Lippy With A Cause Rachael Meets Her Idol

How the make-up guru left the teen gobsmacked!

- Ellen Mackenzie

Rachael Cox is just like any other 18-year-old Kiwi girl who loves getting glammed up. But unlike most teens, Rachael faces the daily challenge of battling cystic fibrosis, a life-threatening illness that damages the lungs and digestive system, as well as giving her prediabetes.

At 15, make-up became her escape. The Dunedin-based student remembers, “I could change how I looked and be so much more confident about myself with make-up. Now it’s become my creative outlet and it’s so therapeutic.”

So when the Make a Wish Foundation set up a trip for Rachael to fly to Melbourne and visit the Karen Murrell lipstick factory, she was over the moon. But it wasn’t until she arrived that she realised there was more to the surprise.