Buy a book for Christmas and show them you care

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365 words, A Word for Every Day of The Year, Adam Kay, Aled Jones, Andrew Ridgeley, Anne Glenconner, apron, bold, book, bottle of wine, but perfectly formed, camp, care, cash, celebrity, celebrity autobiography, chocolate, Christmas, Christmas classic, Christmas must-buy, cooking, cool, cutting, educate, empowering women, extravagant, faint hearted, festive season, film, first book, Fleabag: The Scriptures, fresh new pages, friend, George and Andrew, giving, glass of wine, go, gorgeous scented candle, great stocking filler, health, hearts, hospital success, ideas, illustrated, inspiration, inspire, intrigue, It’s Going to Hurt, Kate Young, knowing your worth, Lady Glenconner, Lady in Waiting, local bookshop, love, love it, lush, Me: Elton John Official Autobiography, mince pies, mouth-watering meals, music, pages, Phoebe Waller-Bridge, practical exercises, Princess Margaret, Raymond Briggs., read, relationships, royal life, seasonal, Secret Santa, self-care, Slay in Your Lane: The Journal, small, Small but mighty, smile, socks, Steven Poole, stunning, success, summer, The Little Library Year, The Nightshift Before Christmas, the person who has everything, The Snowman, tips, TV series, unwrap, Wham! fans, Wham! George & Me, worksheets, Yomi Adegoke and Elizabeth Uviebinené

You can buy them socks, chocolate or a bottle of wine, but there is something special about giving a book as a gift at Christmas.

Think fresh new pages, lots of ideas and inspiration as well as the chance for them to escape from life for just a little while.

We have some great books to share with you that should be stocked in your local bookshop and will make someone smile this Christmas when they unwrap it.

The Nightshift Before Christmas, Adam Kay
This Is Going to Hurt was Adam’s first book and his bold, poignant look at life inside a hospital was a massive success. His small, but perfectly formed follow-up, The Nightshift Before Christmas is a great stocking filler and while not for the faint hearted, it’s worth a read.

Slay in Your Lane: The Journal, Yomi Adegoke and Elizabeth Uviebinené
This stunning illustrated book is all about empowering women and with practical exercises, worksheets, and easy to follow tips for success, it’s a Christmas must-buy. It gives readers all they need to get ahead in relationships, looks at how to start a successful side hustle, knowing your worth at work comes into play as well as info on cash, self-care, and good health. Sound good, no?

Me: Elton John Official Autobiography
You might have seen the film, but we think the book is even better. This celebrity autobiography is cool, cutting, camp, extravagant and packed with disco-dancing, football club buying stories intended to make the reader laugh and cry. Go on, they will love it and might let you borrow it too.

The Little Library Year, Kate Young
Food and books, what’s not to like? This gorgeous book takes recipes onto a whole new level as Kate shares seasonal, mouth-watering meals and treats that will make the reader want to put on an apron on and start cooking right away. Oh, and summer might seem a long time away, but she knows how to pack a picnic basket!

Fleabag: The Scriptures, Phoebe Waller-Bridge
If they loved the TV series, they will love this book. We couldn’t put it down and they won’t be able to either. Perfect for reading with a glass of wine, with a gorgeous scented candle burning, so you might want to buy those too?

A Word for Every Day of The Year, Steven Poole
Small but mighty – this is the book for the person who has everything. As the name suggests, inside the cover are 365 words to educate, intrigue and inspire. We will warn you, if you start to read, you won’t want to stop until the end so maybe buy two copies and keep one for yourself.

The Snowman, Raymond Briggs
We can’t leave the kids out, so why not introduce them to this Christmas classic? Yes, you can watch the film on TV and sing along with Aled Jones, but turning the pages of The Snowman is as much a part of the festive season as Secret Santa and mince pies. Go up in your mum’s loft and you never know, you might find an original gathering dust.

Lady in Waiting, Anne Glenconner
Glitz, glamour and drama, no we aren’t talking about the office party but this beauty of a book! Lady Glenconner was Princess Margaret’s lifelong friend and this is a lush, compelling read all about them and a real look at royal life. The rich and posh – it’s all here on these pages to read and we think it’s worth doing exactly that.

