Behind the Scenes

The Jar That Started It All… I want to share the story behind it all – because it's quite personal, and it's actually how Moon Haven began. When I'd had enough Back in 1998, I was really struggling. I'd been dealing with terrible muscle pain for years, and doctors couldn't figure out what was wrong. Finally I was diagnosed with Fibromyalgia Syndrome. Their solution? A bunch of pills that made me feel like a zombie – muscle relaxants, antidepressants, heavy painkillers. That wasn't going to work for me. Some days I couldn't get out of bed. Walking to the letterbox was beyond me. And sleep? I'd wake up every few hours with pain all through my body. I'd had enough. If conventional medicine couldn't help me, I was going to have to help myself. Back to my roots Luckily, I've always been drawn to natural solutions. As a kid, I had a chemistry set and turned our laundry into my laboratory (much to my parents' amusement!). So I started researching herbs and essential oils, connecting with aromatherapists and herbalists around the world. After months of experimenting with different combinations, I finally created something that actually worked. A simple salve that could take my pain away for hours at a time. Made it right there in our kitchen – which had pretty much become my laboratory by then. Two heroes Two special herbs made all the difference: St John's Wort  –These sunny yellow flowers are powerful nerve soothers. Unlike menthol-based rubs that just distract from pain, St John's Wort actually helps calm overactive nerve pathways. Think of it as nature's way of turning down the volume on pain signals. Calendula – Our beautiful golden calendula flowers are amazing anti-inflammatory healers. They help soothe irritated tissues and support your body's natural healing process. We grow our own here at Moon Haven – I still get excited every time I see them blooming in our garden. Combined with eight carefully chosen essential oils (no harsh menthol here!), these herbs created something I'd never experienced before – real, lasting relief. From kitchen creation to Moon Haven We originally called it "Achy Breaky Rub" because that Billy Ray Cyrus song was everywhere back then! Word spread quickly among family and friends, and soon Eric (my late husband and Moon Haven's co-founder) and I were making batch after batch in our kitchen.   As Moon Haven grew, we changed the name to St John's Wort & Calendula Rub because we wanted the name to reflect the powerful herbs inside. Though many of our longtime Moonies still affectionately call it Achy Breaky! When you need extra support Sometimes the rub alone wasn't quite enough for really tough days. That's when I discovered that adding a drop or two of our Achy Breaky Essential Oil Blend on top gave it extra power. The combination is remarkable.   Still made the same way That little jar didn't just give me my life back – it gave birth to Moon Haven. Every product we've created since comes from the same approach: natural ingredients that actually work, made with genuine care. We still make it exactly the same way – infusing our own herbs, wildcrafting when we can, combining aromatherapy and herbalism in ways others don't. It's not just our most popular product. It's our founding story in a jar. Perfect Companions for Complete Relief This article was written by Moon Haven’s aromatherapist and founder Leonie Gully and as such represents her personal opinion on the given subject. Subscribe to the Moon Haven Newsletter where each month Leonie and the Moon Haven Team share articles just like this one plus fill you in on all the happenings at the Moon Haven Cottage. Subscribe to the Moon Haven  newsletter at moonhaven.com.au Leonie loves to receive your emails, questions and requests for information. Just email her at family@moonhaven.com.au Leonie Gully- Moon Haven's Aromatherapist While any advice provided is general in nature, it is not intended to replace medical diagnosis or treatment.  If you are at all concerned about your condition, it is important that you do consult your medical practitioner of choice for an individual consultation and treatment plan. CHECK OUT OUR MOST POPULAR CONTENT What is your Skin Type? Take Our Skin-Type Test Get a Good Night's Sleep - Naturally 5 Mistakes to Avoid When Washing Your Face Essential Oil Dilutions - How to Use Oils Safely on Your Skin 10 Top Essential Oils for Women Dealing with Arthritis & Body Pain - Naturally Universal Herbal Ointment - Our First Aid Kit in a Jar The Moon Haven Story Do you have a question? ... Want to know more? Just click the "Chat with us" button in the right hand corner of this page to ask a question or get more information - if we're logged in you may even get an answer straight away...otherwise we'll get back to you as soon as we are back online..

