Simple ways to get fit at home

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90-degree bend, apps, back, breath, breathe in, cardio, chest, chin, co-ordination, core strength, crunches, elbows, fit, fitness levels, flexibility, focus, get fit, grow, gym, heart rate, hip width, hurt, inner thigh, jog, lengthening your spine, local sports centre, lungs, mental calmness, nknees, online videos, outside, over worked, palms, park run, posture, Relax, relaxes, reps, safely, shoulders, skipping, skipping rope, small changes, Sofa leg raises and crunches, speed, Stair runs, stamina, star jumps, step classes, stressed out, stretch out, sweating, tree pose, triceps, walking, weights, woods, Workout with bottle weights, world of yoga, yoga

When it comes to getting fit, many of us shy away from making a start as it feels like a massive mountain to climb, and the thought of sweating it out in a room full of regular gym goers just doesn’t appeal.

So, we don’t get started and nothing changes.

Let’s stop right here for a moment.

What if we said that you can start to shift your fitness levels for the better in the comfort of your own home in just 20 minutes a day?

Yes, you heard us right.

You don’t need anything fancy, it’s all in your house already, and in no time at all we think you might start to like it.

Skipping
Let’s go back to basics and grab a skipping rope to get fit. It’s super simple and you probably remember it from your school days, but you’re jumping the rope, not stepping over it, and the idea is to increase your speed over time and being out of breath will show you are working well! Clear out some space, go outside if you need more room, and we would say skip for one minute, then do star jumps for a minute and keep going for as long as you can.

The reason this is good for you is because it gets your heart-rate up and gives you some cardio action, but it’s not too intense. Oh, and using the rope can help improve your co-ordination which is never a bad thing!!!

Sofa leg raises and crunches
To do this, simply sit on the edge of your sofa and put your hands either side of you. Straighten your legs out in front of you, raise them to 45-degrees, and then go back down, stopping just above the floor. Do twenty reps of these and avoid dropping your legs back to touch the floor in between. In addition to this as you sit on the sofa, do 20 crunches by bringing your knees up to your chin and then straightening your legs directly out in front of you.

This might hurt to start with, but both exercises work your abdominal muscles and improve your core strength, and you don’t even have to get up off the sofa – so try this double win!

Stair runs
Forget the step classes at the local sports centre, you can use your stairs to get fit. Start with walking up and down them ten times, then do it two at a time – you will feel a difference. As you become fitter, up the speed and you will see your fitness and stamina improve. You might find that in time, you start to walk to the shops rather than drive the car, try a jog in the woods or even have a go at a park run, you never know what small changes can bring to your life.

Workout with bottle weights
Start by lying on your back with your knees bent and your feet planted hip width apart on the floor. Hold a bottle in each hand with your arms outstretched above you, then bring your elbows towards the floor with a 90-degree bend in your arms, hold for one, and keeping your elbows where they are, unbend your arms to bring your forearms towards the floor. Try not to let your arms touch the floor as you do this, and while you can start with ten reps, build it up to 30 on each side over time. If you do this you will strengthen your triceps, shoulders as well as your chest. If you enjoy this, you can buy some real weights, but start here just to check out how it makes you feel.

Yoga
This beauty won’t see you out of breath, but it will help you to improve your focus, core strength, flexibility and mental calmness and it can help you to relax and stretch out – what’s not to like?

If you don’t feel like braving a class, there are a lot of online videos and apps out there which safely introduce you to the wonderful world of yoga where there is something for everyone.

We love the easy to do tree pose. To do this, bring one foot up to rest on the inner thigh of the opposite leg above the knee. Once you are feeling balanced, put your palms together and raise your arms above your head until they are nearly, but not quite, straight. Then, breathe in and out slowly as you maintain your balance and and feel your strength grow. We like this because it’s brilliant for posture and lengthening your spine, but it also opens your lungs and relaxes your mind which makes it great if you are feeling stressed out and over worked.

Got an indoor fitness tip you think we would like? Send it over, we would love to know more.

Team Pure Beauty

The Honest Truth About Ageing

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activate, ageing, Andrew page, chin, clump, collagen, comma, complexion, double chin, droopy jowls, dry dryer, face skin, genetics, moisture, moisturiser, moisturisers, moisturising, muscle tone, muscles, natural, night creams, older, plumped, plumpness, production, retain, signs of aging, Sinha, slim, smoothed, stimulate, stroking motion, thin-skinned, upper layers, upwards, youthful

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Unless you’re one of those unspeakably lucky people who has as the perfect mixture of genetics which allow you to stay looking youthful, right until you’re in your 80s, you’re probably going to have to come to terms with the fact that your face will start to show signs of getting older.