Wham! George & Me, Andrew Ridgeley
Before we go, go – sorry, not sorry! This is an emotional read and Wham! fans may well need to get their tissues ready when they dive into this belter of a book. George and Andrew might have met in 1975, but their music lives on in our hearts today, thank goodness.

Got a book you love, let us know, we are ready and waiting to hear from you.

Team Pure Beauty

Struggling with Acne? You Aren’t Alone.

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acne, bad skin, beautiful women, Beyonce, breakout, Britney Spears, Cameron Diaz, celebrities, celebrity, depression, Eva Longoria, flare-up, isolation, large pores, loneliness, mental health, not alone, photoshop, pimples, spot, spots, uneven skin, Victoria Beckham

Having a skin issue like acne can affect not just your skin, but also your mental health. The condition can be tricky to deal with and can leave sufferers feeling frustrated, isolated and depressed. It’s important to remember that you aren’t alone in your struggle with acne, and some of the most beautiful women in the world also struggle with their skin. Here’s a list of five celebrities who also suffer from acne and other skin issues:

Victoria Beckham

 

By LGEPR – Victoria Beckham, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=19900209

To look at Mrs Beckham’s skin these days, you wouldn’t know she struggled with acne for so long, but she dealt with bad skin way into her twenties. To keep her skin in tip-top shape, she swears by a strict regime of exfoliation and moisturisation, and insists that products containing glycolic acid are what have made all the difference to her face.

Cameron Diaz

By https://www.flickr.com/photos/greg2600 – https://www.flickr.com/photos/greg2600/26307333616/, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=76482897

It’s hard to believe that someone as goddess-like as Cam has ANY problems, but she’s human like the rest of us and her acne was an issue even in her thirties. She credits clean eating with helping her skin to get better “I hadn’t needed to be angry at my skin or feel bad about myself. I had just needed to LISTEN TO MY BODY. Acne was my body’s alarm system, it was a way of telling me [to stop eating fast food]”

Eva Longoria

By Georges Biard, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=40665890

Eva Longoria, star of Desperate Housewives, says that her hectic lifestyle is partly responsible for her issues with breakouts. “Because I fly so much, hydration is important. When you have good skin, everything else kind of falls into place. Also, I use blush with shimmer in it. That way, your skin glows and people notice it.”

Beyonce

By Rocbeyonce – https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:FWT11.jpg / https://www.facebook.com/shawntok, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=49895196

While it may come as a shock that Queen Bey has anything even remotely close to being a flaw, the ex-Destiny’s Child singer deals with pimples, uneven skin and large pores. The vasy majority of images that we see of Beyonce have been retouched in some way, giving us slightly unrealistic expectations of what celebrity skin is really like.

Britney Spears

By Glenn Francis – Britney Spears, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=26447539

Britney is perhaps one of the most well-known famous acne sufferers, not least of all because the girl is NOT afraid to step outside with a bare face. Whether it’s a conscious effort to give her skin a break from make-up with she’s having a flare up or just a normal woman having a “can’t be bothered” day, we applaud Britney for putting her best face forward, no matter what.

Bowls are the new plates

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afraid, balancing, banana, basil, bean, bean and mackerel, blender, blending grains, blueberries and raspberries, bowl, Bowl meals, breakfast, Broccoli, celebr, celebrity, cereal, cherry tomato, chopped, combinations, Courgette, cucumber, dinner, eat, eggs, enjoy, fantastic flavours, fast, feta cheese, Granola, Grilled chicken, halloumi, halved, hard boiled, kale, ketchup, Lime wedges, lunch, mayo, mix the ingredients, natural yogurt, nuggets and chips, organic baby spinach, pan fried, parsley, peeled and sliced, quinoa, red onion, red pepper., rice, ripe cherry tomatoes, rye bread, salmon, shredded, small can of sweetcorn, smooth, snack, sofa, squeeze of fresh lemon juice, sunflower and sesame seeds, superfood, Sweet and green smoothie bowl, toasted sesame seeds, trays, tuna, unfussy, veggies, washed, work

Every now and again, a food trend comes along from nowhere and takes us by storm.

This year is no different, but it isn’t a super food or celebrity chef, it’s the mere kitchen bowl.

From breakfast and lunch through to dinner with a snack along the way, if you are going to eat, then do it from a bowl.

