We make cleansers, oils and balms at a bench in Adelaide from five Australian plants. Each one is pressed and kept on a sheet in this cabinet, with where it grows and what it does in the formula.
H-01 Lemon myrtle · Backhousia citriodorafiled under P-02
05 cm
QR-A
The face oil, P-02, is filed under H-01 Backhousia citriodora.
The specification, read off the bottle
Turned
34° from the label
Height
112 mm
Widest
54 mm
Holds
30 mL
Light
from the east window, morning
The face oil on its sheet: lemon myrtle.
QR-ASheet 1 of 10Title sheet
The next sheet begins: How
QR-B
QR-B · To the reader
How to read a sheet.
Quire, said like choir, is an old word for a gathering of sheets folded together before they are sewn into a book. Ours is a gathering of five plants. We press a sprig of each, tape it to a sheet and write its label before we write a formula.
Accession
Quire herbarium · Adelaide1H-01
Family
2Myrtaceae
Latin name
3Backhousia citriodora F.Muell.
Name
4Lemon myrtle
5Grows
coastal rainforest, Queensland
6Part used
leaf, steam-distilled
7In the formula
scents the face oil and the gel
8Found in
P-01 · P-02
The label for lemon myrtle, drawn large. Every sheet in the cabinet carries one like it.
Accession: where the sheet sits in our cabinet.
Family: the plant family it belongs to.
Latin name, in italic, with its author in roman.
Name: the one we use at the bench.
Grows: where the plant grows wild.
Part used, and how it is prepared.
In the formula: what it brings to the jar.
Found in: the products it goes into.
The tape holds the pressing down and never covers the label.
The scale runs 0 to 5 cm at the sheet’s own size.
The colour strip: sage, ink, madder, cream, and the colour of what’s in the bottle, the only one that changes.
H-01
The stamp is the sheet’s accession number.
Five
The catchword at each sheet’s foot is the first word of the next, as printers once set it, so the sheets stay in order.
QR-BSheet 2 of 10To the reader
The next sheet begins: Five
QR-C
QR-C · The herbarium
Five plants, one sheet each.
Everything we make comes from these five. Each is pressed and kept on a sheet here, with where it grows and what it does in the jar.
Where it grows. A rainforest tree of the Queensland coast, now grown on farms there and in northern New South Wales.
In the formula. The leaves are distilled for their oil, which smells of lemon, sharper and greener than the fruit. A few drops scent each batch of the face oil, P-02, and a little goes into the gel, P-01.
How to use it. Warm three drops of the face oil between your palms and press them into damp skin.
H-02
05 cm
Accession
Quire herbariumH-02
Family
Combretaceae
Latin name
Terminalia ferdinandiana Exell
Name
Kakadu plum
Grows
savanna woodland, the tropical north
Part
fruit, milled; seed, cold-pressed
Does
tints the gel; lightens the oil
In
P-01 · P-02
Kakadu plum
Terminalia ferdinandiana Exell · H-02
Where it grows. A small tree of the open woodland from the Kimberley to Arnhem Land. It is a bush food, known to Aboriginal people long before it was grown for sale; that knowledge is theirs to tell.
In the formula. We buy the fruit dried and milled, and the oil pressed from its seed, from Australian growers. The milled fruit gives the gel, P-01, its pale green-gold; the seed oil is light and sinks in quickly, so it goes into the face oil, P-02.
How to use it. One pump of gel, worked over damp skin and rinsed; then two to four drops of oil, pressed in.
H-03
05 cm
Accession
Quire herbariumH-03
Family
Santalaceae
Latin name
Santalum acuminatum (R.Br.) A.DC.
Name
Quandong
Grows
dry woodland and mallee, the south
Part
kernel, cold-pressed
Does
gives the balm its cushion
In
P-03
Quandong
Santalum acuminatum (R.Br.) A.DC. · H-03
Where it grows. The desert peach: a small tree of the dry south, from the mallee of South Australia to the country north of it. It is a bush food, and we buy it from Australian growers.
In the formula. Oil pressed from the kernel inside the stone is rich and slow. It gives the balm, P-03, its soft, cushioned feel and a faint nutty smell.
How to use it. Warm a pea-sized amount of balm between your fingertips until it softens, then press it onto dry patches, lips and the backs of your hands.
H-04
05 cm
Accession
Quire herbariumH-04
Family
Rutaceae
Latin name
Citrus glauca (Lindl.) Burkill
Name
Desert lime
Grows
semi-arid inland, Qld, NSW, SA
Part
peel, cold-pressed
Does
the green citrus smell
In
P-01 · P-03
Desert lime
Citrus glauca (Lindl.) Burkill · H-04
Where it grows. A spiny small tree of the dry inland, with grey-green leaves and fruit the size of a fingertip. It is a bush food, and we buy it from Australian growers.
In the formula. Oil pressed from the peel smells sharp and green, like lime zest. It scents the cleansing gel, P-01, and, more softly, the balm, P-03.
How to use it. One pump of gel onto damp hands, worked into a light lather over the face, then rinsed with warm water.
H-05
05 cm
Accession
Quire herbariumH-05
Family
Proteaceae
Latin name
Macadamia integrifolia Maiden & Betche
Name
Macadamia
Grows
subtropical rainforest, south-east Qld
Part
nut, cold-pressed
Does
the base oil
In
P-02 · P-03
Macadamia
Macadamia integrifolia Maiden & Betche · H-05
Where it grows. A rainforest tree of south-east Queensland, grown on farms there and on the New South Wales north coast.