Visit Moon Haven “No trip down south is complete without a visit to Moon Haven” This is what we are constantly told when visitors come to our herbal cottage. We just love it when new visitors first walk through the Moon Haven cottage doors. That first “Wow” really does make us smile. Lots to See You see, not only do we have all of our wonderful handcrafted herbal products on display, but the scent as you walk in, the colourful displays of soap and bath products the huge range of essential oil aromatherapy and skin care products and most importantly the sense of tranquillity and peace that pervades our simple space …. well lets us say that it can be a pretty wonderful experience. Nestled in the small village of Cowaramup in the centre of the Margaret River Wine Region, Moon Haven’s soap skincare, herbal remedies and bath products are in high demand by visitors to the cottage. Learn There are LCD screens which help explain many of our processes and why we do what we do. We love telling and showing you what we do and how we do it. Fact & Information Sheets And of course we will send you home with fact sheets and product information guides to help you use our products and samples Besides Laura and the team are always wandering out to show our visitors the latest creation, getting you to smell the newest scent blend, asking you give your opinion on a new product or just wanting to the share the experience of freshly ground herbs (an amazing experience) or a wonderful ingredient. Ask Our Advice We love nothing more than providing you with simple, sensible solutions to your skin and lifestyle issues (like insomnia, acne, aches and pains, rosacea, sensitive skin, eczema, psoriasis, dermatitis, sinus issues – well the list goes on and on!) We’ll discuss the issue with you, call our resident herbalist and aromatherapist in on the discussion if needed, and help you to find the best solution we can. Of course we wouldn’t send you out the door without a full back up service and you can access us 7 days a week if you need to. Kids Love Moon Haven Talking about kids, we encourage them to touch and interact with everything they see and smell. And of course if something gets broken by chance…we know accidents happen… we’ll never ask you to compensate for the breakage… that would be unfair of us to do so We really do want you to enjoy your visit to the Moon Haven cottage. It’s not unusual for our visitors to linger longer when visiting the cottage - just soaking up the atmosphere. Call in when you're next "Down South" So when you are next down Margaret River way make sure that you call in to the Moon Haven cottage – we’d love to see you. CHECK OUT OUR MOST POPULAR CONTENT What is your Skin Type? Take Our Skin-Type Test Get a Good Night's Sleep - Naturally 5 Mistakes to Avoid When Washing Your Face Essential Oil Dilutions - How to Use Oils Safely on Your Skin 10 Top Essential Oils for Women Dealing with Arthritis & Body Pain - Naturally Universal Herbal Ointment - Our First Aid Kit in a Jar The Moon Haven Story Get offers, sales and all the latest from moon haven in your inbox Join The MoonHaven Family Do you have a question? ... Want to know more? Just click the "Chat with us" button in the right hand corner of this page to ask a question or get more information - if we're logged in you may even get an answer straight away...otherwise we'll get back to you as soon as we are back online.. Always seek qualified medical advice regarding your own individual situation Please note: Information in this article and on the moonhaven.com.au website represents the opinion of the author and as such is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice and should not be relied on as health or personal advice. Always seek the guidance of your doctor or other qualified health professional with any questions you may have regarding your health or a medical condition.

Moon Haven's founder Leonie Gully was recently honoured to be asked to share her love of healing herbs with the wonderful Steve Wood of the @allthedirtpodcast ' podcast fame.

