123: The Beauty of Aging: A Conversation with Elizabeth Barbalich from Antipodes Skincare

What if your menopause journey could be a celebration of your skin's resilience rather than a battle against it? Elizabeth Barbalich, founder and CEO of Antipodes Skincare, shares this refreshing perspective as she joins us to discuss how natural ingredients can address the unique challenges of menopausal skin.

From her kitchen table to a global brand sold in over 40 countries, Elizabeth's story embodies the power of female entrepreneurship guided by genuine purpose. She reveals how winning the Entrepreneur of the Year Product Award in New Zealand and Best Emerging Brand in Paris validated her vision, yet she finds the most meaningful moments come from women sharing how her products have genuinely improved their skin health.

The conversation delves into why Antipodes created their Jasmine Flower Menopause Facial Cream, a groundbreaking formulation specifically targeting menopausal skin concerns. Elizabeth explains the science behind key ingredients like avananthramides from oat extract that inhibit histamine release, chamomile extracts with neuropeptide properties, and plant-based hyaluronic acid that dramatically improves hydration in dehydrated menopausal skin.

What makes this discussion truly valuable is Elizabeth's holistic "inside out, outside in" approach to skincare. She emphasises that no cream alone can solve all skin challenges, advocating for nutritional awareness, reduced inflammatory foods, and increased protein intake alongside targeted skincare. Most refreshingly, she challenges the beauty industry's obsession with lineless skin, instead defining healthy skin as "radiant" regardless of age.

Don't forget to follow @SonyaLovell and @AntipodesSkincare on Instagram to enter our special skincare giveaway valued at over $250!

Links:

Antipodes Skincare

Antipodes on Instagram

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Chapters

• 0:00 Welcome to Dear Menopause
• 1:00 Elizabeth's Journey with Antipodes
• 3:48 Pivotal Moments in Leadership
• 7:28 Creating Natural Solutions for Menopausal Skin
• 14:43 Inside Out, Outside In Approach
• 21:05 Skincare Giveaway Details

Transcript

Sonya: 0:01

Welcome to the Dear Menopause podcast. I'm Sonia Lovell, your host Now. I've been bringing you conversations with amazing menopause experts for over two years now. If you have missed any of those conversations, now's the time to go back and listen, and you can always share them with anyone you think needs to hear them. This way, more people can find these amazing conversations, needs to hear them. This way, more people can find these amazing conversations. This episode of Dare Menopause is proudly sponsored by Antipodes Skincare, the New Zealand-based science-led, plant-powered skincare brand that is as kind to your skin as it is to the planet. To celebrate, we're running a pamper and pause skincare giveaway on Instagram. One lucky winner will receive an indulgent skincare prize pack valued at over $250. Listen through to the end of the episode to learn how you can enter, and a huge thank you to Antipodes for supporting conversations that matter. Elizabeth, thank you so much for joining the Dear Menopause podcast.

Elizabeth: 1:10

It's great to be here, excited to talk to you this afternoon.

Sonya: 1:15

So let's talk about Antipodes. This is an incredible skincare brand that is really rooted in science and nature. I'm keen to know what is the origin story behind that.

Elizabeth: 1:27

Yeah, well, thank you for the compliment first of all. So for me, antipodes was really the genesis, was a passion and an interest from my side. I've got a background in science and I was always very curious about incredible native botanicals in New Zealand and the potential health-giving properties I guess that you'd find on your back doorstep. And when I had three young children, I was in a space where I was highly stressed, found it difficult to cope, couldn't sleep. So I really embraced a fully natural and holistic lifestyle and my oldest daughter is heading towards 30 now, so it was some time ago and I found that I loved the way I felt by good nutrition, making healthy choices, and I decided, as part of that, I should really look at what I was putting on, my skin being your largest organ, and I felt that there was not enough choice for women, for anyone in the market, for a highly efficacious natural brand that actually delivered some changes, improvements to the skin. And so, yeah, I set about formulating my own. It sounds easy, but it wasn't. I love that.

Sonya: 2:40

I love that you admit it was not easy.

Elizabeth: 2:44

There's nothing easy in the journey of being an entrepreneur. I think at every stage you go through there's a challenge. It's incredibly hard being a startup organization. It's hard to get your first sale. It's hard to get the repeat sales. It's difficult to break into channels. You know you can pay for certain kind of media and you don't get the results you're expecting. You know you have to build a team around you, and it goes on and on and on. And the bigger you get, it doesn't mean things get easier. The challenges change.

