How to Get the Smoothest Shave

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armpits, bacteria, bath, bikini, blades, blunt, bumps, cool, decleor, direction, dull, exfoliate, exfoliating, hair, hair growth, infection, ingrown hairs, legs, moisture, moisturized, moisturizing, prep, prepare, razor, razor burn, shave, Shaving, shower, skin, smooth, smoother, smoothing, steamy

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Whether it’s your legs, your armpits or any other part of your body, shaving is still the most popular hair removal method the world over. It’s cheap, convenient and you can do it wherever you want, whenever you want, without the need to visit a specialist. Having said that, shaving still has it’s pitfalls, so we thought we’d give you some tips to help you to get your smoothest shave yet.

Steam Your Skin

Skin which is warm is much easier to shave, yet people tend to do their hair removal before they get into the bath or shower, while their skin is still cool. Have your shower first and make sure you get it nice and steamy to open the pores and give you a closer shave.

Get Rid of Dead Skin

The next step should be exfoliation, for a number of reasons. Firstly, exfoliating will get rid of dead skin which will allow your razor to get closer to the roots of the hairs, giving you a smoother finish. Exfoliating will also help to lift any hairs and release any which may be starting to grow inward, reducing your chances of developing ingrown hairs when they start to grow back. This will also make your legs look less ashy in the long run!

Stay Fresh

You should be using a fresh razor (or razor head) every single time you shave. Every time you use a razor, the blades will dull as you move them over the skin, and by the time they’ve defuzzed all the areas you use them on, they’re really too blunt to be useful again. Not to mention the fact that razor blades will harbour bacteria which could cause nasty infections if you reuse them. If you aren’t keen on the idea of using single-use pastic razors, invest in a traditional safety razor which has a metal handle and casing but blades which you replace without the need for plastics.

Go WITH the Grain

Every razor advert on telly shows you images of women starting at their ankle and shaving up, but every barber worth their salt will tell you that shaving WITH the direction of hair growth is not only the best way to get a smooth finish, but it will also help you to avoid both nicks in your skin and ingrown hairs. It often feels like learning to shave is a right of passage for boys, but girls aren’t given the same guidance and we’ve all ended up doing it wrong!

Replenish Moisture

When you exfoliate your legs, then shave them, there’s a good chance that they’re left pretty dry afterwards, even if they don’t look like they are. Slathering your legs with a rich moisturiser like Decleor Nourishing Body Balm will ensure your skin feels nourished and hydrated.

Pack a thriller in your suitcase

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agoraphobic, best friend, best-selling author, bikini, bookshop, café, charming man, chic lit, children, complex web of lies, curious, dark story, date, ddebut author, dead, divorce, Don’t Close Your Eyes by Holly Seddon, edgy, epilepsy, evidence, families, fear, girl, Girl Before by JP Delaney, great reads, gripping story, heart, home alone, husband, husband and wife, innocence, journey, karma, landlord, last word, Lisa Jewell, lives alone, man, marriage, memory, mirror, missing, mistress, One Folgate Street, one session read, page turning twists and turns, Perfect Friend by Barbara Copperthwaite, pool side, protect, psychological thrillers, real, right and wrong, safety, seat, secrets, separated, sinister call, sunglasses, T. A. Cotterell, tense tale, terrifying attack, The Date by Louise Jensen, The Dead Ex by Jane Corry, The Girl on the Train, Then She Was Gone, thriller, toothbrush, tough choice, trust, truth, twin sisters, unanswered questions, What Alice Knew, young age

As well as your bikini, toothbrush, and sunglasses, if you are heading away on holiday this summer, be sure to pack a poolside thriller in your bag.

Offering something a little edgier than chic lit, psychological thrillers have seen a rise in popularity in the past couple of years and there is no end of choice when it comes to great reads.

The Perfect Friend by Barbara Copperthwaite is a truly dark story about the turn Alex’s life takes when her husband leaves her and her children won’t talk to her. All she can do is to turn to her best friend, Carrie, who knows all her secrets and is the only person she can truly trust. Carrie would she’d never let her down, or would she???