The Moon Haven Story Moon Haven Cowaramup What is Moon Haven? Moon Haven is a continually evolving sanctuary where a myriad of magical aromatherapy and herbal products are developed and produced just right for today’s world. Eric and Leonie Gully along with their dedicated team, make an amazing range of aromatherapy soaps, soothing salves and herbal skin care products that make for a more natural approach to the way we live in the world. If you would like to find out more about Moon Haven, our philosophy and why we do what we do… click here Why is Moon Haven? In 1998, after many years of being unable to pinpoint the source of her debilitating muscle pain and tiredness, Leonie was finally diagnosed with Fibromyalgia Syndrome (FMS). This led her and husband Eric down a path of exploring the best that western medicine and complimentary therapies could offer to bring about relief. Leonie grew up surrounded by herbs and an avid interest in the formulation of skin care. Her childhood chemistry set and laboratory in the laundry, are part of family lore. Frustrated at finding little relief for her pain, Leonie started researching all things herbal and aromatherapy, discussing the issues with other herbalists and therapists and set about making a salve that worked for her. Achy Breaky Rub was born and the rest is history. Moisturising lotions that didn’t bring Leonie out in a rash, salves for the constant itch that plagued her hands and soaps that would deliver the benefits of the aromatherapy world to her on a daily basis followed. Family and friends got in on the secret and soon the kitchen was turned into a laboratory – little food could be found there, but you could bet your life you could always find a jar of herbs infusing on the bench or a pot of the latest ‘research project’ on the stove. Ideas were turned into reality, more and more products were formulated and tested on the same willing band of people. Eric, a consulting engineer and project manager, looked into the technical side of things and explored better ways of doing things. He brought both his engineering and manual craft skills to the fore and developed molds and designed methods and techniques to make things easier. Having previously been a small business owner himself, he also began developing a detailed business plan for Moon Haven. The word spread… and so Moon Haven was born. Who is Moon Haven? Eric and Leonie Gully established Moon Haven Natural Products in August 2001. The first Moon Haven shop front and workroom opened Christmas 2002 in Cowaramup. Where is Moon Haven? Corner Bottrill Street & Bussell Hwy, Cowaramup, Western Australia, in the heart of the Margaret River Wine Region. Warmest regards, Leonie - moonhaven's aromatherapist, founder & creator of good things CHECK OUT OUR MOST POPULAR CONTENT What is your Skin Type? Take Our Skin-Type Test Get a Good Night's Sleep - Naturally 5 Mistakes to Avoid When Washing Your Face Essential Oil Dilutions - How to Use Oils Safely on Your Skin 10 Top Essential Oils for Women Dealing with Arthritis & Body Pain - Naturally Universal Herbal Ointment - Our First Aid Kit in a Jar The Moon Haven Story Get offers, sales and all the latest from moon haven in your inbox Join The MoonHaven Family Do you have a question? ... Want to know more? Just click the "Chat with us" button in the right hand corner of this page to ask a question or get more information - if we're logged in you may even get an answer straight away...otherwise we'll get back to you as soon as we are back online.. Always seek qualified medical advice regarding your own individual situation Please note: Information in this article and on the moonhaven.com.au website represents the opinion of the author and as such is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice and should not be relied on as health or personal advice. Always seek the guidance of your doctor or other qualified health professional with any questions you may have regarding your health or a medical condition.

Every day we're asked "Why are Moon Haven's essential oil prices so reasonable?"and it's often followed by ... "so does that mean your quality is not as good as XXXX or YYYY brands?"Nothing could be further from the truth. The biggest factor in our affordable prices is not quality (our oils a 100% pure and unadulterated - just as nature intended- check out or posts on essential oil purity for more info) it's the fact that we aren't a huge multinational Multi Level Marketing (MLM) company. You see MLMs have to inflate their prices so that they can pay their representatives as well their "uplines" a significant portion of the profits. They also have to cover  the cost of marketing and training, as well as meeting the company's profit expectations. We're a small family business At moon haven, we're a small family business.  Our marketing costs are minuscule, we don't advertise on a grand scale - we rely mainly on you and all our moonies spreading the word about what we do.besides our need for making a profit is modest - we're a family and we work together to serve our moonies (that's you!).  ❤️ It's our passion ❤️ Yes, we are truly passionate about helping people and love making our "moonies" lives better and more comfortable.  That's a huge part of our reward.. essential oils should be affordable Part of our philosophy is that 100% pure, natural, beautiful quality essential oils shouldn't break the bank. We want you to be able to use your oils every day and not be concerned about the cost.   While we also need to make a profit, our needs are modest compared to the larger corporations and so we can afford to pass on the quality and savings to you. ❤️  

Leonie Gully - Moon Haven's Co-Founder Leonie's Story We are often asked how Moon Haven came about and what motivates us to do what we do.  It all comes back to Leonie's Story...my story.. Fibromyalgia Back in 1998 after many years of being unable to pinpoint the source of numerous symptoms including debilitating [...]