Hair Care

Cempaka is a rich oriental floral - Balinese women use this queen of flowers to scent their hair, along with coconut oil. This shampoo is now made in our popular and unique heart urchin shaped moulds. 

Novel, popular and handy - a soap-free bar made of all the ingredients you would expect in a high quality, mild sulphate free shampoo, without the water which normally accounts for around 60 - 70 per cent of the volume. Since it is waterless, it doesn't require any preservative.

PH neutral, kind to coloured hair, and also kind to skin as a high quality alternative to soap. Ideal for travelling as they can't spill. Wide mouth PET plastic jars in 2 sizes are available with little plastic platform inserts should you want to keep your shampoo dry and carry it safely.

Just wet your hair, run the bar across 3 or 4 times, massage up the beautiful creamy lather, and rinse, conditioning as usual.

Our Heart Urchin Shampoo Bar Story

Our grandmothers used soap to wash their hair, then a vinegar rinse to restore acidity. Shampoos, containing detergents, were only invented after the second world war. While soap is still a wonderful hair cleanser in soft or rainwater areas, unfortunately, it is not a good option if the water in your area is hard (full of minerals). That "ring around the bath" (the soap precipitating some of these minerals) gets left in your hair.

So our purpose has been to find the mildest possible shampoos using gentle surfactants that don't strip all the natural oils and reducing any other harmful chemicals as well. The popular decyl polyglucose, while being a "natural" plant-derived surfactant, has the unfortunate effect of cleansing rather too well, stripping the hair and leaving it feeling dry and hard.

Our Solid Shampoo & Conditioner Bars

After many years of sourcing ingredients and playing, we came up with our solid shampoo bars, which we are very happy with. Think of them as bottles of high-quality health food shop shampoo, without the water.

They will last at least as long. One lady had one last for 2 years!

They are great for traveling. We like the effects on our hair, and we like the fact that we don't need any preservatives in them! (Only products containing water require preservatives.) We make them in crock pots, melting down the solid surfactants over a period of several hours, then pouring into molds.

We have two shampoo options for adults and a Teddy shampoo for kids. Our popular dog shampoo bar is a variant of the human ones, with extra ingredients to repel fleas and ticks, and to soothe troubled skin. In late 2019 we developed a new conditioning shampoo bar too, which doesn't require additional conditioner for all but the driest hair types.

We moved to our own new molds for these solid shampoos & conditioners, developed from the beautiful heart urchins we found on the beach near Broome. 

In addition, we have access to some very fine organic virgin coconut oil, which is delightful when used in hair conditioners. Our solid conditioner bar has been a hit, and we eventually learned how to make it solid enough to survive in our hot & humid Broome Wet season as well as the Dry. 

A beautiful and environmentally friendly conditioner and body bar. PH neutral, luxurious and long lasting, suitable for most hair types. Companion to the shampoo bars, this is rich in beautiful organic virgin coconut oil and cocoa butter, with conditioning emulsifier and a tropical blend of pure essential oils.

This conditioner is available packaged in a simple re-usable tin, ideal for travel, with a rubber insert to minimise having the bar sit in water. 

Wipe the conditioner bar through the hair a few times from roots to tips, massage in well, leave on a minute or so, then rinse off as much as you want to. Very dry hair benefits from some conditioner left in the hair. Can also be used as an all over body moisturiser on damp skin.

Ingredients: virgin coconut oil, shea butter, cocoa butter, cetearyl alcohol, conditioning emulsifier BTMS, panthenol (Vitamin B5), centrimonium chloride (detangler), cyclomethicone, dimethicone, hydrolysed oat protein and pure essential oils of grapefruit, sweet orange, lime and cempaka and sandalwood fragrant oil.

Long term use of cheap shampoos leads to dry, scaly, itchy scalp and dry lustreless hair. Revitalise the hair & scalp with this treatment which is also helpful for eczema and psoriasis sufferers.

We infused Australian macadamia oil with skin soothing herbs such as calendula, chamomile, chickweed, elderflower, burdock, mallow and yarrow, then added some other lovely oils, lots of Vitamin E, and pure essential oils.

Apply a tablespoon or two, depending on hair length, to scalp, massage well and comb through hair. Leave on as long as possible (plan this for a day at home). If leaving on overnight, put a shower cap on to protect sheets. In cold weather, wrap a warmed towel over the shower cap to facilitate penetration of the herbs and oils. Shampoo off and condition as usual.

Ingredients: Cold pressed macadamia oil infused with chamomile, calendula, chickweed, nettle, elderflower, burdock, mallow and yarrow,  jojoba, borage seed, organic camellia, sesame and castor oils, Vitamin E mixed tocopherols, pure essential oils of lavender, rosemary, ylang ylang, geranium and carrot seed.

A beautiful and environmentally friendly conditioning shampoo and body bar. PH neutral, luxurious and long lasting, suitable for most hair types. This shampoo is our finest, available packaged in a simple re-usable tin, ideal for travel, with a rubber insert to minimize having the shampoo sit in water. Most hair types do not require any extra conditioner. 

