The Search For Natural Fragrances Became the Journey of a Lifetime!

My name is Julie. I created the Baliba (pronounced Bally-Baa) brand in 2010. It has changed and grown immensely since then, with the support and feedback from lots of amazing people.

The Baliba brand first came about in 2010 when I was searching for fragranced products to use in my two Beauty Salons for signature fragrances for our spa treatments.

The search for beautiful perfumes based on natural sources was a lengthy one, with many turns and many disappointments – until I discovered this range. 

I added these beautiful perfumes to my knowledge of essential oils and created Baliba – which has now been extended to embrace the incredible healing products I call our Apothecary (established in 2023).

Baliba has come a really long way since its first inception in my corporate days. I love working on the blends, the healing products & the fragrances, and I know they enhance the dates of others, which fills me with great joy.

Here’s the full back story if you would like to read more…

Around 20 years ago, looking for respite from the relentless stress of many years in corporate management roles, I decided to study massage therapy as a part time interest subject.

I signed up for Sports Massage at the NZ College of Massage Therapy and enjoyed that very much.

I moved to aromatherapy massage as a second tier of study and fell totally in love with it – the impact on people was profound and noticeable. It was my zone. As a chronic insomniac (another whole story), I was hooked – this all made perfect sense and [bonus] took me away from the pressure of work in the fast lane into a space where I felt I could help other people benefit in the same way.

Looking for more and interested in the science behind it, I started to learn more about the various plants and trees that the oils came from – to find that many herbal medicines feature the very same sources as the essential oils – as do many natural skincare therapies. The plants themselves use their scents and properties to attract or detract insects & other plants.

Fascinating, and so positive (not to mention natural).

This was knowledge I came to use in my first business after leaving corporate following the arrival of our second child – two beauty clinics (and where the Baliba brand became a thing).

I decided while owning that business, that in addition to the various massage treatments we offered, we could add spa treatments with specific fragrances… which is how I eventually discovered the Baliba products after an extensive global search for the right fragrances & established Baliba retail products.

In the interim period of a decade of so, it seemed a natural progression to also study other aspects of holistic stress management & wellness.

Gut health, yoga, nutrition, pranayama (yoga breathing), postural & core strength & mudras – those hand positions you see people doing during meditation (some are also body positions).

From here came the Baliba Apothecary Healing Products – developed during 2023 with the help of a cosmetic chemist and launched to a very positive and welcoming market in 2024. The feedback is super positive. I’ve combined therapeutic properties of specific natural oils and combined them with each other and essential oils for specific healng outcomes (and they work!). I added these beautiful products to an existing small range of active natural skincare products that I’ve used myself for many years to extend the Baliba brand out beyond just fragrances.

I’ve surprised myself during the Baliba voyage of discovery and development because I’m a classic A type driven personality – definitely not a meditative or ponderous sort of person.

However, this stuff works., and it will work for you too… if you let it.

The ONE consistent factor across all these therapies and practices is the ritual surrounding which practice is being observed.

You put aside time.

You create a tranquil surrounding space.

You give yourself some balancing, or healing, or headspace.

Whatever you need, you are literally creating a zone to allow yourself to become immersed in it.

I call it having a Ritual.

For me these days, that involves an essential oil diffuser. It has to be a nice one, with restful colours… with or without any oils… Sometimes I need more than one diffuser.

I set up my space and I allow myself that window to breathe and be what I want to be, express what I want to express (mostly to myself) – and I’m telling you, it works!

I know it will work for you too.