Turning skincare into selfcare
Nicki shared her story with Jo Elwin
We can thank the dry skin that is part and parcel of Central Otago life for the birth of True Mindful Beauty.
“I started formulating 18 years ago,” says True’s mama (founder, creator, alchemist) Nicki Hanning, “when I moved to Wānaka from the North Island and got really dry skin.” Unable to find a product on the market that worked for her, Nicki decided to make something herself. She has always loved creating things and was studying massage therapy and naturopathy at the time, so it came quite … err naturally.
“I wanted to make something really concentrated and as I researched and learned about ingredients used to make creams I realised that they are generally made up of 80-90 per cent water, to which they add 5-6 per cent of an emulsifying wax, which can be plant derived but has gone through a process that has chemically changed into a wax, and then they add up to 1 per cent of a preservative. So, when you calculate the amount of botanical oils and other nature-based ingredients, say pomegranate seed, that they are selling you on the front of the pack, it can be as little as 0.1 per cent. That got me fired up. Where’s the transparency and truth in this industry?
“That’s why turning the bottle and looking at ingredient lists is so important. Anything below 1 per cent can be listed in any order, so the preservatives are always at the bottom and the more natural ingredients that cost so much more, such as rosehip oil, are at the top to make it read well.
“I was experimenting and making creams and balms for myself initially and then I started giving them to some of my massage clients, (I had a mobile massage business), and Paul stocked it at Soul Food. It was called Essence back then. I was enjoying the creativity and it gave me something to do once I became a mum because I didn’t have the energy to put in to massaging on top of a three-year-old and a new-born.
“I was a self-taught formulator studying to be a naturopath when I fell pregnant with my second child in my third year, so I never completed the clinical hours. I knew I wasn’t going to sit in a clinic anyway as I felt this would deplete my creativity. I am a real absorber of information. I call myself a life-long learner and have been into wellness since my early 20s. I started juicing, taking spirulina and eating wholefoods, for self-interest and to understand how to live more holistically. 15 years ago the focus changed from food to mental and emotional health because I started having panic attacks. They came out of the blue and opened my world up to fear - terror really. I started working with the breath, meditation and mindfulness as an anchor into the present moment, to enable me to continue working full time as a massage therapist. I needed to find a way to create peace within myself so that I could keep showing up for other people. That was a massive trajectory change. I started using scent as a way of calming the nervous system and looking for simple practices that I could bring into my life to help with the daily struggle.
“Making products gave me a sense of focusing on something outside of myself (likened to a mindfulness practice), because when you are going through something like that you tend to ruminate and hang out in your head. Doing massage also brought me back into the present moment and I realised that I was giving this gift that was so nurturing for people on the table, so there was a natural progression to creating a product that could nurture people. True Mindful Beauty is more than just the product, it’s the intention behind what I make. It’s plants, it’s pure, there is no water, no preservatives, it’s nature - which is something I have an affinity with because we are nature. I bring in words, which is what a lot of people relate to – wonder, courage, serene, surrender, wisdom – words that are positive or inspiring to help people transform and grow. Sometimes we can get too comfortable being comfortable. I am always on my edge being uncomfortable in some small way because that’s where growth is. That’s harder for some, especially introverts, but I feel like that’s why I am here.
“I bring in words, which is what a lot of people relate to – wonder, courage, serene, surrender, wisdom – words that are positive or inspiring to help people transform and grow.”
“The products come with little notes that have mindful practices on them. For the Wonder Balm there is a daily practice about seeing the beauty and awe in the everyday. I am using True as the anchor to come back to this moment, so when you are using it you are smelling it, feeling it on your skin and having a pause, a moment to yourself. We tend to neglect ourselves, too often putting others’ needs first, and I want to turn everyday routines, such as face washing, into extraordinary, sacred moments for people. My guiding and teaching meditation training, which I have nearly completed, means that I can bring more ritual and sensory awareness into my business. The experience of simply drinking tea, being present and aware of its smell and how it makes you feel, gives oneself something to return to when tackling the busyness and noise of the world.
