Helpful hacks to better sleep

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All these New Year’s Resolutions are great, and while giving up booze, changing your diet and taking more exercise are a positive step, they can all have an impact on your
sleep habits.

As we change the various elements of our lives, our sleep can improve in the long run, but adapting to a new way of doing things takes time. We have had a look at how you can get a good night’s sleep and bring a holistic change to your life in 2020.

Watch what you eat
You might be trying out a new diet or trying out veganism, but if you don’t eat enough during the day, or are fuelling up on the wrong things late in the evening, this could impact how you sleep. Don’t have caffeinated drinks before bed (remember hot chocolate might not be a sleep choice after all), steer clear of big meals later in the day and try not to have sugary snacks before bed as this can play havoc with your body, and teeth. If you are hungry, a banana or handful of nuts with a mug of warm water and lemon can help give you the balance you need.

Get into a routine
It is really important for you to stick to a bedtime routine, not because you are a child but because this will help both your brain and internal body clock find a new schedule every night. Try to go to bed at the same time each night and while a lie-in at the weekend is nice, just don’t over do it as that evening could spell sleeping troubles.

Relax before bed
While you might want to fit in a run at 9pm, it’s relaxing in the evening that will prepare you for bed and sleep. Taking a warm bath, learning simple relaxation techniques, doing some gentle yoga stretches and meditating are all calm, easy ways to help you unwind and get ready to rest.

Detox your bedroom
If you want to get to sleep, and stay asleep, your bedroom needs to be a quiet, clean, clear space that you want to spend time in. Chairs laden with clothes, shoes on the floor, dirty cups and glasses on the bedside table and endless open beauty products are not conducive to rest. This weekend, why not have a really good clear out, hoover and dust, set the radiator to the right heat, ensure the curtains are dark enough and see if this makes a difference for you. This is also the time to check out your mattress and make sure it is working, because if it is old and lumpy that is how you will feel when you wake.

Go screen free
Whether it’s a TV, laptop, tablet or e-reader, the glare of a screen in the bedroom isn’t going to do you any sleep favours. Keep screens out of the bedroom, get an alarm clock, read real books and you might be surprised how going screen free can help you sleep better.

Keep a sleep diary
If you find that you are doing everything right, but still can’t sleep, try keeping a diary so you can see what is happening. Note down what times you go to bed, what you did before you jumped under the covers, what you ate that day, when you dozed off (if you can remember) and what time you woke up in the morning. This might help you discover what is keeping you awake.

If you’re really struggling, maybe speak to your GP and see if there is an underlying issue they can help you with.

Team Pure Beauty

Clean up your make-up act

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We use our make-up bags every day, often more than once, but how often do you clean it and clear it out?

Made you think, didn’t we?

The reality is, life is busy, time is short and with a G&T with your name on it at the bar, you don’t want to spend your time sorting out old mascaras, but you need to.

Today we are looking at just how long you should keep your beauty staples, before throwing them in the bin and replacing them with something shiny and new.

First things first, take everything out of your bag, clean and dry it and if it has seen better days, buy a new one. This is also the perfect time to wash your brushes. Baby shampoo is brilliant for natural hair brushes and a gentle liquid soap does the job for the synthetic ones. Brushes really can be a breeding ground for germs, so wash them once a week to be safe. Rather than storing them in the bottom of your bag, keep brushes tip up in pot and allow them to dry naturally.

Next, sort out the products in front of you and anything that you haven’t used for a while, that is past its best or has had the top left off, should be replaced. It is also worth noting, if you’ve had an eye infection it’s a good idea to throw out make-up that could cause a re-infection. Oh, and if you want your stuff to last, don’t store it in the bathroom but somewhere cool, dark and dry.

The shelf life for foundation changes depending on the formula, but generally cream-based foundations last between six months to a year, and if there’s an SPF it tends to be less. Always pay attention to how your foundation looks and feels on your skin and if you notice that is starts to change colour or smell, it is time to ditch it. Also remember, as we head towards winter, you might want to swap your lighter sheer foundation for a stronger base but go for a product with light reflecting particles.

