The first product Michele created was a sunscreen and Eva’s skin cleared within a week. The New Zealand sun is particularly brutal thanks to our lack of Ozone layer, but Eva reacted to every sunscreen they tried – even the natural options. Michele, desperate to know why, began digging around for more information. She discovered that all sunscreens, even every natural sunscreen on the market she could find, was a water-based formulation.
“The problem with this,” she says, “was that whenever you have a water-based formula, you need a number of preservatives and stabilisers to keep it from growing mould or splitting. Every sunscreen, including the natural ones, has synthetic preservatives or natural mimicking preservatives, so were not 100% natural. These were irritants on Eva’s skin. On top of this was the problem with all of the chemical-based active sun protection ingredients. They were terrible for her skin.”
Armed with all of this information, Michele created an oil-based formula more suitable for Eva’s dry skin, primarily infused with a native NZ plant called Kawakawa. Kawakawa, also known as Macropiper excelsium or the Maori Pepper Tree, is endemic to New Zealand and long known for its anti-inflammatory and anti-viral properties. The leaves and bark can be used to heal wounds, ulcers, skin disorders, burns and more. Drinking an infusion of the leaves can treat colds and flus, digestive troubles, chest problems like asthma and even blood pressure. A wonder plant, then. Michele combined this with a non nano zinc oxide which acted as the physical barrier on her skin, and discovered rapid success.
“The Kawakawa instantly stopped Eva’s itchy skin…Her skin began to repair after only one day. This led me on a journey of learning about Rongoa Maori, how to harvest sustainably, using Tikanga [customary protocol] and rituals, etc.”
Stunned at the effects, Michele began passing it on to her friends and connections at Eva’s kindergarten, and word spread. Michele, now a mother of two, was a lawyer before starting Frankie Apothecary and until then had not considered turning this into a business.
“I was in a very successful role as a lawyer and on a partnership track which I was excited about. I did not consider turning it into a business until I found myself spending a lot of my time filling orders from the local community (I was only charging the price of the ingredients and doing it for the love) and I was getting such amazing feedback. The sunscreen was repairing the worst cases of eczema-laden skin I had seen, and word was spreading organically. I decided to give the business a real shot when during a yoga class I overheard people talking about this amazing new sunscreen – made by me!”
Michele has since created a Colloidal Oat Bath Soak, which helped alleviate Eva’s itching after just one soak. Colloidal Oats are oats that have been ground into a fine powder. When added to a bath the proteins disperse quickly forming a viscous hydrocolloid gel (a film), that sticks to the skin. This provides a barrier stopping water loss, also restoring the pH of the skin. Soaking a few times a week and following with the Kawakawa balm goes a long way in relieving the itch and healing of eczema. Treating with these two products while diligently working out your child’s triggers and irritants means far less itching, pain and discomfort. And the results are so good, Frankie Apothecary is really taking off.
