Meet Krugersdorp’s ambitious GenZ makeup artist

2026-03-19 - 07:41

Gen Z makeup artist and creative-at-large Deone Quappe is fiery, ambitious and driven by a single purpose: to create stuff. Humans are her canvas, whether it’s nails, make-up or hair. This, she said, is where her passion lies, and it is one of the few things that does not leave her bored and looking for something else to do. The attraction to make up and everything body art lies in the creative freedom. She said her relationship with beauty is about aesthetic artistry, even if it does not follow traditional forms. “I love art,” she said, noting that while she cannot draw in the conventional sense, she has found a way to express herself through faces, textures and detail. That includes intricate nail designs where she works with fine detail and miniature artwork. “I can do tiny designs,” she said. “Cartoons, very small, detailed work.” It’s this Gen Z’s desire for variation that has been there from the start and continues to define how she approaches her work. “I can’t sit and do the same thing over and over,” she said. “I’ve always needed something new every day.” A desire for variation and being busy Quappe is a Krugersdorp native, born and bred, she said in a household where routine never really meant slowing down. “We were always busy,” she said. “I’m like my mom; she also can’t sit still. We always need to be busy, creating something.” Creating beauty and aesthetics has become Quappe’s passion. Picture: Supplied After matriculating in 2024, Quappe intended to take a gap year, but it never worked out that way. “My folks said I have to do something,” she said. “So, I started researching, and that’s when I found a makeup academy.” Before that, none of it was ever really on her radar as a potential career, but it’s as if her new vocation discovered her, as much as she discovered her love for it. It was at college that she began building the technical foundation to match her creative drive. Quappe, a mouthful of a last name to pronounce, of Dutch origin, said that at 20, she believes the world is her oyster. She also doesn’t consider herself a typical Gen Z. “I’m not about sitting on the couch waiting for life to happen to me. To achieve a measure of success, you must start early, have ambition and work as hard as you can to realise your dreams,” she said. “It’s not easy in the current climate to navigate life, but isn’t that what the challenge is all about?” South Africa is her home, and she intends to positively contribute to the country’s future, too. Working heard realises dreams When it comes to her own journey, Quappe said that she wants to further her studies, get involved in the film and television industry, hone her special effects skills and become the first qualified tattoo artist, she said, that doesn’t have her own tattoo. “I ultimately want to settle into my own business,” the Gen Z said, “where I am able to create a creative space for clients, and myself included, where the body is a canvas to be appreciated and decorated.” The body is a canvas, said this ambitious Gen Z. Picture: Supplied Beyond the creative bits, Quappe said that the personal exchanges between makeup artist and subject fascinate her. “You hear fascinating stories, confessions and a lot of sharing,” she said. “You become the therapist friend, and I love listening to people’s tales of joy, woe and life adventures.” ALSO READ: Careers don’t always start at university Her own life adventure comes with a small measure of fear, which is part of what drives this Gen Z, too. “There is urgency for me,” she said. “Life is short, and I do not want to age, wake up and realise that I never achieved my goals. Success comes with time, trial and error,” she added, and somehow, she wants to compress it all to add as much momentum to her end game as possible. She admits at the big two-oh, she’s still at life’s starting blocks, though. “You have to see how the big world works first,” she said. “I must still learn how people run businesses and how they deal with problems and challenges, but I’m up for it.” NOW READ: Meet the Benoni woman turning trophies into art