Stress isn’t just for National Stress Awareness Day

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While the first Wednesday in November each year is National Stress Awareness Day, the world is a pretty stressful place a lot of the time and it is different for us all.

You might feel irritable and impatient, nervous or depressed. There can be knots in your stomach, a sense of dread and the inability to see the good in life. Panic attacks, sleepless nights, loss of libido and feeling sick, dizzy or fainting are all ways stress can be experienced.

If we are to thrive, we need to find our own ways of coping with whatever our busy lives throw at us, so we have some ideas we hope might help.

Know your triggers
A buzz word, maybe, but it’s really good to try to access your triggers, where possible. Stress can come from many things, be that work, kids, family, friends or other people on social media! If you can identify what causes your stress, this will help you to tackle it and get things under control. Start to keep a diary of when you feel stressed, look at who or what sets it off and if a pattern emerges look at the changes you can make so things settle down.

Look at your lifestyle
Exercise is often on the bottom of our to do list, but it is a great way to manage stress. Increasing your heart rate, eating a nutritious diet, drinking lots of water and getting plenty of sleep are really important if you want to keep stress levels down. Just as you track your stress, look at how good you feel after a run or a swim, and how your skin improves when you swap chocolate and coffee for fruit and veg.

Pick your battles
There can be many things in life that are stressful – from a big bill, unfair boss to an angry customer, but if you react to them all you are going to be ill. Choose which things you are going to actually direct energy at and try to resolve, but the rest can be put behind you because they aren’t worth it.

Let it go
Stamp your feet, shout out loud, cry or jump up and down or do some boxing! No, we aren’t talking about toddler tantrums, but letting out your stress and steam in a more physical way. If you are feeling cross and out of control, it might just help to yell about it and get that stress out of your system.

Switch off
Turning off your phone, not checking your emails and powering down your laptop can all help put a lid on stress. You don’t need to be ‘on it’ 24/7, and no one expects you to work late every night, and if they do, maybe you need to look at how much work is impacting your life and stress levels.

Be mindful
This is talked about a lot, but mindfulness is where you have an awareness of the present moment and you pay attention to thoughts, feelings and sensations in the here and now. Mindfulness is really good for healthy mental wellbeing, so if you feel stressed, take a moment and reflect. If your mind gets busy, mindfulness can help to slow it down.

Kick the bad stuff
Smoking, drinking and binge-eating are ways many people cope with stress, but none of those toxic habits will do you any favours. Giving up cigarettes, cutting down takeaways and going to the gym rather than the pub will help you to feel better in the long run.

If things are getting out of hand, chat to your GP – you won’t be the only one.

Team Pure Beauty

Top Tips for Returning to Work

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Whether you’re going back to work after maternity leave, have been made redundant or have taken an extended career break, going back to work can be daunting.

We have had a look at how to embrace change and go back to what you love in style.

Confidence
Be it six months or six years, time away from your workplace can leave you feeling a little lost and wondering who you are. Many people find that some of their confidence has gone and a loss of career identity leaves them feeling out in the cold. It’s normal to feel this way, but it is something that you can talk to your HR Manager and team about. If you are up to speed on changes, new staff and anything else major you have missed out on, it will help get you back to your old positive self.

Step back in time
Now is a great time to think about your past achievements and experiences as well as looking at your CV. Focus on what you have done, what you do know and get used to recording new wins and goals. While your confidence may have taken a little bit of a battering, you are still very capable, so when the self-doubt creeps in, go back to that list and celebrate YOU.

Value Yourself
It is really important that you value yourself in all parts of your life when you go back to work. Be sure you ask for the salary you want, as well as the support you need and don’t sell yourself short. If you aren’t’ quite sure what you are worth, do some research, speak to a recruitment consultant and look at sites like LinkedIn so you can get a feel for the land.

