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

Get Help to Grow from Pure Beauty

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ageing, brows, chaperone technology, collagen, collagen synthesis, decleor, Decleor Aroma Nutrition Satin Softening Dry Oil, dermalogica, Dermalogica Antioxidant HydraMist, Elemis, Elemis Pro-Definition Eye and Lip Contour Cream, Elemis White Flowers Eye and Lip Make-Up Remover, eye brows, eyebrows, eyelashes, grow, growth, hair, lashes, lips, make-up, mouth, nails, Nailtiques, Nailtiques Protein Formula 2, oil, over-plucked, peptide, plant, plucking, skin, stem cells, synthesis, TGF, tissue growth factor

Photo by Valerie Elash on Unsplash

One question that we see a lot is “what can I do to help my XXX grow” – be it eyelashes, fingernails or hair, many of us want to give our body a helping hand when it comes to growing. There are some products out there which claim to help, but which really don’t do much at all, but we’ve got the inside scoop on several products which really do help growth in some way. Here are five of them:

Elemis White Flowers Eye and Lip Make-Up Remover

A lot of people hate their eyelashes, claiming that they’re too stubby, and many people find their own lashes damaged after having extensions removed. This make-up remover from Elemis is not just good for getting rid of the most stubborn waterproof make-up, but it also conditions the lashes from the root and encourages healthy growth.

Nailtiques Protein Formula 2

Nail growth often feels sluggish, especially if you’re someone whose nails are prone to splitting. This formula from Nailtiques is designed for soft, peeling and weak nails. It helps stimulate rapid growth and strengthens nails. It has won countless awards and is regarded as a cult classic by the beauty media.

Dermalogica Antioxidant HydraMist

If wrinkles and fine lines are your issue, then this mist from Dermalogica is the product for you. Palmitoyl tripeptide-5 stimulates collagen synthesis, which helps to firm skin and overrides the effects of MMPs. It also activates Tissue Growth Factor (TGF), a peptide that is required in its active state for collagen production to occur.

Decleor Aroma Nutrition Satin Softening Dry Oil

The current trend for thicker, more defined eyebrows is all well and good, but if like many of us you spent the Nineties and Noughties over-plucking your brows into oblivion, you might not have much to work with. Lots of people are having good results with this oil from Decleor, which conditions the existing hair and daily massage helps to stimulate hair growth.

Elemis Pro-Definition Eye and Lip Contour Cream

Bigger lips are pretty popular right now, and if you don’t want to opt for invasive procedures like lip fillers, then this lip cream is a good alternative. New chaperone technology with scientifically proven plant stem cells help to re-densify, plump and re-build thin, ageing skin around the lips, leaving your mouth looking plumped and more full.

How to get back on the dating scene

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absent, app, blank canvas, cheat, click, clingy, cloud, compare, confidence, date, dating, dating app, dating scene, deal breaker, deep, dreams, duvet, emotional maturity, ex, Facebook, football, full-on relationship, fun, gamer, grow, gut instincts, heart broken, hobbies, hurt, intense relationship, interests, kids, lie, London, love, love affair, love at first sight, marriage, married, meet, new, opposites attract, past experiences, perfect, perfect partner, red flag, relationship, rose tinted glasses, rush, scare off, serious relationship, shattered, stability, Sydney, take it slow, the one, top tip, trust, Vegan

Anyone who has had their heart-broken, and let’s face it, most of us have, knows that getting back on the dating scene can be tough. Your confidence may have been shattered, you may not feel like trusting anyone again and seeing your ex on Facebook with someone new might send you crashing back under your duvet not wanting to face the world ever again.

The thing is, time really is a healer and at some point you will start to feel better and will want to get out again and even meet someone new.

The temptation for many people is to get carried away and jump into a full-on relationship with the first person you meet. We aren’t saying this never works and love at first sight doesn’t happen, but if you don’t know someone very well, then getting into an intense relationship too early could spell disaster in the long-term.

We have put together some top tips you may want to consider before going out there and dating someone new.

