As I mentioned in my last post, this past week has been a whirlwind. This time last week we were on a plane, flying down to Melbourne for 2 nights, for the start of the Garnier Ambassador program.
Since our return, life has been pretty hectic with a couple of massive unexpected curve balls, but we are thinking positively and trusting that everything will work out, as it always tends to do!
Those of you who follow the Fizzle Out facebook page, or my personal page, will know that I was spamming like crazy a few months back, begging for your votes in the competition to become a Garnier Ambassador. Luckily for me, and for our medical student Wellbeing Program, plenty of you voted and made me a finalist – meaning that Garnier have donated $1000 to us!
The bonus for me was a trip to Melbourne, to be put up in a fabulous hotel – The Cullen, and a day of pampering at the L’Oreal head office, meeting the Garnier team and the other wonderful ambassadors.
When we found out that I was staying at such a nice hotel, Kris jumped at the opportunity to come and spend a couple of days exploring Melbourne cafes, which also meant I had some company!
The Cullen is a seriously fantastic hotel, nestled in the centre of Prahran. Directly across from the Prahran Market and just off Chapel St, it really is an ideal location, especially if you want to stay a little bit out of the city. Surrounded by trendy restaurants, bars and shopping, we certainly didn’t have enough time to take advantage of all the area had to offer (but we did eat the famous dumplings at Hu-Tong with happy memories of last time we were in Melbourne).
Upon our arrival I immediately felt spoilt, with Garnier leaving a package of goodies at the front desk for me to try.
Despite waking up to a chilly windy day and having an super early start, we gathered excitedly in the lobby wondering what the day would bring.
It wasn’t long before everyone hit it off and the mood of the day was set, the bus to breakfast filling with loud voices and laughter.
Arriving at breakfast, we were served champagne before coffee and took the opportunity to get to know some of the Garnier team, before being joined by our surprise breakfast date – the stunning Natalie Gruzlewski, who is a celebrity ambassador for Garnier.
Plenty of food, coffee and an introduction into the world of Garnier, the breakfast flew by and before we knew it we were off to the head office for our day of pampering.
Of course, being the ‘social media addicts’ that we are, we had to stop for a photo-op before we got inside!
First up we had our hair done, emerging like more polished versions of ourselves and feeling completely relaxed.
As if that wasn’t enough, it was followed up by a massage and skin consultation, along with a promise that we would be receiving another parcel of Garnier goodies to our doorstep (I told you we were spoilt!).
Next came the nerve-wracking part, filming an interview about our projects. Since we didn’t get to see the final product, I really have no idea how it went – and although Natalie interviewed us in a super friendly way and alleviated a lot of the stress, it is a bit disconcerting to be sitting there in front of a camera and microphone wondering how awkward it will turn out!
Of course, we couldn’t leave without being fed a little more and all standing up to talk about our personal projects… And although it was already obvious that I was surrounded by amazing ladies, when they stood up to speak, the passion that they showed for their respective projects was so inspirational.
To hear just a little about the hard work these people are doing and what they are achieving with very little recognition made me so happy to see them spending the day being pampered by Garnier. It also gave me some energy and motivation for our project and really has just left me craving more free time to utilise the donated money to benefit students and help to improve their well being.
Overall it certainly was a fabulous day, the Garnier team made us feel so welcome, appreciated and spoilt and best of all was meeting the other ambassadors who I can already see becoming a whole new group of twitter/blog/facebook/instagram friends, here are links to some of their blogs if you want to check them out:
Leigh
Lisa
rockMYroll
Working Women Australia
For the last of many photos, here are the results of my hair makeover, with a picture of Kris just cause he was looking so cute!
Looking forward to the coming year working with Garnier, getting to know my fellow ambassadors and of course, improving the wellbeing of medical students!
Photos from: my camera and Kris (side by sides)
I personally stuck with my old favourite cap, whereas Kris alternated between a latte and double ristretto on his many visits.
Wow, it really was a perfect burger with crisp bread rolls and spiced mayo, the only problem was that we decided to share!