How to start writing a book in November

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000 words, 15 minutes, a couple, accountable, add up, alarm clock, an old woman, £50, blog, book, book buddy, chapter headings, characters, chic lit, computer, day by day, dream come true, fantasy novel, hard drive, ideas, inspire, join a writing group, launch, literary dream, lose momentum, magazine, massive, memes, mini-story, mission, momentum, name, NaNoWriMo, National Novel Writing Month, Notebooks and pads, novel, November, pages, pens, people, photos, progress, relationship, small chunks, story, vision board, write, write a book, write a novel, Write everyday, writing journal, YA story, you’ve got this

November is the start of National Novel Writing Month which is followed by avid writers around the world. Often referred to as, NaNoWriMo, this event started out in 1999 as a challenge to write 50,000 words of a novel during the thirty days of November and it’s grown ever since.

If you’ve always wanted to write a book, but aren’t sure where to start, we have some top tips on making your literary dreams come true.

Create a writing toolkit
If you want to write, you need the tools to help you. Notebooks and pads, a variety of pens and pencils, a writing journal as well as sticky notes and notecards, all help. An alarm clock can block out time, and ensure you have a decent computer too because the last thing you need is a dodgy hard drive swallowing 50,000 words of a book!

Build a vision board
A vision board is a great way to bring your ideas together. Photos of people to inspire characters, snaps of magazines where you’d like to be interviewed, snaps of sandy beaches that could be a beautiful proposal setting, and even film tickets can all lead to something special for your book.

Create an outline
When it comes to outlining your book, starting with the chapter headings is a great way to go. Under each heading, create a list of the content that chapter will contain and build from there. Spacing out small chunks of work will help you start to see your story and ideas come to life.

This is where those notecards come into play, as you can start to create chapter parts on cards and put them in order, reorganising as you go and the story evolves. This can work really well with a fantasy novel, chick lit or a YA story, and you can create the scenes and build the characters day by day.

Use images
A bit like the vision board, but you get stuck for ideas, photos and memes can really help inspire a story. Choose an image, maybe a couple, an old woman, and ask questions about what’s happening. What they’re doing? What’s their name? Are they in a relationship? Use this method as a basis for 15 minutes to write a mini-story, read it aloud and take it from there.

Write everyday
Whether it’s during November, or in the middle of summer, the only way to get your novel done is to write every day. Even 15 minutes each evening will see you make progress and if you can commit to the routine, you will see the words and pages add up. If you really, really want to write a novel, you can do it but you have to write.

Be accountable
It’s very easy to lose momentum when you are trying to complete something as massive as a book, so be accountable. Whether you join a writing group, use an online community, find a book buddy or update your progress on your blog, make sure people know you are on a mission to make a dream come true and they will be there to support you from start to launch!

Good luck and remember – you’ve got this!

Team Pure Beauty

Feed your skin with superfoods from Elemis

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amazing, anti-oxidant and omega-rich Broccoli, antioxidants, avender, avocado, balance, Barley, beauty regime, blended, blog, bright, Broccoli, coconut water, complexion will look luminous, concentrated plant-based superfoods, cream, cucumber oil, daikon radish, easily absorbed cream, Elemis, Elemis Superfood Day Cream, Elemis Superfood Facial Oil, Elemis Superfood Facial Wash, Elemis Superfood Night Cream, essential fatty acids, face, facial wash, fall asleep, feel, flax seed, fresh, fuller, ginger, glow, goji berries, goodness, greasy, healthy, healthy diets, healthy salad, hydrates, IG feed, influence, kale, lant-based, look, magazine, massaging, match tea, natural barrier, natural sugar derived prebiotic, neck, Nettle, nourishes, nutrient-dense ingredients, nutrients, outdoor glow, pre-biotic, Pumpkin Seed Oils, quinoa, radiant, Relax, replenish, retain moisture, revives and refreshes, salads, scroll, shakes, shiny, sleep, smoothies, snooze, soft, soothe, spinach, sterols, summer, Superfood Skincare System, supple, Sweet Almond Milk, Vetivert Essential Oils, vitamins, vocado, Wheatgrass, winter, Ylang-Ylang, youthful glow

Turn the page of any magazine, read any lifestyle blog or scroll through pretty much any IG feed, and you are bound to come across someone, somewhere talking about the latest superfood that will make you look, and feel, amazing.

