HINU Home Volume 16. Julia Vanderbyl

"For me, self care is about seeing myself as an extension of the earth. I give my body the same grace that I grant to a flower not yet in bloom or to summer’s growth as it pauses and dies back to give its energy to the next season"

Julia Vanderbyl is an artist, filmmaker and writer whose work celebrates the natural world while advocating for its protection. In 2020, she co-founded the environmental platform Mother the Mountain, quickly amassing a devoted fan base of over 2 million followers. Through film, art, writing, and photography, she documents her journey of restoring the rainforest, caring for animals and living with the earth — inspiring her audience to recognise and protect the wonder of nature. These images were taken on Bundjalung Country, where she continues her daily practice of living closely with the earth.

Julia is using the Hair Growth Oil

What is your relationship with your hair?

I have always had my hair long and wild, and can’t picture it any other way. It sometimes feels like a shield and when I care for it, it’s as if I am weaving protective spells into the curls themselves.

Have you faced any challenges with your hair?

My work as a regenerative farmer and artist is tough on my hair. I’m often out in the sun; pulling invasive weeds or planting trees and usually come home with twigs and leaves tangled all through my hair. Or when I’m working inside making paintings, I end up with big globs of paint streaked everywhere. But, I always like to think that your hair reflects the life you live, so my sun damaged ends and tangles tell the story of days spent creating and living with the earth. 

Julia is using the Hair Growth Oil

Can you share any hair care tips you've learned?

Always be wary of additives. I sometimes find myself in a supermarket in the hair care aisle and am always so overwhelmed by the sulfates and parabens and the unseen carcinogens that sneak into almost every product. Not only are they terrible for the earth and our health, but they are also so damaging to our hair.

 Hair Growth Oil

This is why I prefer stepping out into the garden and snapping off a leaf of aloe vera for hair gel or collecting sprigs of lemon myrtle to brew into a hair mist. There are so many amazing ways to care for our hair naturally, from oiling to what we eat to how we wash and protect our hair.

Julia is using the Hair Growth Oil

How do you practice self-care in your daily life?

For me, self care is about seeing myself as an extension of the earth. I give my body the same grace that I grant to a flower not yet in bloom or to summer’s growth as it pauses and dies back to give its energy to the next season. I follow these seasons of the self but always remember that self care must extend outwards; into the earth and the people around me.

Julia is using the Jade Scalp Stimulator

Caring for community is often overlooked as a method of caring for yourself but there is something about nurturing a network of people around you who will hold you in return that is more powerful than any individual action. No organism lives alone; an ecosystem thrives as many parts behaving as one.

How does your environment shape your daily creative practices? Or Where do you feel most creative?

I’m very lucky to live deep in the rainforest, and this wild landscape has informed my art practice. My work draws from the chaos and harmony of the ecosystems that surround me, as well as my experiences of surviving climate disasters. I make paintings that examine the interplay of self and earth; human and environment and the melding of boundaries between the two.

What brings you the most fulfillment and happiness?

I’ve come to realise that the grand happiness we all strive for isn’t real. Happiness isn’t a state of being, but rather a fleeting emotion amongst many others. You can have moments of happiness or joy but I think the feeling of contentment that we all work towards can be better described as a sense of purpose or fulfilment.

For me, this comes from caring for the earth and seeing myself as a small part of this grand and beautiful world. When we break down the idea that humans and nature are separate, the purpose of life feels a little easier to find. We are just here to live, experience, create and care for the earth and our fellow humans. So I tend to the land as if tending to myself, and this practice always gives me so much fulfilment.

JULIA'S HINU HOME PLAYLIST