Hello everyone and welcome to our blog posts.
Each week, we will be taking some time to stop, reflect and highlight special parts of our journey that has got Harpella to where it is today.
What better place to start a story than at the beginning. Frustration and desperation.
2022. Frustration.
Our skincare journey was a dream that began while we were pregnant with our first baby back in 2022. I was really uncomfortable, my belly was getting tight and itchy and I knew that if I didn't get some sort of thick, moisturizer, I was not going to have a fun time. My search for a body butter was not an easy one. I am very unfortunate to be allergic to a component of aloe vera that can be found in virtually every single cream or butter on the shelf. Once I had come to the realization that I was not going to get anything easily, I decided to make my own. A few days later product arrived and I got mixing. The first batch was thick (check), creamy (check), moisturising (check) and for the first time in weeks I was comfortable. I then started playing with different scents and consistancies and then planned to take them to market.. in Auckland.. right before the Auckland floods occured. Everything I had made was gone (went under water). And the dream took a pause. Life happened, another baby on the way, and then the move back home to Kapiti.
I still had my personal stash of creams and scrubs I used through the next pregnancy and so the dream to sell stayed as just that while we adjusted to our new home and new family member.
2025. Desperation.
Isn't watching your children grow and turn into little people amazing! Through all of the sleepless nights, screams, tantrums, and tears, the laughter, squeals of joy and little moments of affection completely overshadows the little blips of the not so greats. Mixed in with all of that you get things like rashes, mozzie bites, bumps, bruises, little cuts and grazes, hives, post-partum acne, achy joints and muscles oh the list goes on. Naturally you turn to the likes of the GP to prescribe topicals, you go to supermarkets for 'tried and true' everyday rash creams. When those don't work you fall into a loop of what's and why's. What can I do, why isn't anything I do working, what am I doing wrong? The short answer is I didn't do anything wrong at all. Everyone is made different and what worked for one kid most probably won't work for the next. And that got me thinking, why not hit the books and articles and see if there's something I can make, after all I had just used the last of my butters and was making my own stuff again, so I already had the stock! I started with zinc bum cream and then turned my focus to balms and researched the properties of kawakawa since it was on our property in abundance. While all of this is going on, I took my first batch of butters and scrubs to market and it was well received! I had bath bombs, bubble bath cake pops and shower steamers too! And with that, Harpella was born!
Soon after going to market I included our staple product - the Kawakawa Balm and the creations continued from there! Since then, our product base has grown, we have found our groove and we have found our community markets we regularly attend. On a Saturday you can find us down at the Kapiti Market from 8-12pm and Sundays up at the Otaki Market from 10-2pm.
Stay tuned for next week where I will take you on a deep dive into our latest creation - Blue Tansy Night Cream!