A MESSAGE FROM THE EDITORSVerve magazine is not your ordinary lifestyle publication. We

are a team of young women who strive to inspire, lead and em-power young women like us to assert their inner confidence, beauty and creativity. We women are the future. We are the

change in the world. Embrace it and love yourself. Our main aspirations are to influence the world of women to lead a life of sustainability, protecting and loving the environment; to

create an international network of women who are passionate about making a change in the world.

If you are one of us, and have something to say, don’t hesitate to get involved and in touch with us at magazineverve@gmail.

com.

Thank you and we hope you delight in our first issue of verve magazine.

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FEATURE WOMAN

LIFESTYLE

SUSTAINABILITY

LITERATURE

RE

DR

ESS Founded by Christina Dean, Redress is an

inf luencial organization promoting environmental sustainability one fashion foot at a time in Asia.Joy: What inspired you to start this organization?Christina: I have always been environmentally conscious but after retraining as a journalist in the UK (I was previously a dentist) and then moving to Hong Kong in 2007 my interest in environmental sustainability took a huge spike and turned into an unstoppable passion. This is because I began researching what contributes to China’s worrying pollution problems. My eyes were eager and as a fresh journalist I had the conviction to ask the most obvious questions to understand my new and unknown topic of interest – China’s pollution. It wasn’t long into my research before I looked into the impact that China’s fashion industry - as the gar-ment manufacturer to the world - was having in this region. The results were so shocking that this triggered a huge life and career change to follow my passion to realize a less damaging fashion industry. I found myself thinking “What can be done to make the fashion industry more sustainable?” In 2007, I launched Redress.

Joy: What sort of challenges did you face while starting up Re-dress? How did you respond to those challenges? Christina: The biggest challenges we face are changing the mind-set of consumers and industry. In this part of the world, new people are becoming consumers every day as disposable income rates rise. When it comes to fashion, people want to look good and they certainly don’t understand the nega-tive environmental impacts embedded in their new reflection. They are already overwhelmed by the vast quantities of fashion brands and designers and so the concept of sustainable fashion is as alien to them as some of the new names.Economically, people still expect sustainable fashion to be more expensive, but because sustainable fashion doesn’t have the kudos that ostentatious brands do, fewer consumers will want to pay more if this doesn’t translate into higher status.

But we mustn’t be disheartened. We must still try to educate these new consumers, ignoring the sweat, blood and tears that inevita-bly goes into this. This new and hungry Asian consumer is very important to capture. When you consider the rapidly expanding

middle classes, particularly in China, who don’t just want fridges but now also fashion, you can imagine the shopping binge that is soon to kick off and the resulting waste that spills from this.This is why I think it is particularly import-ant that the industry acts responsibly in these new emerging markets in Asia. Retailers should quickly innovate the retail sector with sustain-able fashion options here to allow Asian con-sumers the chance to access a wider selection of better-performing clothing to purchase at

whatever their price point. If Asian consumers are offered a wid-er selection of style-driven, sustainable garments and they don’t cough up and buy it, then we have another problem on our hands.

“We musn’t be disheartened. We must still try to educate”

Joy: If you could give one piece of advice to young women around the world, what would it be? Christina: My main message would be that everyone is re-sponsible and influential for how the fashion industry oper-ates simply through where they choose to spend their money and their relationship with the clothes on their backs.

My advice to readers would be to get informed about your favourite brands, just by asking basic questions you may find they already have some great sustainable initiatives. Get informed, find out what the issues are around fashion to dis-cover where you stand on them. Try to make better decisions when buying new items, thinking about: how long you will use the item? is it made well? Are there items in your exist-ing wardrobe that could be redressed? Do you really want it?

Follow the 365 challenge for more information: www.instagram.com/getredressed !

LIFESTYLE ADVICE HEALTH TEA DIY

To all the ladies out there, we all know of the similar struggles that each young woman faces especially in today’s so-ciety. In this edition- we will be sharing some of our personal issues and how to overcome them with advice from people just like us, remem-ber that we can all face these difficulties and we receive life lessons that are much needed for this generation.

Living clean means eat-ing clean, in this section we share tips and tricks for getting your diet back on track and living healthily and happily, all of which comes down to your diet! Mentioning our favourite foods and snacks that cater for all of you!

Drink up! Our favourite teas are listed in this article below, not only are they extremely delicious and filling but they also provide amazing benefits for your skin(yes, this is for you!). We discuss the best teas out there that will suit all your taste palettes with the added bonus of refreshing your mind and body!

