Saskia Missaar

Saskia Missaar was born in Schagen, The Netherlands in 1984.
She lives now on Great Barrier Island with her partner and child since 2009
She is passionate about the resources Great Barrier Island has to offer. It is the perfect
fuel to help feed her creativity. She wants to share the pure essence of Great Barrier
Island with others who are not be able to live or visit the island and created her bath and skincare range called Aotea Embrace.

But her creativity is not limited to making bath and skincare only as she enjoys many other crafts such as charcoal drawing, acryllic painting, sewing, fibre art and many more. She even had to learn the art of gardening to feed the family and grow ingredients for her products. The later one is surprisingly the most challenging for her.

“As a little girl I was surounded by creative and resourceful family members. Both my
parents were very encouraging to let me explore unusual crafts at a young age. My
grandfather who grew up during the second world war, was extremely resourceful and we would mend and make things with materials from the garage and rubbish bin.” It was also her grandfather with a passion for gardening and long walks and Saskia would collectpetals and berries on the way to make potions and perfume. Growing up with theseinspiring family members made her into a creative and resourceful person.

“I was very sensitive to soap and when I found a book about making your own natural
soap, we already had our own supply of organic manuka honey and beeswax so I wanted to give it a try. This was the start of the adventure of soapmaking and later also massage oils, balm and creams.”

Saskia also attents many workshops to extend her knowledge. “It is amazing how different skills can be combined and how they can compliment each other.”

Felted soaps