Flexible Working is Out There
If you’re looking for flexible working, you need to know that this is possible and there are companies who do offer it. This isn’t just about part-time hours, but compressed hours, working from home, starting the day early or working term time only. Not everyone will offer this but just think about how working life needs to look for you and go for the right fit.

Skill Up
Depending on just how long you have been out of the working game, you might want to get some new skills that will take you further in your career. Whether it is an updated first aid course, a social media seminar or a refresher in Excel, do what you can to make the transition as easy as possible.

Leave Perfection at the Door
No one, absolutely no one is perfect, don’t even go there. Yes, social media feeds will show ‘picture perfect’ people at their desk with manicured nails and a whiter than white smile, but that’s all about the filters and the good days. Do your best and that is more than enough.

Don’t Say Yes To It All
You will want to please your employee, your friends, family, and colleagues, but where do you fit into this picture. Look at your work contract, your hours, obligations and take it from there. Do the shopping online, share chores with your partner and if you need to delegate – do it.

Network
As the saying goes, it’s not what you know but who you know and this is pretty true when it comes to working. Connecting with old colleagues, bosses, HR teams and suppliers can be super helpful and just meeting for a coffee and catching up can lead to the unexpected, and in a good way.

Take It Easy On Yourself
Just as it took time to get used to being off work, you will need to give yourself time to get used to being back in the saddle.
Take each day as it comes, one step at a time and as the days, weeks and months pass by, you will find a new rhythm and even a more confident version of you will start to bloom.

Team Pure Beauty

Top tips for keeping calm

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Keeping calm can be a challenge when time is tight and someone then cuts you up in traffic, closes a door on you or doesn’t deliver their report by an already extended deadline. Anger is a normal, even healthy emotion, but only if you deal with it in a positive way. We have some simple tips that could help you, help yourself.

Think before you speak
In the heat of the moment, it’s really easy to say something you will regret later, so take a moment or two to collect your thoughts before saying anything. Hopefully others will do the same, and the situation won’t escalate into a disaster.

Talk when you are calm
Once you have time to think about things, and your anger has subsided, it is easier to be assertive, and not confrontational. Talk over your concerns without hurting others or controlling them, and life will be easier and calmer and you will stay calm.

Take some timeout
We often think that timeout is just for children, but it is helpful for grown-ups too. Having short breaks during the day offers you a little bit of quiet and can stop you getting angry and irritated. Have a cuppa, walk in the garden, sit and meditate, or just listen to some music and you can catch up with yourself – prevention is better than cure when it comes to heightened emotions.

Exercise = calm
Taking time out to exercise is a brilliant way to look after yourself, and to keep calm. A brisk walk or run, a swim, game of netball or even an afternoon spent gardening, can get your heart rate going and those feel good endorphins will make you feel happy and calm rather than cross and bothered.

Look for solutions
It might seem easier to focus on what depletes your calm reserves, but a better use of your time would be looking to resolving the issues bothering you. Does your son’s mess drive you crazy? Then walk away and close the door, he can clean it up. Is your bestie always late when you meet up? Then take a book and catch up with some reading and make the most of the quiet. Anger doesn’t fix anything, but it can make you feel worse, so curb it and will be calmer and happier.

Don’t bear a grudge
You might not want to forgive and forget, but bitterness can make you feel even worse. Why not be the better person and reach out an olive branch and that way you might learn from the situation and grow calmer and stronger, rather than being angrier than ever.

Have a laugh
If you can to see the lighter side of what is going on, if you search harder enough even that mouldy sandwich on a plate left by your partner under the sofa, might seem funny…….might!

Try to relax
As well as taking some exercise, you can work on your anger by relaxing a little bit more than usual. Meditation, long baths, listening to calming music, writing a journal, doing some yoga or watching a funny movie could help take your mind of your worries and help you to relax.

Seek help if you need to
While anger is a normal emotion, if you are finding it hard to keep things in check and your calm has disappeared, speak to your GP and look at what help is out there so that you and others are safe and well.

