Recently, I had the honour of being invited to visit Wellington, New Zealand to be a part of Antipodes Skincare's International HQ Grand Opening on 16 November 2019. It was quite the celebration and I'll share more from that night in another article.
I visited Antipodes' HQ after that night and was given the grand tour! Many thanks to the Antipodes Team for being so welcoming.
If you are not familiar with Antipodes Skincare, you must be living under a rock. Antipodes Skincare is World-famous and sold in over 13 countries, including Australia, USA, France, Japan, China, Singapore etc and will soon be carried by Sephora in Europe.
I first tried Antipodes products in around 2015/2016 and I've always found that their products to be gentle and effective, They are certified 100% Vegan and Cruelty-free. They have quite the cult following and are highly favoured by by #cleanbeauty experts and aficionados alike.
I've reviewed their Manuka Honey Skin Brightening Duo as well as some of their Face Oils. You can read these reviews by clicking below:
I'm also doing a three week challenge of just using Antipodes Skincare and Makeup.
So on with the tour! The building is not open to the public and so it was quite a privilege to get to see all of it. It was made extra special as I was one of the first bloggers in the World to be invited.
About the Building
The NEW Antipodes HQ is housed in a heritage building built in the 1930's, at 103 Ghuznee Street, Wellington, New Zealand. It is currently not open to the Public, but that might change in the future with a retail space...
It was built in the Art-Deco inspired stripped classical style (I have a special fondness for anything in the art-deco style). It was finished with bronze, brass and stone, much of which was retained by the architects behind the refurbishment of the building for Antipodes Skincare. It was originally Nestle's HQ in New Zealand and was then taken over by several other businesses over time. It is a building of special historical interest and you can read more about its history by clicking here.
I love heritage buildings. They have that extra charm of having a rich history behind them and were built to last. I always feel that newer/contemporary buildings aren't really made to last and often built to economise on space and materials.
The first thing that struck me about the building was how high the ceilings were and how big the windows were. It is such a bright and airy place, making it extremely comfortable. With such huge almost floor to ceiling windows, there was very little need for artificial lighting and hence very energy-efficient.
With the refurbishment, they used New Zealand timber, stone, metal work crafted by a New Zealand craftsman and beautiful tiles from Bali. I seem to recall that a few of the light fixtures were from Antipodes Skincare's Founder, Elizabeth Barbalich's own collection. They also retained a contemporary art-deco style with much of the furniture and other accents. In her opening speech, Elizabeth Barbalich made the point to say that they had created a building that would last forever and that #sustainability was a huge part of the planning process.
I learnt that the building is described by the Antipodes Skincare team as being "#vegan", i.e. no meat is allowed in the building.
It was built to stand the test of time and refurbished by Antipodes Skincare to remain so. It is the model of sustainability. I had a chat with one of the architects behind the refurbishment and my first question was: "It is such a big and airy building, how is the insulation done?". The insulation has been created in the most energy efficient manner, with the use of natural air-flow. The building's concrete and stone add to the natural insulation, keeping it cool in the hotter months and warm in the cooler months. The pipes running through the concrete and exposed pipes help add warmth and there are vents in the roof top to allow hot air to escape.
There are two floors and a basement. They also created a beautiful staircase leading up to a rooftop area. Apparently the basement was only discovered during the refurbishment and Antipodes found out that it used to be a "speak-easy" during the Prohibition Era and was called the "The Black Tiger". They have retained the name "The Black Tiger" and it has been retained as a place as a rest and recreation area with a full service bar. There is also a very lovely library in the basement that is open to the employees to rest and relax in.
The two floors house meeting rooms and offices. There is a lovely "atrium-style" area on the first floor with a sort of forest grove which leads to their in-house design room. I was struck by how calm and peaceful it was in the building. What a wonderful place it must be to work in.
The Antipodes Skin Lab is housed on the second floor.
Upon entering the building, you are greeted with Antipodes Skincare Heaven (photos above). Large displays line one side of the area with the full range of Antipodes Skincare and Makeup products. There is a statement centrepiece of a large basins with copper bath fixtures for people to use when they try the products. Videos of the various campaigns for the products is broadcasted upon the large white wall at the end of the room.
You can watch highlights of the tour on my Instagram @teacupofmakeup_luxe saved under HQANTIPODES. Click here to watch it.
It was very lovely to see where Antipodes Skincare is available around the World.
From Left to Right, Jennifer; Dee; ME; and Deb. Everyone I met was most welcoming and I am very grateful to Dee for taking my husband and I out for lunch and for the tour of the building.
In the photo above, you can see these really cool brass contemporary art-deco style lamps. LOVE!
This is one of my favourite rooms. The wallpaper is a recreation of the graphics used for Antipodes Skincare's packaging. The bronze antique looking lamps are so lust worthy. I think this was called their "creative ideas" room. I can see why, lots of inspiration.
I also got to meet a few of their International team members. As Antipodes Skincare is sold around the World in 13 Countries (and more to come), they have staff from China, France, Australia etc.
They have this amazing room where they do training, skincare consultations and testing. I was lucky that day that Deb (International Educator) was available to do a skincare analysis for me by asking me a few questions and I was gifted quite a lot of products to use.
Another one of the outstanding features for me was the metal work used for the staircases. All crafted in New Zealand by a New Zealander of course! From the timber to the metal, all materials are New Zealand sourced.
During the Gala opening, there was dancing down in the Blind Tiger - it was a really fun night and I did, yes, I did, dance quite a bit too. :)
Such a gorgeous space. LOVE the wallpaper. They stripped back a lot of the work done over the years to show the original facade.
So, that concludes my tour of Antipodes Skincare's brand new International HQ in Wellington, New Zealand. A special thanks to the Antipodes Team and Sarah Humphries PR for having me and arranging such a lovely stay in Wellington.
So I hope you enjoyed this article. I'm pretty much on my social media platforms in some way or fashion 7 days a week. I hope you enjoyed this review.
我希望这篇文章有用！ 谢谢你的阅读。 我几乎每天都在社交媒体上，所以请订阅我的社交媒体平台！
You can find me at:
(website) http://www.teacupofmakeup.com/
(facebook) https://www.facebook.com/teacupofmakeup/
Do follow me on my Instagram @teacupofmakeup_luxe, I do loads of demos and vlogs on there.
Disclaimer: All of the photos here are taken by me. You cannot use them without obtaining my written permission first. These are my personal views and I do not any way guarantee or warrant the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of any message and will not be held responsible for the content of any message. My trip to Wellington, New Zealand was sponsored by Antipodes Skincare.
