About Us

Meet Tawa and Aroha...

 

 

Who Are We?

Tawa Hunter (nee Armstrong)
Te Whanau a Apanui

1 Spunky husband - Shamos Hunter
4 Sons - Arana 13yrs, Maia 12yrs, Anahera 8yrs, Te Rangianiwaniwa 3yrs
Born with a flair for the dramatic and fashion Tawa has filled her life with all sorts of interesting journeys ranging from Denmark, to Drama school, Motherhood, a Bachelor Of Education, and Business.

Aroha Armstrong (nee Riley)
Te Arawa

1 Luscious Husband - Moehewa Armstrong (Tawa's brother)
4 Outrageous Kids - Mohaka 15yrs, Tamiro 6yrs, Te Ataiti 4yrs and Bastion 7 months.
Eldest of 6 children, Aroha has also filled up her life with interesting journeys.  A Bachelor of Social Sciences, Burger King Drive Thru Girl, Public Policy and Maori Development, New York and Europe, Maori Health Development, Maori Tourism, Motherhood (the wildest of them all!) and Business (Loving It!!).

 

Our Story!

Too Luscious sister in laws Tawa Hunter and Aroha Armstrong began their business journey together as Yummy Mummy - the mad pregnancy belly casting ladies!  What started as a hobby became a business almost overnight with a big fat newspaper article in the local rag which ended up in the Herald and other newspapers and magazine articles across the country, and led to tv profiles - we truly were world famous in New Zealand!  Not satisfied with having families, 7 children between us 2 of which were new little babies, and a popular new business idea - we branched out into working with resin.  We came up with the resin tiki - and again the idea took off faster than a speeding bullet.  So now we had TWO businesses!

Anyway - a couple of crazy years, a little reflection, saying goodbye to belly casting, and a re-brand later - and you have TOO LUSCIOUS, delicious handmade jewellery.

So it took us four years to get from Belly Casting (click here to find out more) to advertising our Contemporary Handmade Resin Jewellery in AUSTRALIAN VOGUE magazine what a trip - and it started with a lifelong frustration.  Which was NEVER finding jewellery that was FABULOUS enough, FUNKY enough, ATTENTION-GETTING enough! So we started making our own. The early editions got purchased straight off our bodies, by complete strangers in places like the street and supermarket. The demand grew, and we spent more and more time on our Resin Tiki and jewellery. Until there came a point where we decided to spend ALL our time on it!

We still get accosted in the street and supermarket - however now its much more convenient for you to go to a shop or buy Too Luscious online! click here to check out our delicious range of funky handmade NZ Maori Jewellery!

Too Luscious is a state of being that we want every person to experience. Wear our creations and have them tell the world of your confidence and pride in who you are and where you are from, no matter where that is.

Our Inspiration

At the top of our list of course is WHANAU / FAMILY.   Everything we do is for our family, and made possible by our family. 

We draw much of our inspiration and guidance from our TIPUNA / ANCESTORS.  Our ancestors were passionate about adornment.  Even in the face of bare survival our ancestors took the time to beautify themselves, their possessions and their surroundings.  We align many of our values with those of our ancestors - aroha (love), mana (integrity), and kaitiakitanga (guardianship) to name a few.  Our people did not believe we owned the land - we simply had the honour of taking care of it.  We take this responsibility seriously and ensure our families and our business do all we can to preserve our beautiful country, Aotearoa NZ.