Sonya: 3:17

Yeah, A little bit like having kids different ages, different stages.

Elizabeth: 3:22

Exactly, exactly, and in some ways you've just got to embrace it right. It's like I was kind of, I would say, a hands-off mum A hands-on but a hands-off mum. So I was always with my kids. You kind of find the solutions, you make your own lunchboxes, but, as you say, things go through phases with children and it's actually better if you can kind of lean into these changes and accept them and not kind of use your energy to fight every single challenge that comes your way. And that's kind of the approach I've taken, like I've had everything thrown at me and I think now, if I have a week that I don't have a substantial challenge, I'm like what's going on?

Sonya: 3:58

I love that. No, this is too good. This can't be true. You're a phenomenal female founder and CEO in the beauty space, hailing from the Southern Hemisphere. What have been some of the most pivotal moments that you've experienced in your leadership journey?

Elizabeth: 4:13

I think one key pivotal moment for me was when I won the Entrepreneur of the Year Product Award in New Zealand, which was 2018. And it was a very rigorous, highly contested competition let's call it that and I had to go through kind of various interviews and with different people from different backgrounds of society, so I was not expecting to win that and I got second overall. So it was quite a big deal and I think from a commercial perspective that I liked, you know, for me it was pivotal and it deal. And I think from a commercial perspective that I liked, you know, for me it was pivotal and it showed some respect for what I'd done, what I created, where I was going with the business. I think that's one thing.

Elizabeth: 4:54

Second thing would be the brand won an award in Paris in the early days, actually called Beyond Beauty, and we won Best Emerging Brand and for me that was a pivotal moment. I thought, actually, I know what I'm doing, I know I'm creating something unique, I can get cut through and, most importantly, I'm getting recognized by some industry leaders. And off the back of that award, I was invited to an area called Cosmetics Valley, which is two hours out of Paris and it's the home of Christian Dior and Lolita Lempika, which is an amazing fragrance house, and some other essentially competitors, but they network together and I was invited to this incredible space and I was asked to talk about my fledgling brand from New Zealand and I had a very engaged audience. So for me that was definitely a wow, a pivotal moment.

Elizabeth: 5:51

And then, thirdly, I think you know, to be honest, if I get stopped by a woman in the street or somewhere, I run into someone and they say I bought this particular product. It's really helped me. For me, those are the most pivotal moments because that's why I've done this brand. It's not for the accolades, the awards they're nice and it's great to have those but at the end of the day, a woman who has chosen to invest their $50, $100 on my brand versus someone else's and they're getting improvements in their skin to me those are really aha moments. I love them.

Sonya: 6:29

I love that. It really shows how connected you are to not just your brand but your audience, the women that are out there purchasing your product, and I've been lucky enough to have been using some of your products recently and I have to say I am literally obsessed. I don't think I've ever used products that smell so good. Oh my God, literally the fragrances that come out of every new pot that I opened just blow my mind, but beyond that, the feeling of using them, how I know my skin feels and looks as a result, is just phenomenal. But I really love that you're so connected with getting that feedback and it really shows that even though you are such a global brand now I think you're sold in over 40 countries Is that right, correct? Yes, oh, that you have really stayed so true to probably what it was that prompted you to launch the company in the first place.

Elizabeth: 7:23

Yeah, absolutely, and I think you know, living and growing up in New Zealand, we've got so many incredible botanical, natural ingredients on our doorstep that actually can shift the dial in terms of skin health, and so I wanted to bottle that. I wanted to take the best of New Zealand nature and create a formulation around that and also bring in highly innovative, natural and pure compounds, which 20 years ago there weren't many. Now there are more and more coming onto the market. There's peptides and there's hydroxyproline and there's probiotics, so there's some really cool, super interesting things that can be woven into a really highly structured formulation. Really, always go back to my core, which is New Zealand botanicals, natural, innovative compounds, 100% natural. Never deviate from that, no matter how tempting it might be. Yeah, just stick to your roots. I think that's part of success, kind of showcasing New Zealand nature, showcasing what we can do here and being proud and being we can stand up with the best in the world and yeah bring it on.

Sonya: 8:32

Well, you've absolutely proven that, haven't you? So all of this is leading me into wanting to ask you about one of your most recent product launches, and that has been a product that's been formulated specifically for menopausal skin. So I'm keen to know what inspired you to launch this product and what makes this particular formulation so unique to women in midlife.

