Smells like community spirit
WELLBEING: Nadia Lim’s Eau de Dagg is not only raising funds for mental health, it’s turning waste into ‘precious resources’
He came up with this idea of distilling dags because he’s got an essential oil distiller and I thought what a whacko idea but let’s give it a try. — Nadia Lim
Nadia Lim’s farming television show may have finished its first season but that doesn’t mean she’s stopped supporting rural New Zealand. The celebrity chef has launched a cheeky new room fragrance to raise funds for mental health charity, Rural Support Trust.
However, some consumers may find the scent a little bit daggy, even though it’s for a good cause.
“Eau de Dagg” was created using essential oils made from the wool dags from Lim’s sheep.
Lim and her husband Carlos Bagrie run Central Otago’s Royalburn Station, a 485hectare sheep and barley farm on the Crown Range between Arrowtown and Wanaka.
The couple’s TV show, Nadia’s Farm, about the highs, lows and realities of rural life, has just finished its first season.
During filming, Lim and Bagrie connected with the Rural Support Trust through the show’s director and producer Matt Chisholm, who is also the trust’s ambassador.
The room fragrance was developed by Lim and local essential oil distiller Michael Sly, who was “the crazy-mad compost enthusiast” on the show, she told The Country’s Jamie Mackay.
“It was the perfect tie-in. It was all very serendipitous.”
Sly and Lim were both fans of composting and liked to try to turn “waste into precious resources”, Lim told Mackay.
“He came up with this idea of distilling dags because he’s got an essential oil distiller— and I thought what a whacko idea but let’s give it a try.”
The final result was a fragrance that “smells like a woolshed”, Lim said.
Like all good experiments, early trials were not so successful, with the first attempt coming out “a bit too strong”, she said.
“That’s the one that everyone sees on the show [where] everyone was like ‘ooh — that smells a bit pooey,’ but we’ve worked on it.”
Luckily, the fourth time was the charm for “Eau de Dagg”.
Despite this, the inaugural bottle of “Eau de Dagg” seemed to be doing well on Trade Me, Bagrie said.
“So far it’s selling really well … and all of the profits are going to the Rural Support Trust so [we’re] quietly stoked with that.
“Hopefully, the townies are into it.”