We returned to Rotorua, where it all began, for a weekend away that reinforced our theme: there’s no place like home.

It started on the Friday night with a VIP speakers’ dinner at Volcanic Hills Winery, looking out over the Rotorua skyline, with wine tasting, cheese and crackers, and plenty of time to get to know each other.

Bright and early the next day, founder Rauwhiro Kennedy opened the conference. Our keynote speaker, Kathleen Te Aroha, kicked things off, followed by a hard and fast talk from Sheree Miller of Lash Religion on why efficiency matters in your business. Vanessa Rawling from Lash Alchemy then took the stage for a live demonstration of the popular Korean lash lift.

This was also the first year of our New Zealand Voices panel. We invited six wāhine from across the country, each at a different stage of her lash career, to talk honestly about the realities of running a business in the industry today. It proved super relatable and a huge success.

The afternoon was all about hands-on workshops:

• Kiki Bonhill from Lash Plus showed the latest innovations in UV and LED lash technology.

• The AI queen herself, Alicia Phoenix from Prolong Lash, walked everyone through building an AI roadmap for their business.

• Bubblz McMillan got creative with a coloured lash lift, adding a little something extra to the classic lift.

• Elleebana brought in brow expert Lauren Borowski to demonstrate the perfect brow design.

• Neenah Stuart from The Lash Sisterhood created a bright green coloured lash set, using her styling sealant to build custom spikes.

• Brigette Doherty from LashBox LA demonstrated the trademarked Flower Bouquet technique for volume lashes.

Each demonstration focused on an area of our industry with room to grow, so everyone could take practical knowledge back to their business on Monday.

The room was full of demonstrators and stallholders too, from social media management and educators to paramedical supplies, lash and brow supplies, Elleebana through Arrow Beauty, the New Zealand Beauty Association, and fitness and wellness brands.

It was also the first year we designed exclusive Lash Press goodie boxes, absolutely packed with sponsored goods. We welcomed bigger sponsorships from Coca-Cola, Prolong, Elleebana, Curacao and more awesome industry brands.

It proved to be one of the biggest and best conferences in our five years.