We aren’t talking nuggets and chips being tipped into a cereal bowl and squirted with extra ketchup, but more about blending grains, veggies and proteins to balance portion control and goodness.

Bowl meals are fast, unfussy and full of fantastic flavours. They can be prepared the night before and be eaten while working or enjoyed at home, tucked up on the sofa with no trays and balancing needed.

We have put together our favourite combinations, so you can have a try.

Don’t be afraid; all you need to do is mix the ingredients together and then decide which bowl you are going to enjoy them from.

Cucumber, cherry tomato, rye bread and halloumi
1 handful of ripe cherry tomatoes, washed and halved
40g of halloumi, cut into slices and stir fried
Cucumber, chopped into chunks
1 slice of rye bread, toasted and cut into strips
1 tablespoon of toasted sesame seeds
A drizzle of olive oil
Fresh basil to decorate
Salt and pepper to season

Courgette, bean and mackerel
1 courgette, shaved
1 handful of olives (black or green), pitted and halved
4 tablespoons of kidney beans, washed and drained
1 smoked mackerel fillet, skin off and shredded
A drizzle of olive oil
Fresh parsley to top

Tuna, bean and rice
1 red onion, finely chopped
½ can of tuna
1 red pepper, seeded and diced
1 small can of sweetcorn
4 tablespoons of red kidney beans, washed and drained
300g cooked brown rice with added quinoa
50g kale, washed and chopped
Lime wedges and natural yogurt, to serve

Salmon and broccoli
½ head broccoli, cooked and cut into florets
100g fresh salmon fillet, skinned, deboned and pan-fried
½ cup of peas, cooked and cooled
2 eggs, hard-boiled and chopped
1 tablespoons of mayo

Grilled chicken and red pepper
1 chicken breast, cooked
1 red pepper, deseeded and cut into strips
1 cup of organic baby spinach, steamed
1 cup feta cheese, crumbled
1 tablespoon of roasted sunflower and sesame seeds
1 tablespoon of olive oil
A squeeze of fresh lemon juice

Sweet and green smoothie bowl
75 ml organic apple juice
1 banana, peeled and sliced
2 Juice of ½ a lime
1 large handful spinach
1/2 avocado, peeled and stoned
100g pineapple chunks
Granola, blueberries and raspberries to serve

To make this sweet bowl, put the banana, lime juice, spinach, avocado and pineapple in a blender and whizz until smooth. Pour into a bowl and then add the granola and blueberries and enjoy.

Each suggestion on this list makes one bowl and ingredients can be varied to suit tastes.

Got a bowl meal you love? Let us know about it so we can give it a try.

Team Pure Beauty

Celebrity Fans of Elemis

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beauty, BIOTEC, Cara Delevingne, celeb, celebrity, Christina Hendricks, Elemis, Elemis Japanese Camellia Body Oil Blend, Elemis Pro-Collagen Cleansing Balm, Elemis Pro-Collagen Hydra-Gel Eye Masks, face, facial, skin, skincare, Victoria Beckham

Sometimes, a brand comes along which is both impressive enough to be used by celebrities and the super-rich, but is also affordable by us mere mortals, and Elemis is definitely one of those brands. Although it’s prices aren’t as prohibitive as other high-end products, there are a lot of well-known fans of the brand, so we thought we’d take a look at some of the more high-profile fans of Elemis and exactly which products they use.

Cara Delevingne – Elemis Pro-Collagen Hydra-Gel Eye Masks

Image by Gage Skidmore (from Wikipedia)

Cara Delevingne is a model and actress who’s graced the runways for the likes of Burberry, Mulberry and Dolce and Gabbana, as well as starring in huge hits such as Suicide Squad on the big screen. Her make-up artist for the Suicide Squad promotional tour Romy Soleimani says “For Cara, all week long I used Elemis pro-collagen hydra-gel eye masks under her eyes while I was doing her make-up. Then I would peel it off and do her skin. It’s a great way of not only catching fallen shadow, but it also refreshes and plumps. Some mornings we started at 5am”.

