Hayley Benseman is the maker behind what she calls NZ's conscious skincare — a range of plant-based, vegan and cruelty-free formulas created in Inglewood, just outside New Plymouth, alongside a working healing clinic at 8 Mamaku St. Fourteen years of hand-made 'lotions and potions' have grown into a collection built on naturally derived oils and butters, formulated to be safe for sensitive skin and to hold space for a deeper connection to self.
The bestsellers say a lot about the brand. Rosy Glow Face Cream is the top seller — a floral, feminine cream that 'captures your heart and sets your skin glowing' — while Divinity Hand Cream is a silky, intense treatment for even the driest hands. Around them sit the Calendula & Frankincense Oil Cleanser, Pink Delight Clay Mask Powder, Poised Petals Deodorant Cream, Vanilla Nut Lip Balm and rose quartz gua sha tools, all backed by a bottle return programme that keeps empties out of landfill.
Behind the counter, Hayley is a clinical aromatherapist, oncology massage therapist, fascial and scar release practitioner and intuitive healer. Treatments range from TMJ fascial release and intra-oral therapy to scar rehabilitation, and her clinic-inspired SoulSkin practitioner range is stocked by physiotherapy studios and health stores around the region. The online shop delivers nationwide with free NZ shipping on orders over $100, and the clinic calendar is known to fill about a month ahead.
On Mamaku Street in Inglewood — a small Taranaki town a short drive from New Plymouth — Hayley Benseman has built something genuinely her own: part skincare studio, part healing clinic, part apothecary of small-batch botanicals. Her brand calls itself New Zealand's conscious skincare, and the phrase is doing real work. These are products made by a practising healer, designed to hold space for 'a deeper connection to self' as much as to hydrate your skin.
Hayley has spent fourteen years making what she cheerfully calls lotions and potions. Along the way she has qualified as a clinical aromatherapist, an oncology massage therapist, a fascial and scar release practitioner and an intuitive healer — and the clinic is where it all comes together. That hands-on experience with real bodies and real recovery shapes both the treatment room and the formulas on the shelf.
The skincare is founded on a high-quality blend of naturally derived, plant-based oils and butters, and everything is vegan and cruelty-free. The formulations are soothing and described as safe for all skin types, with intense hydration as the through-line — 'full of intensely hydrating oils & butters to provide ultimate hydration', as the site puts it.
The runaway favourite is Rosy Glow Face Cream — floral, feminine, and the brand's top seller, the cream that 'captures your heart and sets your skin glowing'. It anchors a recommended night-time regime that pairs it with the Calendula & Frankincense Oil Cleanser and a serum for what Hayley describes as 'a truly holistic night time treat'.
Around that hero cream sits a compact, considered collection: Divinity Hand Cream, a silky, luscious and intense treatment for the driest of hands; Poised Petals Deodorant Cream, which one naturopath ranks as the best natural deodorant she has used in more than twenty years; Pink Delight Clay Mask Powder, loved by regulars for its scent and the soft skin it leaves behind; Vanilla Nut Lip Balm; and rose quartz gua sha tools for slow, mindful facial massage.
There is an ethical loop here too. Finished bottles can be returned through the recycling programme — 'keeping NZ clean and green one returned bottle at a time' — and the range proudly carries the Buy NZ Made flag.
Book a treatment and you are seeing the practitioner herself. Hayley's work centres on fascial and scar release — rehabilitating tissue after surgery, injury and mastectomy — alongside oncology massage and intuitive healing sessions. Her newest offering is TMJ Fascial Release & Intra Oral Therapy: gentle jaw work, including intra-oral techniques, for the tension so many of us hold there. She describes TMJ dysfunction as a growing passion area, having watched clients arrive with teeth literally breaking under sustained pressure.
That clinical practice fed directly into the SoulSkin practitioner series — Calm & Repair Cream, Release & Restore Balm and Scar & Stretch Oil, evolved from earlier customer favourites Calendula K+, Witches Brew and Tummy Time. The trio was formulated for use in clinics by osteopaths, physios, midwives, massage and scar practitioners, and it is sold in person through the Inglewood clinic and selected stockists such as physiotherapy studios and Health 2000 stores in New Plymouth and Wanganui — not through the website.
Popularity means planning: the clinic has been consistently booked out about a month in advance, so pre-booking is the advice, and monthly appointment bookings for the year ahead are offered to regulars. If you are browsing instead, the online shop ships across New Zealand with free delivery on orders of $100 or more, and gift cards are available for the hard-to-shop-for.
There is more to explore beyond the products, too. The Well Being page curates book reviews and resources for holistic living, the blog wanders through everything from the power of thought to consent in healing sessions, and Hayley teaches as well as treats — she has run aromatherapy classes where every student blended an oil roller targeted to their own needs, and co-hosts free online masterclasses on slowing down and reclaiming your rhythm.
Whether you arrive for a jar of Rosy Glow or an hour of jaw-releasing bodywork, the promise is the same: honest plant-based formulas, quietly sustainable habits, and a practitioner who treats skincare as a form of self-connection.