Team Pure Beauty

Wash away the day with Pure Beauty

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beauty bestie, beauty products, build-up, Chamomile Extract, clean and refreshed, clean skin, cleanse, cleansing action, clear away, Decleor Bi-phase Caring Cleanser and Makeup Remover, decongest, dehydrate, Dermalogica Precleanse, Dermalogica Special Cleansing Gel, dewy, dirt, Elemis Deep Cleanse Facial Wash, Elemis Rehydrating Rosepetal Cleanser, environmental pollutants, excess sebum, eye, eye area, front door, goodness, Grape Seed Extract, green tea, grime, healthy skin, help, hydrating, impurities, Jan Marini Age Intenrention Gentle Cleanser, Lavender Extract, make-up, melt, milk protein base, multiple, natural moisture balance, naturally-foaming Quillaja Saponaria, oak bark, Olive and Kukui oils, peppermint, plump, pollution, potent blend, professionals, purify, radiant, refreshed, remove make-up, removes, restored, revolutionary formulation, Rice Bran, Rose Petal Flower Water, scientific blend of virgin botanical oils, skin, skin pollutants, skin type, sleep, soap free foaming gel, soft, soothe, spearmint, sunscreen, sweat, tight and uncomfortable, ultra-clean, Vitamin E, Vitamin E and F, Waterproof mascara

From the moment you set outside your front door in the morning, your skin is hit by a deluge of dirt, grime, pollution and sweat, as well as your beauty products.

At the end of each day it is vital to clear away all of this, as well as your make-up, and we are here to help and ensure that your skin is clean and refreshed before you get into bed at night and go to sleep.

Whatever your skin type, you can rid it of impurities, without disturbing your natural moisture balance, with the Dermalogica Special Cleansing Gel. This soap-free, gel thoroughly removes the dirt you don’t want, and keeps the goodness you need, thanks to naturally-foaming Quillaja Saponaria. With added Lavender Extract mixed into the cleansing action, you are left with soft, clean skin whatever the day has thrown at you.

We don’t know about you, but some products actually dehydrate our skin, rather than hydrating it, which means it is left feeling tight and uncomfortable? We are pleased to say that this won’t happen with the Elemis Rehydrating Rosepetal Cleanser, which effectively removes make-up and the build-up of skin pollutants without taking away the moisture that keeps it looking plump and dewy. Vitamin E and F have been blended with Rose Petal Flower Water which together hydrate and purify even the most sensitive skin, leaving it restored, clean and radiant.

The Jan Marini Age Intenrention Gentle Cleanser is a mild, non-irritating formula which means it is perfect for sensitive skin, including the eye area. While it is gentle and non-foaming, thanks to Green Tea, Grape Seed Extract and Chamomile Extract, it gets to work on the dirt, but doesn’t take away the goodness even when used multiple times a day.

If you love your make up but you don’t want it to impact your skin, the Decleor Bi-phase Caring Cleanser and Makeup Remover could be your new beauty bestie. Created from a revolutionary formulation that is powered by a scientific blend of virgin botanical oils and floral water will cleanse, remove make-up (even stubborn waterproof types), soften, plump and soothe skin and help boost radiance. Phew, that’s a lot of goodness, so why not give it a go.

Want to take things up a notch or two when it comes to cleansing? If that’s the case then the Dermalogica Precleanse is the deep cleansing weapon of the professionals, and could be yours too. This fab product gives you ultra clean, healthy skin and works alongside your daily cleanser. Suitable for all skin types, Olive and Kukui oils melt layers of excess sebum, sunscreen, environmental pollutants and residual skin products that build-up during the day. Conditioning Rice Bran and Vitamin E not only nourish the eye area but are on hand to remove that annoying waterproof mascara that never wants to budge.

