Thursday, 11 April 2013

Personal Post ♡

Whaddup beauties!
I just really wanted to have a little chitty chat about things that are going on at the moment in my life, sit back and have a little cup of tea or coffee and read on!
As of today I decided to leave YouTube as I feel like it just isn't my best point, it isn't working out for me and I feel like blogging is my calling :)
From now on I am going to expand my blogging abilities and blog A LOT more often than I have been. I will be blogging about beauty, fashion and lifestyle. Hopefully I can bring in a larger audience of lovely little people to read my posts and we can become a mini family!
I really enjoy blogging and maybe in the future I can explore making YouTube videos again, but for now I am going to stick to blogging.
Keep all of your pretty eyes open and on the lookout for brand spanking new blog posts to come :)

Au Revoir!
xxxx



Wednesday, 3 April 2013

Celebrate Health: Indian Butter Chicken - REVIEW

Whaddup beauties!
This lovely little recipe base is one of the many things I received in my "Women's Health" show bag from the Sydney Royal Easter Show (Just a little FYI if you don't know what that is, it is an annual Show held for two weeks in late March - Early April for Easter in Sydney Olympic Park. I'm sure Google could give a more detailed explanation!). The actual show bag itself of course contains the usual pamphlets that nobody ever really uses but other than that I was treated with many goodies, one being this delicious Indian treat which is actually quite healthy!

Now, any foody out there will love this post, I'm sorry if you're really not interested but I thought I'd share my thoughts on it as I am very health conscious and I'm sure quite a lot of you are too? :)






























The actual meal itself was delish! The flavour wasn't as strong as the Butter Chicken I usually have but keeping in mind that it is healthy I was open to difference. The flavour is a sort of smokey kind and it is subtle, not in your face flavour! Being as delicious as it is I am going to rate this dish a 4.5/5 because I am very impressed. Being a gluten free, low fructose, peanut free, 100% natural, dairy free, no common allregens, soy free and zero preservatives product - I was a little scared it was going to be bland (brainwashed by society that all healthy food is yuck) but I am pleasantly surprised!

Within the recipe bases, Stevia is used instead of sugar!
Stevia is a herb derived fron the Stevia Rebaudiana (what a mouthful!) plant that originated in South America. Stevia is a natural sweetener and it allows the amount of cane sugar in food products to be reduced or removed entirely. It has a long lingering sweetness note, which is different from cane sugar.

  • Natural.
  • Up to 300 time sweeter than sugar.
  • Healthy alternative to sugar.
  • The leaves of the Stevia plant contains steviol glycosides (another mouthful!), where the sweetness is derived from. 
  • Stevia is safe and approved by FSANZ (Food Safety Austr
    alia & New Zealand)
  • Great alternative to artificial sweeteners.
  • Stevia plants are not genetically modified.
How cool is Stevia?!


The Celebrate Health products can be found in Coles and selected retailers all over Australia :)

Hope you enjoyed :)
Au Revoir!  
xxxxx

Saturday, 23 March 2013

Macadamia Natural Oil - Deep Repair Masque Review ♡

Whaddup beauties!
I thought while I am plopped on the couch watching The Hills today, I'd do a review for you! Just a little mini treat for you on this beautiful Sunday afternoon.
This is a little beauty that EVERYONE in the blogging/beauty guru land has heard of a million times. Finally I came across the products in a hair supplies shop and I decided I would try the sample pack first before I decided to splurge on the full size.
Let me just firstly say, it is DEFINITELY as amazing as you have all heard, it really lives up to its reputation and I am a very happy customer!
The consistency of the actual product is quite thick but not a heavy feeling. When I put it in my hair, it is instantly smooth and velvety. I leave it in my hair as told to for about 7 minutes and rinse it out with cold water. I now look forward so much more to wash my hair!
I use this about 2-3 times a week and only use a tiny bit for the ends of my hair.
It is luscious, I am telling you to go out right now and get it!