Ideally a mascara is good to go for around four months. After this time, they tend to become dry and prone to clumping, and using the same brush over and over can increase the risk of eye infections.

We all tend to have a different lipstick in every bag, ones for day, others for evening and ones we never even wear. This is totally fine but just make sure you keep them clean and if you come across one that is past it’s best, chuck it away and use another one. Oh, and don’t share them!

Eye and lip liners can last up to three years but it is likely you will use them before that, or they will dry up and crumble. Again, don’t pass these around on a night out and at the first sign of dehydration, bin and buy a new one.

Nail varnish is one of those products that never seems to die, but shake it and if the colour doesn’t completely mix or the varnish is too sticky to apply smoothly, it’s game over.

Got a tip we have missed, then get in touch and let us know.

Team Pure Beauty

How to Pull Off Dark Lips

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We’re not sure if Kylie Jenner is entirely the cause, but 2016 has seen a crazy amount of dark lip looks in magazines and on catwalks. It’s not always the easiest thing to pull off and you need to make sure you get it exactly right, otherwise it can end up looking a complete mess, so we’ve put together a little guide to help you to make sure you wear your dark lips with pride!

Exfoliate Your Lips

Many of the dark lip colours on the market right now are matte, which can be really unforgiving if you have dry lips. Matte lipstick can exacerbate dry lips too, making it a bit of a vicious circle. Using the Dermalogica Exfoliating Face Brush to gentle remove any dry skin will really help to improve the appearance of your lips, as well as avoiding further drying-out.

Add Moisture

Many of the ate or long-lasting lipsticks and liquids are incompatible with lip balm and simply won’t stay on your lips if used at the same time. Applying a slick of Dermalogica Climate Control Lip Treatment before bed each night will ensure that your lips don’t succumb to dryness, giving you a smooth pout.

Experiment with Colour

If you’re a complete beginner when it comes to dark lips, then making sure you get the right colour is essential. Opting for a shade with a blue base (no, we don’t mean having blue lips, we mean blue-pinks and blue-reds – YES, that’s a thing!) will ensure that your lipstick doesn’t make your teeth look yellow and starting with a more subtle shade before taking the super-dark plunge will help you to refine the look.

Use a Lip Liner

If you’ve got fine lines around your lips, there’s nothing worse than having lipstick that bleeds and it’s going to be especially noticeable if your lippy is dark. Using a co-ordinating lip liner will give you excellent definition around your lip line and will prevent feathering really effectively.

Set Your Colour

If you want to give your lips serious lasting power, then once you’ve finished applying the colour blot with a tissue and then apply a layer of finishing powder, before adding a final layer of colour to finish. This will keep your lippy in place for the majority of the day (unless you eat pizza. NOTHING survives pizza grease!)

Chocolate Week Comes to Town

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Love chocolate then you will love the fact that this week is Chocolate Week, culminating in The Chocolate Show at Olympia National Hall, London.

Milk, white, dark, organic, buttons, bars, the list goes on so we have looked at the best ways to indulge in this worldwide food phenomena.

Let’s face is, everyone loves chocolate cake, don’t they?

It is easy to make and for one cake you will need:

50g cocoa powder
3 large free range eggs
6 tablespoons of boiling water
4 tablespoons of semi-skimmed milk
175g self-raising flour
1 rounded teaspoon of baking powder
100g of softened butter
300g /caster sugar

For the icing you will need:
150g of broken up, good quality dark
150ml double cream
3 tablespoons of strawberry jam
Icing sugar for dusting

The method for baking this chocolate delight is very simple:

Preheat your oven to 180C / 350F / Gas 4, then grease two 20cm sandwich tins.

Put the cocoa powder and boiling water in a large bowl and mix into a smooth paste. Add the rest of the ingredients and beat until they are all combined well.

