About Rimu Gully
Natural Skincare and Sustainable Products
Made in NZ since 2014
Hi! I’m Dee, the creator of all of Rimu Gullys goodies. John is my husband, a farmer and a jack of all trades. We have two beautiful children – Hayley and Travis.
We moved to Rimu Gully in 2014 – a lifestyle block on the Āwhitu Peninsula that included a stunning QEII protected bush block – our Rimu Gully!
The gardens were a blank canvas, so I set about transforming them. I’ve always been incredibly passionate about gardening, and I wanted to share what we were doing with others so I started an Instagram and Facebook account to share what I was up to, originally called ‘Rimu Gully Gardens’. The gardens evolved over time and I ended up having regular garden tours through.
My sister in law Jinny got into beekeeping, and it was something that I had always talked about myself, so she helped set me up with my first hives, and within a year one hive had grown to seven!
There are a lot of by-products in beekeeping – honey being the obvious one. But you also get a lot of beautiful beeswax, which led me to start developing my own beeswax based products. I’m passionate about reducing plastic waste and limiting the amount of things I actually have to buy, so making beeswax wraps, making my own soap and developing my own skin care evolved naturally.
I’m a big believer in knowing exactly what goes into my body and what goes on my skin – if I can’t pronounce it or eat it then I’m not interested! This has led me to design completely natural products for my family that are free from any additives, preservatives, petrochemicals, plastic, palm oil and so on.
Friends and family started wanting to purchase my products, and over the years it has evolved into the business you see today.
I own a physical gift shop in Waiuku with my friend Kendal, which is thriving. It’s called Botanica on Bowen and we are so proud of it!
I’ve grown to the point now where I no longer have time to keep bees, so I now sourced my honey and beeswax from local Āwhitu beekeepers.
In 2022 we sold Rimu Gully the property, and have now built our dream forever home on the farm, just down the road from our last place. We moved in in 2023, and in 2024 I’m going full circle and landscaping gardens again from scratch.
Be sure to follow me on my socials, I still love to share my gardening and life experiences as well as share my Rimu Gully goodness.