Au Revoir!
xxxx





Wednesday, 20 March 2013

Motivational March #4: Letter To Me

Whaddup beauties!
I have decided to create a letter for myself to read in the future to tell myself how I am right now, what my dreams are, what I am doing and how I am feeling in the present time. I feel like I can leave it be for 6-12 months and see how I have changed or if I haven't. I think this is an amazing idea.
After desperately trying to find any source of inspiration (and failing watching multiple videos on YouTube on how to create a paper crane.. miserably failing but having a laugh at my terrible paper skills) I decided to inspire my future self. Now this is probably a good old mess and all over the place but this just entered my mind and I am so set on doing this. I have decided that in every 6 months I will read it. So, now that I am writing my letter today (21st March, 2013) I will open it once again on the 21st of September, 2013! I think 6 months is a decent time for change to evolve. I cross my fingers that I will have changed, people around me will motivate me and inspire me more, I hope that I'm happy. 

I'm not going to show you what I am going to write because the past year has been the hardest year of my life but also the best (as leaving school and becoming my own person.. kind of) and I would like to keep some things private. I will write good things such as my 18th birthday, future plans, what I want to do and I will most definitely write about my blog and YouTube! The bad things will include how I feel about my extremely heart-wrenching breakup with my boyfriend of two years in 2011, my anxiety, my depression and so on. The bad topics are extremely hard for me to talk about but I hope I find the courage to be able to write about going through hard times and to say I've come out the other side of it all, but right now I'm still trudging through the dark, foggy and cold area right in the middle. 
I'll say a couple things about it though; it's hard (extremely hard) and you have to fight for your happiness and also that you really cannot let it get to you otherwise you will severely crumble and trust me.. I've been there and done that.

I'm really sorry there hasn't been any beauty posts as of late, I'm just feeling really in the need to talk to someone about things. Even though none of you talk back, it's still nice to type it all out. I know I am not the only one in the entire world that is going through hard times. 

Au Revoir!
xxxx

(P.S I have already taken photos for my next beauty review.. look out for it in the next two days!) 


Sunday, 17 March 2013

Everyday Makeup Routine ♡




Whaddup beauties!
Two posts in one day? I'm on a roll this afternoon!
I also made a video over on my YouTube channel that goes hand in hand with this post!
Here is my everyday makeup routine! Not too much and not too little. I like the "natural" look because I feel like everyday makeup should be like that, natural unless you really need to glam it up for an occasion :)

What's your makeup routine??
Au Revoir!
xxxx

Here is the link to my Everyday Makeup Routine!



Motivational March #3 : Love your body ♡

Whaddup beauties!
One of my friends the other day made a comment about how thigh gaps are "disgusting", this made me a little frustrated because not all people can help that they have a thigh gap. I went on to tell her a little something I had learnt from following fitness blogs for so long; "some people's hips are built in such a way that they are far apart and therefore they naturally have a thigh gap, others have hips that are built quite close and therefore they have not got a thigh gap and never will be able to have a thigh gap". My friend went on to not only ignore me, but say "yeah, but it's still disgusting". This mini conversation made me think, her mind was moulded to believe thigh gaps were disgusting and that made me feel sorry for her. People need to open their eyes and do a little research on the topic they wish to go against before they state their opinions!

Photo found on Google
getyourthinspiration.com

What I wanted to discuss on today's lovely Motivational March was how to love your body, the way it is and not the way the media/society wants you to mould it to. I think that yes, if you need to lose weight for medical reasons or you yourself know you are overweight and want a lifestyle change for the better then I am totally behind you and really proud of your decision. However, if you are already the average weight for someone your age and you don't really need to lose weight for medical reasons and a lifestyle change then I am still here for you but I am going to try to motivate you to not break yourself down but rather bring yourself up and your thoughts turned to more positive lights. Obviously the "pro-ana" blogs I see quite often make me feel a little bit angry because they're promoting being unhealthy and sickly thin. Women, especially teenage girls are the prominent focus when it comes to being thin and eating disorders but I don't think, I know that people forget that teenage boys and men can be affected by the whole issue as well.

You need to be motivated to either lose that weight that you really need to lose or put on weight that you really need to, whether it be toning up your body or not; you need to remember and keep in mind that your health is your highest priority and I CANNOT stress that enough. I strongly go against diets, I believe if you're going to change something about your food intake, it should be a lifestyle change. You need to keep strong no matter what you're doing, keep that smile on your face even when you are so low but also don't forget to talk to people and SHOW emotions, don't hold back but try and make your smile the most frequent thing on your face.