Natalie Dormer – Elemis Pro-Collagen Cleansing Balm

Royalty-free image from Wikipedia

Natalie Dormer is most famous for her role as Margaery Tyrell, the young but ruthless wannabe queen in Game of Thrones. Her role is a tricky one and (spoiler alert!) latterly quite gruelling, but she swears by Elemis Pro-Collagen Cleansing Balm for keeping her skin clean and fresh. The star says “The best way to take my make-up off is with Elemis’ cleansing balm. I rub it all over my face, then use a flannel to wipe off”.

Victoria Beckham – Elemis Japanese Camellia Body Oil Blend

Royalty free image from Wikipedia

Victoria Beckham (sorry, but she’ll always be Posh Spice to us!) is such a huge fan of this oil from Elemis that she’s tweeted about it several times and has even mentioned it in her fashion book. She credits its use with her complete lack of stretch marks even after FOUR pregnancies and says “I have used this through every pregnancy, it’s amazing”.

Christina Hendricks – BIOTEC Facials

By Dominick D – https://www.flickr.com/photos/idominick/13334284895/, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=36716084

Christina Hendricks is well-known for her classic, vintage look and has skin which would make almost any woman jealous. She’s a huge fan of Elemis BIOTEC facials, using some of the most powerful products from the BIOTEC range. Her facialist, Georgia Louise Vassanelli, is one of the most sought-after skincare experts and says “My team and I love offering the ELEMIS BIOTEC facials; They are the perfect balance of science and nature, the right amount of hands-on massage with the sophistication of the machine, backed up with powerful chemistry in ELEMIS’s newly formulated professional products”.

Buy a charity Christmas card, change a life

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Alzheimer’s, cancer, celebrity, charity, Charlie Waller Memorial Trust., children, CLIC Sargent, deaf, dementia, depression, dream come true, gorgeous, help, holiday, life, London, London themed cards, Make a Wish, message, movie, National Deaf Children’s Society, organisation, polar bears, postbox, research, robin, robins, Santa, sheep in the snow, snowmen, society, suicide, support, understanding, young people

Whilst a text or email is enough for many, sending a Christmas card is still the traditional way to send love to those you care for.

Whilst you can go into any supermarket or chain store and pick up a great offer on a box of twenty cards, why not show your nearest and dearest you care as well as giving back to a charity close to your heart?

There are plenty of worthy organisations out there, so we have done some research and come up with what we think are the the pick of the bunch.

CLIC Sargent is the UK’s leading cancer charity for children, young people and their families. They provide support to help people cope with cancer and get the most out of life. From diagnosis onwards, this great charity helps deal with the impact of cancer and its treatment, life after treatment and, in some cases, bereavement. From sheep in the snow to contemporary candles, they have a gorgeous selection of cards to choose from.

‘Hounds for Heroes’ is a brilliant organisation that not many people know about. The team provide specially trained assistance dogs to disabled and injured personnel from the UK Armed Forces and the Emergency Services. They are based in Hampshire, where the puppies are put through their training before they go onto offer the companionship and love that can be missing when someone becomes disabled.

The National Deaf Children’s Society is dedicated to creating a world without barriers for deaf children and young people. This charity believes every deaf child should be valued and included in society and have the same opportunities as everyone else. Their cute cards feature Santa and polar bears, robins and snowmen and as you pop your cards in the postbox you know the profits are going to a great, life changing cause.

You cannot help but notice more and more media coverage about Alzheimer’s and you might even know someone who is suffering from it. The Alzheimer’s Society is a key organisation that campaigns for better quality of life for those with dementia and greater understanding of the condition. They are involved with research as well as support and are really getting the message out there so people know where they can get help.

A less well known, but still very worthy cause, is the Charlie Waller Memorial Trust. The Trust raises awareness of the symptoms of depression and believes early identification and improved treatment can help reduce suicide numbers and ensure sufferers receive the care they needed and deserve. We love their London themed cards and found their website, pretty impactful.

Last but no means least, is Make a Wish. We have a soft spot of this charity, which makes magical wishes come true for children and young people with life-threatening illnesses. From walking with dinosaurs, going on a brilliant holiday, meeting a celebrity or making a movie, this is where lives are changed and memories are made. Their robin on a pot card is as traditional as it gets, but it is Santa dressing the Christmas tree has stolen our hearts.

Remember, if can change in a moment so support a charity and change a life this Christmas.

Team Pure-Beauty