Company Profile
Go Native New Zealand is New Zealand's premium online supplier of natural and organic skincare ingredients.
We stock essential oils, carrier oils, cosmetic butters, waxes, fragrance oils, raw materials, ready-to-go bases, and more.
We've been in operation since 2001 and in our present form since 2007.
We’re a small, close-knit team of family and friends who are committed to finding the finest ingredients from around the world. These ingredients must be ethically sourced and where possible we buy direct from the growers, so we can establish a relationship with them.
We are customer focused and really like to hear what our customers have to say about our products and service and what ingredients they would like us to provide. This feedback enables us to improve our service.
History
Go Native New Zealand was founded by Elinor McEwan in 2001 and is based in Auckland, New Zealand.
We started as Go Native Soap Company making handmade, cold-process soaps. This led to contract manufacturing soap for a New Zealand natural cosmetics company that exported the soap, mainly to Korea, Taiwan and Japan.
By 2007, we decided there was a need for a good supplier of natural and organic skincare ingredients.
When starting out making your own skincare products, it is very hard to source the ingredients, and especially hard to source them in small quantities.
So, we organised a new website and late September 2007 set off in a newish direction.
We import ingredients from around the world and are continuously searching for new, genuine suppliers.
We have years of experience in the fields of soapmaking and skincare creams so are able to help with most questions you have.
Team
Elinor McEwan
I started Go Native New Zealand in 2001 after almost a lifetime of making my own skincare products.
Because of my husband's chronic psoriasis, I started making cold-process soap (which helps enormously) and produced a fine range of retail soaps and pet shampoos, only to realise retail products are not my forte.
I don't like the publicity that has to go with being successful in that field, so I eventually turned to supplying the ingredients to make the end products. I just love being in the background organising, refining the systems and researching the world for supplies.
My background: I was born in Tuatapere, Southland, the last of seven kids, and grew up in Invercargill, where my heart still is, to a certain extent.
The family shifted to Nelson, where I went to secondary school. I was very involved in sport and played everything available: netball, basketball, squash, tennis, table tennis.
When I was 16, I had the enormous good fortune to win $400. I used it to learn to fly (a 90hp Piper Cub for the curious). It was absolute bliss to take off after school on a sunny day and head up into the skies around Nelson. Such a lovely part of the world.
At 17 I went off to Canterbury University to do a BA in psychology, followed by a year at teachers' college in Wellington and two years teaching in Auckland. Not my thing.
Six months working in an alpine village in Switzerland and travelling as far east as Istanbul followed, then I came home and worked at the NZ Herald as a proofreader for nearly 20 years and loved it. We worked in the evenings so had all day off to enjoy life. It was like being on permanent holiday.
Alas, technology overtook us and we were all made redundant.
For me it was well timed, as Chelsea, our oldest child, was about to start school and, while my work hours were wonderful for preschoolers, I wouldn't have seen enough of her.
I didn't want to go out to work and miss out on the kids, so I started a preschool in the back of our house which ran very successfully for 18 years.
After two years at school, Chelsea decided she wanted to stay home so there she stayed. Harry, our son, chose the same path. They are absolutely delightful and we love having them around. The four of us completed the New York marathon in 2011. (If I can do it, anyone can.)
I have been married for yonks to an absolute gem. He is just a delight and still makes me laugh. He is also very supportive, enthusiastic and generous . . . and prefers to remain anonymous.
We have three children, Chelsea, Harry and, very sadly, the late Jane.
I’ve been a full-time employee of Go Native New Zealand since around 2011, but my Mum, Elinor McEwan, founded the company so I have seen it grow and evolve since its conception in 2001.
I have trained and worked as an actor since I was very young and in the beginning working here enabled me to pay my rent while I rehearsed theatre shows in the evenings and weekends.
I learned all the foundations of formulation from Mum and have been making my own skincare most of my life, and most of my own makeup for the past few years. As I got deeper into the business I became more and more fascinated by the skincare formulation world. Now this is my full-time job and I have a diploma from Formula Botanica in Organic Skincare Formulation. I am currently studying at the School of Natural Skincare for a Diploma in Formulating Natural Makeup and Advanced Colour Cosmetics.
The more I learn in the formulation field the more I realise I will literally never be finished learning, which can be a little overwhelming at times but ultimately is very exciting. I love that the all knowledge I gain can go directly into the business and helping customers with their ingredients and formulation questions. I love customers asking me questions that I may not yet know the answers to. I always want to be transparent with my knowledge, or sometimes lack there-of, and that way we can learn together. I may learn about something I had not yet thought about.
We’re a small, tight-knit team here and everything is done in-house. This includes filling and shipping orders, product photography, content creation, designing formulas, social media and email marketing… I could go on. Anyone who runs a small business will know what I mean! It’s never boring and I feel so lucky that I’m able to use my organisation and productions skills (from those years of getting theatre shows on their feet) and also sate those creative urges with formulating and designing formulas and content. I also get to work with my friends and family which is incredibly special, plus I get to bring my little dogs Gus and Calliope to work with me. They're not as helpful as the rest of the team but they're very good at letting us know when the courier arrives.
Gus
Calli
As far as personal life goes I follow a vegan diet, buy only second hand clothing as much as possible and am very enthusiastic about sustainability, conservation and animal welfare. This ethos is congruous with Go Native New Zealand. I love being able to put those things into practice on a daily basis, from researching the best possible packaging solutions to choosing what ingredients we decide to stock.
I still do the odd bit of acting work when I can. I’m involved in the theatre and comedy industry and am part of a female/non-binary improv group “Heartthrobs”. We perform live long-form improvisation shows based on TV shows and films. In 2020 we won Best Comedy for our show “Lust Island” in the Auckland Fringe Festival and performed the 2022 Basement Christmas Show "Sleigh!".
Comedy is where I met my comedian husband, Rhys. We got married in January 2022, surrounded by friends, family, dogs and donkeys.
Photo by Kate Little
Most weekends are enjoyed watching a comedy show or theatre production and playing Dungeons and Dragons with friends. Because I’m ultimately a big ol’ nerd at heart.
Contact Elinor and the Go Native Team
| Follow us on Instagram for recipes, news and specials and subscribe to our YouTube channel for video tutorials! |
