New Zealand has picked up another reality TV series format from overseas and while we've added our own flavour to it, there's one major thing we're missing from our version of Glow Up.
The popular show from the UK sees make-up artists (or MUAs, as they're referred to onthe show) from around the nation compete to create looks to hit specific briefs.
Our version, which streams on TVNZ On Demand with new episodes every Wednesday, sits pretty much on par with the UK's. The studio set up is the same, the format of judging and eliminations are the same and the briefs are in a similar vein.
One of the main differences, however, is one of the biggest and perhaps the most disappointing and that's the actual challenges. Whereas our MUAs compete first in a "selfie challenge" making themselves over, and then working on models, in the UK they compete in a professional challenge and then a creative challenge.
What that boils down to is a bit more than just reversing the order; the professional challenges are actually professional.
The UK's second season saw the MUAs create looks for a real billboard campaign for major sportswear brand JD and even work on the Lion King in the West End. Our MUAs' first challenge was creating looks to impress a local drag king.
It sucks because I think that professional element of the Glow Up UK is what gives it its drama, in the same vein as America's Next Top Model. The idea that you could feature in a real campaign and get real publicity and real opportunities before you've won is major - especially in the fashion industry where those opportunities are hard to come by.
This is TVNZ's first season with the show and we are only a couple of episodes deep so I can only hope our local industry steps up to the plate in later episodes to kick our MUAs - and the TV show - up a notch.
The other thing we're missing is the severity of the UK's judges. Industry stalwarts Dominic Skinner and Val Garland (who, evidently, is so much of a big deal one contestant said "she could spit in my face and I'd be like, 'thank you so much'") certainly aren't afraid to mince words.
Model Glow Up NZ contestant Lara Tilley. Photo / Suppiled
The very first episode of the second season they left a contestant in tears after ripping him apart for lying, not taking the competition seriously, and flat out being "not good enough".
On the NZ version of the show, things are a lot different. Our judges aren't even called judges; they're known as mentors. That means we may miss the drama of the occasional outburst, but I like living in a country where we try to lift people up rather than berate.
Hosted by ZM's Breakfast host Megan Papas, our judges are the gorgeous Tane Tomoana, creative director at Dry & Tea salons and Gee Pikinga, a leading Kiwi MUA and the NZ director at Maybelline New York. They encourage the MUAs but also give honest feedback when necessary and frankly I think I'd rather encounter an angry Val Garland than a disappointed Gee Pikinga.
I can't speak to the talent level of the contestants; my makeup knowledge extends as far as a shaky wing-tip and I'm still trying to figure out where the lines are between makeup, face paint and body art, but I do like the level of investment they have in the show.
Two episodes in and we've already seen a lot of tears. I think the difference is that a lot - if not all - of the contestants on the show are self-taught. Many are Youtube and Insta-famous, many have used their artistry as a path to confidence and self-love and so for many, this is very much part of their identity.
Without the professional challenges and the savage judging, that's where the drama comes from; there's a lot of heart.
It's also just nice to see a reality show which is so wholesome, quietly inclusive and based on actual talent and creativity because in 2020, that's not that easy to find.