We are advised to add Avocado, Goji Berries, Nuts, Coconut Water and Spinach to smoothies, shakes and salads to give us the nutrients we need to glow and feel fuller, for longer.

We are all for healthy diets, but it is good to remember that what you put on your skin can also influence how good it looks and this is why we love the Superfood Skincare System from Elemis.

Made from a blend of plant-based, nutrient-dense ingredients, as well as a natural sugar derived prebiotic, these products can help to replenish your skin and feed it with the vital hydrating nourishment that creates a healthy, outdoor glow.

There are facial washes and then there is the Elemis Superfood Facial Wash. This gorgeous nourishing facial wash revives and refreshes the skin while deeply cleansing it, so it is left feeling fresh and soft. Just like a healthy salad, this product is made from Avocado, Broccoli and Pumpkin Seed Oils which all help to balance the skin’s precious microbiome. Wheatgrass, Kale, and Nettle have also been added to the mix and mean that your complexion will look luminous, bright and radiant.

The Elemis Superfood Day Cream combines Ginger and Matcha Tea which work together to leave your complexion looking healthy from the very first application. Goji Berries, which are super rich in vitamins, essential fatty acids and antioxidants, help protect the skin’s natural barrier from the elements, which is what you need in both summer and winter. The easily absorbed cream should be used after cleansing and your skin will feel soft and supple all day long.

You might not think an oil would work as part of your beauty regime, but believe us when we say you need the Elemis Superfood Facial Oil in your life. This blend of concentrated plant-based superfoods nourishes and hydrates the skin, but doesn’t leave it greasy or shiny. The goodness comes from anti-oxidant and omega-rich Broccoli, Flax Seed and Daikon Radish as well as Cucumber Oil, which all help to retain moisture and soothe the skin. Massaging just a couple drops of drops into your face and neck each morning, will soften and smooth the skin and leave it looking healthy and bright.

Superfoods don’t stop working when you sleep, so we would suggest using the Elemis Superfood Night Cream if you want to wake up with skin that has a fresh, youthful glow. A pre-biotic has been blended with Barley, Quinoa and Sweet Almond Milk so that your skin is nourished as you snooze. The cream is rich in the omegas and anti-oxidants that feed the skin and thanks to a blend of Lavender, Ylang Ylang and Vetivert Essential Oils being added to the mix, this cream also helps you to relax and fall asleep.

For more information, get in touch and we would love to find a superfood solution that is perfect for you.

Team Pure Beauty

Let Stress Go

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active, alone, blog, Boss, Bottling things up, brother, cause, cheer, children, children’s hospice, clear your thoughts, cloudy, coffee shop, community project, connect, dance class, diary, eat out, emotional intensity, empowered, everyday life, family members, feel good endorphins, friend, friends, fun, glass is half empty, goals and challenges, GP, gym, heart, holiday, identify the triggers, indulgent, job, learning a language, life, local community project, Me time, meditation, meet, more harm than good, neighbours, people, positive approach, problems, professionanal help, quiet cuppa, relax with a book, scrolling, selfish, shine, social media, sofa, stepping back, stress, swim, take control, take time out, work colleagues, work long hours

Going out and partying might all weekend seem like a good way to escape from the stress of everyday life, but while it is fun at the time, it could actually do more harm than good in the long run.

Whether it’s your boss, brother or your neighbours who are causing your problems, if you can identify the triggers and take control, you will hopefully start to feel better and have a more positive approach and outlook.

Build a Network
Bottling things up and trying to do everything alone isn’t good for anyone, so try to establish a network of people in your life who are good for you. These can be family members, friends or work colleagues who you really connect with, relax with and have a good time with and who will cheer you on when times are good and give you a lift when it gets a little cloudy.

Be Active
Yes, scrolling through social media might take your mind of things, but getting off the sofa and exercising can reduce emotional intensity, clear your thoughts and let you deal with your problems in a calmer way. Find something that you really enjoy doing, maybe buddy up with a friend and go to the gym, swim before work or take a dance class – there is something for all of us you just have to find it. As the feel good endorphins work around your body, they will take down those feelings of stress and you will start to feel empowered and able to move forwards once again

Challenge Yourself
Setting yourself goals and challenges, such as learning a language, starting a blog or playing a new sport, not only helps build confidence but reduces stress, so give it a go.

