Alex’s famous beauty range is made with an ancient secret ingredient that delivers unbelievable results. But what most don’t know is the frightening diagnosis she had just weeks before she showed it to the world

The founder of one of Australia’s best-loved beauty brands has told how she managed to build her empire after receiving a terrifying cancer diagnosis that turned her life upside down.

Alex Wilson is the founder of Heartwood Natural harmonya ‘clean’ beauty retailer offering a collection of luxury natural wellness items with a store in an affluent beachside suburb of Perth.

Under Heartwood, the 36-year-old has developed her own product line, utilizing the benefits of Indian sandalwood, which her parents grow sustainably in areas of Northern Australia.

Alex told FEMAIL that she initially wanted her own Indian sandalwood line to be the sole focus of Heartwood, but after receiving the news that she had a very rare form of cancer, she had to quickly put the business on the back burner and her vision change.

When she opened her Heartwood store in October 2019, she was overwhelmed with joy after months of chemotherapy and recovery from major surgery.

Under Heartwood, the 36-year-old has developed her own product line, utilizing the benefits of Indian sandalwood, which her parents sustainably grow in Northern Australia.

Alex has quit her full-time desk job to focus on her new business and enjoy the Christmas holidays with her family and friends at the end of 2018.

She was at the beach and applying sunscreen when she felt an unusual mass on the right side of her abdomen.

‘It wasn’t a round lump, it was more penetrating and about the size of a pepper. “I’m lucky in that I’m relatively skinny, I’m like a beanstalk, so it was quite easy to identify,” she said.

Alex went to a GP clinic on Christmas Eve, where she was given an emergency referral to a radiologist and underwent hours of tests and scans.

Radiologists strongly suspected that Alex had done so Pseudomyxoma peritonei (PMP), also called “jelly belly” because it starts as a buildup of mucin in the abdomen and can spread to the surface of other organs.

Alex had to wait anxiously for a month for a laparoscopy to confirm the diagnosis and in February she had surgery to have the cancer removed.

Alex has quit her full-time job to focus on her new business, Heartwood, and enjoy the Christmas holidays. She rented a shop and started decorating before she received a devastating diagnosis

Alex had Pseudomyxoma peritonei (PMP), also known as ‘jelly belly’, and she had emergency surgery to remove it. The operation went well, but her recovery was ‘excruciating’

‘The operation was as extreme as it can be, but it couldn’t have gone better. “It was an incredible blessing for me because I was lucky enough to keep most of my organs, but the recovery was absolutely excruciating,” she said.

‘I had a lot of complications. I had a pulmonary embolism, some intestinal obstructions and a constant feeling of nausea.’

Alex was already very slim when he had the operation and was encouraged to gain weight in the weeks leading up to the operation because the doctors knew she would be too sick to eat after the operation.

‘I couldn’t eat for six weeks, so I just disappeared. I think I lost 30 pounds or something, and I’m really tall. I’m almost six feet tall,” she said.

During her recovery from the surgery, she also received chemotherapy to kill any remaining cancer cells.

Alex recalled a terrifying moment when she collapsed while having one of her daily scans and woke up as doctors operated on her using only local anaesthetic.

“I was just surrounded by doctors. They put a drain in my chest to relieve the pressure on my lungs due to a pulmonary embolism,” she explained.

‘I had a lot of complications. I had a pulmonary embolism, some intestinal obstructions and a constant feeling of nausea,” Alex said

Alex said she had no choice but to submit and put her life in the hands of the medical team that treated her.

“This was all completely new to me and you just have to surrender to what’s going on. The worst part was the feeling that you have no control over what is happening,” she said.

“Ultimately, you just have to put all your trust in the great doctors and medical staff around you. I survived to tell the story, so I feel lucky.”

Fortunately, Alex put her trust in the right place and she gradually started to get better and gain weight.

She was finally able to leave the hospital and move in with her parents to rest, regain her strength and gradually get back to doing the things she loves, like swimming at the beach and dancing at concerts with friends.

Throughout the months-long ordeal, Alex said the dream of getting better and finally getting her passion project off the ground was her motivation.

“I thought about Heartwood all the time to help me get through it. “I dreamed about it all the time,” she said.

In October 2019, she said it was “the best feeling in the world” to finally open her Heartwood store in Cottesloe, Perth.

Scents of Indian sandalwood flow from the store with shelves stocked with goods from ‘some of the best natural beauty brands in the world’, carefully selected by Alex

Alex had done a lot of prep work for the company before her diagnosis, such as signing the lease for the store and starting the fit-out so she could pick it up again when she felt well enough.

In October 2019, she said it was “the best feeling in the world” to finally open her Heartwood store in Cottesloe, Perth.

Scents of Indian sandalwood flow from the ultra-chic store with shelves full of clean beauty and wellness products from ‘some of the best natural beauty brands in the world’, carefully selected by Alex.

When she first came up with the idea for Heartwood, she wanted to sell exclusively her own range, but after her illness she started looking for alternatives so she could open the store.

The change allowed Alex to listen to what her customers wanted from their skin care and take her time to perfect each Heartwood formula.

Alex has developed an extensive line of skin care products, home fragrances, jewelry, perfumes and wellness accessories, all harnessing the power of Indian sandalwood.

Alex has developed an extensive line of skin care, home fragrance, jewelry, perfume and wellness accessories, all harnessing the power of Indian Sandalwood

Alex grew up knowing all about the versatile resource her father cultivated when she was young: ‘It is a dream of mine to bring Indian sandalwood to life in a contemporary way’

The valuable ingredient has been revered for thousands of years by cultures and religions around the world for its unique nourishing properties.

In addition to its luxurious scent, Indian sandalwood is said to be anti-inflammatory, highly beneficial for the skin, ‘extremely calming’ and used in traditional Chinese medicine.

Alex grew up knowing all about the versatile commodity when her father started growing it when she was young. Her family has farms in Kimberley, Northern Territory and northern Queensland.

“It has always been a dream of mine to bring Indian sandalwood to life in a contemporary way in the Australian market,” said Alex.

‘My goal with Heartwood was to really educate a modern audience about the wonderful benefits of this sacred wood and create something that was truly meaningful.’