I'm really happy with the way my skin looks and feels at the moment. In fact I'm happy happy. I'm happy that someone sent me an email introducing me to Monique Turner.
I'm happy that I followed up that email and visited her to chat about her new natural skin care range she makes right here in Hawke's Bay.
And I'm so happy that I decided to try her beautiful Happy Happy NZ products. Monique is a remedial massage therapist with 14 years experience.
She is from a family of nine children with Scottish, Irish and Maori descent (Nga Puhi) and learned at an early age the benefits of massaging.
"I was one of the older children and I soon learned that if I massaged Mum's back, especially when she was pregnant, I got to stay up and watch EastEnders," she laughed.
"I started my career in the corporate world but it wasn't really for me. I started to learn massage and found I loved remedial massage. It's amazing to be able to help people who are in pain."
She started making her own massage balm for her clients and then for her son who was experiencing health problems.
As her business grew she saw a gap in the market for affordable natural hemp-based products. So she learned the science behind making it and launched her range last November.
As we chatted I could see and hear how passionate Monique is about her skin care range.
"It was during lockdown that I started to experiment with skincare. I had an expensive moisturiser and I ran out and couldn't get any more, so I decided to have a go at making my own.
"I wanted my products to be simple and effective but also to make a big difference and to make people feel confident and happy. We're all about using natural ingredients, small batch manufacturing and packaging that reduces our environmental footprint."
Hawke's Bay's Pip Macpherson has been a client of Monique's for a number of years. When Monique started experimenting with skincare Pip offered to trial it.
"I have really sensitive skin so lots of products don't work for me," Pip said.
"A month after I starting using it I went to 60th and a friend I hadn't seen for years said to me 'OMG have you had a face lift?'
"No I hadn't — four months on I have recommended Happy Happy to so many people and I don't recommend anything unless it works. Every one who has used it has been amazed. It is so easy to use and I just love the results. In short it's affordable face care that works.
"Monique is a genuine person and she's also clever."
There are three products in the three-step to Happy Skin Bundle — Hyaluronic +B3 Serum which is applied to a wet face thereby trapping all the moisture in, Face Nourish and Intensive Face Oil.
Monique says it brings her so much happiness when she hears how much people enjoy her products.
She is grateful for the help she has recieved on her journey from local mentors including George Williams from Black Dog Design and Aimee Stewart from Connect.
Happy Happy NZ products speak for themselves. They are available from Madisons in Napier, Cloud 9 Aesthetics in Clive, and online at happyhappy.nz