Val Venosta is simply the Italian name for the Vinschgau, so this one really is grown in our own valley: on the valley floor at about 720 m, less than 20 km from our lab. Calendula is an annual, and Jonas, our grower, sows it again each spring. It flowers from June until the first frost, and new heads keep opening as long as the old ones are picked, so the harvest is done by hand every few days all summer.

The flowers are dried in the loft of our barn, then extracted. We use calendula at three levels: 1% in the Glacial Clay Mask, to keep a clay mask comfortable; 2% in the Rich Barrier Cream; and 5% in the Calendula Multi-Balm, which is named for it. It’s a traditional comfort flower for dry, rough areas: knuckles, elbows, lips and the edges of the nose in winter.

The honest detail: part of the balm’s golden color comes from the flowers, so it shifts a little from one harvest to the next. A sunny summer gives a deeper shade than a wet one. Calendula is also in the daisy family, so if you know you react to daisies, try it on a small patch first.