Unplug and live life

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Sunday 25th June marked National Unplugging Day, the third of its kind in the UK and something we think will grow and grow as more and more of us question just how much time we spend online.

National Unplugging Day is a day all about breaking free from technology and having fun with family and friends away from the screens and gadgets many of us use for more than eight hours a day.

Taking a break from social media is easier said than done as it is part of everyday life, but we have some ideas that might work.

Rather than starting your day checking Facebook, why not kick it off with a decent breakfast, yoga session of do a little meditation. Concentrate on you first thing, then worry about how many ‘likes’ you’ve had over night.

Go old skool and rather than buying the latest novel on your Kindle, got for the paperback and read it on the train or bus and we think you’ll become so absorbed you’ll forget to check your phone.

One day a week, maybe a Sunday, turn off all devices and have a totally unplugged day. Meet friends (no selfies over lunch), go to the gym, have a bike ride, visit a museum – the ideas are endless and none of the require technology.

Pick a sport, any sport but one that means you can’t look at your phone. Tennis, badminton and netball are all fast paced and need 100% focus, so unlike golf or running, you can sneak a peek at Snapchat every now and again.

Turn apps off. Remember the days when a phone was a phone? Go back to those times and take social media off your mobile and limit the amount of time you can check on what your boyfriend had for dinner or where the girls are planning to go at the weekend. The end of apps doesn’t mean the end of the world!

If you do work at a computer, turn the Wi-Fi off and simply concentrate on your ‘to do list’. OK, you might need to do some research for a presentation or look at stats for a report but other than that, leave social media behind and you will be amazed at how much you get done.

When you do leave work, really make sure you leave it behind. Turn on your email “out of office”, don’t divert works calls to your personal mobile, and don’t check emails until you return to your desk. Very little is so urgent that it can’t wait, even if you are the Prime Minster it seems!

Be in the moment. Rather than head down and eyes on the screen, you will get so much more from life by actually living it. Go for a walk but don’t take Google maps. Get on a train and see where it takes you, without looking at a travel and rather than sending your flatmate a text, leave them a note, go on, give it a go.

Don’t only ban tech from the bedroom, also give it a bedtime! Agreeing that you will turn of the screens an hour before you hit the sack will mean you and your brain start to slow down and turn off and really get some decent rest.

Buy an alarm clock. Out of touch we know, but if you wake up to the alarm on your phone or iPad, chances are you will check them before you go to sleep or if you wake up in the night. If they aren’t around, you can’t look and won’t get distracted for hours.

We aren’t saying do all of these tomorrow, but over time just watch how long you spend plugged in and think about what life might be like if you were unplugged.

Team Pure Beauty

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

Keep calm and get flipping

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baked beans, blue cheese, breakfast, brunch, butter, cheese, Chocolate sauce and marshmallows, Courgettes with feta cheese, crepe, delicate, dinner, eggs, fillings toppings, Fish fingers, flip, flour, fruity, ham, healthy, lettuce, loaded, lunch, mayo, naughty, non-stick pan, onions, organic, pan, pancakes, plain, Pure Beauty, red pepper., Rhubarb compote, savoury, scoop of cookie dough ice cream., skinny, Smoked salmon and cream cheese, Soft fried egg, spinach, strawberry jam, sugar and lemon, sugary, sweet, swirl, thin, vanilla ice cream, vegetable oil, veggie, whipped cream

Pancake Day, officially known as Shrove Tuesday, is heading our way and we are super excited!

The great thing about pancakes is that as well as tasting great they are easy to make and a really sociable way of cooking. Family and friends can all help with making the batter, fillings are a totally personal choice and of course, everyone likes to get involved with the flipping.

To avoid pancake disasters on the day, we suggest you get some practice in over the next week. For a basic, but brilliant batter, you will need:

140g plain flour
200ml whole organic milk
2 large free range eggs
Table salt
25g unsalted, melted butter
Vegetable oil (it has no taste)

With everything ready, sift the flour and a pinch of salt into a medium-size bowl. Create a shallow hole in the middle of the mix then add the milk and break your eggs into the hole and slowly whisk it altogether. Add the water, whisking constantly, until you have a smooth, lump free batter.