“When you ask people how they are, it’s always ‘busy’. We need to take that badge off and ask, ‘how am I feeling and what do I need?’. We need to feel worthy of our own care. I have learnt to integrate resources in to my own day, (I still find it challenging some days to slow down long enough to pause), like putting my hand on my heart and connecting with my breath for a few minutes while wating in the car for the kids – before stepping out and fulfilling that role of being a mum. I’d like to help others do that too. Change is hard, so I thought well, why not create habits out of something day-to-day using beautiful plants, scents and yumminess.
“About two years ago I realised that I am a highly sensitive person after looking into the work of Elain Aron and reading her book The Highly Sensitive Person. The trait is normal and to quote Elaine, ‘It is found in 15 to 20 per cent of the population – too many to be a disorder, but not enough to be well understood by the majority of those around you.’ People can be highly sensitive to textures of fabrics, sounds, light or noise and tend to have a rich and complex inner life. As a child I was sensitive – I hear frequencies that others can’t. I love connecting with people but am sensitive to others’ energy and emotional states which can be draining and is why I love being in solitude. I’ve only just acknowledged that that’s okay. Getting rattled when you have a lot to do in a short amount of time is a thing for highly sensitive people.”
True Mindful Beauty is Nicki’s fourth business. The 46-year-old has been self-employed since she was 23 thanks to husband Jamie who was self-employed when they met and encouraged her into something of her own. She had a gourmet food caravan at Mt Ruapehu “Planet Healthy Food and Snacks,” Nicki laughs. Then the couple created Nicola’s Organics, making New Zealand’s first certified organic muesli, which they eventually sold to Harraways before the move south. “I have always been into transparency and using the best quality ingredients. I was buying giant drums of manuka honey – before it was like gold – to naturally sweeten the muesli.”
Of the beauty industry, Nicki talks of the lack of regulations and says, “You can kind of get away with anything. But I feel very strongly that you should ensure your product is what you say it is. That is why my business is called True – it’s something I value.” Her business, which grew to involve a large manufacturer and nationwide distribution through pharmacies, Health 2000 and organic stores, changed significantly in 2017 when Nicki made the decision to take all the waters out of the products. “I was making concentrated creams, because people love creams, with far less water than the industry was, but they required preservatives and emulsifiers and that didn’t fit with me the purist, so I stripped it all out and now my entire range is simply organic plant botanical oils, infusions, dried herbs, plant hydrosols and synergy blends of pure therapeutic-grade essential oils, mainly from New Zealand suppliers but here is a hint of international plant magic in the mix.
“I have gone full circle and now make everything myself weekly, in micro batches, so that I can achieve a pure, handmade range of high-vibrational, organic products made with a whole lot of heart that I sell at the markets and online. I make all my own herbal infusions - for the Wonder Balm for example, I infuse South Island-grown dried calendula and chamomile flowers in organic New Zealand olive oil for six to eight weeks in a dark cupboard, rotating daily, before straining and adding to the formula.”
A fresh batch of Wonder Balm - the “rock star” of the True Mindful Beauty range
Nicki rubs Wonder Balm into my hand and explains, “This is the rock star of the range that I started making 10 years ago for my daughter Miela, who had bad nappy rash and patches of eczema. A lot of local mums use it on their children, and it has a nice little following, but it does so much more. You can cleanse your face with it, moisturise lips, I have a guy in Christchurch who uses it for cracked heals – putting it on with socks overnight. Kids who are allergic to chlorine put it on as a barrier before they go into the pool, a music teacher buys it for students who get sore fingers when they are learning to play guitar, tradesman use it for their dry hands … it’s a great all-round soothing balm.” When I ask what the magic ingredient of this appropriately named balm is Nicki says it’s no secret. There’s a long list of good things such as olive oil, coconut oil, calendula, chamomile, beeswax, shea butter …”
The range also consists of a facial cleansing oil (Awaken), body oil – autumn/winter and spring/summer blends (Nourish), face oils in spring, summer, autumn and winter blends (Serene), face mist (Courage), exfoliate and mask (Wisdom). All designed to aid your emotional, physical, mental and spiritual heath as much as your skin and available online or from her stalls at the Sunday and Thursday markets in Wānaka and the Remarkables market in Queenstown on a Saturday. Because of the tourist market she is shipping all around the world. “We meet at the markets, they make a connection, love the philosophy and feel the energy and intention behind it, that has blown me away.” Nicki says humbly.