For some reason, many women seem to find the ageing process something to be ashamed of and will go to great lengths to avoid talking about it. Here at Pure Beauty, while we sell lots of amazing products which slow down the signs of ageing, we don’t think that the natural ageing process is anything to hide away from.

With this in mind, we thought we would take a look at the honest truth about ageing and what you can expect to happen as the years pass.

Drier Skin

It’s an unfortunate fact that as we age our skin not only loses the ability to produce its own moisture, it also finds it harder to retain moisture which is applied to the skin. Dry skin is something which almost every older woman has to learn to deal with, even if they’ve had oily or combination skin in their younger years. Investing in a good moisturiser which is specifically designed for ageing skin is the best way to tackle this, as well as using powerful night creams and serums to enhance the power of whichever moisturisers you choose to use.

Loss of Muscle Tone

Another factor of ageing is loss of muscle tone, which can give the appearance of a droopy face, and jowls underneath your chin. This can create the look of a double chin, even if you’re slim everywhere else. Facial exercises which help to activate and tone the muscles can help greatly, as well as ensuring that you apply all of your skincare with an upwards stroking motion so as not to exacerbate the effects of muscle droopage, by dragging the face downwards when you apply your creams.

Less Collagen

Everyone has collagen in their skin and this is the thing between the upper layers and your muscles which allows youthful faces to look plump and smoothed. As we age, our ability to produce collagen naturally is greatly reduced which is why skin begins to look thinner and more papery, losing that youthful plumpness. There are lots of creams on the market which stimulate natural collagen production and investing in one of these as you get older is a really good way to combat that thin-skinned look.

How to Cope with Rosacea

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aggression, cheeks, chin, cleansing, colour, complexion, damage, dehydration, Dermalogica Redness Relief Essence, Dermalogica Super Sensitive Shield SPF30, Dermalogica UltraCalming™ Barrier Repair, discomfort, dry, dryness, environmental, foundation, harmful rays, inflamed, inflammation, irritation, Jan Marini Age Intervention Gentle Cleanser, moisturising, nose, oil-based, red, redness, rosacea, rosacea-prone, rosea, sensitive, sensitivity, SPF30, sun, toning

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Rosacea is a difficult condition to live with. It often takes a long time to find a combination of medications and skincare that help and covering it with make up can actually make thing worse. Rosacea usually goes hand in hand with dryness and sensitivity and many cosmetics dry the skin out even more, making covering the redness tricky as well. There are ways to tackle it though, and we’ve got some tips to help:

Keep Clean

Cleansing sensitive skin can be difficult – you want to make sure your skin is clean but using harsh cleansers can strip away natural oils and leave sensitive skin more vulnerable than ever. Jan Marini Age Intervention Gentle Cleanser is gentle enough to use after chemical peels, making it perfectly gentle enough for rosacea-prone skin.

Tone Up

You may think that toning is too harsh for sensitive skin, but there are specially formulated toners out there to deal with such issues. Dermalogica Redness Relief Essence is a lightweight advanced treatment toner that helps calm and balance sensitive skin. It works to relieve, restore and hydrate sensitive skin against redness, discomfort and dehydration.

Gentle Moisture

After toning, you’ll want to do is prep your skin with a very good, but very gentle, moisturiser. Dermalogica UltraCalming Barrier Repair is a unique anhydrous moisturiser that melts gently into sensitised skin to soothe and help repair damage from environmental aggression whilst creating a shield against environmental assault, soothing redness and reducing inflammation.

Protect Yourself

The sun can play havoc with rosacea, exacerbating the redness and irritation and drying the skin out further. However, many sunscreens are too heavy for delicate rosacea-prone skin. Dermalogica Super Sensitive Shield SPF30 is designed for the most sensitive complexions and will give you broad-spectrum protection against the suns harmful rays.

Conceal with Colour

Before you apply your foundation, you can give your redness a helping hand by using a green-tinted base coat. Green concealers combat redness and act like a neutralising base underneath your normal foundation. This also allows you to use a lighter covering of foundation as the colour is being corrected. Try to find an oil-based product to avoid drying out your skin.

Are Your Intolerances Affecting Your Face?