Elizabeth: 8:55

Yeah, well, firstly, I was inspired by my own journey like going through menopause, my friends as well, and I think I was super curious and I couldn't understand why the market had not embraced menopause head on. It's a natural phase of your life. It can be very positive and it's you know, it's a sign that you're alive, right. So it's actually, it can be great. So let's have this narrative and talk about it. And I was really interested that other brands, and particularly large trade players like big brands, had not kind of tackled the subject. When you know, from a commercial perspective, many women who are in menopause, there's more disposable income. So really, from a purely profit-based kind of approach, I would have expected those big companies to be looking at this open market so curious, disappointed, and I think women deserve better. Why can't you have good skin as you age and talk about the issues you're having with your skin and what changes are happening and build that community?

Sonya: 10:03

Yeah, it's really interesting when I personally reflect on the skincare industry, the beauty industry. It's still very much driven from an anti-aging perspective, isn't it? You know, unfortunately, living in Western cultures, we still live in such an ageist culture and I think, as a part of that, the beauty industry, the skincare industry, still is partly responsible for that because they come from such an anti-aging space, whereas, as you say, if we can embrace the fact that we do have changes that are happening to our bodies, hormonally driven, it's going to impact our skin, the largest organ in the body. We know the impact that the decline of estrogen has and the decline of collagen and all sorts of different things. Why not embrace that and make the most of this incredible market, like you say, this audience, that are out there really thirsty for help and support as opposed to going no, actually, we don't want you to age, we want you to start looking like you did when you were 20.

Elizabeth: 11:01

And isn't that just such an odd thing Like for me as a brand owner? I don't associate a good skin with completely lineless skin. I associate good skin with healthy looking skin, radiant skin. So I'm not of the philosophy that you have to get rid of every line and wrinkle and crease on your skin. It's more for me about helping women achieve healthy skin. So, yeah, I guess there's different philosophies out there, right?

Sonya: 11:28

Yeah, there is, but I'm really hopeful that we have women like you, global leaders, founders of amazing skincare ranges, that are pushing the narrative and are creating products for this market that are so highly evidence-based, that are so ethically formulated, and it's not just a whole new brand that's jumping on the bandwagon of going oh, there's all these menopause of women and they want to spend money here. Take mine. It's one of the things that I love about yours. Let's jump back for a moment to your new product, which is specific to the menopausal women. Tell me a little bit about the formulation for that. So how does it differ to other products?

Elizabeth: 12:07

Yeah, so it's called Jasmine Flower Menopause Facial Cream. It's a formulation that is designed to help address the symptoms, skin symptoms of menopause, which might be things like redness, inflammation, irritation, hormonal blemishes in many cases, signs that women may not have experienced before in their life. And so, yeah, I really kind of looked at what are the key above and beyond lines and wrinkles, right, what are the key kind of issues that women are facing, as you know? As you say, as estrogen levels decrease, as you know, heat in your body surges, as you can get the sudden rush of redness to your skin. What are the kind of the major factors? So that was kind of the starting point. Obviously, dehydration is a fundamental issue that women are facing. Through menopause, their skin gets a lot more sensitive, more irritated. With red flushes and hot flushes, the skin can become quite red, irritated, and I'm not talking about broken capillaries, because that's a different skin issue, just more from that surge in heat.

Elizabeth: 13:18

So I started looking at how can we get natural compounds that actually help to address those symptoms in the skin. And, yeah, and so it was super interesting seeing what compounds were out there. One of them is an ingredient called avananthramides and I had to practice that word for quite some time. It's from oat extract, which doesn't sound super exciting but it's a histamine inhibitor, so it inhibits the release of histamine in the mast cells which sit in the dermal layer of the skin. So it helps to reduce that onset of redness to the epidermal layer of the skin. That was one of the key ingredients.

Elizabeth: 13:57

And then we have another ingredient called it's a chamomile extract ingredient that helps. It's essentially a neuropeptide, so it helps to relax the muscles in the skin and just give the skin, I guess, a more youthful kind of appearance. We've also got our plant-based hyaluronic acid. So this has the same molecular structure as an animal-derived hyaluronic acid. And hyaluronic is an amazing ingredient. It basically chelates water into your skin cells, so it really helps keep your skin more plumped. It's a compound that is naturally produced in your own skin, so it's a matter of replenishing that loss of water and that helps with a more, a stronger skin barrier, a more healthier microbiome. So everything kind of works in synergy. And that was really the approach. I didn't want to just look at lines, wrinkles. I wanted to look at the more what I would say more severe changes to the skin.

