We're a little bit in love with Kawakawa ... okay, a LOT in love with Kawakawa! That unique fragrance, the appealing heart shaped leaves, and most of all, the amazing natural qualities that the beautiful Kawakawa shrub bestows on our skin soothing skin care products.

Frankie Apothecary's Kawakawa Balm was created in 2015. Don't get us wrong - that makes us the new kid on the block compared to the use of Kawakawa by our tīpuna that stretches back centuries! But our Kawakawa Balm was really the first one to be sold in stores, and to generate the word of mouth from one parent to another, passing on the inside word that Kawakawa Balm had helped their child's eczema or soothed their baby's nappy rash, or that it helped insect bite inflammation, or any one of the many, many ways that this little taonga is used for healing and soothing skin.

Where our Kawakawa Balm led the way, of course there are now a crowd of Kawakawa Balms on the market, from bigger brands to made-at-home creators. And that's great! We love that more and more people have come across Kawakawa Balm and seen the ways it can heal.

We believe that our Kawakawa Balm is still the best. Here's why.

Our customers tell us all the time.

We get so many messages and reviews from customers who have tried other Kawakawa Balms before and didn't get results, then tried Frankie Apothecary and saw the difference.

"I got given a couple of different Kawakawa Balms for this skin irritation and they made no difference. After a month of trying everything I decided to give it one more chance and tried Frankie's Balm. Wow. Literally cleared overnight. When you open the jar and take a sniff, you can smell that fresh Kawkawa scent, and the Balm has a darker hue. The ones I had tried before were paler and just smelled of beeswax so I guess they had a lot less Kawakawa in them." - HM

Parents recommend Frankie Apothecary Kawakawa Balm

There's no better proof of effectiveness than one mum recommending Frankie to another. And this is how most mums at shows tell us they heard about our Kawakawa Balm! Frankie is the #1 Most Recommended Kawakawa Balm.

There's so much love out there for this precious balm, which was created by a special mum desperate to help her own child. From one mother's love, to loved by countless mums - how wonderful is that!

"I was a bit hesitant with purchasing the Kawa Kawa Balm as I’m not too familiar with it. But a lot of my colleagues recommended Kawakawa, and found Frankie to be the best value for money. And it actually works! My 4 month old daughter has eczema, and it disappears after 2 days of application. My son also has flare ups, and he knows it’s time for Kawakawa Balm. Five stars!" - Emma

And it's not just parents who believe in this Balm.

Check our reviews page for 1000+ Five Star reviews for Frankie - over 360 of these are for Kawakawa Repair Balm.

We use very special Kawakawa extract, and lots of it

Our wild-harvested Kawakawa is harvested by hand, with healing intent, in time with the cycles of the full moon, Rākau-nui, and the day after, Rakau-matohī, following a long-held Maramataka practice. We primarily harvest from the east side of the trees, choosing the leaves that look lacy with holes as these have higher levels of medicinal actives. Karakia are said over the Kawakawa while harvesting, and again while the kawakawa oil is infusing at our home in Tāmaki Makaurau. Learn more about our Kawakawa.

You can see with one glance at our balm that the darker colour suggests a higher level of Kawakawa extract than in many paler brands. Take a sniff too, you should be able to pick out that fresh crisp scent of the Kawakawa alongside the warmer scents of calendula and kawakawa tinctures, shea and coconut.

Our Balm's base also works hard to protect your skin

Rather than a simple beeswax or almond oil base with a Kawakawa infused oil, our Kawakawa Balm includes a range of beautiful skin-saving oils and butters:

• Kawakawa Extract - Learn about why Kawakawa helps skin here. There is so much to share, and with laboratory testing scientists have demonstrated that Kawakawa has a number of wonderful botanical actives, adding scientific explanations to the long held traditional knowledge.
• Kawakawa infused Extra Virgin Olive Oil - Providing anti-aging skin repairing antioxidants, Vitamins A and E for skin health, and antibacterial qualities.
• Calendula - Anti-inflammatory calendula reduces skin irritation and contains fatty acids like linoleic and calendic acids to hydrate the skin and help maintain a strong skin barrier, and it is rich in rich in antioxidant flavonoids, polyphenols, and carotenoids which also reduce skin stressors.
• Coconut Oil - A natural emollient, coconut oil creates a great barrier layer, to help trap moisture in the skin, and has natural antibacterial qualities, and may help reduce skin inflammation.
• Shea butter - as well as being nourishing for the skin, Shea also improves how well the balm stays on the skin. This is massively important when you’re trying to reduce trans-epidermal water loss (TEWL, losing moisture from the skin), as having a good moisture retention barrier on the skin is a huge factor for eczema relief and skin recovery.

We're here to provide personal advice & support 

We spend lots of time communicating one-to-one with Frankie customers, answering queries and supporting them on their skin journeys, with tips, advice and support.

We really care about providing skin care products that ease the pain of eczema, psoriasis, dermatitis and other skin conditions and are always happy to help. 

We also love providing beauty products, like our lip balms and facial oils, that help women feel great about supporting their skin to be its radiant best.

You can always ask us anything.