Don’t compare them to people from your past
When you first meet someone new, it is hard not to compare them with your ex, but you need to. For any new relationship to stand a chance of going somewhere, it is best to start with a blank canvas that doesn’t have the cloud of your past experiences overshadowing the possibilities of something new. Just because your last partner was a cheat, it doesn’t mean that everyone else will have a roving eye or everyone will lie to you. You may still hold a candle for someone you thought was ‘the one’, but they weren’t and if you compare everyone to them, you could be heading for a table for one.

Put the deal-breakers on the table
You don’t want to scare someone off but sounding out deal-breakers such as marriage, kids and location is something you may want to do early on, but not in the first five minutes. If you really want to have children in the future and your date is totally against it, they aren’t going to be the one for you. If you are happy living in London and their long-term plan is to sit in the sun in Sydney, you might want to consider what life with them would be really like and if you are willing to give up your dreams so they can make theirs come true. We aren’t saying only go on one date, but if you aren’t willing to compromise, and they aren’t either, this won’t work out, so have fun, but don’t get in too deep!

Are you on the same page?
If red flags are flying, there is usually a reason for this and we would suggest that you follow your gut instincts. Maybe they’ve never had a serious relationships, it could be that they have been married four times already or maybe they are addicted to dating apps. We all have a past, but you will soon get an idea of what someone is like and whether they are on the same level as you when it comes to emotional maturity and stability.

Find common ground
They say that opposites attract, but if your date lives and breathes football, and you hate it, how will you feel when it takes up every weekend and three evenings a week? If you are a vegan and they love a burger for dinner, how does that sit with you? You love being outside and they are a keen gamer – will that be a winner for you? No one is perfect, but you do need to be with someone who shares some of your interests and values or it could be a lonely love affair.

Take it slow
Many relationship grow organically over time, alongside trust, so don’t be in a rush. If you are feeling that they are too clingy, absent or let you down time and again, address that sooner rather than later, and if you think this could be it, just take your time and see where things are going.

You deserve to be happy, so enjoy dating, find someone you really click with and trust, and once you take off the rose-tinted glasses from the past you may well find the perfect partner for your future.

Team Pure Beauty

How to Re-Grow Your Over-Plucked Eyebrows

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3-4 months, avocado, brows, cycle, Dermalogica MultiVitamin Power Firm, eggs, Elemis Superfood Facial Oil, eyebrows, facial hair, fashion, fish, grow, growing, growth, hair, hair follicles, meat, natural, nutrients, nuts, oil, over-plucking, plucking, protein, reshape, shape, shaping, spinach, sweet potato, thick, thin, threading, tweezing, Vitamin E, waxing

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Here at Pure Beauty one of the ‘beauty truths’ that we wholeheartedly accept is that many things in the world of beauty and cosmetics are cyclical. This can mean that something which was fashionable for years can suddenly become the exact OPPOSITE of what’s fashionable now – and this has never been truer than it is with eyebrows! We all spent the majority of the Nineties and Noughties plucking our eyebrows into oblivion, only for 2017 to be the year of the heavy brow! Many of us have plucked our brows so much that we need a little help growing them back, so here are a few things you can try to give them a helping hand:

Step Away From the Tweezers!

This one may seem like a no-brainer, but you’re going to have to leave the tweezing alone completely for some time to allow all of your natural brows to grow back in. Once you’ve got a full set of eyebrow hairs, then you can reshape them (or even better, let a brow technician do it for you because, let’s face it, you can’t be trusted!) but until then you need to leave them alone.

Massage with Oil

Massaging the area will help in a few ways. Firstly, it will help to stimulate the hair follicles and encourage hair growth. Secondly, if you use an oil like Elemis Superfood Facial Oil it will trap moisture within the skin which your hair follicles need for healthy growth. Lastly, the nutrients within the oil, such as vitamin A and omegas, will also give your skin the vital nourishment it needs to be able to regrow the hairs.

Eat Protein

Hair and nails are made from a protein called keratin which is produced within the body, so it stands to reason that eating plenty of protein will help your body to have what it needs to some serious brow-growing. Things like meat, eggs, nuts and fish are all great sources of protein and will give you lots of hair-growing superpowers!

