Mecca’s latest initiative is the first in-store perfume glass recycling programme in Aotearoa; A meaningful way to gift flowers this Mother’s Day; QT Wellington serves up a skincare-inspired high tea; Emma Lewisham unveils a plant-based Botox alternative; A bespoke Mother’s Day massage treatment bridges the gap between wellbeing and body
care.

Welcome to Viva’s Beauty Insider, our weekly column where beauty editor Ashleigh Cometti unpacks every movement within the industry.

Check back every Thursday for the latest instalment, or keep your finger on the pulse by heading to our @Nzhviva Instagram for updates as they happen.

Read on for every important beauty announcement worth knowing this week.

It’s been five years since beauty giant Mecca introduced TerraCycle bins in-store, in which customers were encouraged to recycle any brand of empty cosmetic, haircare or skincare packaging. Now, Mecca is expanding on this existing programme by inviting customers to also recycle any brand of empty glass perfume bottles.

The Mecca Beauty Product Free Recycling Programme is available to customers across Australasia and, in the time since its launch, has helped intercept more than one million hard-to-recycle empty beauty containers from ending up in landfill.

Fragrance bottles, unlike whole glass bottles, are not permitted in kerbside recycling due to their complex nature — most designs include different types of glass, as well as spray pumps, metal fixtures and decorative features that require removal and separation.

Of the expansion, Mecca New Zealand retail manager Nicky Shore says: “We’re always working to reduce our impact on the environment and we know our customers are too. Over the past four years, our customers have really taken to TerraCycle, often coming in with bags full of their favourite beauty empties to recycle, so we’re sure they’re going to love that they can now add fragrance to the mix.”

The following items are accepted as part of the Mecca Beauty Product Free Recycling Programme:

For more information on the Mecca Beauty Product Free Recycling Programme, please visit TerraCycle.

While we’ve offered up plenty of beautiful alternatives to flowers to spoil your mum or the mother figure in your life this Mother’s Day, if you prefer to err on the side of tradition then Flowers After Hours have you covered.

The well-known florist has teamed up with Gingernut’s Angels, a charity established by beauty entrepreneur Jaimee Lupton (founder of Monday Haircare and Osana Naturals) to support those struggling to cover costs of fertility treatments like IVF with The Gingernut bouquet.

Designed to act as a symbol of hope and resilience, or to offer comfort to those who have lost a child, The Gingernut bouquet highlights blossoms in its namesake vibrant orange hue, alongside softer shades of peach. Expect to see an intermingle of white lilies, peach roses, orange chrysanthemums, unique pomponi gerberas and verdant greenery.

They are priced at $100 and $10 from every bouquet sold will be donated to Gingernut’s Angels to support the charity’s efforts of providing financial help to New Zealand families as they navigate their fertility journeys.

Skincare aficionados will be delighted by a new high tea experience coming to QT Wellington’s Hippopotamus restaurant from Saturday, May 11.

The Nourish Me High Tea has been created in partnership with natural skincare leader Antipodes, with a bespoke high tea menu designed to nourish skin from the inside out. It’s the second time the two Wellington-based brands have joined forces, with their first high tea collaboration rolling out in 2022.

New for 2024, expect to see a selection of petit fours created using the same hero ingredients found in Antipodes’ range of premium skincare, with a particular focus on probiotic and New Zealand native ingredients.

Inspired by Antipodes’ use of bioactives and probiotics in its Culture range, QT Wellington executive chef Antoine Collet has crafted a gut-loving menu that has a sweet and savoury bent, including flaxseed and avocado tarts; spirulina and goats cheese mille feuilles; kawakawa and orange duck croquettes; banana, kiwi and honey cakes with pineapple crisp; kefir-laden lox bagels and citrus tarts with kombucha gel.

The Nourish Me High Tea with Antipodes is priced at $69 per person and is available on Saturdays and Sundays from May 11-July 28 at Hippopotamus restaurant inside the QT Wellington. Plus, everyone who books in for the unique dining experience will receive a full-size Antipodes Culture Night Recovery Water Cream, valued at $70, to take home.

In line with its ethos of fostering a sense of wellbeing through daily massage rituals, local body care brand Embodyme has teamed up with Tonic Room on a luxurious 60-minute Mother’s Day NurtureMe massage which is designed to cultivate feelings of courage, joy, peace and kindness.

The experience begins by selecting an emotion you wish to impart throughout the treatment, be it courage, joy, peace or kindness, before a skilled therapist sets an intention for their practice. Next, using the selected Embodyme Nurturing Body Oil, a therapist will perform a relaxation massage to help evoke the desired feeling whilst nourishing skin.

A soundtrack that reflects the chosen feeling will play throughout the treatment, which finishes with a cup of tea (also inspired by the embodied emotion) before you float out the front door.

According to Embodyme founder Sarah Reid, the multi-sensory experience promises a moment of calm in busy mums’ or mother-figures’ lives.

“Awakening all five senses in one transformative journey epitomises luxury. Every mother deserves to be nurtured in this way, providing her with the space she needs to connect with herself on a deeper level and embody her true essence,” she says.

The Mother’s Day NurtureMe Massage is priced at $230 for a 60-minute treatment, with every person given a 100ml bottle of Embodyme Nurturing Body Oil and an Embodyme Self-Care Journal to inspire them to continue their daily rituals long after the treatment has ended.

Vouchers for the NurtureMe Massage are also available from now until May 12, and are valid for three months from the date of purchase.

For more information or to book, visit Tonic Room.

Recognising the gap in the market for an alternative to injectable treatments like Botox and fillers, comes Emma Lewisham’s newest innovation: Supernatural Vitale Elixir, $158.

Perfect for the needle-averse, or those of us who wish to extend the results of more anti-wrinkle injectables, the triple-action elixir is designed to mimic the effects of Botox by relaxing facial muscles.

The elixir was two years in the making, developed by a team of physiologists who specialise in the field of cellular ageing. As such, the result is a high-performance formulation that boosts skin density, relaxes skin creasing and reduces expression lines while plumping, hydrating and firming the skin’s surface.

It does so thanks to proprietary ingredient Neuropeptide Relaxant Complex, alongside Advanced Hydrafilling Technology and plant-sourced Human Tripeptide-1 (derived from ginseng).

Independent 3D in vitro and in vivo testing found that results were visible within five to seven days if the elixir was applied both morning and night, but optimum results were evident after three months of continual usage.

The new Emma Lewisham Supernatural Vitale Elixir is available now from Mecca department stores nationwide or online at Emmalewisham.com.

Ashleigh Cometti is an Auckland-based beauty journalist with more than 12 years’ experience in the industry. After joining the Viva team in 2018 and being appointed as beauty editor in 2020, Ash has fine-tuned her skills at sniffing out new fragrance launches, discovering the next generation of talented makeup artists, and writing about all things that feed her obsession as a skincare fanatic.

From the best new launches to the products we swear by.