Earthwoven

I do not think collaboration means pretending competition does not exist.

It does.

But competition and respect can exist at the same time. You can care deeply about your own business, want it to grow, and still share knowledge, support good people and celebrate what someone else is creating.

These are some of the people I got to know in Malaysia, and I think they are well worth knowing too. Go have a look at what they are building, follow their work, and support some great NZ businesses doing their own thing 🇳🇿🤝🇲🇾

One of the biggest problems in skincare is how quickly routines become about treating every symptom separately.

Skin feels oily, so you strip it back. Breakouts show up, so you add another active. Redness appears, so you add something calming. Then dryness comes in and suddenly you’re layering something heavier over the top of all of it.

Before long, the routine is doing five different things and it becomes hard to tell what your skin is actually responding to.

Earthwoven takes a different approach.

We look at what the skin is doing as a whole, formulate around the overlap, and keep the routine clear enough that you can use it consistently and actually give your skin time to respond.

That is really the thinking behind Earthwoven ✅

I’ve been trying to work out how to put this experience into words since getting home.

I spent ten days in Malaysia, arriving four days before joining a six-day health and beauty entrepreneurs programme with Asia New Zealand Foundation Te Whītau Tūhono.

Those first few days gave me time to experience Kuala Lumpur on my own before looking at it through a business lens. By the time the programme began, I was already noticing the pace, scale, mix of cultures, how people shop and just how much is happening around you at any given time.

Then came six incredibly full days of conversations, introductions, learning and access I simply wouldn’t have had on my own. There is something surreal about building Earthwoven from Hawke’s Bay and finding myself on the other side of the world having conversations about where a New Zealand brand could fit within a region of hundreds of millions of consumers.

I went wanting to understand Malaysia as a potential market. I came home thinking much more broadly.
Last year, the US taught me a huge amount about international growth. Malaysia challenged that thinking again because it is so different. In three weeks I’ll be back in Los Angeles, carrying everything I’ve learnt from Asia with me too.

You can research markets, read reports and look at numbers, but there is something different about physically putting yourself in them. Listening. Watching. Asking questions. Seeing what people actually respond to. Realising how much you still don’t know. I’m incredibly grateful to Asia New Zealand Foundation Te Whītau Tūhono for selecting me, and to NZTE, His Excellency Mike Walsh, New Zealand High Commissioner to Malaysia, and everyone who generously shared their time and knowledge.

To the group I experienced it alongside, the conversations and relationships formed are something I’ll carry with me long after the programme. And Malaysia itself surprised me completely. Kuala Lumpur is chaotic, diverse and full of energy. I absolutely loved it. I arrived knowing very little about the city and left genuinely sad to leave.
There is far too much from these ten days to fit into one post. This is only the beginning of what I want to share.

Dryness, oiliness, breakouts and sensitivity can exist at the same time.

That is because these things are not opposites. They can all be signs that the skin is struggling with balance, hydration or barrier function. This is why moisturiser is such an important step, even for people who would not describe their skin as dry.
The right formula should hydrate, support the barrier and help the skin feel more comfortable without leaving it heavy or greasy.

I think one of the strangest parts of building a business publicly is that people often only see the finished version of things.

The decisions, the uncertainty, the changes, the personal stuff behind it all usually happen long before anyone sees the outcome. So this is a little bit of that middle part.

Thank you for continuing to back Earthwoven through all the parts you don’t always get to see 🤍

Toner is probably the most underestimated step in skincare.

A lot of people still think of it as something that just feels nice after cleansing, or an optional extra you can skip without really missing anything.

But when the formula is doing real work, you notice the difference.
Less reactivity. Less of that tight, unsettled feeling after cleansing.

A routine that feels more balanced overall.
That is exactly why this one has become such a strong repeat purchase for Earthwoven.
It is not the loudest product in the range.
But it is one people tend to miss once they stop using it.