As Wellington gears up to Africa Day this Saturday, with a 12-hour celebration at the Wellington Town Hall beginning at 11.30 a.m., there’s a distinctively non-African name behind the scenes doing the make-up for the fashion show on the day, as well as the smaller Taste of Africa event at Te Papa from 6 p.m. tonight (May 23).
   Kareen D. Holland, whose business KD One recently opened at Morrison Kent House on The Terrace, is applying her extensive experience in film make-up to the community event.
   KD One’s natural skin care and cosmetics stemmed from Holland’s years in film, working with such luminaries as Weta’s Sir Richard Taylor.
   Working at Taste of Africa and Africa Day is Holland’s way of giving back to the community, something she was keen to do ever since KD One opened last month.
   Africa Day showcases African culture through dance, music, arts, crafts and cuisine. It is the first major cultural event for African communities in Wellington.
   KD One was mentored by Lucire publisher Jack Yan as part of his work with Business Mentors New Zealand.

In stores now are Nicki Minaj’s latest Viva Glam lipstick and Lipglass from MAC.
   The new offerings are in pastel lavender pink, with the full selling price going toward helping men, women and children living with, or affected by, HIV and Aids.
   Priced at NZ$40 for the Viva Glam Nicki 2 lipstick and NZ$38 for the Lipglass, they are strictly limited editions.
   Rapper and songwriter Minaj, who was announced as MAC’s spokeswoman for its Viva Glam campaign in July 2011, had been putting her name to the company’s products since 2010. She succeeded Lady Gaga.
   MAC says the Fund has raised over US$200 million for HIV–Aids through the sale of its Viva Glam lip products.

Updated March 28, 2013 at 10.56 a.m. GMT with The Delivery film and other highlights

James Bond star Daniel Craig has helped launch the Range Rover Sport in New York City with a drive through Manhattan, revealing the car to a celebrity audience that included former American football player Michael Strahan, Yasmin Le Bon, Zara Phillips, MBE, and Jade Jagger, at Skylight at Moynihan Station on 8th Avenue.
   The drive is part of a short film called The Delivery, broadcast live by Land Rover at www.newrangeroversport.com.
   The Delivery was directed by Jonathan P. B. Taylor, who most recently worked on A Good Day to Die Hard. It followed the journey of the new Range Rover Sport from Solihull to Manhattan, before it was driven by Craig over Manhattan Bridge to Moynihan Station.
   Craig drove the earlier Range Rover Sport in his second Bond film, Quantum of Solace, but was also attracted to working with the company because of its connection to the charity SAFE, of which he is a patron. Among other things, SAFE uses mobile street theatre and community programmes to help effect social change in third-world countries.
   Jaguar Land Rover says it chose New York for the launch as it sells more units in the US than in any other global market. New York is the car’s best selling city.
   The new Sport is no longer based on a Discovery, but has a new platform based around the company’s aluminium architecture, lightweight suspension design and chassis technologies. It was developed alongside the latest Range Rover but JLR claims that 75 per cent of the Sport’s parts are unique to it.
   It can be specified with occasional seating for sixth and seventh passengers, again appealing to the US market. The power seats can be folded to leave a flat floor.
   The new V6 diesel is 420 kg lighter than the outgoing model, while carbon dioxide emissions have been reduced to 194 g/km.
   The exterior design is more muscular and purposeful than the Range Rover presented last year, and some might say it is better balanced. It is positioned between the Range Rover and the smaller Evoque.
   It is 62 mm longer than the outgoing Sport, but the wheelbase has been increased by 178 mm—the overhangs have been shortened to give it more muscular proportions compared to the previous model. At 4,850 mm, it is shorter than other seven-seater SUVs and E-segment saloons, says the company. The drag co-efficient has dropped to 0,34.
   Connectivity includes Stolen Vehicle Tracking and a high-bandwidth wifi hotspot can be installed. An optional head-up display is available. Other features include lane departure warning, automatic high-beam assist, and a Wade Sensing feature that provides information on depth when driving through water.
   Land Rover said it had set out to create the most capable Range Rover ever, one which would be agile on-road, but unbeaten by its rivals off-road.
   In a release, Land Rover Global Brand Director John Edwards noted, ‘We’ve taken ride, handling and agility to another level for Land Rover to deliver a truly rewarding, sporting drive, together with unmatched luxury, capability and versatility.
   ‘Building on the success of the recently launched flagship Range Rover, the new Range Rover Sport also employs a vast array of new technologies which help to transform its performance, refinement and all round capabilities.’
   Again recognizing its clientèle, the wheel sizes range from 19 through to 21 inches.
   Suspension is fully independent, with double wishbones at front and multi-link at the rear. Wheel travel is 260 mm at the front and 272 mm at the rear; ground clearance has been increased to 278 mm. Land Rover’s Terrain Response 2 system selects the most suitable terrain program.
   A hybrid diesel with 169 g/km carbon dioxide emissions will follow, but at launch, the Sport has a supercharged five-litre V8 developing 510 PS, and a three-litre diesel developing 292 PS. Three- and 4·4-litre diesels will be added in 2014.