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acid reflux, appearance, bacteria, biome, bloating, body, carbs, chicken skin, chin, complexion, dairy, dairy alternative, dark circles, Decleor Anti-Dark Circle Multi-Brightening Eye Care, Dermalogica Breakout Control, Dermalogica MultiVitamin Power Firm, Dermalogica Stress Positive Eye Lift, digestive discomfort, dry, Elemis Body Detox Skin Brush, Eyes, face, food, gluten, gut, inflammatory, intolerance, Keratosis pilaris, loose skin, pimples, puffiness, rough, skin, spots, sugar, tighten, wheat

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There are many food intolerances which affect people and it’s a common misconception that the effects of these intolerances are mainly gastric. It is, however, normal for certain intolerances to affect your complexion and there are specific ways that each one can affect you. Today, we’re looking at some of the most common intolerances and the effects that they can have on your face.

Sugar

Sugar is in just about everything these days because it’s cheap and makes things taste better (and makes foods more addictive), but it can really mess up your gut biome and this in turn can have an effect on your skin. If your system is sensitive to sugar, the bacteria which live in your gut can go a little bit haywire, causing dry patches and pimples on your forehead, bags under the eyes, a lack of tautness in the skin and even thinning skin. Obviously, cutting out sugar (or at least cutting down) is a must, but Dermalogica Stress Positive Eye Lift can also drastically improve the appearance of eye bags, while Dermalogica Multivitamin Power Firm will help to tighten loose skin.

Dairy

Dairy intolerances are really comon and many people report uncomfortable bloating, digestive issues and acid reflux, but it can also cause an inflammatory response in other parts of the body. This means that you could end up with puffiness in the face, as well as dark circles under the eyes and even pimples on the chin. After switching to a dairy alternative, use Dermalogica Breakout Control to deal with the spots and Decleor Anti-Dark Circle Multi-Brightening Eye Care to brighten the eye area.

Gluten

Gluten can be a hard one to avoid, especially if you’re keen on carbs, but a gluten intolerance can have an impact on the whole body. In terms of your skin, one of the most common signs of a gluten intolerance is keratosis pilaris, a rough, chicken-skin effect which affects the skin on your arms, thighs and occasionally your abdomen. We highly recommend using Elemis Body Detox Skin Brush to brush the whole body before bathing or showering which will help to reduce the rough appearance of the skin and help to stop extra skin cells from forming around the existing problem areas.

Easy way to meditate

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ancient religious and spiritual traditions, body, breath, calm, chin, class, count, cushion, feet, funny, grass, group, head, legs, lie, mantra, meditate, meditation, mindfulness, modern living, mouth, nose, park, perfect, phone, scan, smile, stress, today, toes, transcendental meditation, triggers, you

There is no getting away from the fact that modern day living is stressful, and seems to be getting more so.

Whether you’re commuting on a packed train into the city, constantly trying to meet deadlines at work, or bringing up small children, pressures can mount up and getting time to unwind can be tricky.

However, relaxing is key if you want to get the balance right and whilst we all do that differently, something we can all incorporate in our lives is meditation.

The word meditation, comes from two Latin words: meditari (to think, to dwell upon, to exercise the mind) and mederi (to heal).

Meditation is a mind-body practice that can help improve anxiety and reduce symptoms of stress, leaving you feeling calmer and more in control. It isn’t just about focusing your mind but also looking at what’s going on inside you, so you can really start to understand yourself and the triggers that make you anxious.

There are various types of meditation with many coming from ancient religious and spiritual traditions but the two most common forms are mindfulness and transcendental meditation.

Mindfulness meditation is about focusing on your breathing and transcendental meditation involves repeating a mantra.

To feel the benefits of meditation you can start with as little as five minutes a day and build from there.

You can attend a group or class, which can be helpful when you are getting started, but we have some tips to get you started on your own.

Do it anywhere. Sitting, standing, lying down, on the train, or walking but the key is to be comfortable and focused. Find a chair you really like, sit on the floor with cushions, lie on the grass in the park – the choice is yours but make it work for you.

When you meditate, go distraction free. Turn off all devices, leave your phone in another room and try to make your space as tranquil as possible.

Be open-minded. Meditation works best when you have an open attitude as this makes it easier for thoughts and feelings to flow and for you to relax.

Breath. Once you are comfortable and ready, start to feel your breath as it comes into your body, through your nose and into your lungs. Count one on your first breath and two as you breathe out. Repeat to 10 and start again.

Scan you body. As you progress and are following your breath, start to focus your attention on your body, one part at a time. Start at the top of your head, down to your nose and chin. Feel the breath in your chest, your stomach and your legs. Move to your ankles, toes and finish with the soles of your feet. How do those feel?

Don’t worry you’re doing it wrong. There’s no perfect way to meditate, just do it and be happy you’re doing it.

Smile. Sounds funny we know, but when you’re finished, smile. Be grateful you had this time to yourself and you took time out for you.

Meditation isn’t always easy and it takes time and commitment, but the benefits can be amazing, so why not start today?