IN Starling

She’s a nurse, a mum, a wife, an excellent cook and a businesswoman who is determined to bring nature back into all aspects of life.


Nadine Lee Morris is a perfect example of someone who walks their walk and talks it too.


Having things handmade inspires her, which is why she’d rather support an individual who has put love and substance into their products, hence the creation of her own range of bed, bath and home products called Starling.


“Starling is my stand against mass-produced, chemically-laden products,” says Nadine. Starling’s products are natural, organic, chemical free, have not been tested on animals and are handmade by the Perth mum.


Her Perth home is her warehouse, the kitchen her workspace and family her willing guinea pigs. Right out of her suburban kitchen Starling produces organic aromatherapy soy candles, massage oils, room/linen/body sprays, herbal teas, bath salts and body care for health and well-being.


While she trained as a nurse and once worked as a welder, Nadine has always dabbled creatively and been secretly jealous of artistic friends and family.


“I became interested in natural remedies when I learnt how regular products are laden with chemicals,” she explains. “I read an article recently that spoke about this issue and how everything we put on our skin can end up in our bloodstream. That’s scary! So to control this to a certain extent I bought some books on essential oils and aromatherapy and began to experiment. Not long after family and friends were getting plied with samples and being happy guinea pigs for my products.


“When my boys were born I also started thinking about all the chemicals I slathered on their skin when it came to things like creams,” Nadine says. “So I started experimenting with making my own body products.”


Starling was born and is gaining a dedicated following around Perth as Nadine sells her products at local markets and online through Etsy.


While her products may be all about being natural, this attitude also extends into her personal life. Nadine and her husband, musician and author Adam Morris are vegetarians, eat organic where they can and otherwise eat as unrefined as possible.


“We just got really conscious about where our food came from, what had been done to it and what we were doing to it. The boys, Finn who is five-and-half and two-year-old Atticus, have been brought up this way, which I think is important.”


Nadine says while the shift was easy because they wanted to do it, eating and living this way takes more preparation time. Equally though, it’s a lot of fun because she feels like she is always being creative and exploring new products or how to create new dishes.


The Morris family are now in the middle of planning a move to Albany, which will allow Nadine to extend her range thanks to the eventual construction of a larger kitchen in their next home.