Above, from top Michael Strahan. Yasmin Le Bon. Daniel Craig and SAFE’s Nick Reding. Jade Jagger. Zara Phillips, MBE. Sienna Guillory and Jamie Chung. Thierry Henry. Below More shots of the new Range Rover Sport.

Jennifer López has received an award from Muhammad and Lonnie Ali at the Muhammad Ali Celebrity Fight Night Awards XIX at the J. W. Marriott Desert Ridge Resort in Phoenix, Arizona, held on March 23.
   López, who also performed at the event, said, ‘Muhammad has always been this massive presence, [a] larger-than-life person, who inspired the world, and showed us that anyone can achieve their dreams.’
   López sung a duet with Andrea Bocelli as well as a solo number.
   Others who took to the stage included Billy Crystal, Billy Ray Cyrus, Steve Martin and Haley Reinhart. Guests included Mario López, Tate Stevens and Verne Troyer.
   The awards are held for charity, to help find a cure for Parkinson’s disease. Ali himself, now 71, has suffered from the disease since 1984. This year’s event brought in US$7·2 million. A total of US$80 million has been raised to date.
   López attended the event with boyfriend Casper Smart.

Jack Yan/Lucire

Lucire is already a huge fan of Project Born, which raises money for the Neonatal Trust. So when we heard Ride4Life 2013, benefiting the same charity, would be passing through Wellington, naturally, we wanted to get on board to help this worthy cause.
   The fundraising event sees a core team of eight cyclists, including ex-All Black Christian Cullen, ride from Cape Reinga to Bluff, with a NZ$1 million target.
   They had set off on February 25, and last week, I had run in to one of the BMW support vehicles just south of Paihia. Both Team McMillan BMW and Mini, and Jeff Gray BMW and Mini, have supplied vehicles to help out, namely eight Mini Rays, one Mini Countryman, and a BMW X5. The Minis will be auctioned off at the end of the bicycle ride on Trade Me with all proceeds going to the Neonatal Trust.
   Michael Meads, CEO of the Trust, has been happy with the ‘outstanding’ support he has received from sponsors, including the Team McMillan and Jeff Gray dealerships.
   Meads himself is piloting one of the Minis. ‘I absolutely love the Mini—it handles differently and feels very solid. It can take a corner at speed and it’s not an issue.’ The Minis, travelling in convoy, have actually attracted people to the cycling effort whenever they have a stop.
   Joining them to the half-way mark in Wellington today was a classic car club, whose members drove a 1956 Chevrolet Bel Air, a 1956 Ford Thunderbird, and a 1957 Ford Country Sedan.
   Meads says the inspiration came from a former chairman, Eugene Collins, who was a cycling fanatic. Cycling between Auckland and Wellington, Collins was able to raise $10,000 for the Trust at the time of the Christchurch earthquake. ‘We talked about how we could make it bigger and make more money,’ says Meads.
   Meads and Collins had become involved with the Trust through their own neonatal experiences. Collins’s son, Harrison, suffered from meconium aspiration and even had to go on a heart–lung bypass machine, as well as endure emergency flights between Auckland and Wellington. Harrison is now a healthy 11-year-old who competes in triathlons.
   Meads’s own experience saw his wife admitted to hospital during the 18th week of her pregnancy as she began going into labour. After three and a half months in hospital, she gave birth to their twins at 35 weeks. ‘I could see a need to help out,’ Meads recalls.
   With the help of TV announcer Grant Walker, whose son had been in neonatal care a year before, he began talking about a charitable trust, before learning that the forerunner to the current Neonatal Trust existed.
   The earlier organization was focused on Wellington, and Meads was one of the driving forces who saw it rebranded and turned into a national movement, through amalgamation and establishment of other branches. There are now five, in Auckland, Hamilton, Wellington, Christchurch and Dunedin.
   He says there is a need to help transition families who returned to the 14 provinces around the country after their neonatal experiences in the five main centres. Ride4Life 2013 is geared to raise funds for the provincial areas.
   After Wellington, the cyclists will board the Interislander, another supporter, but will in fact keep pedalling: they will be on wind trainers. There are no rest days for them between Wellington and Bluff, with one leg 187 km in distance. After Bluff, they will head to Invercargill to watch Collins attempt to break a 24-hour cycling velodrome endurance record.
   One baby every 90 minutes requires neonatal intervention, says Meads.
   The cyclists, including Cullen, will be in Wellington on Thursday, March 7, collecting around the city. Alternatively, you can donate via ride4life.co.nz or through any Westpac branch. There’s a Facebook page, where you can follow some of their progress.—Jack Yan, Publisher

Jack Yan/Lucire

Above National director Evana Patterson, executive producer Nigel Godfrey, and general counsel Jack Yan launch the revamped Miss Universe New Zealand competition in Auckland today.

