Self Care – How To Start Loving Yourself

Tags

anxiety, bath, care, company, confidence, decleor, depressed, depression, dermalogica, Elemis, exercise, friends, hair, isolation, love, low, mood, nails, sad, sadness, seasonal affective disorder, self-care, self-esteem, shower, treat, walk, wash, washing, yourself

Royalty-free image

There’s a very real correlation between mental health issues and not really looking after yourself properly. A lack of self-esteem, depression and Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) can all leave us feeling totally unwilling to spend any time on ourselves, and this can feed into a very self-destructive cycle. We know how difficult it can be to force yourself to love who you are, but doing little things to care for yourself each day can really help your mood to take an upswing.

Wash Regularly

One of the first things that falls by the wayside when people are depressed is regular washing, choosing instead to languish in your comfy clothes and not take care of the most basic of functions. The problem is, the less clean you are often the more depressed you feel and the more depressed you feel, the harder it is to get yourself sorted. It may take all of your strength to do it, but giving yourself a nice bath or shower can really help to set you on the path to feeling better.

Look At Yourself Through Someone Else’s Eyes

If you’ve got issues with low self esteem, it can be really difficult to have a subjective opinion of yourself, because you’re internally programmed to just hate what you see. Try to look in the mirror each day and refuse to listen to the internal voice which cuts you down, but instead try to look at yourself through someone elses eyes. Training your brain to think differently, in the style of “someone else might think I have nice eyes” “someone else would probably love my thick hair” can really bolster your confidence.

Take Time For Yourself

When you’re feeling down, there’s a tendency to feel like shutting yourself away and doing very little, but getting out and about and doing something for yourself can create a real upswing for you mood. Take yourself for a walk, go and have a coffee, get your nails or hair done – it’s all minor stuff to most people but it will feel like you’ve conquered Everest if you do it, and you’ll have the added bonus of having nice hair or nails in the bargain.

Accept Help

If you’re lucky enough to have people around you who want to help, LET THEM! It can be very easy to isolate oneself and shrink away from offers of help from other people when we’re feeling low, but allowing people in can lift a weight from your shoulders, which in turn can help lift your mood. They say that “misery loves company”, but sometimes misery can go a long way to being cured with just a little bit of company.

Advertisements

Keep calm and actually enjoy Christmas

Tags

3am, basket, beef, best friend, breathing space, cake, celebrate, champagne, Christmas, Christmas Eve, Christmas list, content, cup of coffee, decorate the tree, delegate, dominate, feel good, festive period, flatmates, friend, gift, good, hair, happiness, hot, hug, in the moment, in-laws, keep calm, kids, last minute, laugh, life, lifted, lunch, masses, meditate, moaning, mood, mum, negatives, online, panic buying, Pat on the Back, perspective, plan ahead, pressure, putting up the decorations, recipe for disaster, Relax, Secret Santa, serious, shopping, slow down, stock of presents, Sugar Plum Fairy, take a break, The Holiday, time off, time out, turkey, wake up, wrapping paper, yoga

Don’t laugh, we are being serious here, you can keep calm this Christmas.

Yes, there’s the shopping to do, presents to wrap and don’t even start us on the table plan for the big day, but Christmas is meant to be a happy time when you can celebrate the good in life and spend time with those you love.

Instead of being annoyed you got the rubbish Secret Santa present (again) and laying awake at 3am worrying about whether to cook turkey or beef, keep calm with our easy to follow tips and you’ll feel like the Sugar Plum Fairy all the way to 2018.

Calm Time
Think about the times in the day when you feel calm and content and go back to those moments when you feel your stress levels rising. This could be when you wake up, sip your first hot cup of coffee of the day, you get a hug from your best friend for showing up to her work drinks or when you sit watching The Holiday for the 100th time – whenever it is, go back to that point and count to ten.

Feel Good
Don’t focus on the negatives and stop yourself from moaning, about everything that needs to be done. Yes, there will things you don’t like doing over the festive period, but why don’t let those awkward in-laws dominate your thoughts and instead think of the great stuff that is happening and your mood will be lifted.

Plan Ahead
Leaving everything to the last-minute is a recipe for disaster. If you can, start early, plan your Christmas list and every-time you are out shopping, add a gift in the basket. Before you know it, you’ve got a stock of presents, and there will be no need for panic buying amongst the masses on Christmas Eve.

Be a Kid
Christmas is all about the children and because they naturally seek out fun and happiness, we think you should do the same and are pretty sure you will feel so much better for it.

Take a Break
Rather than filling every moment of every day with jobs, take time out for you too. Whether it is lunch with a friend, having your hair done or going to a yoga class, putting up the decorations and delivering cards can wait, but your happiness can’t.

