Kendal Perrett, founder of Gecko Creationz, is a mother of six whose journey into natural skincare began at home, navigating the daily challenges of her children’s persistent skin issues. After years of frustration with conventional products filled with unrecognisable ingredients, she discovered the restorative power of traditionally rendered tallow. What started as a simple, personal remedy has grown into a passion for helping others, with her handcrafted skincare range. From her Marlborough workshop, Kendal now creates small-batch products using locally sourced ingredients, offering families a return to honest, effective skincare that truly supports the skin. Here, she talks to The Natural Parent Magazine about the inspiration behind Gecko Creationz, her biggest breakthrough, the pros and cons of running her own business, and her hopes and dreams for the future.
The Passion: What inspired you to set up your business?
It all started on a beach near Kaikoura, on the South Island of New Zealand. My husband and I had gone away for the day to celebrate my birthday and as we relaxed on the beach with a coffee, I started thinking about how I would like to share my love of tallow skincare with the rest of New Zealand. Could I do this??Could I make my passion for all things natural into a viable business? My husband, Mike, and I began to brainstorm different possibilities and I was excited to hear the enthusiasm Mike had for the prospects.
I had already been making soap for our family and friends for about 7 years and balms for about 3 years. I had witnessed the healing properties of tallow-based skincare firsthand as my daughter, Zoe (now 5 years old), had terrible eczema from when she was first born. Her cheeks would bleed and it would then result in fungal infections. I had gone down the route of steroid-based creams out of desperation, even though my natural instinct was to avoid these medications. I had to find another alternative. It was then that I discovered whipped tallow balm from a basic online recipe. I enjoyed experimenting and I finally was able to make one that smelled good (the first batches were pretty bad!). By using natural essential oils in combination with olive oil that I infused with calendula flowers, I was able to make a lovely, healing moisturiser. My family and I used this for any dry skin, any rashes, any skin irritation, any itchiness and just as a general moisturiser. It almost became a joke in the family of me saying, “Just put some tallow balm on it!”, but I said this because I saw results and I could trust that it was pure and natural and effective. I then started giving it to friends who were struggling with their skin, and wow, they were amazed with the results as well! Slowly, but surely, friends began asking me to give them another jar of tallow balm, or another soap depending on their needs. This gave me the confidence to move into selling my tallow skincare range.
I have always been a “maker”, whether it was sewing clothes, knitting, baking sourdough, preserving fruit and veggies, cooking from scratch, quilting or gardening. It brings me joy! I love the challenge of creating something out of ‘nothing’ and tallow skincare was a natural progression of producing a quality product from scratch. And so began my quest to share tallow skincare with anyone that it would benefit.
The launch: How did you start out in the beginning?
The Garden Marlborough Fete was scheduled for November 2025 and it had always been a dream of mine to attend as a stallholder. People come from all over New Zealand to experience what Marlborough has to offer over this weekend. It had been an annual tradition for my mum and I to go to this particular market and we loved going! But to actually be selling products there…..well that would be something special indeed! So, I started making products and photographing them. My son, Heath (15 years old), built an excellent website for me so that we could sell online. He put many hours of work into it and produced a wonderful store to showcase our products. Once our website was up and running, we applied to be a stallholder at Garden Marlborough and we were accepted. We had exactly one month to get everything ready. It was a rush to get our logo designed and signage made (not to mention to make and label all the products as well!), but it certainly gave us a goal to aim towards. When the day came, we were ready and we even won the prize for the Best Presented Site at the Garden Marlborough Fete! It was a wonderful day and we were able to serve people from all over New Zealand. What a special way to launch our new business!
The innovation: What was the biggest breakthrough for you with your business?
The biggest breakthrough was finding a way to render and purify ‘enough’ beef tallow for all of our needs. Tallow is a fantastic, ecologically sustainable option to use for skincare as we are essentially repurposing a product that would otherwise have been discarded. But in saying this, it does take a lot of work to make it into an ingredient that is pure enough for cosmetic use. Most of my summer was spent tending pots and pots of tallow over a hot stove, then straining it, freezing it, scraping off any impurities and then repeating the process over and over again until it was beautiful and clean. This wasn’t fun or sustainable long term. We mentioned our problems to our butcher from whom we were buying the beef tallow, and he said that he had an old 60 litre cooker that he’d purchased second hand, but had never used. It wasn’t working at the time, but he said that we could buy it off him and we could try and fix it. We were very grateful to be given the chance! We got it home and started the process of repairing it. After a lot of work and help from friends and family, my husband was able to get it running perfectly. After a good cleaning and sterilisation, it was ready for action and hasn’t skipped a beat since then! It also works perfectly as a double boiler when I am melting the tallow and oils to make my balms and soaps, as it’s important not to overheat the beef tallow, otherwise it smells awful. This has made all the difference to producing enough pure tallow for our ever-increasing needs.
Yin and Yang: How do you balance work and family?
Honestly, this has been one of the greatest challenges, but also one of the greatest opportunities. My husband and I have six children, ranging in age from 15 years old down to 5 years old. We have four very active boys and two girls. We have been homeschooling for the past 10 years, and the forming of Gecko Creationz provided a wonderful opportunity to teach the children all manner of business studies. From initial concepts to manufacturing to labelling to marketing and finally to selling, our kids have been a part of it all. This has increased a love for commerce in our eldest son, Heath. I have been very impressed with the care and dedication that he has devoted to this business. It is because of him that we are now able to offer all of our Gecko Creationz products to both New Zealand and Australian customers through his liaising with the postal service to determine the best way to get our products into the hands of our waiting customers. This was especially tricky with the aspect of sending to Australia, as every product needs a separate code and weight. But he did it and it is now running seamlessly. Heath also helps with making most of the products and he is my right-hand man! My other kids have been involved in labelling the products (which is no small task) and some of them have helped with selling at the local markets. Others have handed out business cards and promoted our business to anyone who might be interested. My eldest daughter has enjoyed helping with social media posts and the photography. My parents and my husband have also been very involved with Gecko Creationz. My mum often helps out with labelling the products and also with selling at the markets. My dad has even helped to make some of the balms when I was in a tight spot! My husband, who is an accountant, has been a huge help in forming business plans and helping with the money side of things. I am so grateful for my family’s love and support in this venture. I couldn’t do it without them.
In reality, running a small business from home with lots of kids around is not an easy job. There are a lot of late nights working when the children have gone to bed or before they wake up in the morning. We made the decision earlier this year to send our kids to a local Christian School. This has been a huge help to me, and although I would never want to take back our 10 years of home-education, I am also excited about this new season in which we are living. It is allowing me to dedicate more time to the business and to our customers’ needs.
