka Pearl) and Christmas Goodwill soap in our Aromas & Colours of Christmas 3 soap box. 

And dont forget our beautiful and totally unique Heart Urchin soap, the solid shampoo bars which have become so popular, and our highly successful Super Serum and After Sun Soothe & Repair Lotion. The Caromas (car diffusers) have been incredibly popular, and feel free to team them with an essential oil blend, which we can put together in a little gift box if you wish (just call us on 08 91937036 to organize).

In addition, we have created a couple of NEW things. Our beautiful Tree of Life candle evoking clean forests and life growth has been revived. It is added to a new Christmas Candle Giftbox, with two others - Peace (white) and Celebrate (red), plus a couple of small soaps. There are some other new products in the pipeline, but they didn't make it for this newsletter.

 

There is a lovely new essential oil blend called Soulace, light and relaxing, calming and protecting, like a loving embrace. The blend was given to us by beautiful Em, who uses this in her Reiki and massage practice room (see Em at  https://www.facebook.com/BroomeHolisticHealing and@broome_holistic_healing). We also created a Soulace Spray Mist which can be used as a room spray but is also safe on skin. And we have added a new Meditation Blend, helpful for those who want to still their minds, calm emotions, and find that still point of unwavering peace and observation. 

 

We understand that it is hard to choose products for people you love, but you know they may really like our range. So the easy Gift Voucher is a perfect and easy solution, especially if you have left it  to the last minute! You can choose your amount, add a personal message to your voucher, and even schedule when you would like to send your voucher to them. Everything else is automated.

For up to date shipping times please visit Australia Post at auspost.com.au. They have suggested Deember 16 as the last day for posting Christmas parcels, but from Broome we wouldn't leave it this late!

Remember, we are happy to apply gift packaging at a small fee, with your words on a small card, to any order for any recipient and send direct to them. You will see this option in the checkout process. This makes gift giving easy in situations when you are just not able to be present – so prevalent right now. 

Christmas Hours

Christmas is on a Sunday this year, so we will open on  Saturday 24th at the shop and markets as usual. Then we will reopen on Thursday 29th (since it's Smokey's birthday on the 28th!). After New Year we will resume again on Tuesday 3rd January with Wet Season hours: 10-3 Monday - Friday and Sat 9-12.

Markets will stop after Saturday 31st December until Easter.

If anyone is coming to Broome for their Christmas break, do pop in to see us! 

 

Save the Date!

Broomies - our Christmas Party will be on Thursday December 1st, 5-7.30pm. No need to RSVP unless you want to - we would love to see our friends & customers and celebrate the year end together. Drinks & snacks are provided as usual, and the shop is open for sales too. 

 

Our Christmas Wish

May you take the time to celebrate how far you have come and what you have created.

May you take the time to celebrate yourself, your family & friends, however dysfunctionally antsy & foibly human they may be.

May you take the time to feel - this body, these sensations, this beauty, these delights.

May you take the time to feel how safe, how protected and supported you actually are.

May you slow down, stop trying so hard, and just chill a little this summer.

May you find more JOY in your lives. A friend said recently - allowing ourselves to experience more JOY is the quickest way to heal the world!

As always, much love, from our hearts to yours,

the Hidden Valley team x