For over two decades, Renee Hohaia has sat across from women who arrive with bags of products and no idea what to do with any of them. As a skin therapist and owner of R & Co Skin and Beauty in Oakura, she’s had that same conversation thousands of times over, “I don’t actually know what I’m supposed to be using.” In November 2025, she finally answered it herself, launching arké Skincare, a four product routine built on a philosophy she sums up simply. Do less, but do it well.
It’s a brand shaped as much by her own history as her clients’. Hohaia developed acne at 13, and the insecurity that came with it has stayed with her through two decades of treatment rooms, informing a brand that pointedly avoids the language of ‘anti-ageing.’ She’s not interested in fighting the way skin changes, only in supporting the healthiest version of it, at any age.
Between running R & Co, growing arké and raising three sport mad kids with her husband in Taranaki, Hohaia admits she hasn’t found the secret to balance. What she has found, after years of people pleasing, is the confidence to trust her own instincts, over anyone else’s opinion of what a founder, or a woman, is supposed to look like.
In conversation with Renee Hohaia
Let’s get up to speed. Please tell us a bit about you, your background and your career to date in a few sentences.
I’ve been a skin therapist for 25 years, so skin has really been my entire working life. I own R & Co Skin and Beauty in Oakura, where I still work hands-on with clients, and in November 2025 I launched arké Skincare. I’m also a wife and mum of three, so life is very full and very normal! arké really came from everything I’d learnt over more than two decades in the treatment room – thousands of consultations, conversations with women about their skin and seeing firsthand how confusing the skincare industry had become. Eventually I realised I wanted to take all of that experience and create something of my own – fewer, better products that make looking after your skin feel simple again.
What is your earliest memory of skincare, or of noticing skin as something to care for?
I actually suffered from acne from about 13, and it really affected my confidence. My mum did everything she could to help me – we visited skin therapists, tried different products and looked for anything that might make a difference. When you’re that young, skin can feel like such a huge part of how you see yourself. I remember that feeling of insecurity really clearly, and I think it’s probably one of the reasons I’ve spent my whole career doing what I do. Even now, after 25 years working with skin, I never want someone sitting in front of me to feel embarrassed or ashamed of their skin. Good skincare can absolutely change skin, but I also think the way we talk to people about their skin matters. I never want arké to be a brand that makes someone feel they aren’t good enough as they are.
How would you describe your approach to beauty, and what influences it the most?
My approach to beauty has definitely changed as I’ve got older. I’m much more interested in looking healthy and feeling good than trying to look younger. I love beautiful things and I obviously love skincare, but I don’t think beauty should come from making women feel like there is something wrong with them that needs fixing. Working with women every day for 25 years has probably influenced me more than anything. Real women, real skin and real lives. Most people don’t want or need a 12-step routine – they want to know what actually works, what they actually need and how to look after their skin well. That’s really where my philosophy comes from – do less, but do it well.
Take us back to the very beginning – what was the moment you decided to launch arké?
There wasn’t one huge lightbulb moment. It had been building for years through conversations I was having with clients. Women would come into the clinic with bags of products and have no idea what went where, what could be used together or, sometimes, even why they had bought them. I found myself thinking, when did skincare become this complicated? I wanted to create the routine I was explaining to clients over and over again – cleanse, treat, moisturise and support the skin overnight. Four really good products that work together and are easy to understand. Even the numbering of the products in order of use from one to four came from wanting someone to be able to look at their products and know exactly what came next. Eventually I got to the point where I thought – I’ve spent more than two decades doing this. I know skin. I know my clients. I know what I think is missing. Why not me? That was really the beginning of arké.
You spent two decades in professional skincare before founding arké – how do those tens of thousands of consultations shape the way arké’s formulas actually perform?
They shaped everything! After that long working directly with skin, you start seeing the same patterns. I’ve seen what happens when people over-treat their skin, strip their barrier, constantly change products or chase whatever ingredient happens to be trending. I’ve also seen that some of the best skin results come when people stop doing so much and become consistent with a really good routine. So arké didn’t start with a trend or an ingredient I thought would sell well. It started with what I’d learnt skin actually needs – hydration, barrier support, effective active ingredients and formulas that can be comfortably and consistently used. Every product needs to earn its place in the range. If I can’t explain exactly why you need it, I don’t think we should be making it.
Looking back at your years working directly with clients, is there a consultation or moment that still shapes how you think about the brand today?