Keep the batter covered and leave it to settle for around 30 minutes, after this time you can whisk in the melted butter, again until your mixture is smooth.

Put a little oil in a non-stick pan and place on a medium heat.

Once hot, pour around two tablespoons of your batter into the pan and swirl around the based ensuring it is evenly coated.

The idea is to create a thin, delicate, crepe so you only need to cook for around one minute on each side.

If you are brave enough, flip your pancakes and hope for the best but for the more cautious cooks out there, use an egg slice to turn.

Once you have a stack of pancakes, it is time to get to work with toppings.

Sweet, savoury, healthy, naughty, skinny, loaded, sugary, veggie, fruity or plain, you can be as creative as you like when it comes to pancake fillings and toppings.

We are torn between sweet and savoury here at Pure Beauty, but our favourites, in no particular order, are:

Melted cheese and baked beans.

Fish fingers with lettuce and mayo – yes, really!

Ham, onions and blue cheese.

Peanut butter and ice cream.

Strawberry jam and whipped cream.

Chocolate sauce and marshmallows with a scoop of cookie dough ice cream.

Courgettes with feta cheese and red pepper.

Chicken and garlic mushrooms.

Soft fried egg and spinach with black pepper.

Rhubarb compote and organic, vanilla ice cream.

Kiwi fruit and blueberries with a drizzle of maple syrup.

Bacon with cheese and sun dried tomatoes.

Pulled pork with apple sauce.

Smoked salmon and cream cheese.

Banana and mango with crème fraiche.

Cooked apples with salted caramel sauce.

And of course, sugar and lemon.

Don’t forget, you can change your batter so it is gluten free, or use whole wheat flour instead of plain.

Pancakes are perfect for breakfast, brunch, lunch and dinner, so don’t keep them for just one day of the year, enjoy them all the time.

Have fun making your pancakes and let us know your favourite fillings.

Team Pure Beauty

Good books to make you glow

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50 Shades, antioxidants, beauty routines, brilliant books, Clean Eating Alice, Clean Eating Alice Eat Well Every Day, Cook Happy, Cook Healthy, Courgette Fritters, creative approach to food, dairy-free, Deliciously Ella, dinner, eat better, exercise, fat, Fearne Cotton, feel fantastic, food tastes great, fresh, fully illustrated book, glossy, gluten-free recipes, GOOP CLEAN BEAUTY, Gwyneth Paltrow, healthy lifestyle, healthy recipe book veteran, images, inside out, jam-packed, Joe Wicks, Lean in 15 – The Sustain Plan, lunches, make-up products, missing, phenomenon, post, Queen on Instragram, Quick Granola, quick-to-prepare meals, reading, recipes for breakfasts, recipes for cakes and puddings, refined sugar intak, Roasted Beetroot Salad, simple, skin issues, Sugar-Free in a Hurry, The Body Coach, trilogy, white stuff

No, we aren’t talking about the 50 Shades trilogy, but never have there been so many brilliant books out there that make living a healthy lifestyle so easy, and so obtainable.

Today we have a round up of our favourites and have a feeling you might be picking up one or two of them up for yourselves once you have read this post.

If you haven’t heard of Clean Eating Alice, where have you been? The Queen of Instragram has been winning the hearts of thousands online and now you can get your hands on ‘Clean Eating Alice Eat Well Every Day’ and become a fan too. This lush, clear book is easy to read, realistic and the images make you want to eat better. Her selection of recipes for breakfasts, lunches and dinner allow you to feel fantastic from the inside out.

We are massive Davina fans, and are in love with her fab book, Sugar-Free in a Hurry. Yes, it sounds scary to give up with white stuff but with Davina it is easy to reduce your refined sugar intake so your blood sugar is balanced, you lose weight and generally feel fantastic. Take a look at her recipes for cakes and puddings and you will see that you won’t be missing out on taste if you do try eating her way.

Another celebrity who is helping our skin glow and hair shine, is the gorgeous Fearne Cotton. Cook Happy, Cook Healthy, is the star’s first cookbook and is pack with super healthy recipes including Quick Granola, Courgette Fritters, Roasted Beetroot Salad, and Almond and Apricot Biscuits. We love the images as well as the down to earth approach that considers the cost of food and busy lives so many of us lead.

