Boost your business with a book

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author, Better Than Before, Big Magic, bloggers, Boss, building a brand, business books, business plan, Colin Barrow, cyber safe, designer, easy to follow advice, easy to read, Elizabeth Gilbert, employee, fear, Fiona Humberstone, food for thought, getting ahead, Gretchen Rubin, How to Style Your Brand, imposter syndrome, industry experts, Jen Sincero, John McLachlan & Karen Meager, knowledge, Little Black Book: A Toolkit for Working Women, love, make money, negotiating payments, networking, new, Otegha Uwagba, pages, photographer, power, practical advice, public speaker, read, self employed, self-sabotaging beliefs, sing, smart way, Starting a Business for Dummies, success, The Million Dollar Blog, Time Mastery: Banish Time Management Forever, transition, vision, work life balance, writer, You Are a Badass

With more and more people working for themselves, there has never been such a wealth of business books available to increase the knowledge of the self-employed.

We have had a look at some of our favourite reads and hope they will be food for thought for you too.

The Little Black Book: A Toolkit for Working Women is a ‘must have’ book every creative woman should buy. Otegha Uwagba’s compact companion is full of easy to follow advice and gives you a basic understanding of what you need when to do it comes to getting ahead. Whether it’s negotiating payments, building a brand, networking or being a confident public speaker, this book gives you insight and confidence and because it’s light, you can read on your commute.

Getting your branding right is paramount, and Fiona Humberstone can help you nail it from the start if you read How to Style Your Brand. From finding a brand focus, to creating an overall vision and how to the power of colour, this book can take you from OK to amazing.

If running late is your thing then Time Mastery: Banish Time Management Forever, by John McLachlan & Karen Meager, is the book for you. The authors teach you to make the most of your time so you can do the things that are most important to you and aren’t always chasing your tail.

Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert might not sound like a business book but this outstanding author shares her wisdom and unique understanding of creativity, so that readers can deal with what they most love, and fear. Whether you’re a writer, photographer, designer or PR, this book will help you look at your business, and your life, in a whole new way.

Starting your own business can be a huge learning curve and a reliable place to start is with Starting a Business for Dummies. The name shouldn’t put you off because Colin Barrow offers solid ideas and advice that can help you navigate the transition from employee to boss. Whether you need help writing your first business plan, want details about funding or want to keep cyber safe, this book really gets to the point so you aren’t left in the dark.

Better Than Before by Gretchen Rubin is a best seller around the world for good reason. Her easy to read book is full of practical advice and strategies on how to create a true work life balance and gets you thinking about what really matters to you.

If you want to know how to blog and make money from blogging, you need a copy of The Million Dollar Blog. Natasha Courtenay Smith has combined practical advice with interviews from industry experts so new bloggers and vloggers can get out there and make money the smart way.

If self-sabotaging beliefs and feelings of imposter syndrome get in the way of your success, read You Are a Badass and the pages will simply sing to you. Jen Sincero will change your beliefs and show you why you are how you are, how you can love what you can’t change, change what you don’t love, and be the success you deserve to be.

Got a book you love, let us know about it.

Team Pure-Beauty

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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

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

Life is easier with happy hacks

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#embracehappy, anti-fungal, bacteria, bed, bottom, brush your teeth, buffet, bus, busy, cleanses, clothes, cold tap, Commuting, crisps, damage, detoxification, digestion, easy, end of the month, eye strain, gummy sweets, hard earned cash, head, health hacks, hot, immune boosting, irritation, jeans, kettle, love, lukewarm, M&Ms, meditate, party, Pinterest, read, spinning, stomach, teeth whitening products, train, water, yoga

In a world that is super-busy, never has it been so important to take care of ourselves been so important, but this isn’t always easy.

You might think that not removing your make-up or skipping that dentist appointment might not matter, but overtime these little blips add up and could actually be more damaging that you thought.

We have put together some really easy health and wellbeing hacks that won’t eat into your day but will make a big difference to your life in the long run.

While many of us reach for the caffeine first thing, a mug of lukewarm water with lemon and cayenne pepper (we know) is way better. This creative combo wakes up your organs and both lemon juice and cayenne pepper have anti-fungal, immune boosting, detoxification properties that you will love more than the taste. Lemon juice also naturally helps with digestion and drives away bacteria and cleanses the system. What are you waiting for, put the kettle on.

We know that snacks like crisps, M&Ms and gummy sweets aren’t good for us but it is better to have a few rather than the whole lot. Why not put small portion into plastic bags and keep ONE in your desk drawer to curb that 4 p.m. craving?

The 5/7 diet is pretty popular and can be effective, but do you know about the 20/20/20 rule? If you stare at a computer all day and want to reduce eye strain and irritation, take 20 seconds to look at something 20 feet away every 20 minutes. Go on, we dare you.

The buffet at a party can be a real draw, especially after a drink or two. To stop the damage to your waistline before it starts, eat a plate of raw veggies before you leave the house to give your stomach a head start and allow yourself to feel fuller for longer.

If you are an habitual class dodger, book your yoga or spinning session in advance. The thought of being charged and wasting your hard-earned cash could be enough to make you get up and go.

Looking for inspiration for changing your home? Don’t splurge on magazines which will be out of date by the end of the month, instead make Pinterest your friend…you won’t regret it.

Commuting by bus or train needn’t be a headache. Use this time to meditate, do an online shop, read or catch up on emails.

If you want a few extra minutes in bed, layout your clothes the night before. From pants and socks to jeans and glasses, get your look sorted before you go to sleep and life becomes instantly easier.

Feeling hot? Run your wrists under the cold tap for a minute and you will soon start to cool down.

We are constantly seeing scary stories about teeth whitening products so why not take away the risk and use banana peel instead? You have read right, banana peel can whiten your teeth! Take some peel and rub it around your top and bottom teeth for around a minute, and leave it on your teeth for a further 10 minutes. Then, brush your teeth and after doing this a couple of times a week, you will start to see a shiny difference.

Put a motivational meme on your phone and computer, it will work, #embracehappy

Got a hack you love, let us know so we can put it to the test.

Team Pure-Beauty