Sonya: 14:52

I love that that has been your focus. Like we touched on earlier, it is much more about addressing those skin changes that we all know we experience and the dehydration thing. I think dehydration in women going through this transition is not talked about enough and very underplayed, because when we're having hot flushes or night sweats, we're losing moisture and that is going to have a really profound impact on your skin. We talk so much now which is great about vaginal dryness and keeping the vulva nice and healthy, but I don't think there's enough conversation about extrapolating that out into our actual everyday skincare as well, on our face and the rest of our body too.

Elizabeth: 15:32

Yeah, absolutely, and I think the more dialogue women can have with each other and build a community around it, the better. Right, Because everyone's going to go through menopause. You can't avoid it and for some there's an early onset for various reasons. So learn about it, lean into it and be grateful. I think for me it's a really reflective time that you think well, I'm glad I've got two arms and two legs, I'm in one place, I've got to be happy, right? So I will deal with what I have to deal with and be happy that my kids have left home.

Sonya: 16:06

Although I'm seeing a lot of women, particularly in the perimenopausal stage, who actually are juggling kids at home and sometimes even younger kids as well. I've got friends in their 40s that have got primary school age kids. Now I know there's some incredible research being done actually around the women that do have those later children in life, the impacts of them actually going straight from almost a postnatal state into perimenopausal state. Um, there's women like you and I had had a chunk of time between we had when we had our kids and when we did go into that perimenopausal and menopausal stage.

Elizabeth: 16:42

I think that's a really good point because I think women don't often understand that menopause is essentially one day right and that perimenopause can be 10 to 15 years in that stage where estrogen levels are declining.

Elizabeth: 16:57

So the sooner you get onto understanding your hormones, your hormone levels and how you can kind of support those levels, better. I think many of my friends thought oh, it just happens when I'm 55 or 50, whatever, and it's going to just happen then and it's like no, no, no, you've got to start thinking about it when you're around 39. You've got to start looking at all your hormone, your progesterone, estrogen, testosterone, dhea, cortisol, all those things and really look at how you can support your body through this phase. But get onto it early. Like I tell the girls in the office here, even once we're in their you know, in their 20s, I said, don't wait until you're 50, it's actually too late. You've got to start thinking about it early on. I'm a big believer you can help manage yourself through different changes, menopause being a big one, and I guess we can incorporate skincare into that.

Sonya: 17:47

So it's a menopause cream. The earlier that women start using it, so in their late 30s, into their 40s and preparing the skin for those menopausal changes, I would assume the better.

Elizabeth: 17:58

Yeah, absolutely Anyone who's suffering from hormonal blemishes, so anything along those lines. This cream will definitely help balance and help with reducing bacteria in the skin and so on. But yes, I think it's an amazing formulation and not only it's highly targeted for efficacy, but it kind of cocoons the skin. So it's got this beautiful molecule from menthol that helps kind of instantly soothe the skin. So me personally, I get really irritated skin and it's really unpleasant just to have that instant kind of soothing aspect. Is is great and you get that at any age, right, or if you've got rosacea or contact dermatitis or whatever.

Sonya: 18:38

Um, this would be a great formula to try fantastic and it weaves in with the rest of your product lines as well. I'm using at the moment, at a beautiful, pear and avocado night cream. Yes, yes.

Elizabeth: 18:49

It's our best seller.

Sonya: 18:50

It's our number one, I know why. And then there's a serum that goes alongside that, which is just a couple of drops of this divine oil that I pop onto my skin and, honestly, my skin in the evening has never felt so good at using your products. And, on that note, we are going to be running a promotion alongside the release of this podcast episode, so stay tuned to the end of the episode to hear how you can go into the running to win some of the amazing Antipodes skincare range. Thanks, sonia.

Elizabeth: 19:24

Eve Virational. That's the serum. So it's a KK oil, vitamin A, so it really helps to gently kind of freshen the skin. It's not photosensitive so you can, you know, use it at nighttime under your avocado pen light cream. So you're on it. You know all the bits.

Sonya: 19:42

Elizabeth, if there was one piece of skincare advice that you wish every woman in midlife could hear, what would it be?