In the formula. Oil pressed from the nut is pale and light, and it sinks in without feeling greasy. It is most of the face oil, P-02, and much of the balm, P-03.
Please note. The face oil and the balm contain macadamia nut oil.
Choose a sheet from the list, or use the arrow keys in it; Escape squares the pile again.
QR-CSheet 3 of 10The herbarium
The next sheet begins: Which
QR-D
QR-D · Concordance
Which plant goes into which bottle.
Read across for a plant, or down for a bottle. The form it goes in is written in the cell.
Five plants and three bottles, and the part of each plant that goes into each.
Every formula is built on water, plant oils, butters and waxes; the few helpers the gel needs are named on its slip. None is made with ethanol, and nothing in them comes from an animal.
QR-DSheet 4 of 10Concordance
The next sheet begins: Three
QR-E
QR-E · The range
Three things, made at one bench.
Left to right: the gel on desert lime, the face oil on lemon myrtle, the balm on quandong. Each stands on the sheet it is filed under.
P-01
Cleansing gel
Pump bottle · 150 mL
A clear, pale green-gold gel that lathers lightly and rinses clean. It smells of desert lime.
Directions One pump onto damp hands; work over the face and rinse with warm water, morning and evening.
Ingredientsmost to least Aqua (water) · Glycerin (from plants) · Decyl glucoside (a cleanser made from sugar and coconut) · Terminalia ferdinandiana fruit powder (Kakadu plum, dried and milled) · Xanthan gum · Citrus glauca peel oil (desert lime) · Backhousia citriodora leaf oil (lemon myrtle) · Sodium benzoate · Potassium sorbate · Citric acid
P-02 Face oil: four drops, warmed between the palms and pressed into damp skin.
P-03 Balm: a pea, warmed and pressed on in a thin layer over the top.
Illustrative total: $138, for the three.
Guide prices, shown for illustration.
QR-FSheet 6 of 10The key
The next sheet begins: Where
QR-G
QR-G · Distribution
Where the five grow.
Drawn simply, as a botanist’s sketch map: where each plant grows wild.
Each plant, where it grows and the part we use
Plant
Where it grows
Part used
H-01 Lemon myrtle
coastal rainforest, Mackay to Brisbane
leaf
H-02 Kakadu plum
savanna woodland, Kimberley to Arnhem Land
fruit; seed
H-03 Quandong
dry woodland and mallee, the south and centre
kernel
H-04 Desert lime
semi-arid inland, Qld and NSW into SA
peel
H-05 Macadamia
subtropical rainforest, south-east Qld
nut
Kakadu plum, quandong and desert lime are bush foods. Aboriginal people knew them long before anyone grew them for sale, and that knowledge is not ours to tell. We buy from Australian growers and write only what each plant does in our formula.
We work in Adelaide, on Kaurna Country.
QR-GSheet 7 of 10Distribution
The next sheet begins: How
QR-H
QR-H · The workroom
How a batch is made.
The six stages of a batch
Stage
What happens
How long
Batch
1Pressing
A sprig of each plant is dried flat between blotting papers, then taped to a sheet for the cabinet.
About a fortnight
left blank, written by handB-
2Weighing
Oils, butters and waxes are weighed out for one batch at a time.
A morning
left blank, written by handB-
3Pouring
The balm is melted gently and poured into warmed jars; the face oil is blended cold; the gel is stirred until clear.
An afternoon
left blank, written by handB-
4Setting
The balm sets in the jar overnight under a paper cover.
Overnight
left blank, written by handB-
5Labelling
Labels are printed on a small hand press in one colour, madder, and the batch is written in by hand.
A day
left blank, written by handB-
6Resting
Jars and bottles rest on the shelf before they are posted.
A week
left blank, written by handB-
On a real jar, the batch number is written in the madder field by hand.
The gel, the face oil and the balm, drawn to the sheet’s scale from the same measurements the bottle above is built from.
QR-HSheet 8 of 10The workroom
The next sheet begins: Notes
QR-J
QR-J · Notes
Notes on keeping and using them.
How long does an opened jar keep?
Use it within twelve months of opening; the small open-jar mark on the base says so.
Where should I keep it?
Out of the sun, with the lid on. The glass is clear so you can see what’s inside, so a drawer or a cupboard is best.
Trying something new?
Put a little on the inside of your arm first and wait a day.
Nuts.
The face oil and the balm contain macadamia nut oil.
Where does the scent come from?
Only the plants’ own oils: lemon myrtle leaf and desert lime peel.
What goes in, and what doesn’t?
Water, plant oils, butters and waxes, with glycerin and stearic acid made from plants. The gel needs a few helpers too, each named on its slip: a cleanser made from sugar and coconut, xanthan gum to thicken it, sodium benzoate and potassium sorbate to preserve it, and a little citric acid to balance it. None of it is made with ethanol, and nothing comes from an animal.
Refills?
Keep the glass. Write to us and we’ll tell you how to send it back to be refilled.
QR-JSheet 9 of 10Notes
The next sheet begins: Write
QR-K
QR-K · Write to us
Write to the workroom.
Ask about a product, a refill or the routine you keyed out, and we’ll write back.
Filed · 12 Sep 2026
A note comes to the bench as a slip like this one. Ask about a routine and we’ll answer with the one we would key out for you.
Quire is set in Sorts Mill Goudy and IM Fell French Canon. Collation: ten sheets, QR-A to QR-K, with five plants at QR-C. The cabinet, its sheets and its numbers are the house’s own.