If you haven’t tried the Elemis Deep Cleanse Facial Wash yet, where have you been? This brilliant, fast-acting gel really is the ultimate daily cleansing solution for all skin types and it looks pretty slick too. A totally potent blend of Oak Bark, Spearmint and Peppermint has been added to a Milk Protein base and together the heady ingredients not only remove impurities but decongest the skin and leaves it clean, revived and totally refreshed.

Got a question, or want to try before you buy? Get in touch today and we can help with more info and send you some samples too.

Team Pure Beauty

How to keep your smile shining

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avoid, bad breath, bright, care, coffee, dental tape, dentin, dentist, discoloration, don’t smoke, enamel, essential part, expose, floss, fluoride toothpaste, food, goodness, gum disease, gums to recede, hard-to-reach areas, health and wellbeing, healthy, help, identify problems, inflamed, kits, limit, lower layer, meal times, mouth cancer, mouthwash, overbrush, poor oral health, professional teeth whitening treatments, questions, Red wine, remove, residual fluoride, sensitivity, shiny, sip, six monthly check-ups, slide, smoke, smoking, special toothpaste, specialist cleaning, spit out, stained, sticky residue, sugar intake, sugary foods, sugary foods and drinks, tea, teeth twice a day, tooth decay, trapped, treatment, twice a day, uncomfortable, uncomfortable bloating, wash away, water, whiten, yellow tone

A bright, healthy-looking smile can make a great first impression and also improves your self-confidence and overall mood.

While we all do out best to look after our teeth, they can easily become stained as a result of smoking, poor oral hygiene, and consuming certain sugary foods and drinks like tea, coffee, and red wine.

We have had a look at how can look after your teeth and ensure your smile shines the way you know it can.

Brush your teeth twice a day, everyday
Brushing your teeth for two minutes, twice a day with a good quality fluoride toothpaste will help to remove the problem plaque that can cause bad breath, tooth decay, gum disease, and discolouration. Brush your teeth in a circular motion, paying attention to each tooth on all sides. Once you have finished, spit out any toothpaste residue, but don’t rinse your mouth with water or mouthwash as this will wash away the goodness of the fluoride in your toothpaste.

Don’t overbrush
Yes, brushing is an essential part of taking care of your teeth, but you need to make sure you do not overbrush as this can harm your enamel and expose the lower layers of your teeth, known as dentin. It is dentin that has a yellow tone, and it is impossible to whiten even with special toothpaste or professional teeth whitening treatments and kits. Brushing too hard can also cause your gums to recede which can make your teeth look longer, lead to increased sensitivity and, in extreme cases, tooth loss. These are things you all want to avoid, so if you have any questions about brushing, ask your dentist and they will be happy to help.

Floss, floss, floss
Remember to floss between your teeth at least once or twice a day as this can help prevent gums becoming inflamed, uncomfortable or bleeding when you brush. Use a clean section of floss or dental tape per tooth, slide it in between the teeth, and gently move it up and down to remove trapped food particles.

Use mouthwash in the morning
Mouthwash helps to kill bacteria, even in hard-to-reach areas. Use a mouthwash at least once a day, but not immediately after brushing, as this will wash away the residual fluoride from your toothpaste that helps keep teeth healthy.

Avoid sugary foods and drinks
It is a good idea to try to limit your sugar intake as much as possible for the sake of your teeth, as well as your overall health and wellbeing. If you do have it, eat it at meal times and sip plenty of water to help wash away some of the sticky residue sugar leaves behind.

Don’t smoke
Smoking can lead to bad breath, gum disease, mouth cancer, and tooth discolouration, so give it up, today and you will be so pleased you did.

Go to the dentist
It is vital that you have regular, six monthly check-ups at the dentist. Your dentist can identify problems in their early stages and advise on appropriate treatment so that your teeth and gums remain in excellent condition. Also see the hygienist as their specialist cleaning and care helps to keep your teeth, gums and mouth healthy, and your smile bright and shiny.

Team Pure Beauty