As much as things are going well, Nicki says there is a little tweaking going on. “I came into the cabin for five days during lockdown and sat here with lots of paper rewriting a new website, which is yet to be launched, and a slight name change. True will always be forefront of the brand but I am making a slight change to connect more specifically to the sensitive, introverted, overwhelmed souls of the world. I want to honour and serve them because I am them, they are me. I want to help people connect more deeply with themselves through meditation and ritual. Like it says on this poster on the wall:
“An invitation into stillness, nature connection, loving kindness practices and a return to self.
A true sacred pause.
You are welcome here.”
“Kindness is a big one – fully accepting ourselves and loving all of ourselves. The practice of anointing your skin with oil, being aware of every part of the process, is like a gratitude practice: ‘Thank you body for walking me through the day’. You get so much more out of it than just slapping it on and thinking this is helping me to stay young. And touch is amazing for bringing our sympathetic nervous system into a more rested state. There are too many people hanging out in the dominated fight or flight response, rushing around too scared to sit with themselves. I guess I want to help people bring a little more inner peace and self-compassion into their lives.”
Nicki also offers plant botanical facials and mindful massage. “I don’t really do deep tissue anymore, but I am a firm, nurturing touch, it’s more restorative. I don’t want women coming in racing around and then leave still racing around. I want them to learn what it feels like to be still and relaxed. I use my plant products and oils and kind of intuitively sense what they might need on the day. I ask them to fill in a questionnaire based around their mental, emotional, physical and spiritual health as opposed to asking where they hurt in their body because it’s all connected. I am slowly bringing a little meditation and mindfulness into these massage sessions. There is a treatment made up of a half hour massage with a half hour facial that includes warm compresses using my herbal teas and there is honey in my masks, so it’s all yummy botanical food for your whole self. I intend to focus more on creating sacred self-care rituals so that I can give up a market or two and get my weekends back. Because I spend October to April doing three markets a week, I haven’t spent a summer weekend with my family for four years.”
Spending time lakeside in solitude and with her family is something Nicki cherishes
Treatments take place in a cabin in the garden of Nicki’s Hāwea home and it’s here that she practices her own self-care. She loves rituals and points to her “little altar” which holds a beautiful piece of greenstone that she uses to massage her face once she puts oil on, “it is another way to incorporate touch and a great way to remove tension from the jaw.” There are flowers, “I am playing with making local bach flower remedies. I pick wild flowers and put them in a dish with water under the sun for 6-8 hours to infuse the vibration and energy of the plant – it’s quite different to taking out the constituents and say extracting them in oil, it’s a more vibrational energy, Rescue Remedy works this way. It’s a subtle form of healing medicine and all part of my holistic approach. At times I burn local wild plants as a smoke offering and blessing to clear the energy in the room of any bad vibes, or sometimes people hold on to other people’s energy so it’s a way of putting a protective barrier around themselves before they go out into the world. It’s alchemy … a little bit of witchery,” she laughs gently.
“Pulling cards is another daily practice I love to do. I have lots of card decks and I use them as inspiration any time of the day. I have always been seeking answers in life for more than what is life – what is it truly like to be alive in this life right here, right now, so I might pull a card.” She pulls one that says, ‘I trust the change unfolding in my life’ and says her clients get a lot out of it too. “They might pull a card that simply says ‘love’ or ‘wait’, and they read it and know what it’s telling them. They are like little affirmations.”
Nicki does, quite literally stop and smell the roses. “I have always loved the magic and wonder of nature. When I am out walking my family get frustrated because I am always taking photos of nature – flowers in particular. I get drawn into the detail and the geometry, the patterns and the beauty and I really appreciate it.”
