Meet Jenny Jung – beauty editor at Chatty Chums and co-founder of Ares Artistry.
This year, Jenny ticked off a major career milestone: her very first backstage gig at New Zealand Fashion Week, working under none other than beauty legend Kiekie Stanners. Equal parts nerves, eyeliner, and pure excitement, she’s here to spill the tea on what really went down behind the scenes – from smudgy kohl eyes at Harris Tapper to neon graphic liners at Karen Walker x Adidas.
Working backstage at New Zealand Fashion Week has always felt like a dream to me, and this year I had the chance to live it for the very first time. Walking into the chaos of my debut NZFW was equal parts nerve-wracking and exhilarating, but having the artistry of Kiekie Stanners at the helm instantly set the tone. If you didn’t know, Kiekie is an icon in the beauty industry. From the M·A·C counter to Fashion Week runways of Paris and Shanghai, her resume is nothing short of iconic. To share a backstage room with her for my first NZFW felt surreal, and I can’t wait to pass on some of the beauty lessons I picked up along the way.
Team Kiekie (as I like to call it) was across multiple shows throughout the week, each with its own unique brief, but today I want to pull back the curtain on two highlights: the sculptural, pared-back sophistication of Harris Tapper, and the high-octane collaboration between Karen Walker and Adidas. I’ll be sharing the exact products and techniques we relied on backstage, and a few beauty secrets that shaped the looks you saw down the runways.
Harris Tapper 2025
For Harris Tapper, the focus was a black smokey eye that felt perfectly undone. We built the look with the MECCA MAX Eye Max Eyeliner Pencil in Blackest Black, smudged along the lash line for depth, then diffused with the M.A.C Powder Kiss Eyeshadow in These Bags Are Designer to blend the edges. The key was to avoid a powdery, dusty finish. Instead, we let the natural oils come through, creating a slightly creased texture for that true lived-in feel.
As for the complexion, there was a gothic restraint: no blush, no bronzer. Just clean, creamy skin that kept all the focus on the eyes. To finish, we left behind subtle mascara residue and added a layer of gloss over the lids, giving the eyes a greasy sheen that felt effortless and cool.
The end look was raw and moody, echoing the elegant designs from this year’s collection.
Karen Walker X Adidas
On the other hand, the Karen Walker x Adidas show embraced bold colours and playful shapes, mirroring the vibrancy of this iconic collaboration. The beauty direction came alive through neon yellow, hot pink and ultramarine graphic liners across the upper and lower lashlines. As you can imagine, this look required immense concentration, creating a unique backstage environment so focused you could hear a pin drop.
For the liners, we used the MECCA MAX Zoom Zip Liner Liquid Eyeliner in Cobalt and Bubblegum, while the striking yellow came courtesy of a BodyFX face paint. Applied with precise liner brushes, the colours framed the eyes in a 70s-esque silhouette, perfectly in step with the collection’s energy.
To complement the eyes, we kept the skin fresh and bouncy with the Maryse Studio Mineral Tint in Apricots and a touch of the Luminous Finish Dew Highlighter for a radiant finish. For the lips, we kept it simple with good old lip balm. The result was playful yet editorial, highlighting the collection’s youthful spirit.
My Top 3 Beauty Secrets from NZFW:
- A kohl pencil goes a long way! Admittedly, we didn’t even pack one in our kit as they don’t tend to last as long as your typical gel or liquid liners. However, this experience was a good reminder that nothing else creates that smudgy, soft texture quite like kohl. Shout out to MECCA MAX for an affordable option that’s easy to get your hands on.
- The Maryse Studio Mineral Tints were another highlight. They came straight from Kiekie’s own kit and were passed around for everyone to use, which not only created cohesion but also gave us the chance to experiment with products we might not usually have in our own kits. If you’re after a new cream formula with a sheer, luminous finish, I can’t recommend them enough.
- The M.A.C Powder Kiss Matte Eyeshadows might be my new favourite formula. These shadows are ultra-buttery, blend like a dream and deliver serious pigment. Unlike many mattes that can read flat or dull, these shades deliver a soft-focus vibrancy that really stands out.
That’s a wrap on my first NZFW! Thanks for coming backstage with me. I hope you loved this beauty report as much as I loved living it.
