I met Maxine at the Hawthorn Craft market and started chatting. It turns out she actually owns the lavender farm, grows, cuts, distills and creates the products herself from scratch!

Her display table had everything from pet tonics to lavender carpet cleaner and handmade soap bars. I walked away with a small shampoo, small conditioner, a hand and body lotion and a little fragrance blend designed to help with my terrible sleeping problems. I even got a free bar of soap as a thank you! I haven't had a chance to try the soap but here's my review of the other goodies:

First the handbalm: Winner! I have always liked to have luxury handwash sets in my bathrooms, I've tried Aesop, Khiels, Molton Brown and this little Aussie made lotion is certainly comparable with the best of them. It's got a good quality pump lid with a swivel lock feature so there have never been any accidents travelling in my handbag, the formula doesn't have an overpowering scent, it soaks in and it's not greasy - I can still open jars and turn doorknobs after using it.

The shampoo and conditioner set is loaded with lavender oils so it's done wonders for my dry bottle blonde hair. I've certainly noticed more body and shine, just as I was assured I would. The purple colour in the shampoo also gives it a mild toning effect for all you blondes out there...
With my super curly hair I've needed to use copious amounts of the conditioner to get untangled but I'm sure it wouldn't be a problem if you had wavy or straight hair. I also used the hand balm as a curl enhancer on wet hair - wonders! Added a natural amount of shine and keeps curls together and bouncy.

The Sleepy Time potion: My husband can hit the pillow and be snoring in ten minutes. I decided to give this a go. It's a chubby little bottle, a little fatter than a normal essential oil bottle and I was instructed to use for 12 days, dabbing some drops on the chest, under the chin and under the nose and I had to be able to smell it. I've kept using it for about 25 days now. Sleep is one of those things where your memories are just outside of reach so I can't tell you if I have been nodding off within 30 mins but I can certainly say I haven't been twiddling my thumbs past midnight like usual and I haven't needed to read or get up and work to tire myself out. I have however; made a conscious effort to control my thoughts, focus on sleeping and focus on deep breathing to smell the mixture. I've certainly noticed a more deep sleep and I feel warmer and strangely more drowsy. I'm definitely going to keep using it.

Highly recommended, for $27 it's worth it.

Approximate cost: $66: Shampoo and conditioner set $26, Hand lotion $13 and Sleepy time potion $27