It’s actually not one consultation – it’s a conversation I’ve had hundreds, probably thousands, of times. Someone sits down in front of me and says, “I don’t actually know what I’m supposed to be using.” Then they’ll tell me about all the different products they’ve bought because someone told them they needed them or their friend is using it and said it was good. Often their skin doesn’t need more – it’s overwhelmed. That has really stayed with me because I don’t think skincare should make people feel confused or intimidated. arké is really my answer to all of those conversations – fewer products, clear steps, good ingredients and consistency. Skincare should make sense.
What’s something you’ve had to let go of as a founder, and something you’ve refused to compromise on?
I’ve had to let go of perfection – and probably a bit of self-consciousness too. Putting myself out there has actually been one of the most confronting parts of launching arké. I’m a skin therapist, not an influencer, so suddenly having to talk to a camera, show my face on social media and put myself at the front of the brand has taken some getting used to. One of the best pieces of advice I got was from Kate Hemus from Bowie. She said, “Renee, you just have to lean into the cringe.” And honestly, I think about that all the time! Sometimes you have to stop over thinking, trust your gut instinct and just put yourself out there.
I’m also learning that being imperfect is actually a good thing. No one wants to see unrealistic filters and perfection all the time – that’s not real life, and it’s not what arké stands for either. I’d much rather show up as myself. What I’ve refused to compromise on is the ingredients and formulations. After 25 years working with skin, I knew exactly what I wanted these products to do and how I wanted them to feel and perform. That part needed to be perfect, and I was prepared to go back and forth during development until it was. I can let go of a Reel not being perfect. I couldn’t let go of a formulation not being perfect. That’s probably been one of my biggest lessons as a founder – know what really matters, trust your gut on it, and let some of the other stuff be imperfect.
What does a typical day look like for you, from the moment you wake up?
On the days I exercise, I’m normally up somewhere between 5.30 and 6am and I’ll usually head out for a run. Then it’s home, get the kids up, everyone organised and off to school. If I’m working in the clinic, that can be a 10–12 hour day seeing clients. On my non-clinic days, I’ll try to get to the gym, then it’s usually a mixture of Zoom meetings, fulfilling orders, working on strategy, contacting suppliers and talking to clinics. Those days are also deliberately more flexible because I want to be able to turn up to the school things when I can. After school we’re usually running between sports and activities, then I’ll cook dinner and we sit down together as a family. Once the kids are in bed, if there’s admin I haven’t finished, the laptop usually comes back out. It’s busy and definitely not glamorous, but I wouldn’t really want it any other way.
What’s a piece of advice you’d give your younger self, before arké existed?
I really wish I’d spent less time trying to be who I thought other people wanted me to be, and trusted myself, my knowledge and my strengths more. I think a lot of us grew up in an era of people-pleasing – wanting to be liked, not wanting to upset anyone, sometimes making ourselves a little smaller or holding back our own opinions and values because it felt easier. Looking back, I think that can really squash your confidence in who you are. At 41, I feel so much more confident in myself, what I’m good at and what I stand for. I certainly don’t know everything – and starting arké has reinforced that! But I’ve realised I don’t need to. I know my area really well, and I can surround myself with good people who are stronger in the areas I’m not. I’d also tell my younger self that all those years working one-on-one with clients wasn’t just my job. They were building this incredible bank of knowledge and experience that I probably didn’t give myself enough credit for at the time. So I’d tell her “trust your gut, back what you know, stop worrying so much about pleasing everyone and don’t try to be someone you’re not”. The older I get, the more I realise there’s a lot of freedom in just being yourself.
Quick-fire questions
The next item on my wardrobe wishlist is…
Summer outfits, it’s starting to warm up now. I love Superette so constantly have something in my cart from there.
The book currently on my bedside table is…
Honestly? There isn’t one. Unless I’m on holiday, I don’t read — my brain is already far too busy! Id rather watch a movie.
Three beauty products I can’t live without…
arké Lip Treatment — it’s with me all day. I’ve also become completely obsessed with our No.4 The Bed Balm, and I can’t go without my Suntegrity Impeccable Skin SPF in Sand.
My favourite place to dine…
Social Kitchen in New Plymouth. The gnocchi is amazing — and so are the cocktails.
My ultimate day off looks like…
Somewhere tropical with my whole family, on a beautiful beach with absolutely no cell service. That last part is probably essential.
