Author: Sara Samavati, Business Partner & Director of Skincare Solutions

The Meeting That Changed Everything

I came to New Zealand with a Master's degree in Animal Husbandry and Agriculture from Germany and training as an Organic Skincare Formulator from the UK. My fascination with bees wasn't just academic; it was personal. I wanted to understand how these incredible creatures created substances with such powerful properties for skin.

When I met Dr Isaac Flitta, I didn't expect to meet someone who understood mānuka honey at a molecular level I'd never considered.

He had a PhD in Materials Science, had worked on aluminium extrusion for Airbus 380, designed carbon fiber medical implants, and somehow ended up as Founding Member #FM00007 of the New Zealand Apiculture Industry Body.

I thought: this man has no business making skincare.

Three years later, as his business partner and Director of Skincare Solutions at Tōtika Health, I can tell you exactly why partnering with an aerospace engineer, not just working for him, but building this company together, has created products I never could have formulated alone.

The Lip Balm That Started Everything

Isaac understood something most people don't: mānuka honey's power goes far beyond eating it. The MGO (methylglyoxal) that makes it therapeutic for internal wellness works just as powerfully on skin, if you can formulate it properly.

I started experimenting. My first creation was simple: a lip balm using mānuka honey and bee propolis.

Nothing fancy. Just high-quality ingredients formulated with care, using my knowledge of organic skincare and natural ingredient chemistry.

We gave samples to friends, family, and customers who bought our honey.

The response was overwhelming.

People with chronically chapped lips that hadn't responded to anything else healed. People with angular cheilitis that came back every winter; gone. People who'd tried every luxury lip balm on the market said ours actually worked.

That's when Isaac and realized: we weren't just making honey anymore. We were creating therapeutic skincare that actually delivered results.

What Agriculture Training and Design Engineering Have In Common

My Master's in Animal Husbandry and Agriculture taught me to understand natural systems, how bees interact with plants, how environmental conditions affect hive health, and how seasonal variations change the properties of what bees produce.

Isaac's Materials Science PhD taught him to understand how substances behave at the molecular level, how structure determines function, how to control quality in variable natural materials, and how to engineer systems that perform consistently.

My Organic Skincare Formulation training taught me which ingredients work for skin and how to combine them elegantly.

Isaac's aerospace materials engineering background taught him to verify, test, and document that the ingredients perform as claimed.

Together, we created something neither of us could build alone: skincare with the soul of organic formulation and the precision of aerospace engineering.

The Partnership That Makes Better Products

Here's what makes our partnership work:

I bring:

• Deep understanding of bees, propolis, and natural ingredient behaviour

• Organic formulation expertise from UK training

• Knowledge of skin biology and how natural compounds interact with it

• Intuition for creating products that feel luxurious and work beautifully

Isaac brings:

• Quality control systems from aerospace engineering

• Independent lab testing protocols for every batch

• Materials science understanding of MGO stability and delivery

• An engineering mindset that asks "prove it" for every claim

The result?

Nine products in our skincare line, every single one formulated by me with Isaac's engineering precision mind, ensuring consistency, potency, and verification.

From One Lip Balm to Nine Products (And Why Each Exists)

After the success of the lip balm, we didn't just create products to fill a catalogue. Each product addressed a specific problem, with mānuka honey and bee propolis offering unique advantages.

Our approach:

1. I identify a skincare need where bioactive honey makes sense

2. I formulate using organic ingredients and natural compounds

3. Isaac implements testing to verify active ingredient potency

4. We iterate until we achieve the performance we want

5. We don't launch until it's genuinely better than alternatives

This is why we have nine products, not forty. We're not interested in making every possible variation. We're interested in making products that work.

The Quality Control That Changes Everything

Here's where Isaac's engineering background fundamentally changed how I formulate.

Before partnering with him, I bought "MGO 400 mānuka honey" and "cosmetic-grade propolis" from reputable suppliers and trusted the labels. That's how most organic skincare formulators work.

Isaac's response: "What's the MGO level of THIS specific batch? What's the flavonoid content of THIS jar of propolis?"

