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| Photo: Neil Dixon |
Renee Somerfield Beauty in Kindness & Compassion
GLAMOUR GAL
GLAMOUR GAL
For our super festive Holiday issue our featured Glamour Gal is Renee Somerfield, an amazing Aussie model, animal-rights activist and vegan. This beautiful brunette is a positive role model for young woman, inspiring them live with kindness and compassion. Through her love for animals and active involvement in animal-rights campaigns and projects like the "Save Bobby" campaign through AnimalsAustralia.org. Renee's beauty is much more than skin deep.
Eco Glamazine scored an exclusive interview with Renee to find out how this Sydney starlet lives everyday with kindness and compassion.
Renee thank you for being our featured Glamour Gal for December 2011. When it comes to beauty and glamour what makes you feel beautiful?
Renee: "What makes me feel beautiful is being kind to my body, my mind and my spirit. Nourishing my body with the food it needs, living my life with passion, love and happiness. Feeling beautiful on the inside will reflect on the outside."
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| Photo: Michael J Burg |
"Until he extends the circle of his compassion to all living things, man will not find peace."
Renee Somerfield
Renee Somerfield describes to herself as a peace believer, a health & wellbeing enthusiast and an Aussie beach bum... She is funny, outgoing, loving, passionate and down-to-earth. Renee is an animal lover and inspires others to be kind to all animals. She explains to Eco Glamazine about her love for her gorgeous bunny rabbits.
We adore your passion for the planet and kindness towards all creatures great and small. What are your favourite animals?
Renee: "I love and respect all creatures, I think they are all so beautiful and smart in their own way! At the moment I have rabbits and dogs but my dream would be to own my own a huge farm near the ocean. I would have cows, pigs, horses, lamb, dogs and bunnies - all adopted or rescued from abattoirs, factory farms or fur factories. I think there is nothing more beautiful than seeing an animal in serenity and peace and I would love to give that to them."
Renee we enjoy following you on Twitter especially your adorable bunny photos. Can you tell us more about your sweet furry friends?
Renee: "My bunny rabbits are honestly the cutest, sweetest, most beautiful souls! They really are just wonderful pets! I have five of them and they all mean so much to me. They each have different and unique personalities, but they are all very smart and very loving! They each know their own names and know that certain words mean something. I always look forward to coming home and being showered with lots of kisses and cuddles from them.. People are so shocked and surprised at how sweet they are!"
 "The basis of animal rights should be the golden rule: treat them as we would wish them to treat us." Renee Somerfield |
Unfortunately many of these gorgeous bunnies spend their lives in laboratories... Eco Glamazine knows how important it is to always choose cruelty-free beauty products. What are some of your favourite "kind" beauty-must-haves?
Renee: "Animal testing is a very big deal to me! Cosmetic companies test on a variety of species including rabbits, rats, pigs, dogs and primates. These poor innocent souls go through a lifetime of suffering, some lasting for months or even years and are always killed at the end of the procedure. The tests include oral, dermal and inhalation exposure which result in infections, burns, ulcers, wounds and severe pain. Buying cruelty-free and vegan products is something I am extremely conscious about. It is not hard to look at a label and look out for the cute bunny icon and the words "not tested on animals." If the label does not state these words, it is more than likely that the company has, is, or will test on animals! Some of my favourite beauty must haves are Youngblood and Claytime mineral makeup, Kora Organics skincare, Moroccan Oil and Nak Haircare and Sukin deodorants. Like humans, animals feel pleasure and pain, happiness and misery. Please buy cruelty-free and don't let an innocent creature suffer for your vanity, be beautiful without blood on your hands!"
Photos: Jessica-Abraham-Photography
Renee's kindness for animals goes beyond just embracing a cruelty-free beauty routine, she also lives a vegan lifestyle. We love reading Renee's daily Tweets about her trips to the organic food markets, her Aussie adventures and informational updates about how we can get involved saving animals.
Being a Vegan and an active animal-rights activist we know that your Kind Life motto is something very dear to your heart. Renee can you share more about your healthy Vegan lifestyle?
Renee: "The "Kind Life" motto is extremely dear to my heart and vegan lifestyle is something I am very passionate about. I do not hold myself superior to any other living creature and believe that it is not my right, nor anyone else's to take an animals life for the sake of your appetite. Although I haven't always been vegetarian or vegan, I grew up being led to believe that eating meat was normal and okay. It wasn't until I was mature enough to realise exactly where my meat came from and I quickly turned vegetarian. When I discovered that their is actually just as much cruelty in a glass of milk or a boiled egg, it was only natural to be vegan. I am very disappointed and guilty of my past.. being naive, ignorant and uneducated, but I do take my experience and try to educate others as much as I can! I am the happiest, healthiest and most alive I have ever been in my life not consuming any animal products! I think the love and respect of all living creatures is the most noble attribute of a person."
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| Photo: Michael J Burg |
Renee: "I made my decision to be vegan based on my love for animals. I think people need to ask themselves why they are wanting to make this positive change: whether it be for animals, the environment or for their health. I would then suggest they do as much research as they can on the issue - google, google, google! You will open your eyes to a whole other world that you never knew about, exposing the cruelty, health risks and environmental issues that comes from a diet of consuming meat and animal products. Most people would feel angered that they were unaware and make the change to a vegetarian or vegan diet a lot easier!"
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| Photo: Michael J Burg |
Renee we also know you as one of Veve Swimwear's Dream Girls - what's the best thing about being a model?
Renee: "Being a model allows you to express yourself in many different ways, by being creative and playing different characters. It is about being an artist and also an actress. The best things about being a model are having the opportunity to meet and work with so many amazing people, wear beautiful clothes, travel to amazing destinations but also to use your role model status to reach out and influence so many."
Renee wearing Sun Goddess bikini by Veve Swimwear
Renee we admire how you live your life with passion and compassion for animals. What does living The Kind Life mean to you?
Renee: "Living The Kind Life means finding peace within yourself and loving, respecting and finding beauty in all life and living creatures."
Renee Somerfield passionate, loving & down to earth
Eco Glamazine is honoured to feature Renee Somerfield as our Glamour Gal for December 2011. Renee's beautiful outlook on life and kind spirit shines straight through her gorgeous eyes and into our soul. It's only a matter of time before you will fall head over heels in love with this stunning Aussie sweetheart. Her kindness will inspire and encourage you to live your life with the promise to be kinder to others and animals. Renee finds beauty in kindness and compassion.
