There are skincare brands built from strategy and brands built from necessity. Frankie Apothecary Skincare belongs to the latter.
Its story does not begin in a laboratory. It begins in Rongoā Māori, the traditional Māori healing system. From there it reaches into the leaves of native kawakawa (Macropiper excelsum). What started as one balm, made for a daughter's eczema-prone skin, has grown into an award winning collection. It is still built on the same principle it started with. Nature, treated with patience and respect, is enough.
Frankie Apothecary was created by Michele Wilson of Tainui and Ngāti Paoa descent, after years spent trying to help her daughter's dry, eczema-prone skin. Doctor visits, allergy tests and eliminated foods brought no lasting relief.
Determined to ease her daughter's pain, Michele resolved to create something that worked herself. She had already been let down by what was on the market, so she spent hundreds of hours researching what was helping families overseas. The search eventually led her home, back to her own Māori heritage and to the wisdom held within Rongoā Māori. Working with wild harvested native kawakawa, she formulated a balm. Within a week, her daughter's skin had settled.
Word spread the way genuine results tend to spread, through other parents who recognised something different in the formula. That balm became what is known and celebrated today as the multi-award winning Frankie Apothecary Kawakawa Repair Balm. Michele grew it into a household name across New Zealand, driven in part by her wider passion for Māori women succeeding in business.
In 2019, Michele passed Frankie Apothecary to new ownership with Georgina and her husband Matt taking over this growing New Zealand legacy, expanding the collection while holding the same standard Michele built it on. Kawakawa is still wild harvested and extracted in Mangawhai by Michele's whānau, using the same techniques from the beginning. Together they have built a multi-award winning collection and a loyal following among New Zealand families, led by the Kawakawa Repair Balm. It carries formal endorsement from the NZ Eczema Association and is widely regarded as the most awarded kawakawa balm in New Zealand.
Rongoā Māori understands wellbeing as balance between body, mind, spirit and land. It treats native plants not as trends but as intelligent, layered medicine, requiring patience and correct handling to reveal their full properties.
Frankie Apothecary applies this understanding directly to how kawakawa is sourced. The leaves are wild harvested by hand, timed to the Maramataka, the traditional Māori lunar calendar. This is when the plant's naturally occurring compounds are recognised to be at their highest. Kawakawa contains more than 60 biologically active compounds, including myristicin and pellitorine, recognised for their role in modulating inflammatory signalling pathways and supporting skin healing.
Rather than relying on a single kawakawa extract, Frankie Apothecary's formulations draw on two, a slow infused oil and a concentrated leaf extract. Each contributes what the other cannot. This is formulation built on traditional knowledge, applied with the same care Rongoā Māori has always required.
Kawakawa runs through the collection as a constant thread in all the Frankie Apothecary skincare products we offer. Each time, it contributes calming, barrier supportive properties recognised for skin exposed to reactivity, sun or environmental stress.
Kakadu plum sits at the centre of the Replenishing Kakadu Facial Oil. It is one of the world's highest known natural sources of Vitamin C, supporting collagen synthesis and skin luminosity. Cacay oil contributes cell renewal and Nigella Sativa adds barrier resilience. Together they address oxidative damage, moisture loss and uneven tone as one formulation question rather than several.
Calendula and shea butter appear across both the Kawakawa Repair Balm and the Natural Sun Defence SPF40. Both are chosen for their soothing, anti-inflammatory properties and their ability to support skin comfort during reactivity or sun exposure. Coconut oil is naturally high in lauric acid. It forms a protective film that helps reduce moisture loss in the balm and offers light, breathable hydration in the sunscreen. Together, these ingredients make both formulations gentle enough for the whole family, from newborns to grandparents.
In the Natural Sun Defence SPF40, protection comes from non-nano zinc oxide and titanium dioxide. These physical filters sit on the skin's surface to reflect UV rays rather than being absorbed into the bloodstream. This makes the formula well suited to sensitive, baby and eczema-prone skin. Unlike chemical sunscreens, which rely on UV absorbing compounds linked to coral bleaching, these mineral filters leave marine ecosystems undisturbed. This makes the formula reef safe by design.