Divide the mixture into the two tins then place in the oven. Bake for around 30 minutes, until well risen and slightly coming away from the sides of the tin.

As the cake cooks, start on your icing. Pop the chocolate pieces and cream in a bowl, put the bowl over a pan of simmering water until melted, then leave to cool.

When cool, move the cakes from the tins and spread the bottom of each one with jam . Spread half the icing on the jam, sandwich together and put the rest of the icing on the top. Dust with icing sugar and serve in slices with a mug of hot

When we talk about hot chocolate we don’t mean a packet mix but a delicious, creamy drink that leaves you full and satisfied.

This recipe is perfect for cold winter days and you will need:

1 litre of semi-skimmed milk
150g good quality, plain chocolate, broken into small pieces
Extra chocolate for grating
1 vanilla pod split and seeds scraped out
1 cinnamon stick
A little caster sugar
Mini marshmallows

Making this luxurious drink is super-easy:
Gently heat the vanilla pod and seeds, cinnamon stick and milk in a saucepan until boiling.
With the pan taken away from the heat, add the chocolate pieces and then stir until it melts.
Whisk the liquid until frothy, pour into your favourite mugs. Grate a little chocolate on the top and together with several marshmallows and you are good to go.

Chocolate spread is a kitchen cupboard staple for many but why buy it when you can make your own? For one decent sized jar, you will need:

140g of dark, good quality chocolate, chopped into smaller pieces
160g of double cream
45g of caster sugar
2g of salt

To make the spread put the cream, sugar and salt into a pain and bring to boiling point. Pour the hot mixture over the chopped chocolate and whisk until smooth. Use a hand blender to smooth the mix and once cooled, pour into a sterlised jar and put in the fridge.

Happy Chocolate Week.

Team Pure-Beauty

Beat the Sunday Night Blues

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As we hit the last month of the year, the Sunday night blues are hitting hard as the thought of getting up on a Monday morning and making your way to work in the cold and dark makes you want to hide under the duvet.

In a recent survey by Monster.com, 78% of people said they experience “Sunday Night Blues” with nearly half saying it really gets them don’t.

Whilst we know it can be hard to shake that sinking feeling off, we have some easy to follow tips that can allow you to enjoy all of your weekend rather than spending it dreading the week ahead.

Switch Off
Whilst it is possible to be connected to work 24/7 connectivity, you don’t have to be. You are busy enough checking emails and phones call during your 9 – 5 (or 8 – 8) so at the weekend your need to switch off. We all know it is easy to check in incase of an emergency but the weekend is precious time off so switch off any work devices and relax – if something really bad happens, someone, somewhere will be able to contact you.

Plan Your Week Ahead
Don’t just save fun times for the weekend or you are setting yourself up for a mid-week fall. Plan things to look forward to during the week that will give you something other than work to focus on. We’re not talking anything amazing here but seeing a friend for dinner, tuning in for your favourite TV show, lunch away from your desk and planning a date night. You might think this won’t do anything but with the scheduled in the diary it will help make the week as fun as the weekend.

Make Friday Afternoon the New Monday Morning
Might sound crazy when all you want to do is forget about work but set aside some time on Friday to prepare for Monday. By doing this you can have things organised on your desk, a new to do list, your diary sorted and then on Sunday night your mind will be less likely to race and think about what you have to do at 9am the next day.

Make Sunday Special
Rather than using Sunday for chores and admin, instead, start to make Sunday a time to look forward to. Make it a date night, go out and see a film with a bucket of popcorn, cook a roast dinner, invite people over and really make the most of your day off. Whatever you do, put it in the diary, make it fun and stick to it and don’t think about work or the week ahead of you.

Relax before bed
With preparations for Monday complete, to keep your mind off the blues create a soothing end to Sunday night. Whether you meditate, do some yoga, read a book or have a hot bath; do something relaxing before you hit the pillow and go into a restful sleep. If you really can’t sleep, don’t lie there getting increasingly anxious, instead get up, have a warm drink, listen to some music and then try again.