We make this shampoo in small batches in the beautiful heart urchin moulds we have recently developed. Each shampoo comes with a small pamphlet explaining the science of the heart urchin shapes found on beaches around Broome, the Hidden Valley story of making these, and the ingredients and way to use the shampoo.

A small donation goes to Environs Kimberley with each purchase of Heart Urchin Shampoo.  https://www.environskimberley.org.au/

Just wet your hair and swipe through the bar to raise a rich lather. Massage in and rinse. Exceptionally dry hair may need an extra conditioner but most do not. Enjoy!

Ingredients: sodium cocoyl isethionate, cocoamidopropyl betaine, stearic acid, cetearyl alcohol, glycerine, glyceryl cocoate, sucrose cocoate, polyquaternium 7 (conditioner), guar conditioner, panthenol (Vitamin B), centrimonium chloride (detangler), hydrolysed oat protein, and pure essential oils of geranium, rosewood, lavender, honey myrtle, may chang, cedarwood and rosemary and baby rose fragrant oil.

This is the richest luxurious conditioning treatment for dry, thick or damaged hair. It comes in a jar, for scooping out, and hair benefits from leaving this on at least a few minutes after washing. We have added all the goodies we can source for moisturising and conditioning this kind of hair. 

Apply a dollop to damp, clean hair, work through well, leave a few minutes then rinse well.      

Contains: Purified water, conditioning emulsifier, organic rose hydrosol, organic olive oil, avocado oil, R.chamomile hydrosol, polyquaternium 7, cetearyl alcohol, olive squalane, hydrolyzed oat protein, panthenol B5, dimethicone, cyclomethicone, cetrimonium chloride, rhodiola extract, phenoxyethanol + caprylyl glycol + sorbic acid (preserv.), pure essential oils of rosewood, palma rosa, tangerine, grapefruit, Roman chamomile, rose absolute, carrot seed, fragrance.

Rise 'n Shine is freshly scented with citrus and mint, an agreeable scent for men, women and children too. This shampoo is now made in our popular unique heart urchin moulds.

Novel, popular and handy - a soap-free bar made of all the ingredients you would expect in a high quality, mild sulphate free shampoo, without the water which normally accounts for around 60 - 70 per cent of the volume. Since it is waterless, it doesn't require any preservative.

PH neutral, kind to coloured hair, and also kind to skin as a high quality alternative to soap. Ideal for travelling as they can't spill. Wide mouth PET plastic jars in 2 sizes are available with little plastic platform inserts should you want to keep your shampoo dry and carry it safely.

Just wet your hair, run the bar across 3 or 4 times, massage up the beautiful creamy lather, and rinse, conditioning as usual.

Ingredients: Sodium cocoyl isethionate & sodium lauroyl sarcosinate (mild detergents), stearic acid, ceteraryl alcohol (hardeners), vegetable glycerine, PEG glyceryl cocoate, sucrose cocoate, guar gum, hydrolyzed wheat protein (conditioners), pure essential oils of orange, lime, geranium & spearmint. 

Our Heart Urchin Shampoo Bar Story

Our grandmothers used soap to wash their hair, then a vinegar rinse to restore acidity. Shampoos, containing detergents, were only invented after the second world war. While soap is still a wonderful hair cleanser in soft or rainwater areas, unfortunately, it is not a good option if the water in your area is hard (full of minerals). That "ring around the bath" (the soap precipitating some of these minerals) gets left in your hair.

So our purpose has been to find the mildest possible shampoos using gentle surfactants that don't strip all the natural oils and reducing any other harmful chemicals as well. The popular decyl polyglucose, while being a "natural" plant-derived surfactant, has the unfortunate effect of cleansing rather too well, stripping the hair and leaving it feeling dry and hard.

Our Solid Shampoo & Conditioner Bars

After many years of sourcing ingredients and playing, we came up with our solid shampoo bars, which we are very happy with. Think of them as bottles of high-quality health food shop shampoo, without the water.

They will last at least as long. One lady had one last for 2 years!

They are great for traveling. We like the effects on our hair, and we like the fact that we don't need any preservatives in them! (Only products containing water require preservatives.) We make them in crock pots, melting down the solid surfactants over a period of several hours, then pouring into molds.

We have two shampoo options for adults and a Teddy shampoo for kids. Our popular dog shampoo bar is a variant of the human ones, with extra ingredients to repel fleas and ticks, and to soothe troubled skin. In late 2019 we developed a new conditioning shampoo bar too, which doesn't require additional conditioner for all but the driest hair types.

We moved to our own new molds for these solid shampoos & conditioners, developed from the beautiful heart urchins we found on the beach near Broome. 

In addition, we have access to some very fine organic virgin coconut oil, which is delightful when used in hair conditioners. Our solid conditioner bar has been a hit, and we eventually learned how to make it solid enough to survive in our hot & humid Broome Wet season as well as the Dry.