Pat on the Back
Remember what you have done already. Yes, you might not have the turkey yet and Aunt Betty might not have a present under the tree, but things will get done so just remember how much you have already achieved and give yourself a pat on the back.

Delegate
You don’t have to run the Christmas show alone. Getting flatmates to decorate the tree, asking your boyfriend to buy presents for his family, asking your mum to make the cake and buying presents online, will all take the pressure off you and give you some breathing space.

Meditate
Take ten minutes out to meditate. If things are getting too much, find a quite spot, concentrate on your breathing and slow down. By being in the moment you can take back control and look at your to do list with fresh eyes and a new perspective.

Stop and Think
Think about why you love Christmas, and the good things that happen over that special time. Christmas often passes in a blur of wrapping paper and champagne corks, but if you stop, savour the moment and cherish those you love, you will realise it is all worth it.

Set a Deadline
Put a date in your diary when you stop doing things for everyone else and start enjoying yourself. We all need to take time off and relax, and that includes you.

Whatever you do this Christmas, keep calm, be grateful for what you have in your life and be happy.

Team Pure-Beauty

There’s an app for that

Tags

1Password, 24 hours, access, adore, agility, app, balance, bed, calm, camera, carpets, class, clean, control, cook, easy to use, exercise, flexibility, focus, food discovery app, free, friends, Handpick, hangout, hangover, healthy habits, Houseparty, inspiring, inspiring recipes, jot, journaling, live, love, meditation and mindfulness, mess, mobility, mood, Moodnotes, online banking, own pace, password, physical and mental, question, recipes, relaxation, safe, schedule, screens, secrets, secure, self-aware, shop, Smartphone, snow, socialise, sofa, stickers, strength, tasty meals, teaches, technology, tidy, trending, trending dishes, tube, video app, video messaging app, web, well being, work, work surfaces, world, yoga, Yoga 15

Ever noticed how often you ask someone a question and they tell you ‘there’s an app for that’?

Increasingly people are turning to technology in all parts of their lives and while having some downtime away from screens is a good thing, apps can actually really help with the way you live, work, exercise and socialise.

We’ve had a look at some of our favourite apps that we think you might like too.

If you love journaling, you will adore Moodnotes. This cool app lets you jot down your mood and thoughts in an online journal that is easy to use and look cute. As well as tracking how you are feeling, with this on your phone you can learn healthy habits when it comes to thinking patterns and overtime, you can use it to help feel upbeat, more self-aware and it can be a way of taking control of your well-being.

Ever tried to get into your online banking or order your weekly shop and forgotten your password? Well, there’s an app for that. 1Password is free, easy to use and remembers all your passwords and keeps them safe and secure. All you need to remember is that one password and you’ll never be left scratching your head again.

If you struggle to come up with tasty meals, you need the Handpick app. By putting this ‘food discovery app’ on your phone, you will have access to a tonne of trending dishes and inspiring recipes that have been sourced from around the world, and web, that will change the way you cook forever.

Love yoga but never quite make it to your class, then you need Yoga 15 in your life. As well as a great website, the brilliant app teaches agility, balance, flexibility, focus, mobility, strength and relaxation. The easy to follow videos let you take things at your own pace and each one enhances your physical and mental well-being and means you can check out of your schedule for just a little while.

If you like your carpets to be clean and your work surfaces tidy but still want to hangout with your friends, you need Houseparty in your life and one your phone. This handy app opens in your smartphone’s camera and allows up to seven friends to join you, hang out and party on your own terms but without the mess or hangover.

Want to be down with the kids? Well then you need to download SNOW. This is a creative video messaging app that’s already been snapped up by over 100 million users around the world. You can use this app to send stickers and funny vid’s with live face effects to your friends during calls. You can send notes while chatting and invite friends to a group chat so you can catch up and share your secrets, well for 24 hours at least.

Nothing new about this one but we love the Calm app. Thousands of people around the world are benefitting from meditation and mindfulness thanks to this easy to use app. Listen in bed, on the sofa, even on the tube and learn how to bring your breath into the moment and how to keep a handle on your stressful thoughts.

Got an app you love? Let us know what it is.

Team Pure-Beauty

Replicate Your Spa Experience at Home

Tags

beauty, body, calm, candles, de-stress, dead skin cells, Elemis Body Detox Skin Brush, Elemis De-Stress Massage Oil, Elemis Quiet Mind Temple Balm, essential oils, face, feet, fragrance, full body, hands, harmony, home, massage, mood, natural, neck, oil, Relax, relaxation, scent, Spa, tranquillity, treatment

Royalty-free image

Having a spa day is great for mind and body but not always for your budget and although many people try to do it at home, their experience is often lacking that true spa feel. We’ve been taking a look at what most people love about their spa experiences and have put together a list of tips for you to use to make sure that your home spa experience is as accurate as you can make it.

