Aotearoa's Best Beauty Student Cleanses Body and Mind

Taupō’s Sonya Hemopo, a graduate of the Diploma in Beauty Therapy, only not runs her own salon, SMK Bespoke Facials and Grooming Room, but her creativity and hard work has seen her named ‘Student of the Year’ at the inaugural New Zealand Beauty Association Awards.
    
Sonya says having not brought any tickets to the awards’ dinner due to self-doubt, she felt “pretty stoked” to be selected and to take her place at the table alongside the other finalists.

“On the night, I was surprised to win, although I didn’t initially compute what had happened. Afterwards, my husband wouldn’t let me carry my trophy. He was like ‘No, you’ll drop it, I’ll carry it and you carry the envelope’ - even though we were only one block away from our hotel!

“What made the red carpet event even more special, was that my tutors, Rochelle Flight and Rowena Davies, flew down and surprised me by attending.”

Whānau was a key ingredient in her application, and helped secure her selection as an award finalist.

“For one of my case studies, I used my niece. She suffered from quite bad adult acne and it had affected her confidence. 

“As my husband is a keen fly fisherman, I created a face mask for her out of rainbow trout fish heads he’d caught. That was a point of difference to my application, I wasn’t using a product I had brought.

“I researched caviar, and the hydration and goodness it offered to balance skin, and combined that with my husband’s input on why Rainbow Trout was the best fish to help her condition.

“After 6-8 weeks of treatment, her skin cleared up amazingly. She is now 21, looking people in the eye and in the Air Force. Clear skin really moved her along.”

Not only did Sonya commute from Taupō in order to study her diploma and achieve her dreams, her family travelled from as far away as Taumarunui in order to be her ‘real world’ clients in Toi Ohomai’s student-operated beauty training salon, in the heart of Rotorua’s central business district.

“After being a stay at home mum, I decided to chase my career. I’d been running my husband’s books for years and wanted to do something I enjoyed, where I could do what I wanted to do.”

“Beauty was the only thing I felt I could enjoy on an ongoing basis, so I applied and loved Toi Ohomai. It was really interesting learning about skin and how it reflects what you eat and your lifestyle.”

Stating that everyone needs to remember that “You are here to live your life too”, Sonya’s proud that her salon focuses on skin health, mind-set and educating clients with knowledge – S.M.K. 

“The big expensive beauty schools can be intimidating, but I hope my success shows you can get a blimin’ good qualification out of Toi Ohomai.”