A new team has been awarded the licence for Miss Universe New Zealand, comprising veteran TV producer Nigel Godfrey, experienced make-up artist and well respected personal trainer Evana Patterson, and Lucire publisher Jack Yan.
   The consortium was awarded the licence earlier this year, and broke the news today.
   ‘The search for Miss Universe New Zealand 2013 will start within a few weeks and we will travel the length and breadth of the country to find the winner,’ says executive producer Nigel Godfrey.
   Registrations are via nextmissnz.com, with a low registration fee of $10. Fifty per cent of the received amount will go to Variety, the Children’s Charity.
   A second stage will see a selected group of entrants head into the regional finals, with those young women heading into a two-day workshop. These will be held up and down New Zealand, where entrants will receive training with professionals in the areas of modelling, TV presentation, make-up and other related areas.
   Godfrey, who first ventured behind the lens in London in 1986 when he worked for the Miss World Group and Thames TV on the international final of Miss World, says television cameras will follow the process.
   As with The X Factor, New Zealand’s Got Talent and Idol, the New Zealand public will have a say in who is going to be Miss Universe New Zealand 2013.
   A red-carpet gala final event is planned for September, with organizers confident that it will be broadcast on television nationally.
   Yan, who serves as general counsel for the consortium, says, ‘We have the perfect team to bring Miss Universe New Zealand in to the 21st century, by applying integrity and transparency to the competition. It’s an exciting time, transforming this competition into something that involves all New Zealanders.’
   ‘Historically, a Miss Universe New Zealand winner became an instant celebrity and we will return that status to the title,’ says national director Evana Patterson. ‘The winner will enjoy a very busy and productive year-long reign working with both Miss Universe and Variety, the Children’s Charity.
   New Zealanders aged between 18 and 27 should visit the official website at www.nextmissnz.com.

After a successful year where Lily Cole promoted the Body Shop through her channels, the ethical beauty retailer has announced that Leona Lewis will be its new ‘brand activist’, to use the company’s term.
   It’s not altogether inaccurate: instead of simply posing in photo shoots for the brand, the Body Shop expects that its activists will use their own networks to promote the company’s initiatives.
   Lewis is no exception: she will help the Body Shop and Cruelty Free International in their global campaign to end animal testing in the cosmetics’ industry, building on the EU ban that comes into effect on March 11.
   She will also hold an exclusive gig for fans, to be streamed on March 26.
   As with Cole, Lewis will put her name to a cruelty-free make-up and fragrance collection, which uses 100 per cent vegetarian cosmetics. The Limited Edition Collection by Leona Lewis features a floral deer motif on its packaging, highlighting that the Body Shop uses man-made musk, not musk derived from deer.
   Lewis said in a release, ‘I’m passionate about beauty and I’m all about animal rights. As a result, I’m really conscious of where the products that I use come from. The Body Shop sells cruelty-free, ethical products containing amazing Community Fair Trade ingredients. The collaboration is a natural fit!’
   Lewis says she is an animal lover and life-long vegetarian. She has netted 20 million album sales since winning The X Factor’s third season in 2006.

We’ve managed to get a bit more on Labrinth’s pre-Brit party earlier this week, hosted at the singer–songwriter and producer’s restaurant, Mosaica, in Wood Green in London. As with 2012’s party, Raymond Weil sponsored the event, this year honouring War Child, an independent charity helping children and young people affected by armed conflict.
   Last year’s event, also covered in Lucire, was a success for both Raymond Weil and Labrinth.
   This year, War Child, which has helped 800,000 children in war-torn countries, will receive the inaugural Special Recognition Award at the Brit Awards’ ceremony. The charity celebrates its 20th anniversary this year.
   The unofficial pre-Brit Awards’ dinner saw 120 guests, 50 per cent more than in 2012. Guests this year included Conor Maynard, Wretch 32, Alexandra Burke, Sway, Laura Mvula, Daley, George the Poet, Dot Rotten, Suki Waterhouse, Angel, Gabrielle Aplin, James Arthur, Etta Bond, V. V. Brown, Stooshe, Chipmunk, Delilah, JLS, J. B. Gill, Jake Gosling, Liam Payne and Louis Thomlinson (of One Direction), Tali Lennox, the Temper Trap, Zara Martin, Raf Riley, Yasmin and Chris Loco.