Jules Bright had a highly successful nursing career which skidded to a halt in 1997 while living in India, where she was involved in a serious motorcycle accident. After being taken care of in the mud hut of beautiful village folk, Jules’s realised she had witnessed healing straight from the heart of nature thanks to the potent powers of coconut. Inspired to set forth on a new pathway, Jules founded Earth’s Kitchen, a skincare brand built on the philosophy that nature knows best when it comes to caring for our skin.
Can you share with us a bit more about your journey and how your career and life experiences fed into the creation of Earth’s Kitchen?
After a wonderful 15-year nursing career I needed a break so journeyed to India. That turned into a decade-long, deep journey where I learnt of ancient healing techniques, plant medicine and alchemical ways with indigenous cultures all around the world.
After the motorbike accident I was determined to keep learning, so on arriving home to NZ I gained my diplomas of naturopathy, medical herbalism — specialising in rongoā — and traditional body therapies. Becoming an ambulance officer and running my natural, emergency health clinic kept my skills up. Pilot training gave me bush pilot skills. Creating 100% natural native plant spa ranges and therapeutic cremes and balms became an obsession in my forest lab, and we went global.
Pregnant with my first child, I was determined to only use natural sunscreen alternatives on my new baby. It began only as SPF22, with a white, ghosty sheen and smelling like a wet dog — like most natural sunscreens today. I wanted to create a product that would have similar aesthetics to synthetic sunscreens but be 100% natural. The industry told me it was impossible — which I loved!
It took me 18 years to perfect my natural sunscreen to a transparent, water resistant, luxuriously concentrated body balm, that has now won eight global awards and Natrue certification (100% certified natural). Now SPF 65.8 and both the baby/sensitive sunscreens and family sunscreens are based on our NZ forest plants and premium oils which smell divine, leaving a soft and silky invisible after-feel.
What is the difference between natural and chemical sunscreen?
Natural sunscreens contain zinc or titanium dioxide that act as a physical barrier deflecting the sun away from the skin – like mirrors, if you like. Natural sunscreen is made of plant and mineral goodness that feeds and nourishes our skin.
Synthetic sunscreens contain chemical UV absorbers like oxybenzone, avobenzone and octinoxate which are harmfully absorbed into the body. These ingredients harm and kill coral, which is why many places including Hawaii, Florida and Palau have now banned the sale of ‘chemical’ sunscreen.
What does Natrue certified mean? Certified 100% natural, non-GM, cruelty free — from seed to the manufacturing processes. It means it’s trustworthy and transparent, so no greenwashing.