Elizabeth: 19:50

I would say, outside in, inside out. So don't think that applying a cream or any cream to your skin is going to solve all of the issues you might be facing and challenges you might be facing on your skin. So really look at your skin from a nutritional perspective. Eat more protein, drop the inflammatory foods, try and drop your sugar less caffeine, unfortunately. So really look at what food groups work for you. Potentially go through an elimination process, but I think the nutrition piece is absolutely fundamental at this kind of 40 onwards part of life. And I'm not one for diets. I don't believe in that diet stuff. It's like, oh, whatever you know you've got to enjoy eating. But just really kind of look at your foods for nutrition and for energy and for sustenance and for health, as opposed to looking to fill yourself up. So that's the key I'd say.

Sonya: 20:51

Yeah, I love that approach, and, you know, one of the things that we talk about so much women that are looking for information on how to support themselves through the menopause transition or through any symptoms that they might be struggling with is that there are all of these pillars that we need to look after and that they all work together, that no one thing is a silver bullet. So if you choose to take HRT, that's fantastic, but that's not going to be your silver bullet, you know. If you go to the gym, that's not going to fix all your problems either. It's got to be nutrition, it's got to be exercise, it's got to be lifestyle, it's got to be looking at how much alcohol and caffeine your intake is, as you said, and skincare is a big part of that as well. I love the inside out, outside in. I think that's a really cool little way to remember that all of these things work in synergy.

Elizabeth: 21:35

Yeah absolutely, and mental fitness, I think, is a big one as well. Like, make sure you train your brain, don't let your brain kind of fizzle, right, just make sure you're exercising your brain through Wordle or whatever, right.

Sonya: 21:51

Yep, doing my Wordle every day.

Elizabeth: 21:53

That's keeping my brain. Yeah, it's a really challenge. You know, at school we used to do those big mathematical kind of formulations on the blackboard. That would be 10-minute jobs. Not that I could do those now, but just exercise your brain to keep it healthy, I think would be key. Another thing I would suggest is get a cat. They're the most amazing kind of calming mental wellness thing I think you can get. With a cat that kind of cuddles into you and purrs and, you know, doesn't ask for anything back. Yeah, and just try and be present.

Sonya: 22:23

I like that. I'm not a cat person but I've got a dog. I get the same. That's those same kind of endorphins, I guess, from when he, you know, snuggles up. I love that analogy of having something that does bring you some downtime, some connection with something outside of being human. And they do. They love you regardless, doesn't matter if you're in a heap crying because you've almost been on a roller coaster ride all day. They do. They love you regardless. Doesn't matter if you're in a heap crying because your hormones have been on a roller coaster ride all day. They'll still love you they will.

Elizabeth: 22:49

Yeah, as long as they're fed, I think I think the nice thing about where I'm at 57 or mid 50s onwards if your kids have left home as well oh, my god, I've got all this time, I can spend some time on myself, I can, you know, just enjoy life. I can be more present. I'm not just thinking about a list of things to do every single day. That gets ticked off and there's another one, another one, so it's, in some ways, it's kind of the best time of your life. So, yeah, it's nothing to be scared of, it's fantastic.

Sonya: 23:22

And look, getting through the transition for some women is bumpier than it is for others, but anybody that's listened to me talk knows that. You know I am eight years post-menopause and I firmly believe that I am absolutely in the prime of my life right now. I'm hitting all my strides. I even had someone say to me the other day like you realize, you're in your most creative window of your life right now, like you need to absolutely make sure that you make the most of that, and I was like, yeah, absolutely.

Elizabeth: 23:49

And, like you say, it's a period of time within your life that will finish and, as you mentioned, for some women it's incredibly tough. There's a lot of undesirable side effects right that you're kind of not prepared for.

Sonya: 24:01

But it does end and that's the great thing yep, and there's this whole beautiful side on the other side of it. Elizabeth, thank you so much for your time today. I have loved chatting with you so much. Are you welcome?

Sonya: 24:13

it's been amazing to talk with you before you go, don't forget to enter our pamper and Pause skincare giveaway on Instagram. Thanks to our friends at Antipodes Skincare To be in the running to win a Lush skincare prize back valued at over $250. Here's what you need to do Follow at Sonja Lovell and at Antipodes Skincare on Instagram. You must be following both accounts. Like and comment on the giveaway post that you'll find in our feed and, while you're there, why not tag a friend who deserves a pamper too? The winner must be based in Australia and will be drawn and announced on Friday, the 6th of June, on Instagram. Good luck and thanks for tuning in to another episode of Dear Menopause. Thank you.