What is your journey to loving your body? Recovery? Losing weight? Toning up?
Love you guys
Au Revoir!
xxxx


Monday, 11 March 2013

Motivational March #2 - Helping Others & Religion

Whaddup beauties!
The topic for today's Motivational March begins with a little story! Settle in with a cup of tea because this one is gonna get a little deep. I was helping my little sister with a project for school, I think the issue was Global Issues. The simple thing to do was choose an organisation of your choice out of the list provided and go into depth with who they are, what they do, why they do it .. you get the point.
I told my sister that she should do UNICEF because that was my favourite out of the list coming just in front of World Vision. Being very excited since leaving school last year, I haven't done any kind of project in a long, long time!

When I was researching with my little sister about UNICEF, what they do, where they do it, why they do what they do and how it helps; I realised just how amazing they really are. I knew in the first place that they were great, but I hadn't done my research. Providing simple things such as education, health, protection amongst other things that we all take for granted.

UNICEF supports almost every place I can think of besides:

  • Bahamas, Brunei Darussalam, Cyprus, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Malta, Mauritius, Monaco and Singapore. 
Basically what I got out of this research project was total amazement and a strong sense of motivation to do whatever I could to put my two cents into helping others as well. I found it so heart warming that so many people can come together and help others in such a huge way. It's the hardest feeling to explain, I wish so much that I could travel, blog and all at the same time make a huge difference in poverty stricken people's lives all over the world. Honestly, if I had a magical wish to use, I would wish that I could do just that. The amount of accomplishment you would feel by helping others and also that warm, fuzzy feeling in your heart because you KNOW you've made a difference.. ahh, bliss, I WANT that feeling! 

It can be as simple as taking out the bins for the elderly lady you live near, helping elderly cross the road and then it goes right up to going to, say, Africa to help out the underprivileged individuals. It DOESN'T matter how big the task is to you, it could mean everything to that person even if it is just helping someone reach something on the shelf in the supermarket, it doesn't matter! Yeah this got deep, but sometimes I think so much about something and get lost in the whole world of it.. don't we all sometimes? Don't deny it :) 

I thought it would be fitting seen as I was bursting with motivation this afternoon that I should do my second Motivational March post! Drawing inspiration from Nikki Phillipi's videos this year (each month has a topic), I thought I would create my OWN version. I am in no way trying to take all of her ideas, I was inspired by her idea, so I adapted it to myself. 

I know money is the main thing we all aim for in our worlds as content, middle-classed individuals with a family who are all healthy, have a roof over our heads, food, water .. etc, but I want to volunteer my time (being unemployed) to volunteer for places who want people to help! I'm sure to some people the thought of spending so much time doing work or "slaving" over others is a waste of time because they aren't being paid.. I know how that feeling is, but, I know that the experience of helping others would be worth it. Whenever I'd watch 'World's Strictest Parents', the really annoying and troubled kids would be sent to a religious family who are devoted to helping others and countless times the kids have been sent to a soup kitchen and all they do is complain about serving the homeless. I remember thinking, wow, why are YOU complaining?! You have a couple hours serving food to then go home to a bed, a house, food of your own choice and technology. 

There was this verse in Philippians 2:14-15 in my bible that I read not too long ago: 
"Do everything without complaining and arguing, so that no one can criticise you" 
That spoke so clearly to me, since reading that verse I have applied it to my own life. So far, so good! No, I'm not trying to push my religion down your throat, take of it what you will but please don't bash me for being open about my religion. I believe that each and every person has a RIGHT to openly show their religion but I think it's wrong to completely bash someone down with your religion and really shove it in their faces. 
I found that my favourite verses in the bible come with meaning that even people that are not religious can take from them. 

Anyway folks, I think I began to babble there :P 
I hope you don't mind! My whole feeling about my blog is totally changing.. I feel like I want to do motivational posts AS WELL AS beauty and fashion. I am having a hard time mashing it together, ha ha ha! Please forgive and let me sort it out :) 

Hope you enjoyed this and took some motivation from it!
Au Revoir!
xxxx


Bahamas
Brunei Darussalam
Cyprus
Latvia
Liechtenstein
Malta
Mauritius
Monaco
Singapore

Tuesday, 5 March 2013

OOTD #1

Whaddup beauties!
New video up on my YouTube channel :) 
Jump on over to see a cute little video I threw together yesterday!
Link To My Video :)

Au Revoir!
xxxx


Monday, 4 March 2013

Motivational March #1: New Mini-Series

Whaddup beauties!
I decided after reading post after post filled with motivational and even inspirational writings/pictures, that I would begin my own little "mini blog-series" of motivational posts every now and again! Since this month is March, I thought it would be fitting to have the topic of my chit-chat posts to be Motivational :) 
I am thinking of possibly doing a couple videos to go hand-in-hand with my 
MOTIVATIONAL MARCH
I would love to post at least one Motivational March blog post a week so keep your little button eyes peeled for them! (Reference to Coraline there, hands up who loves a good children's movie!)