“We lost someone close to us last year. I was with them until their last breath and that has really changed my life – how I show up and live in the world. We spend so much time pleasing others or living up to others’ expectations without knowing who we truly are on a deeper level. I was like ‘enough of the masks, this is me and this is what I love, you can take it or leave it’. It was empowering for me to go ‘ah Nicki just start showing up as yourself and being an example to your children’. I have hidden a lot. I am not a hugely visible person. I’m not going to stand on a stage and do a Ted talk, that’s not my dream, but I still want to affect change in some small but powerful way. It will be my way, it will be one product, one person at a time and I feel like I am doing what I am here to do.”
“I love creating experiences, making women feel deeply nourished and nurtured and to know what that feels like. Right at the start I had people saying, ‘I want to take 10 years off my skin’, or ‘I have this skin condition’. Yes, I know about skin, but my intention is to create something that is more than skin deep. It’s like turning skincare into selfcare.”
You can talk to Nicki at the Thursday and Sunday markets in Wanaka and the Remarkables Market in Queenstown on Saturdays (from October to April) or shop online for all product, gift vouchers and to book a treatment.
nicki loves …
HERBAL TEA I am a big herbal tea drinker and make my own seasonal blends. Right now, I am enjoying a winter-warming blend full of Vitamin C from local rosehips, elderberries, hawthorn berries and Gisborne oranges. Because tea drinking is such a nourishing practice, I am hoping to be able to sell a range of tea blends at some stage.
NATURE As a family we love being out in nature in a simple but deeply connecting way. Taking our dog Sage lakeside daily is something we cherish together and, after some initial resistance from the kids at times, we can’t get them to leave. We are lucky to have children who are happy to spend days fossicking for stones on the beach or up a river camping in summer. I have been missing out on that!
BATHS Bath soaks are pretty much a nightly ritual. I’m such a giver and as much as I’m good at saying no, I give so much to everything I choose to show up for in life – family, friends and business. Bathing is a way of taking time for myself. I make a self-love soak called Surrender, using Himalayan salt, New Zealand sea salt, Epsom salts (which are great for muscular tension and soothing the nervous system), and a hint of beautiful organic rose petals and have just added these bath salts to the True collection. I guess I am my customer first – everything I make is for me and I am hopeful that there are a lot more people out there like me … well I know there are.
PATIENCE. That is what I am leaning into at the moment. I have a bigger vision for True, but I don’t have the time or the energy to put into it with a 10-year-old, a 13-year-old, a dog, hubby and … well, life … I don’t have the space. I am practicing the art of being patient and trust in the timing and process as it naturally unfolds.
Nicki on menopause
I’ve just moved through menopause, quite early at 46 and that’s been quite interesting. I have felt drawn to connecting more deeply with nature’s seasons and cycles of life and have been tailoring the scents of my oils to the seasons and life stages somewhat:
Spring is uplifting, new growth so is very fresh and great for transitional stages. Summer is like the mother stage of life, it’s all about expansion, an open heart and flowers, it’s very floral. Autumn is another transition season with leaves falling so it’s more earthy with frankincense and sandalwood, it’s the peri-menopausal stage of letting go. Winter is rooting in and going underground so it too is earthy, but I bring a bit of beautiful heart rose into it to nourish the wise woman. Winter is the crone stage, you’re post menopause.
It has been interesting emotionally parenting children when I want to be in my cave birthing my wise self. The dynamic of that right now with my son moving into his teens is like ‘can you just give me the cabin; can I just come and hide in here’. Physically I didn’t have too many symptoms - a consistently aching body has probably been the biggest thing I’ve noticed. Oh, I have been quite explosive and volcanic where I’m usually zen-like and not into loud confrontations, so it has been interesting having those feelings and emotions bubbling up from beneath. I have been practicing just being with all of it, without judging myself. If I shout at my kids because I’ve lost the plot it’s like ‘sorry kids, but mum doesn’t really know who she is right now.’ They get all that, I’m very open.