Following her divorce, Ali goes out on a date with a new man on Saturday night, but on Sunday morning, she wakes up alone with no memory of what happened to her. And when she looks in the mirror, she doesn’t recognise the face staring back at her. If you loved The Girl on the Train, then The Date by Louise Jensen is for you, and if you haven’t read The Girl on the Train – where have you been?

For a ‘one session read’, it has to be The Dead Ex by Jane Corry. A terrifying attack leaves Vicki suffering from epilepsy and without a husband after he runs away with his mistress. When a call comes to say he’s missing, she starts to believe in karma, but when evidence suggests he is dead, things get real and she needs to prove her innocence.

The Girl Before by JP Delaney is a tense tale full of page-turning twists and turns. When Jane moves into One Folgate Street, she falls in love with her beautiful minimal new, despite the bizarre rules it comes with. As the landlord, and the house, become increasingly strange, Jane becomes curious about Emma, the girl who lived there before her and starts to fear for her safety in her gripping quest to find the truth. Tip, don’t read this if you are home alone, but definitely, do read this.

Secrets in families are never a good idea and that is what is at the heart of Don’t Close Your Eyes by Holly Seddon. Twin sisters Robin and Sarah were separated at a young age and now, in their 30s, one is agoraphobic and lives alone, while the other seemingly has the perfect family and perfect life. When Sarah is accused of something terrible, she needs to track down her twin sister to put together the pieces. A gripping story that will keep you on the edge of your seat right to the very last word.

Back to the husband and wife scenario, and in What Alice Knew, debut author T. A. Cotterell, takes you on a journey of complex web of lies that will have you turning the pages in fear. From the outside, Alice has everything, that is until her husband goes missing one night. After receiving a sinister call, she faces making a tough choice that has her questioning right and wrong and wondering just how far she can go to protect those she loves.

While Then She Was Gone, by best-selling author, Lisa Jewell, isn’t new on the shelves, it is oh so worth a read. Laurel is trying to piece her life back together, 10 years after her daughter, Ellie, disappeared and seven years since her marriage fell apart. When she meets a charming man in a café, their flirtation develops into something deep, fast. Before she knows it, she’s meeting his daughters, and all those unanswered questions that have haunted her about her own child come flooding back.

Pop along to your local bookshop and buy your books before you go away and let us know what you think.

Team Pure Beauty

Get your summer wardrobe sorted

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bare some flesh, BBQ, beach, bikini, block colour, boots, bright and bold, cami style, capris, cashmere wrap, charity shop, denim jacket, department stores, designer brands, dresses, essentials, fabric, flamingo, flip flops, flowers, glitter, High Street, holiday vibe, iPad, jacket, jeans, landfill, maxi dress, mix and match, October, pineapple, pleated skirt, poolside, quality, shines, shorts, shy, silver sandals, smile, social media, sophisticated, spaghetti straps, splurge, stretch, summer staple, sun, Sun cream, sunglasses, super model, support, take away coffee, tee, tote bag, towel, urban feel, urge, wardrobe, white shirt, yoga pants

Whether you are at home, or away this summer, getting it right when it comes to summer wardrobe essentials can be a minefield.

With so much choice on the High Street and great savings to be made on designer brands, the urge to splurge can be tempting.

While you can buy everything in sight, it is more than likely come October, half the items you bought will still have tags on them and that pineapple T-shirt, with matching flamingo shorts will be ‘out of trend’ and in the charity bag.

We have put together the key pieces we think will take you from morning to night in style, but without breaking the bank or adding to the landfill.

Sunglasses
Starting at the top, sunglasses are a must when the sun shines, and even when it doesn’t. Department stores have some pretty good brands on sales at the moment, Boots is one stop sunglasses shop and of course if you want to spend top dollar, then the designer brands are very cool and should stand the test of time.

Vests
Whether you go for bright and bold, spaghetti straps or cami style, a stack of fresh vests will see you through the entire summer. They can be worn under dresses, with shorts, team them with yoga pants or a pleated skirt and you have the recipe for success. Yes, you can get them for less than the cost of a take away coffee in some shops, but just check the quality of the fabric and ensure they fit well and give the right amount of stretch and support.