Vitamin E

Vitamin E is an essential nutrient for hair growth so as well as eating plenty of things which contain it (avocado, sweet potato and spinach, to name but a few), using a topical product like Dermalogica Multivitamin Power Firm can really help. It’s usually intended for use around the eye and mouth area to combat wrinkles, but adding an extra layer on your brows before bed can speed up the hair growth cycles.

Be Patient!

This step is really important! Hair growth usually follows a 3-4 month cycle, which means that from the moment you stop tweezing you may have to wait 16 weeks to see how your brows have grown in. You’re potentially going to look a little bizarre with wild brows in this time, but it’s well worth it and really is the only way you’re going to see what you’ve got left to work with once you stop the hideous cycle of over-plucking.

Small eco changes that pack a punch

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absorb, air, April, bag for life, bananas, bank statements, baskets, bushes, buying, car, cardboard, clothes, CO2, coffee, coffee outlets, cops, Costa, crazy, cup, cups, designed, emissions, environment, family, film, foil, friends, fruit, garden, good life, grapes, grow, happy, herbs, home, John Lewis, landfill, life, lush, M&S, money, mug, need, newspaper, outside space, paper, peat, pesky, plant life, Planting, Plastic, plastic bag, plastic pot, pots, public transport, read, recycle, recycling tip, save, share, shove, sink, Starbucks, sunny, take a look, tomatoes, tote, trees, veg, walk, win win, window sill, World Eco Day

While it might seem that the world around is going, well, a little crazy, World Eco Day on 22 April highlighted once again that the environment is also fragile and we need to look after it if we want to keep it.

Every single one of us can make a difference to our planet each day and we have some ideas of how you can make small changes that could help make this mad world a better place.

Let’s start at the beginning and before you get in the car, ask yourself if you can walk or take public transport instead to help cut down emissions.

Dentists tell us to change our toothbrush every three months. While this is good for out health, with around 65 million people in the UK alone, a massive 260 million plastic toothbrushes will be thrown in the bin – that is a LOT of rubbish. To make a change why not try a bamboo toothbrush that will decompose naturally once you are done with it? Oh, and when you clean your teeth, don’t leave the tap running because you will use a lot of water in two minutes if you do.

People are getting better at this, but when you go shopping take a tote or use your ‘bag for life’ rather than keep paying pennies for plastic ones you then shove under the sink when you get home.

Cling film really isn’t needed so why not swap it for reusable containers that will keep your food fresh and the environment happy? There are some fab, specifically designed products out there that look good, save you money and can be used over and over again, unlike that pesky film that gets all tangled up and doesn’t work anyway.

Make your life as paperless as possible. Read the newspaper online, get bank statements by email, pay by card rather than by notes and when you do have paper, yup, recycle it.

Plant a tree, maybe two, and some other green stuff and help make the world a better place in moments. Planting trees, bushes and any other plant life not only makes your home and garden look lush but they will absorb some of the CO2 from the air, making this a win, win change for everyone.

You can also make a difference by growing your own fruit and veg. However small an outside space you have, it is easy to grow tomatoes, herbs and peppers and for many things a sunny window sill and some pots and peat are all you need to go all good life on your family and friends.

Take-away coffee is very much a 21st century ‘thing’ but the take-away cups soon build up in the landfill, so take your own. From Costa and Starbucks to M&S and John Lewis, there are a wide range of funky cups out there for sale and many coffee outlets will take money off your coffee if you are using your own mug.

This is totally obvious, but recycle, recycle, recylce. Plastic, paper, cardboard, foil and clothes can all be reused or recycled so don’t put them in the bin and leave the mess for someone else to clear up. In a similar vein, take a look not only at what you are buying but also the packing things come in. Do you need your bananas to come in a plastic bag or your grapes to be held in a plastic pot? Fruit and vegetables are an easy way to start this so buy them loose and take them home in a tote or a basket.

Got a recycling tip to share, get in touch and let us know.

Team Pure Beauty