School ball season: Northland makeup artist creates accessible option for attendees

Katy Taylor is determined to make ball makeup and hair accessible for Whangārei students this year after the success of her Kerikeri events. Photo / Kathy Elliston Photography

Whangārei ball attendees who live rurally but want professional hair and makeup done will this year have an accessible option.

A Northland mother has created an event for makeup artists and hairdressers to operate out of one place on Whangārei Girls High School’s ball night.

Artists have gathered at Kerikeri Hato Hone St John for one night each year where they work out of their chairs booked out by up to 90 excitable students.

Having seen the past two years’ success in Kerikeri, Katy Taylor will bring the initiative to Whangārei in time for the girls’ high school ball on August 3.

Nine makeup artists and four hairdressers will work with an average 80-90 girls coming through on the day.

Taylor said the initiative started small a few years ago, at a local salon in 2020.

“I noticed it was really hard in Northland because we’re quite rural, I’d be driving around different houses from someone in Ōkaihau to Waimate North [on ball night].”

Taylor contacted Hato Hone St John to see if they could use their facilities after a recommendation in 2022.

“That would have been about three years ago,” she said.

“It’s turning into quite a big thing in Kerikeri.”

She said a plus side of working out of Hato Hone St John is the feeling of giving back to the community.

This year, she noticed through a makeup artist group chat that many Whangārei-based artists weren’t going to be available on ball night.

“[I thought] this is a good time for me to try and come in and see if we can make this work in Whangārei.”

Some artists would be travelling from the Mid North and Far North for the event, she said.

Fees will stay no lower than $100, which she said draws a line in the sand between being affordable for artists and attendees and maintaining an industry standard.

Artists at the event also pay $50 to take part — all of which goes towards fundraising for Hato Hone St John.

Taylor said the event was rewarding in numerous ways, including the networking between makeup artists and hairdressers who often collaborate at weddings and charity events.

But perhaps most notable is the amount of fun the pampered girls and their mums have.

“There’s music and sometimes we have nibbles ... it’s an exciting time for them.”

Taylor said parents often comment on the accessibility of the event that allows those who live further out to get ready in one place.

She noted in Whangārei some students have to travel an hour into the city and they may not get space for a makeup artist until 9am and a hairdresser at 2pm.

“It just makes things easier,” she said.

For Taylor, a mother of two daughters, the ability to help boost the confidence of young women is reward enough.

“I’m just so excited and I love being part of getting the girls ready for the ball.”

“To have a key role in [helping them feel] beautiful and confident, it’s just the most special thing.”

“A lot of people might see makeup as a superficial thing, but in my mind, it isn’t. It’s not about making people look different, it’s about enhancing what they already have.”

Taylor said often girls came in dressed in a tracksuit and hoodie, but once they’re done with hair and makeup they “hold themselves differently”.

“They’re smiling and laughing — it means a lot to me that we can make girls feel good.”

Brodie Stone is an education and general news reporter at the Advocate. Brodie has spent most of her life in Whangārei and is passionate about delving into issues that matter to Northlanders and beyond.