Just as telling as what Frankie Apothecary includes is what it leaves out. Formulations are free from steroids, synthetic fragrance, parabens, petrochemicals and lanolin, a common allergen in baby skincare. The Natural Sun Defence SPF40 relies on non-nano mineral filters rather than chemical UV absorbers.
As with every brand held to Intentionally Natural's Natural Only Promise, Frankie Apothecary's formulations are free from animal testing. This is formulation discipline built around skin that cannot tolerate compromise, from newborns to those managing eczema, dermatitis or long term sensitivity.
At Intentionally Natural, we curate brands that demonstrate formulation depth, clarity of philosophy and consistency over time. Frankie Apothecary reflects this through a founder's lived experience, traditional knowledge and an unchanged ingredient standard preserved through the same kawakawa sourcing and extraction since the beginning. It is one of the brands I have trusted daily as a mother for decades, caring for my family from newborn to today. We are proud to include this remarkable expression of formulation expertise and Rongoā Māori skincare practices from Aotearoa New Zealand.
That standard has been recognised well beyond its own community. At the 2026 Beauty Shortlist Awards, Frankie Apothecary took home seven category wins. These included Best SOS/Healing Balm and Best After Sun Product for the Kawakawa Repair Balm. The Replenishing Kakadu Facial Oil won Best Face Oil for Balancing, Redness and Inflammation. Kawakawa Repair Balm also carries formal endorsement from the NZ Eczema Association, a credential that requires the formula to meet criteria well beyond general suitability claims.
For those seeking skincare grounded in Rongoā Māori and proven through both tradition and independent recognition, Frankie Apothecary remains a defining reference within Aotearoa New Zealand.
Explore the Frankie Apothecary Skincare collection and discover a considered approach to kawakawa care, guided by Rongoā Māori.
What makes Frankie Apothecary different from other kawakawa skincare brands?
Frankie Apothecary formulates with two kawakawa extracts rather than one, a slow infused oil and a concentrated leaf extract, offering complementary properties in a single application. Its Kawakawa Repair Balm uses a blended botanical wax system shown to reduce moisture loss as effectively as lanolin, without relying on animal derived or petrochemical ingredients. It is also the only kawakawa balm in New Zealand to carry formal endorsement from the NZ Eczema Association.
What is Rongoā Māori and how does it shape Frankie Apothecary's formulations?
Rongoā Māori is a traditional Māori healing system that understands wellbeing as balance between body, mind, spirit and land. Frankie Apothecary honours this by wild harvesting kawakawa by hand, timed to the Maramataka, when the plant's active compounds are recognised to be at their highest. This traditional approach shapes every formulation in the collection. Honouring the past, kawakawa is woven together with other potent botanical actives, most traditionally used for centuries in similar healing practices around the world. Modern formulation science is then applied, ensuring each blend is structurally stable to perform as intended.
Is Frankie Apothecary skincare safe for babies and eczema-prone skin?
Yes. The Kawakawa Repair Balm is formulated for use from birth, free from synthetic fragrance, steroids, parabens and lanolin, common irritants for young and reactive skin. The Replenishing Kakadu Facial Oil is formulated without synthetic fragrance or petrochemicals, making it equally suited to sensitive and eczema-adjacent skin. The Natural Sun Defence SPF40 uses non-nano mineral filters recognised for being gentle on sensitive, baby and eczema-prone skin. This standard of care runs across the Frankie Apothecary skincare collection we curated.
Why does Intentionally Natural curate Frankie Apothecary?
Intentionally Natural curates brands that share our purpose. Frankie Apothecary is a fellow New Zealand business, built to offer sanctuary where none existed before, with care and without ambiguity. It reflects this through founder led formulation, traditional Rongoā Māori knowledge and a mission as clear as our own.
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