Brand Update: Dilkara Australia

Today we hear from haircare and skincare brand Dilkara and learn about some of the incredible things they’ve been up to so far this year. Dilkara is an Indigenous owned small business that specialises in hair and skin care products created with native Australian botanicals. Their products are natural, nourishing, vegan and cruelty free. Owner and founder Julie Okely talks about how they have pushed through the pandemic and added some incredible new products to their ranges.

Dilkara Australia. Courtesy of Dilkara, 2021.

“It has been an interesting year at Dilkara Australia and we have faced the COVID pandemic with the same apprehension as most businesses in Australia. We chose to face the situation head on and use the downtime to review our business and see where we could improve our presence on social media, reassess our reach to consumers and create some amazing new products and expand our existing product portfolio.

So instead of waiting out the lockdowns, trading restrictions and manufacturing delays due to bushfires and floods – we got bigger! We introduced new hygiene products into our range and created a whole new skincare line. We also introduced our Desert Lime Oil Serum as our luxury brand serum. This serum is formulated with silk peptides to boost moisture and strength in hair. The main ingredient in the product is Australia’s equivalent to Argan Oil and Desert Lime is grown here in Australia as an Indigenous botanical.

Dilkara's Desert Lime Oil. Courtesy of Dilkara, 2021.

The introduction of our branded brushes and head bands have created a buzz as well as our extension into our clothing, homewares and gift products. A new product we are introducing post NAIDOC is our Co-Wash hair product – made for curly hair. It is a Shampoo, Conditioner and Treatment in one. A huge bonus to the lives of curly haired individuals out there!

Dilkara's new Face Mask designed by Ngunnawal artist Aunty Josie Reardon. Courtesy of Dilkara, 2021.

Our customer reach has expanded with partnering with third party sellers online, including Yarn Marketplace which has given us greater access to a larger database that is looking to source and purchase Indigenous owned brands in Australia. Our aim is to see that increase and grow our product range to offer consumers more choice.

Another very exciting project we worked on was to supply a large Canberra Hospital with amenities items – Shampoo, Conditioner, Body Lotion and Sanitising gel. We have also been privileged to partner with many more beauty salons in Australia who are passionate about having Indigenous brands that use Australian Botanicals as the main ingredients.
This year Dilkara Australia has also been nominated and received more national awards for the outstanding work we do for our brand.”

It’s wonderful to hear about all of the growth of Dilkara Australia and we are so proud to have them as a part of the Yarn Marketplace. You can shop Dilkara’s beautiful range of products here.