Sustainable Skincare, Responsible Earthcare®
Long before anyone thought to put the words ‘clean’ and ‘beauty’ together, Antipodes Founder and CEO Elizabeth Barbalich was creating a skincare and makeup range that wasn’t just scientifically-validated, it was also healthy for its devotees and the planet.
Fast forward 15 years and Antipodes is a cutting-edge skincare business that delivers a piece of New Zealand’s clean, green paradise to more than four continents. It’s that inextricable connection to nature, science and sustainability that is the core of the brand.
We define sustainability as traceability of key ingredients, extraction processes using pure water and organic or biodiverse farming methods that have little impact on the environment. Our focus is on two key areas – packaging and sustainably harvested ingredients.
There’s an immediate need to be kinder to the planet.That means making informed choices about environmental and sustainable responsibility. A good place to start is with our beauty routines, to use products that are kind to ourselves and our environment.
Wild Origin Manuka Honey
One of the world’s superfoods, this high-performance bioactive ingredient found only in New Zealand helps to promote youthful, fresh and blemish-free skin. We only use premium manuka honey produced sustainably by bees who harvest the nectar of the wild manuka plant in remote parts of New Zealand, so there’s no impact to the environment.
In fact, manuka honey is the ultimate sustainable ingredient because the wild-grown native plants with the pretty pink and white flowers self generate.
Year round, beekeepers travel through wild remote terrain to monitor each colony. To ensure the health of the hive and purity of the honey, they follow a strict hive management system. From the materials and foundations of the beehive to feeding and protection from pests and disease, every detail is carefully monitored.
Before and after harvesting their precious cargo, the bees fly free.
Repurposed Vinanza Grape
This uniquely New Zealand ingredient is a power-house of antioxidants that can help reduce the signs of premature aging. Scientists discovered that the seeds of sauvignon blanc grapes grown on Marlborough vineyards have double the levels of polyphenolic antioxidants of grapes grown anywhere else in the world, which have been proven to improve elasticity and firmness in the skin, reduce redness and inflammation, brighten skin, lighten freckles and age spots and help reduce the free radicals that can damage your skin’s surface.*
Vinanza Grape antioxidants are extracted via a world-first, environmentally-friendly method that uses nothing but pure water. This retains their bioactivity and keeps them free from the harsh chemicals usually used in extraction techniques.
*Independent clinical study by AgResearch Ltd: The effect of grape seed and kiwifruit extracts on skin preparation.
Responsible Earthcare
Antipodes makes it easy with its Green Beauty Ethos™ – an environmental sustainability policy that extends to all facets of the business, from onshore production in New Zealand and recyclable packaging to independent third-party verification of its safe, natural and organic products.
It also means a strict policy of only working with suppliers who operate sustainable and organic farming practices. It’s no secret that organic farming, with its lack of pesticides, enhances biodiversity and results in better soil quality and reduced pollution. That’s why we’ve carefully sourced pure plant oil producers who tend to their orchards and fields with natural compounds that yield nutrient-rich avocados in Northland, superfood kiwifruit in the lush Hawke’s Bay and meadowfoam flowers in the fertile Canterbury Plains.
Low Consumption, High-Quality - Our Packaging
Our packaging mantra has always been "repurpose, reuse, recycle", which naturally extends to a commitment to low consumption, high quality packaging and to reducing plastics in our packaging wherever humanly possible. We’ve long used recyclable boxes made from 100% biodegradable cardboard which comes from sustainable forests that use legal logging processes and highly ethical processes. What’s more, the ink used to print our boxes and other packaging materials is 100% eco ink derived from vegetables, which ensures our printing stays on the right side of sustainable.
We currently use plastic shrink wrap on each pot but are working on a biodegradable alternative that we hope to be able to roll out soon.
Ecosystem of New Zealand Partners
We believe in keeping it local when it comes to sourcing clean ingredients and producing our natural formulations. That includes local growers, beekeepers, printers and manufacturing, all of them close to our HQ in Wellington, New Zealand.
Discover Us
Elizabeth’s Story
Our founder and CEO on how she created this scientifically-validated green beauty brand
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Science & Innovation
Authentic plant-based ingredients meet robust scientific research and testing
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New Zealand Nature
Delivering the best green beauty products from lush New Zealand nature
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Certified Organic
Toxic-free ingredients from an authentic green beauty brand you can trust
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BioGro New Zealand is the Pacific’s largest and best-known certifier of organic produce and products, and is internationally recognised and accredited.
VegSoc (the Vegetarian Society of the United Kingdom), the oldest and most respected vegetarian organisation in the world, audits every Antipodes product line annually to meet its strict criteria for vegan or vegetarian status.