I think for all of us, we find motivation in adventures and the environment around us. Just think about it, the feeling of being in a different environment and doing a 360 turn and taking it all in, breathing in and out. I have certainly experienced moments like this in my adventures to paradise destinations over the last few years of my life including Fiji, Thailand and Hawaii.


This picture, right above, is taken on a Phi Phi Islands tour when I was in Phuket, Thailand. Doesn't it just take your breath away? Well I think you can imagine the sensation I felt when the boat turned the corner and into this incredible space. This is not the only place where you can feel the sense of incredible motivation and inspiration! It can be felt at your favourite beach, in your city and even in your own plain backyard. What I'm trying to say is that you can pull inspiration and motivation from any place or any thing.

What's something that you will pull motivation/inspiration from today?

Au Revoir!
xxxx


Saturday, 2 March 2013

Current Favourites ♡

Whaddup beauties!
I just uploaded my new video over on my YouTube channel! Let me know if you want monthly favourites or just favourites every once and a while. 
A "proper" blog post will be up tomorrow, morning, afternoon, night; wherever you are :) 
But as for me, it's 12:08AM on Sunday the 3rd of March so for my Australian/New Zealand bloggers it shall be up later today :)
Hope you are all well!

Au Revoir!
xxxx

Watch my Current Favourites here!


Thursday, 28 February 2013

How To Be Confident

Whaddup beauties!
Want my tips on how to be confident? I made a video on my view on how to build confidence on my YouTube channel :)
If you check it out and like the video, leave a comment on what you liked about it and if you want more advice type videos!

Au Revoir!
xxxx
Watch my confidence video here!


Monday, 25 February 2013

YouTube Videos

Whaddup beauties!
I started making videos again on my YouTube channel! 
Please head over and let me know what you think - I have already pre-recorded two more videos so I won't fall behind on my slightly existent schedule :) 
It's not amazing quality but it's something for now! 

Au Revoir!
xxxx

http://www.youtube.com/user/BrookeLouiseGarvey

NAPOLEON PERDIS

Whaddup beauties!
For my formal, last November, I had my makeup professionally done at Napoleon Perdis and along with my amazing makeup I got to get two products too! 
Spray foundation in Look 2 as well as a Devine Goddess lipstick in Demeter.
If the day couldn't get any better, Napoleon Perdis himself came into the store! In actual shock I couldn't move (I get extremely start struck!) and my makeup artist took a photo of me with Napoleon! 
It was awesome meeting him and he is the nicest man! Okay, onto the reviews. 
The foundation is beautiful, leaving a true to its promise, an airbrushed finish and its dewy as well. It doesn't make me break out, it isn't oily, it doesn't slip around on my face and it's incredible lasting power is superb! I will give it a 9.5/10.
The lipstick is a perfect true nude colour with a matte finish. It's smooth on the lips and has a strong lasting power. I will give it an 8/10.

Au Revoir!
xxxx










Sunday, 24 February 2013

Review: B&BW Hand Sanitisers

Whaddup beauties!
So I was using one of my hand sanitisers the other day and thought that I should maybe make a review for all of you! I visited Hawaii in November of last year and as all of you know, in Australia we do not have a B&BW :( (extreme sadness). 
The refreshing scent of each flavour smells so yummy and obviously does the job in cleaning my hands! My personal favourite is the 'Paris Amour' flavour because 1. it's pink and 2. it has SPARKLES in it! (Shown in pictures of hand). I tried to get the glitter to shine in the pictures but I may have possibly failed at that one ha ha! 
I strongly recommend these cute little hand sanitisers compared to the Dettol ones (you know, the really unattractive ones?).
I rate these beauties 10/10!
Hope you enjoyed! 

Au Revoir!
xxxx