Flip Flops
OK, you can’t wear these 24/7 but because they come in a range of colours, at various price points, flip flips are a total summer staple. Great for the beach and poolside, add a little glitter or flowers and you can match with jeans and a tee for the perfect BBQ outfit.

Denim Jacket
You really can’t go wrong with a denim jacket for the summer. Perfect over dresses, it gives an urban feel that a cardigan doesn’t quite capture but also great with a white shirt and capris when the sun goes down and you are out for drinks.

Tote Bag
This is a must have for the summer. Go big and you can still take it on a plane and you will fit everything in it from your iPad and jacket to a towel, ballet pumps and sun cream. There are some brilliant buys out there are the moment in a range of fab colours that will see you through to the winter.

Bikini
Ok, don’t be shy now. You really don’t have to be a super model to wear a bikini and if you search social media, women are coming out to support one another as they bare some flesh and overcome body hang ups for once and all. Many shops offer mix and match options so you can choose your size and style and create a look that is as individual for you.

Maxi Dress
A block colour maxi dress is perfect for the summer as it will go with pretty much anything and work for every situation. Wear solo on the beach, team with silver sandals for a sophisticated evening look and add a cashmere wrap in September to keep the holiday vibe going just a little bit longer.

Whatever you wear this summer, add sun cream and a smile and have a fabulous time.

Team Pure Beauty

Banish Your Pre-Holiday Skin Problems

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acne, ashy, beach, bikini, cellulite, confidence, control, decleor, dermalogica, dimpled, dry skin, Elemis, holiday, issues, mattify, oil, oily skin, pool, prep, problems, sebum, skin-confidence, smooth, stretch marks, swimming, swimming pool, tiger stripes, vacation

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Summer has officially started, now that we’re past the longest day, and for many of us that means that we can really start to look forward to our holidays. However, baring all on the beach or going make-up free can feel like a totally nightmare if you’ve got skin issues, so we thought we’d take a look at five common skin complaints and what you can do to clear them up before it’s time to jet off to hotter climes.

Cellulite

Probably the single most common issue for women to be worried about before sticking on their bathing suit is cellulite. As most of use know, cellulite is an area of fat cells which gives a dimply appearance – and most of us have it somewhere on our bodies! Elemis Cellutox Active Body Oil is a treatment oil which can be massaged into areas of cellulite to help to banish the build up of toxins which cause cellulite and give a more even appearance if used regularly.

Acne

Acne isn’t usually something whch is going to be cured overnight, but for many sufferers the thought of going bare-faced beside the pool is a massive no-no. Switching to the Dermalogica Clear Start system ahead of your holiday should help to get your skin under control, and using Dermalogica Breakout Control in the event of a breakout should help to give you skin-confidence.

Dry Skin

Nothing can ruin the look of a bikini worse than dry skin everywhere and ashy-looking knees and elbows! Nourishing your skin with a rich moisturiser before you go away will not only help to banish your dry skin, but it can also help to prep your skin for sun exposure, helping you to get a more even tan and avoid burning. Use Elemis Frangipani Monoi Body Oil for an intense burst of moisture with a scent which will make you think of a tropical island every time you use it!

Oily Skin

Hot weather can really exacerbate the over-production of sebum so if you’re prone to oily skin, going on holiday can be a really worry for your complexion. Using Decleor 2 in 1 Purifying and Oxygenating Mask will help to deeply mattify your skin before you jet off, and packing Dermalogica Oil Control Lotion will give you the peace of mind of knowing that you have your skin under control.

Stretch Marks

Many women now embrace their ‘tiger stripes’ because they’re a totally normal part of being a woman, but for some of us, we still feel a little self-conscious about stretch marks. Decleor Sculpt Stretch Mark Restructuring Gel-Cream, when applied regularly, will to help prevent and reduce the appearance of stretch marks, giving you the confidence to bear-all on the beach.