Take Some ‘Me Time’
If you work long hours and have family demands, it can be hard to take time out for you and this can add to your stress levels. If might sound selfish and indulgent, but finding time to meet with friends, relax with a book or just grab a quiet cuppa in a coffee shop, is important. Put something in your diary at the start of each week then stick to it and you will be surprised at the difference stepping back from everything can make to your life.

Give Back
When you stop thinking that everything is about you, life can change for the better. Getting involved in a local community project or volunteering your time to a cause close to your heart, can give you a new focus and give you a whole new perspective. Whether it is a visiting elderly people and reading to them, digging out a pond in the park or raising money for a children’s hospice, this can really help to take the focus away from your life and lift your mood.

Be Positive
Looking for the positives in life, and seeing the things you’re grateful for can be a real eye opener. Don’t be the glass is half empty person because your to list is growing day by day, instead see the glass is half full because you have a job you enjoy and can afford to go on holiday as well as pay your bills and eat out once a week. Simply writing down three things that went well, before you go to bed can make you start to see the good in life, rather than just looking at what is hard.

Breath
If you do nothing else, sit down, close your eyes and take five minutes out to focus on your breath and regroup. Nothing is so important on your to do list that it can’t wait just a little bit longer and meditation is a free, easy and fantastic way to deal with stress, so give it a go!

If you do feel that your stress is getting out of control, speak to your GP and ask them for some professional help.

Team Pure-Beauty

Get extra cash, in a flash

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A to Z, advertising, affiliate, agencies, Amazon, £500 a month, baby food, bank account, bicycle, big screen, blog, Blogger, books, Brexit, car, car boot sale, car boot sales, commission, community, compers, competitions, day, delivering food, deposit, dogs, ears, eBay, exercise, extra, films, fitness, five figure sums, flexible, fresh air, General Election, Google, guarantees, Gumtree, health, interview, make-up, market, matter, millionaire, money making, motorbike, new, out, people, pets, popular, powers that be, quid, ready-made, references, rent a room, rich, servies, shoes, Smartphone, spare room, spare time, stocks and shares, time, travel, TV, TV shows, walking, weekend away, WordPress, working

Ever get to the end of the month and find yourself in the red?

Fed up of never being able to go on holiday, despite working hard?

Keep buying scratch cards in the hope of becoming winning big?

All too many people find that there simply isn’t enough cash to go round and with the General Election and Brexit making things even more uncertain, the money pot seems to only get smaller.

Fear not, while we aren’t saying money grows on trees, if you have a little spare time, vision and dedication you can add to your bank account, without changing the day job.

Be a blogger
Blogging is easy to set up and a great way to generate a passive income. Decide on a name, choose a platform (Blogger and WordPress are popular), buy a domain name and pay for hosting and you are on a way. You then need to create content that people want to read – this is the key to success. Maybe it is health, fitness, books, travel or parenting, but make sure you have an audience and when you write posts, make them relevant and interesting so people want to come back. Once you’ve gained a following, you can make money from:

• Being an affiliate where you are pushing other people’s products or services on your site. Make sure these products or services are relevant to your blog, such as baby food, shoes or make-up and when a visitor clicks that link on your site, you’ll earn commission.
• Selling advertising is great once you have traffic running through your site and as your visitor numbers increase, so does the change for ad space on your blog.
• Sponsorship could be a one-off feature or a logo on your site and as the stat’s go up, so do the deals.
• You can also review products on your site, but be sure to disclose and brand relationships and be true to yourself, your readers and the powers that be (Google).

Selling stuff
We bet if you spring clean your house you will find a lot of stuff you just don’t need. Unworn clothes, flippers, a smoothie maker, golf clubs are all things you might not need but someone else might want.
Amazon, eBay, Gumtree are all perfect online places to sell things that are gathering dust but could easily turn into enough money for a weekend away or a much-needed new TV. You can also go to car boot sales where you can flog your stuff make a killing.

Rent a Room
OK, someone else in your house might not seem ideal but if it means and extra £500 a month in the kitty, maybe it is worth a go? Make sure you have a decent spare room, ask family and friends if they know anyone looking for digs, and of course, make sure you do interviews, get references and a deposit before handing over any keys.

