Nadia Lim of Royalburn Station has today launched a cheeky new room fragrance to fundraise for the Rural Support Trust and help raise awareness of the issues facing rural New Zealand. And it’s a bit of a dag!
‘Eau de Dagg’ was created using essential oils made from the wool dags of Nadia’s very own sheep.
So, what does it smell like? “Yes, good question! It literally smells just like a woolshed. It is not overly offensive, but you wouldn’t wear it as a perfume – unless you wanted to attract a sheep mate,” says Lim.
The room fragrance, developed by Nadia and local essential oil distiller Michael Sly, is the celebrity chef, entrepreneur, television personality and author’s way of giving back to New Zealand’s rural community, which she and her family have become part of since taking over 1200-acre Royalburn Station at the base of the Crown Range near Queenstown.
During filming for TV show Nadia’s Farm, Lim and her husband Carlos Bagrie connected with the Rural Support Trust through the show’s director/producer Matt Chisholm, who is also the Trust’s ambassador.
Matt is well-known for his previous roles as host of Survivor New Zealand and Celebrity Treasure Island. He has been touring the country this year on his Time Out Tour with the Rural Support Trust and sharing his story of mental wellness and resilience.
Rural Support Trust is a not-for-profit network of 14 regional trusts which provide free and confidential assistance to rural people facing challenges around health and wellbeing, financial pressures, animal welfare, employment matters and adverse events.
“Matt is such a genuine guy who has been upfront and open about his own personal mental health struggles,” says Lim. “He really is a great ambassador for the Rural Support Trust.
“When Michael came up with the idea of a fragrance made from distilling wool dags, we wondered how we could tie it in with something that supported mental health in the rural community. Then the Trust came up through Matt’s connection with it, and so we had this crazy idea that we could sell this dag fragrance to raise money for the Rural Support Trust.
“We batted around some good taglines like ‘Let’s talk about shit’ and ‘everything starts at the bottom.’ The idea was that the fragrance could also transport people back to their childhood on the farm. Thus, Eau de Dagg was born.”
Rural Support Trust National Council member Mike Green says the Eau de Dagg fundraiser is a ‘tongue in cheek’ way to spark conversations and help raise awareness of the issues facing the rural community today.
“Eau de Dagg is a fun vehicle through which we can share some important messages around encouraging mental resilience during tough times. Our work as the Trust is focused on giving rural people hope that there is a way through whatever difficulties individuals and families may be facing.
“We are truly grateful to the Royalburn Station team, Michael and Nadia for their generosity and support.”
Lim recognises how all-consuming farming and rural life can sometimes be. “While we’re lucky we have the potential for other revenue streams, for most farmers, the land is their entire livelihood. It’s easy to see how the pressure can at times become unbearable,” she says.
The room fragrance is also designed to bridge the urban/rural divide. “A generation ago, most Kiwis had a connection with rural life. Today, many have never set foot on a farm, which has led to a real disconnect from how food gets to our plates, and many misconceptions and misunderstandings.”
Michael Sly says, “So we thought, if we can’t bring people to the farm, let’s bring the farm to the people! They say that smell is the strongest sense for evoking memories, so hopefully this will help reconnect people with their experiences of rural life.”
Says Nadia, “Yes, we want to sell lots of this fragrance and donate all the profits to the Rural Support Trust. But we also want to start conversations about rural life. Eau de Dagg is a cheeky, fun way of reconnecting urban and rural New Zealanders.”
As we head into December, Eau de Dagg is set to become the unique gift under the Christmas tree. As ambassador for the Rural Support Trust, Matt Chisholm loves the creativity and humour behind the fundraiser and believes it will be the talk around the dinner table.
“Eau de Dagg is the answer to the question, ‘What do I give the person who has everything?’ This Christmas, give them the fragrance of a high-country woolshed in a room spray. It’s brilliant! Only New Zealanders would do something as weird and wonderful as this.
“What I love about Eau de Dagg is that it’s Kiwis being positive about our rural communities. That’s the real gift of this idea.”
100% of profits from the sale of the Royalburn Eau de Dagg gift boxes will go to the Rural Support Trust to support mental health initiatives in our rural communities. It is available to purchase from Royalburn Station’s website now: https://royalburn.co.nz/shop/.
The very first, hand-poured bottle will be up for auction on TradeMe signed by Nadia Lim, Carlos Bagrie and Michael Sly, with a blow-fly in it – just like a worm in a bottle of tequila!
