Paper Jets

SARA QUILTER ~ Tailor Skincare owner, based in Wellington (29) She imagined she might one day own a café with some friends, something fun. It never crossed Sara Quilter’s mind that she would come up with New Zealand’s first probiotic serum with anti-ageing benefits. Bottles of New Zealand wine were being carted into Sara’s Wellington store ahead of the launch of her whizzy new skincare product Renew, when we spoke. “I was quietly obsessing over probiotics since I started out,” the young businesswoman says. “Last year I came across a cutting edge extract that stimulates the skin’s renewal process. The active ingredient is the probiotic lysate ‘pro-renew complex’ and the second is grapeseed extract.” That quote might have gone right over some readers’ heads, but Sara has been busy tapping away at skincare chemistry since she was an early 20-something, fresh from completing a psychology postgrad at Victoria University. “I was working at the Department of Internal Affairs’ co...

JAZ GARNER ~ Makeup artist, dancer + model based in Auckland (23) Jaz has been experimenting with makeup since she could reach her mother’s black lipstick at age four. Nowadays her makeup artistry is splashed across the pages of magazines and featured on our TV screens. Her bag is stocked with the likes of Yves St Laurent and Giorgio Armani and a stack load of MAC. And she doesn’t like to leave the house without a few lashings of mascara, under-eye concealer and “a nice little lip stain”. At the family home, you could probably still dig up some ‘Oompa Loompa shots’ of a teenage Jaz trying on her mum’s Thin Lizzy. “Oh gawd…” But Jaz’s diary was packed with enough clients that she managed to turn freelance at the tender age of 21. She earned her stripes at the MAC counter at Auckland Airport, having initially left her New Plymouth home for the big smoke at 17 to study dance at the Excel School of Performing Arts. The modelling came a bit later, through contacts she picked u...

KARLA MORRIS ~ Nails and makeup artist of New Plymouth (29) She’s been in the business less than a year but Karla  Morris’ nail designs shot to international fame when  they featured on Kim Kardashian’s app and website  this year. “It’s what I’m known for now,” the Inglewood nail technician laughs. Not that she minds the attention in the least. So popular are her hand-painted manicures that she’s opening her own studio above Rig66 at 33a Elliott Street in New Plymouth. Karla was heading to America on holiday when she thought how great it would be to gain some experience under nail artist to the stars, Britney Tokyo, and flicked her an email to see what would happen. To her surprise, Britney emailed straight back. Now Karla’s nails have featured on a video of Britney working on Kim’s nails, when Kim K gave a nod to the fan art. “Kim may not know me, but its nice to know she has featured my work,” Karla says. “I’m not obsessed with the Kardashians but I would love ...

I'm trying to picture life after February. What will I be dreaming of? What worries will claw at my conversations like a child wanting attention? In one week, I will be strapped onto a plane with those closest to me, venturing to the other side of the world. It's no big deal, really. Except for the fact this journey has been on my radar most of my life. At my age, 45 years ago, my dad stepped onto a boat with those closest to him and set sail to the other side of the world. They never returned. There are many reasons why it's taken me this long to visit. Living on the North Shore, I regularly come across South Africans relieved to have dodged a life behind electronic fences, driving through red lights to avoid being carjacked and shunning public transport. But as we have introduced our one year old boy to each of our families, my husband and I have felt the pull to connect with Dad's side grow stronger still. Through various circumstances, my sister Sharon ...