About Us
Why your dog deserves better than straw-yellow calendula
If you've ever tried a calendula product and wondered what all the fuss was about? I get it. I've been there too.
A few years ago I bought calendula flowers from my local health food store to make a skin balm. They were straw yellow. Flat. Lifeless. The balm I made was fine, but nothing special.
Then I found an Australian grower. The flowers that arrived were bright orange, the way calendula is supposed to look when it's been grown with care, harvested at the right time, and not shipped halfway around the world. The balm I made from those flowers was in a completely different league. I was genuinely amazed.
That moment changed everything for me.
Growing with purpose
I'm Alison, and I'm based in southern NSW. I grow medicinal herbs at home including calendula and where I need to source additional ingredients, I look to local Australian suppliers first. Always. My team? My dogs, who are both my inspiration and my most enthusiastic product testers.
This isn't about dismissing modern medicine. It's about understanding that the quality of the plant matters enormously, and that most people buying herbal products have never experienced what they're actually capable of when done properly.
How the balm came to be
I have friends with dogs who struggle badly with skin allergies and reactive skin. After researching the benefits of calendula for skin health and spending time finding ingredients that are genuinely safe for pets, I formulated the Calendula & Oatmeal Daily Skin Shield: a water-free, lick-safe balm made from ingredients I'd trust on my own skin but more importanly, I trust to use on my own dogs.
Every tin starts with homegrown or Australian-sourced botanicals. No shortcuts. No imported filler ingredients. Just plants grown and chosen with intent.
Who we source from
The ingredients in every tin of Companion Herbary balm are chosen with as much care as the formulation itself.
Small and local, always where we can. We grow our own calendula right here in our garden, harvested at peak potency. When our own harvest needs supplementing, we go to small Australian growers first and only step up to larger suppliers for ingredients we can't source locally.
- Nimbin Apothecary (Nimbin, NSW): calendula flowers
- Botany and Blend (Mildura, VIC): calendula flowers
- Bohemian Bees & Blooms (Wagga Wagga, NSW): beeswax
- New Directions (Australia): additional cosmetic-grade ingredients
As a small batch maker, our suppliers may evolve as seasons and availability change but our commitment to small, local, and Australian-sourced ingredients won't.
Want to try it?
The balm is currently out of stock while I prepare the next batch but you can join the waitlist and be the first to know when it's back.
Follow along if you want to see the plants grow, or if you are just interest in the goings on and cute pictures of my dogs, cat and chickens as they help along the way.