Life Pharmacy reveals Beauty By Life, its first flagship beauty department store and pharmacy rolled into one in Tāmaki Makaurau; Check Your Bits offers a welcome reminder to prioritise breast care; This luxurious South Island retreat has launched its first beauty product - a cosseting body oil; Newcomer Flint elevates
Welcome to Viva’s Beauty Insider, our fortnightly column where beauty editor Ashleigh Cometti unpacks every movement within the industry.
Check back every second Thursday for the latest instalment, or keep your finger on the pulse by heading to our @Nzhviva Instagram for updates as they happen.
Read on for every important beauty announcement worth knowing this week.
Beauty By Life opens in Westfield Newmarket
There’s even more reason to visit Westfield Newmarket now, with the unveiling of the new Beauty By Life flagship.
Situated in the beauty hub on level 3, Beauty By Life is a fresh retail concept for Green Cross Health – the parent company of Unichem and Life Pharmacies – one which combines luxury and global beauty brands spanning cosmetics, fragrance, skincare, haircare and wellbeing at a variety of price points alongside a full-service pharmacy.
According to Rachel Newfield, group CEO of Green Cross Health, this new offering brings together the best beauty and wellbeing has to offer. “Beauty by Life is a truly unique space in New Zealand, where beauty meets wellness, supported by our unparalleled expert care and advice,” she says.
“The new approach to store design, and greater integration of the beauty, wellbeing and pharmacy offerings will take our current offering to the next level, and we believe, sets us apart in the market. Customers will be able to shop for their favourite beauty brands in an easy-to-navigate, intuitive way, receive expert advice from our in-store team, and of course fill a prescription and receive pharmacy-only health care – all in one location.”
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Advertise with NZME.A suite of new brands has been introduced at Beauty By Life, building on Life Pharmacy’s existing selection. This includes YSL, Jeuneora, The Beauty Chef and MCo Beauty, alongside international brands including Boots and Sulwhasoo.
Treatment rooms are set to open from this month onwards, with makeup, skincare, lash, brow and waxing services available to book online.
Expansion plans are in place to roll out the Beauty By Life concept across the motu, so keep your eyes peeled for a concept store coming to a town near you.
Check Your Bits ushers in new category
More than just a body wash, Check Your Bits is the first in a category now known as “health empowerment”.
Christchurch-based couple Tamara and Ryan sought to create a product that encouraged men and women how to self-check intimate areas like breasts for changes, in a bid to reduce the number of New Zealanders diagnosed with advanced forms of cancer.
The 100% natural body wash is emblazoned with the brand’s moniker and a reminder to “Check Your Bits” – urging people to make self-checks an everyday habit that could ultimately save their life.
This was the case for co-founder Tamara, who discovered a lump in her breast during a routine self-check in 2020 which turned out to be breast cancer.
“We were shocked to learn how few people had a regular self-check habit, and some admitted they’d never even checked themselves,” says Tamara. “Early detection is critical, and we wanted to make it easier, more approachable, and more accessible for everyone to prioritise their health.”
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Advertise with NZME.Check Your Bits Bodywash, $35, is formulated to offer a smooth, friction-free consistency for ease of use while you self-check, and contains kawakawa, camomile, and calendula to gently care for skin.
For tips on how to self-check or to shop, visit Checkyourbits.co.nz.
Luxury retreat launches new body oil
Bottling the tranquillity of Queenstown’s regenerative retreat comes the new Aro Ha Awaken Superfine Body Oil, $89, a luxurious, ultra-fine oil which was developed in collaboration with elevated Melbourne-based body care brand Arithmos Skin.
The collaboration came after Arithmos founder Michelle Wang fell in love with the energy, architecture and natural surroundings at Aro Ha, wanting to share the same sense of grounding and peace that the retreat fosters for its guests.
Beauty and wellbeing go hand in hand, and while the retreat zeroes in on the latter, guests are encouraged to care for their skin during their stay at Aro Ha with locally made products that tread lightly on the earth.
Every bottle of Awaken Superfine Oil is brimming with premium botanicals including camellia seed, jojoba seed, rosehip and manuka oil, alongside tocopherol (vitamin E), and offers a soft, citrussy scent.
Flint elevates men’s grooming routines
If encouraging the man in your life to commit to a skincare routine seems near impossible, enter the new male-focused skincare brand encased in Kermit-green packaging that’s hard to miss.
Developed by local beauty entrepreneur Sarah Inglis, Flint is formulated to help ease common skin concerns particular to male skin, including the visible signs of ageing, uneven skin texture and irritation caused by shaving.
It does so with a cocktail of soothing plant-based botanicals and bioactive ingredients, Flint highlights the best of green science to regulate the skin’s own sebum production and support a healthy skin barrier, leaving complexions feeling nourished and hydrated.
The New Zealand-made range was the result of two years of mahi, with Sarah’s husband Richard stepping in as the guinea pig to test drive and review each product iteration.
But their combined efforts paid off, with Flint launching late last month with a curated selection of four hero products – the Gentle Cleanser, Hydrating Moisturiser, Restoring Exfoliant and Repairing Serum – for a fuss-free routine suited to newbies and skincare aficionados alike.
Flint Skincare is priced from $35 and is available from Flintskincare.com.
The ultimate indulgence at East Day Spa and Spring Spa
Suffering from a little party season burnout? (Aren’t we all?).
We’ve found just the thing: a selection of cosseting skin and body care treatments available from East Day Spa and Spring Spa to help melt away festive season stress and offer a moment’s calm in among the chaos.
You’d be forgiven for thinking you’d been whisked away to an island escape at East Day Spa, located in the heart of five-star hotel SkyCity Grand, promising the perfect urban sanctuary in which to relax and unwind.
Here, take your pick from bespoke treatments including A Gift of Calm, $305, a two-and-a-half hour treatment that begins in the state-of-the-art tepidarium, moves through to a traditional Indian Kady Vasty Massage and ends with a Codage Deep Pore Facial.
Try Bright & Beautiful, $315, a two-hour-fifteen-minute treatment that nourishes from top to toe with an infrared sauna, nourishing full-body scrub and bespoke Codage facial tailored to suit your needs.
Or consider The Spirit Of Wellness, $380, is a three-hour treatment that flows from a two-hour face and body treatment curated by luxury skincare brand Augustinus Bader, and concludes with a supreme manicure or pedicure by Margaret Dabbs.
At Spring Spa’s neighbourhood destinations in Ponsonby, St Heliers and Wellington, treatments span from manicure and pedicure combinations to full-body rejuvenation.
Glow Head-To-Toe, which is priced from $170, includes both nail treatments alongside a neck and shoulder massage to ease tension; Recovery Ritual, from $160, couples the Spring Signature Massage with a gentle Eye Treatment to rejuvenate both body and tired eyes; while Shine On, from $275, is the ultimate indulgence with a full-body massage and Gua Sha contour facial to minimise fine lines and boost brightness.
For more information or to book, visit Eastdayspa.com or Springspa.com.
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