MOTHER MUSE | Amanda Callan

Meet Amanda Callan, founder of Herb Remedy. 

With a Bachelor of Health Science in Naturopathy and a deep passion for herbal medicine, Amanda created Herb Remedy to share the power of plants in a simple, accessible way. Each product is made from scratch in their Byron Bay herbal dispensary using pure, natural ingredients and traditional methods. You’ll always find short, simple ingredient lists you can actually understand.

We sat down with Amanda to talk about how Herb Remedy began, why herbs play such an important role in our lives and the daily rituals she swears by. 

Your wonderful soaps at Herb Remedy are naturopath formulated. How does this differ from conventionally formulated soaps?

All of our products at Herb Remedy are naturopath-formulated, basically just with the skin’s natural balance and overall wellbeing in mind. We use traditional herbal extraction methods, some dating back to when pharmacists were also herbalists.

Our soap bars specifically are made using the traditional cold process method, which relies on a natural reaction called saponification rather than added heat. This gentle method creates rich, moisturising bars that naturally retain glycerin. Glycerin helps attract moisture to the skin, supports the skin barrier, and prevents dryness. 

Many commercial soaps remove glycerin from the soap to use it in products with higher profit margins, and fill the soap bars with artificial fragrances, detergents and preservatives instead.

With a Bachelor of Health Science in Naturopathy, did you always plan to go into herbal soap manufacturing? What led you there?

Not at all, that was never the plan. About fourteen years ago I received a soap making book for Christmas as a way to use up the herbs I had growing in my garden. At the time, I was deeply into herbal infusions and my shed was filled with jars of calendula, lavender, lemon myrtle etc etc infusing into different plant oils. I was also pregnant with my first son, Banjo, so I wanted to make sure I knew exactly what I was putting on his skin, I was shocked about some of the baby wash options out there.

I started making soap in our kitchen, and then we built a soap making shed in the front yard, and then moved onto a commercial space. There were many failed batches, trial and error and weird combinations but we have stayed with our 7 or so classic bars for over a decade now.

What is your favourite way to start your day?

With movement, a decent savoury protein based breakfast, and many bowls of shō shin, a Lia Bao fermented black tea. I also have four wonderfully energised boys, so most mornings are spent with them, feeding them and cleaning up after them mostly.

How do you usually end your day? Do you have a favourite way to unwind?

My favourite way to wind down is a tea ceremony at Cloud Hidden, followed by a nourishing dinner, some sleep herbs, a bar of lavender soap in the shower and an early bed time.

From a naturopathic perspective, why is it so important to use natural, low toxic skincare?

There are so many reasons. For both women and men, the chemicals in many skincare products are endocrine disrupting disasters. Packaging and marketing often promise wonderful things, but when you look closely at the ingredient lists, they can be quite horrifying. This reflects where we are at more broadly, with food, skincare, and consumer goods prioritising profit over quality, with little consideration for the cumulative impact on our health. We are bombarded with chemicals daily, so reducing toxic load wherever possible feels like a sensible thing to do.

There is also the simple joy of bathing. Once you switch to herbal, natural skincare, the idea of using synthetically fragranced liquid body washes doesn’t really appeal anymore.

What does your daily skin ritual look like?

Very simple. I truly believe skin health is more about what you put inside your body than what you put on it. I use our Face & Body Oil with Jojoba oil, Gotu Kola & Calendula as both a cleanser and nourishing oil. I moisturise with our Dream Cream with Rosella & Calendula, use our Botanical Body Butter with Hemp Seed Oil and Lemongrass and exclusively use our soap bars in the bath or shower.. If Im surfing its Mother SPF all the way.

If you had to choose one favourite herb for skin health, which would it be?

Calendula. It is a classic, and I can’t go past it. That said, I have recently been really amazed by Gotu Kola (Centella asiatica).

Lastly, what is your hope for people trying Herb Remedy for the first time? Any recommendations on where to start?

I hope we can convert as many people as possible away from liquid body washes and back to the humble bar of soap. It is a challenge. One of the most common questions in our factory store is, ‘Do you have this in liquid?’ But once you embrace the bar of soap and how to look after it between uses, there’s no going back. Also the ingredients in the Dream Cream are basically good enough to eat, it’s a cult favourite and we work hard to keep it in stock.

You can shop Amandas wonderful creations here