Lighting

Trying to lay back and enjoy a relaxing face mask is no good if you’ve got bright overhead lighting going on, so adjusting the lighting is essential for a relaxing environment. Candles give the best lighting as it’s natural and calming, but if you don’t fancy having open flames around you you could try some battery-powered tealights which give off a really similar light to proper candles without the risk!

Fragrance

Smell is one of the most powerful senses and as well as being able to evoke strong memories and emotions, it can dictate mood and energy. If your house doesn’t smell fabulous when you indulge in a home spa day then it’s much harder to get yourself into the right head-space. Invest in an oil burner or some wax melts in a fragrance which promotes relaxation and also apply some Elemis Quiet Mind Temple Balm to your temples to promote harmony, tranquillity and relaxation.

Tools

Think about the treatments you intend to give yourself and whether there are any tools that you’ll need to do so. Obviously a fluffy robe and slippers are an absolute must, and you may want to lay an old, clean sheet over your bed to protect your bedding from any oils. Using an Elemis Body Detox Skin Brush to thoroughly remove dead skin cells and improve circulation is a great way to start your home spa experience and will make your skin more receptive to any other products you choose to use.

Treatments

Unless you have a willing spa partner, you’ll have to think about what you’re actually able to achieve by yourself. Obviously it’ll be impossible to give yourself a full body massage (unless you’re SUPER bendy!) but massaging smaller areas such as your own hands and feet, neck, face and calves is much more achievable. Invest in some Elemis De-Stress Massage Oil to help you to release tension and feel thoroughly revitalised.

Pick Your Moment!

Finding time for yourself can often be tricky but planning your home spa day is all about timing. Try to do it when you won’t have people walking in and out of your room asking for pairs of clean socks or where their homework has disappeared to, make sure the dog has been walked and you aren’t waiting for a parcel to be delivered otherwise it will all make it so much harder to get into a relaxed and serene mood.

A banana isn’t just yellow

Tags

banana skin, bananas, bites, blood pressure, calm, constipation, cure, depression, energy, exam, exercise, fibre, hangover, heartburn, mood, morning sickness, mothers, PMS, smooth, ulcers, vitamin b, workout

We all have them sitting in the fruit bowl, calling out to be eaten as they get a little browner everyday.

Bananas, the fruit we all love.

Bananas gives an instant, sustained and substantial boost of energy thanks to a combination of three natural sugars – sucrose, fructose and glucose as well as a hit of fibre.

Two provide enough energy for a 90-minute workout and this yellow wonder fruit has 4 times the protein, vitamin A and iron of an apple, twice the carbohydrates and three times the phosphorus and is super rich in potassium.

Wow!

We tend to say an apple a day keeps the doctor away but maybe it has been the banana all along?

Anaemia
High in iron, bananas can stimulate the production of haemoglobin in the blood and can help ease anaemia.

Bites
Rather than going for strong creams when you’re bitten by an insect, try rubbing the bite with the inside of a banana skin. Many people find it amazingly successful at reducing swelling and irritation and less toxic than over the counter products.

Blood Pressure
Bananas are high in potassium yet low in salt, making it perfect to help keep blood pressure levels healthy.

Body Temperature
Many cultures use the simple banana as a ‘cooling’ fruit to lower both the physical and emotional temperature of expectant mothers. Bet you didn’t know that?

Constipation
Not an obvious but because bananas are high in fibre they can help ensure you have regular bowel movements if included in a healthy diet.

Depression
Bananas contain tryptophan, a protein that the body converts into serotonin which is known to make you relax, improve your mood and generally make you feel happier.

PMS
Swap pills for bananas if you want a healthier way to deal with PMS. The Vitamin B6 found in the fruit regulates blood glucose levels, which can affect your mood so eat bananas as you relax with a hot water bottle and you will feel more cheery in no time.

Hangover Cure
One of the quickest ways to cure a hangover is by blending a banana with milk, ice and honey. The banana calms the stomach, the honey evens out your blood sugar levels and the milk soothes and re-hydrates you.

Heartburn
Bananas offer a natural antacid effect and can help sooth heartburn.

Morning Sickness
We know many people rave about ginger being good for morning sickness, but so are bananas. They help keep blood sugar levels stable and because they are low in fat so make a great, healthy on the go snack.

Stress
Bananas are high in B vitamins which are excellent at helping to keep us calm, so before an exam or big meeting, munch on a bunch and keep your cool.

Stomach Ulcers
Bananas can really help deal with intestinal disorders because of its soft texture and smoothness. It is the only raw fruit that can be eaten without distress in over-chronicler cases and it also neutralises acidity and reduces irritation by coating the lining of the stomach.

What are you waiting for, peel one today and feel tip top.