At first, I thought it was excessive. Why test when you have a trustworthy supplier?

Then I learned: natural ingredients vary. One batch of "MGO 400" honey might actually be MGO 380. Another might be MGO 450. The bees don't read labels.

Now, every production batch of honey we use is independently lab-tested. Every batch of propolis is analysed for flavonoid content.

When I formulate our MGO 823+ Nourishing Hand Cream, I know with absolute certainty what's in it. Not approximately. Exactly.

This is the difference between good organic skincare and pharmaceutical-grade natural formulations.

What "Business Partners" Really Means

Isaac and I aren't just the founder and employee. We're business partners because we each bring equal but different value to Tōtika Health.

He couldn't create our product line without my formulation expertise, my understanding of natural ingredients, and my knowledge of how bees produce these incredible substances.

I couldn't create products with verified, consistent potency without his quality systems, testing protocols, and engineering mindset.

Our partnership works because:

• We respect each other's expertise completely

• We challenge each other constantly

• We share the same standard: prove it works, don't just claim it

• We both care more about creating products that work than creating products that sell

The Agricultural Science That Informs Formulation

My Master's in Animal Husbandry and Agriculture isn't just background—it's fundamental to how I formulate.

Understanding bee biology means I know:

• Why does propolis composition vary by season (different plant resins available)

• How the hive location affects honey properties (different mānuka bush potency)

• What environmental stressors produce higher MGO (bees respond to challenges)

This isn't just academic knowledge. It's a practical formulation insight.

When we harvest our own propolis, I don't just look at the analysis sheet. I ask: Where was this hive? What time of year? What were the bees foraging on?

The best propolis comes from hives in specific conditions. Knowing animal husbandry and agricultural science helps me identify those conditions.

The Organic Training That Guides Philosophy

My Organic Skincare Formulation training in the UK taught me that "natural" doesn't mean "unscientific."

The best organic formulators:

• Understand chemistry deeply

• Use traditional ingredients with modern knowledge

• Create elegant textures without synthetic shortcuts

• Prove efficacy, not just appeal to "natural = good"

This philosophy aligns perfectly with Isaac's engineering approach: use the best materials for the job, verify they work, and don't compromise quality for convenience.

Why Nine Products (Not Three, Not Thirty)

We could easily expand to 20-30 products by creating variations: different MGO levels, different scents, different sizes, and different packaging.

We don't.

Each of our nine products exists because:

1. Mānuka honey or bee propolis offers unique advantages for that application

2. I couldn't find existing products that properly utilised these ingredients

3. We can verify and control quality to our standards

4. It solves a real problem better than alternatives

What Customers Don't See (But Should Know)

When you buy Tōtika Health skincare, you're getting:

My contribution:

• Formulation expertise from UK organic training

• Agricultural science understanding from German education

• Years of experimentation with bee products

• Elegant textures that feel luxurious while working

Isaac's contribution:

• Independent lab testing of every production batch

• Quality control systems from aerospace engineering

• Verification that active ingredients match labels

• Research-backed potency levels (not guesses)

Together:

• Products that work consistently

• Natural ingredients with pharmaceutical-grade verification

• Skincare you can trust when you have sensitive, reactive, or problem skin

The Bottom Line

I'm a business partners with an aerospace engineer because his engineering precision mind transformed my organic formulations from "beautifully made natural skincare" into "therapeutically reliable bioactive skincare."

I bring the art of formulation, the science of natural ingredients, and a deep understanding of how bees create these incredible substances.

He brings quality control, verification systems, and refusal to accept "approximately" when we can achieve "exactly."

The result? Nine products I'm genuinely proud of. Products I use myself. Products I'd trust on my own children's skin.

And honestly? That's the only kind of skincare worth making.

Sara Samavati is Business Partner and Director of Skincare Solutions at Tōtika Health. She holds a Master's in Animal Husbandry and Agriculture from Germany and trained as an Organic Skincare Formulator in the UK. She works in partnership with Dr. Isaac Flitta (PhD Materials Science, Founding Member #FM00007 of NZ Apiculture Industry Body) to create science-backed bioactive skincare.