Stocks and Shares
Investing in stocks and shares has been a popular way to earn a passive income for years, and thanks to the internet, today it is easier to do than ever. Go online and do some research, maybe speak to an expert, start small, see how the markets go and you never know, this time next year you could be a millionaire.

Online Surveys
OK, it isn’t massive money, but for a few minutes of form filling you can make a couple of quid answering online surveys, and if you do enough the total soon adds up.

Get on Your Bike
Got a car, bicycle or motorbike? What about a Smartphone? This is pretty much all you need to make some extra money by delivering food, or people, in your spare time.

Get Competitive
Sounds silly but entering competitions can make you rich. There are no guarantees, but there is a growing community of ‘compers’ in the UK who are making five-figure sums by entering all sorts of competitions, all of the time.

Be an Extra
If you fancy being on the big screen, or small one for that matter, agencies are always looking for extras for TV shows and films. You need to be flexible and able to get from A to Z under your own steam, but it fun, easy and pays alright. And, you never know who you might meet on set.

Get Walking
Fancy some fresh air and exercise, well the good news is that walking other people’s dogs is big business. If you have free time during the day, when others are out at work and worried about their pets at home, and you like dogs and are professional, there’s a ready-made market waiting for you.

Got a money-making idea we have missed, let us know, we are all ears.

Team Pure Beauty

Happiness Hacks for 2017

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2017, aunt, bath, bed, bike, birthday, blender, blog, cake, cinema, clothese, control, credit card, CV, date, day, diary, dog, Facebook, friends, gossip, happy, husband, January, journal, letter, level, library, life, lipstick, live it, local, meditate, mum, news, pop, red, Relax, run, short, sister, sleeping rough, smile, smoothies, social media, sore, sunshine, Vitamin C, volunteer

We know that a start of a new year can be a time when many of us make endless resolutions so we can be the very best we can.

The thing is, January is cold and dark and even with the best will in the world, getting out of bed in the dark and running 10 miles to be super fit, can be, well, miserable.

So we have come up with a list of 50 really easy things you can do to make yourself happy in 2017 and to be honest, that’s what really matters.

1. Smile.
2. Write down three good things for each day in a journal – even on the hardest of days there is something good.
3. Plan something fun to do each weekend.
4. Don’t gossip.
5. Say hello to your neighbours.
6. Listen to your favourite song, everyday.
7. Have a bath before you go to bed.
8. Call your mum, sister, aunt, husband once in a while rather than just texting.
9. Eat clean, or at least eat healthy.
10. Go for a walk at lunchtime.
11. Read a book.
12. Donate to charity and give back.
13. Really listen when someone is talking to do.
14. Skip the news.
15. Make a cake and eat it fresh from the over.
16. Light candles.
17. Get a dog.
18. Take up a new sport.
19. Don’t have the argument.
20. Clear out the clutter.
21. Send birthday cards don’t just post a message on Facebook.
22. Drink hot water and lemon when you wake up.
23. Don’t pop that spot on your chin, it’ll make it red and sore.
24. Become a volunteer for a local cause close to your heart.
25. Get on your bike and peddle your way to fitness.
26. Have a manicure and feel polished.
27. Turn the TV off and do something less boring instead.
28. Start a blog.
29. Wear a new lipstick.
30. Don’t keep anything for best, life is short, live it.
31. Go out in the sunshine and up your Vitamin D levels the next way.
32. Tell someone you love them.
33. Make use of your local library.
34. Don’t gossip.
35. Get a blender and make your own smoothies full of goodness and health benefits.
36. Sign up for a challenge and stick to it.
37. Meditate everyday, you will feel the benefits and it will become a part of your routine.
38. Book a spa day for you and a friend and really relax as you catch up.
39. Update your CV and get the job you have always really wanted.
40. Ask your man to marry you – it isn’t a leap year but take control and get a date in the diary.
41. Host a party and let your hair down.
42. Apply to be on a talent show.
43. Go on a digital detox and leave the world of social media behind, even for a few hours.
44. Book a holiday and have something amazing to look forward to.
45. Have a make over and only wear the clothes you love and the ones that make you feel great.
46. Pay off that credit card bill.
47. Write a letter.
48. Buy lunch for someone who is sleeping rough.
49. Go to the cinema in the middle of the day.
50. Smile, did we say that already?

You see, all easy to do and all with great potential for making you happy.

Happy 2017.

Team Pure-Beauty