Joe Wicks, The Body Coach, has been hailed a ‘phenomenon’ and we totally believe the hype. Lean in 15 – The Sustain Plan is Joe’s third book and part of a plan that is helping thousands shift fat and build muscle. This glossy, fully illustrated book contains quick-to-prepare meals as well as achievable workouts, making it perfect for busy people who want to be healthy. Joe is fast paced and always on the go, but his food tastes great his results really do speak volumes.

Deliciously Ella is somewhat of a healthy eating veteran but we love her new book and continued fresh, creative approach to food. Aware of the impact food can have on health and wellbeing, Deliciously Ella Every Day is all about nourishing your body with wholesome ingredients, the easy way. Her second book is jam packed with ideas for simple but tempting dairy-free and gluten-free recipes that have been designed to be shared, and enjoyed, together.

Last but not least, we have included GOOP CLEAN BEAUTY. Written by Gwyneth Paltrow’s team at, goop, this is a modern day beauty bible. As well as looking at food and diet, this book also covers the power of antioxidants, the importance of sleep, the benefits of exercise as well as great advice about skin issues, beauty routines, make-up products. Whilst some of the ideas on the pages are a little out of reach, the clean, clear pages full of simple, beautiful images offer a little time out from life.

Got a favourite book, let us know about it!

Team Pure-Beauty

Boost your memory with your diet

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absorption, anniversary, B vitamins, birthday, boost, brain, breakfast, cell damage, cereal, diet, digestion, dinner, effectiveness, energy levels, food, free radical damage, healthy fatty acids, immunity, juicy blueberries, learning, lunch, memory, motor skills, olive oil, oxygen, play games, pumpkin, ripe, seeds, short-term memory, skin, smoothies, spatial awareness, spinach, stress-busting magnesium, sunflower, tip-top, tomoatoes, Tryptophan, Vitamin C, water

Ever go upstairs only to come back down empty handed?

Put your keys down and then can’t find them?

Go to dial a number, and forget who you needed to speak to so urgently?

Yes, us too.

With life getting busier by the day and demands stacking up , it is hardly surprising that are brains can’t always keep up.

Whilst we know that a good diet and plenty of water helps our digestion, energy levels, immunity and skin, it also supports our brains and memory too.

Even slight hunger or dehydrated can affect attention levels and play games with our short-term memory.

So, we have had a look at some of the best foods to eat every day that will make your memory tip-top in no time.

Let’s start with seeds. Sunflower seeds are bursting with vitamin E and B, and are a brilliant source of healthy fatty acids. Flaxseeds contain Alpha Linoleic Acid, a healthy fat that helps the brain with motor skills and spatial awareness. Pumpkin seeds supply zinc, which is great for your memory, as well as stress-busting magnesium, B vitamins and tryptophan, the creator of the happy chemical, serotonin. Adding a tablespoon of seeds to smoothies, cereal or stirring into yoghurt is an easy way to get this memory boosting goodness into your body and brain every day.

Berries are also another brilliant option. Tasty, ripe, juicy blueberries are thought to boost learning and memory because of their high flavonoid level. Experts think these protect the brain against free radical damage so popping them in a smoothie or eating on porridge can get your brain sorted for the day.

There is evidence that lycopene, a powerful antioxidant found in tomatoes could help protect against cell damage which occurs in the development of dementia. Cooked tomatoes with a little olive oil are a good bet as you optimise absorption and effectiveness.

Vitamin C is a total mental agility power house. Not many people know this but one of best sources comes from the simple blackcurrants with citrus fruits, red pepper and broccoli coming in a close second!

Spinach is an all round super-food and one that can help with your memory. The green leaves are full of Vitamin C and folic acid, both of which help create neurotransmitters in the brain. It is also a source of chlorophyll, which helps the absorption of iron and promotes the growth of red blood cells which means oxygen can get around the body and to the brain. In short, eat it with breakfast, lunch and dinner and you won’t forget another anniversary or birthday again.

If you eat nuts, your memory should be sharp as they are bursting with Vitamin E which has been shown to help to prevent cognitive decline. Leafy greens, olives, brown rice, eggs and whole grains are also Vitamin E options that will make you remember just what you went upstairs for.

What foods keep your memory in tip-top condition – we would love to know.

Team Pure-Beauty