All we need is a spark of creativity, sharing our favourite sustain-able and recyclable DIYs there are count-less ways to spice up your home, jewellery holders, mason jar recreations and much more. This section goes out to all of our artis-tic readers out there!

Find a mentor. It needs to be someone you respect and look up to either because of their job or their marriage or the way they parent or their life-story. They must have something you really resonate with or maybe have been through something that is just incredible. Tell them you’d like them to mentor you in whatever area of life and ask if they’d be will-ing to meet with you and give you advice. You can have more than one “mentor” but start with just one and begin trying to meet with this person on a regular basis. It will add so much insight to your life to have someone wiser, to be there to support and encourage you through life’s tough circum-stances and crazy turns... They will offer a wisdom that can’t easily be gained.

DEONNA REED

I used to think that if I had the approval of a boyfriend then I was smart enough, pretty enough and that I was worthy enough. When we broke up, I doubted who I was and my value. When I grew up and realized that my parents were usually right about everything-when their advice was the opposite of my ideas. I decided to know my value as a daughter of God and that I was worthy because He made me and had plans and a purpose for my life-to glorify Him. I wish I could meet the 8 year old me and tell her that she is amazing and that she doesn’t have to give in to her boyfriend. I would tell the teenager me to slow down and hang out with my family more instead of try so hard to be independent. And I would tell the 20 year old me to stop trying so hard to impress other peo-ple. And today I tell myself to appreciate what I have and stop saying, if I had this--then I’d be happy.

FARAH SADRI

If you could give one piece of advice to young women, what would it be?

tranquiliteaCHRYSANTHEMUM

Chrysanthemum tea is good for detoxifying the liver and lowering cholesterol levels. It is also a natural coolant, lowering body tempera-ture when suffering from a fever or heat stroke. Not only that, but it helps to alert all your senses, calming down your nerves. Have a cup

when eating lunch and dinner as it helps ease digestion with oily food!

EARL GREY

Having a hectic day? Drink a cup of earl grey tea, it helps to reduce stress, and is a relaxant. Fortunately the caffeine levels are low, so it

won’t keep you up. When having a fever be sure to have a cup of earl grey, the bergamot proves to reduce fever as well as an upset stomach

and flu.

GREEN

Looking for a easy way to lose weight, green tea is the way to go! Why? because green tea contains polyphenol which increases the rate you burn fat, burning up all that belly fat! It also regulates sugar levels preventing insulin spikes that results to fat storage. Not only that but it helps to prevent Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s, for a long healthy life.

ROSE

Rose clears toxins and heat, relive sore throat, blocked bronchial tubes helps to fight the infection in digestive tract- perfect for when you have a cold! Not only that, but rose tea also has an uplifting effect on the nervous system and can relieve insomnia, depression and fatigue.

DIY1. Find a frame that has a nice design (flea markets, thrift shops are a good place to look!) 2. Measure and mark 1-inch spaces along the top of the frame, for the tacks3. Hammer in tacks4 Hang the frame onto the wall, 5. HANG YOUR NECKLACES!

frame it up!Frame up your necklaces to store it neatly, pre-venting them from tangling, as well as creating a cute display with this DIY! Reuse a frame to help sustain the environment and biodiversity.

PHENOMENAL WOMANPretty women wonder where my secret lies.

I’m not cute or built to suit a fashion model’s size

But when I start to tell them,They think I’m telling lies.

I say,It’s in the reach of my arms,

The span of my hips,The stride of my step,The curl of my lips.

I’m a womanPhenomenally.

Phenomenal woman,That’s me.

MAYA ANGELOU

WRITE TO INSPIRE

To write is to inspire.Maya Angelou is one of the most powerful and influential spokeswoman to this day, represent-ing the African-American women.

Angelou accounts for the trials that she has faced as an African Amer-ican woman through an autobiog-raphy. Her vulnerability is shown through her autobiography, and the hardships of being criticized due to her race are illustrated in detail.

Her novel exposes the racial issues in our world and brought inspira-tion to all black women of the com-munity who were always set apart.

Angelou inspires all women to per-severe through trials, overcoming the harshness of racial discrimina-tion she continued to pursue all her passions. A lesson that all women should learn, no matter what age, so-cial class, race, we should never give up on what we are passionate about.

Maya angelou

sustainability.health. women.

verve.

OCTOBER ISSUE 2013