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Radiant at Every Age: Exploring Aesthetic Options for Menopause Confidence

As women journey through menopause, the loss of confidence can be particularly pronounced. Many women experience a significant dip in confidence during this stage, with one contributing factor being the inevitable changes in appearance that come when we get older. However, in today's world, where options for aesthetic treatments abound, there's no reason for women to endure this loss of confidence silently. 
woman jumping

In fact, embracing aesthetic treatments can be a powerful form of self-care, helping women reclaim their confidence and embrace their beauty at every age.

Breaking the Stigma

For far too long, there has been a stigma surrounding aesthetic treatments, particularly among mature women. There's often a perception that such treatments are only for the young or those chasing an unattainable standard of beauty. However, this couldn't be further from the truth. Aesthetic treatments are not only about conforming to societal expectations but also about enhancing your natural beauty and feeling confident in your skin. It's time to break free from this stigma and embrace aesthetic treatments as a form of self-care during this time.

Understanding the Options: Polynucleotides and Chemical Peels

When it comes to aesthetic treatments, there are a wide array of options available. Among these, polynucleotides and chemical peels can be effective solutions for addressing the visible signs of ageing and boosting confidence.

Polynucleotide Treatments

Polynucleotides use fragments of DNA derived from salmon sperm. While it may sound unconventional, these treatments have been gaining popularity for their ability to rejuvenate the skin, promote collagen production, and improve overall skin texture! By harnessing the power of these DNA fragments, these treatments work to combat the effects of ageing, leaving the skin looking firmer, smoother, and more youthful.

Chemical Peels

Chemical peels such as SKINPROJECT are another option for women looking to rejuvenate their skin and regain confidence during menopause. These treatments involve the application of a chemical solution to the skin, which exfoliates the outer layer and stimulates collagen production. Chemical peels are said to improve the appearance of fine lines, wrinkles, age spots, and uneven skin tone, resulting in a brighter, more youthful complexion.

Elevating Your Look: Brow Lamination and LVL Lash Lifts

In addition to skincare treatments, aesthetic options such as brow lamination and LVL lash lifts can enhance your natural features and boost your confidence. Brow Lamination Brow lamination is a relatively new trend in the world of beauty that involves restructuring the brow hairs to create a fuller, more defined look. 

During the treatment, the brows are brushed and set in place using a gentle chemical solution, resulting in thicker, fluffier, and perfectly groomed brows. Brow lamination can help frame the face, accentuate the eyes, and give you a more youthful appearance effortlessly. 

LVL lash lifts are another game-changer for women looking to enhance their natural beauty without the need for extensions or false lashes. This treatment lifts, curls, and tints your natural lashes, giving them a longer, fuller, and more defined look. LVL lash lifts can instantly open up your eyes, making you look more awake, refreshed, and confident.

A Journey of Self-Love

Ultimately, the decision to pursue aesthetic treatments during menopause is a personal one, and it's essential to approach it with self-love and acceptance. Aesthetic treatments are not about changing who you are but enhancing the beauty already there. By embracing these treatments as a form of self-care, women can reclaim their confidence, celebrate their uniqueness, and radiate beauty at every age!

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7 Sustainable Tips for Leisure Clubs

Climate change is not an issue that any business or industry sector can afford to ignore.

From an economic viewpoint, becoming more sustainable is the only way for sports and leisure clubs to survive. In fact, club members as well as users of community facilities demand it.

Fortunately, multiple tips and changes can be implemented to make your leisure club more eco-friendly.

In this article, I will examine seven ways to make your club more sustainable and help preserve the planet.

Let’s begin!

1) Use Sustainable Construction Materials


modern house


It’s never too early to start thinking about sustainability. Even when you are just beginning to build your club, you can look into sustainable construction materials and ecological concrete options.

Carbon-negative concrete is an excellent and greener alternative to traditional concrete. Not only is it more sustainable than regular concrete, but it is also more affordable.

With a sustainable construction material like carbon-negative concrete, you can gain a competitive edge while also making a positive impact on the environment.

2) Make Your Sports Grounds Eco-Friendly

At your club, you’re likely to have areas designated for playing certain sports. From designing golf courses and ensuring proper artificial cricket pitch installation, regular maintenance is essential to keep these sports grounds in top condition.

However, using chemical fertilisers and pesticides could pollute the local water supply as well as endanger local wildlife. As such, you ought to examine greener alternatives that can help you best maintain an organic sports pitch.

Furthermore, during the off-season, you could also let the grass grow to attract more wildlife and improve your club’s ecosystem.

3) Invest in Renewable Energy

solar panels


Many homeowners and businesses have begun to embrace the use of renewable energy. With its efficient and cost-effective nature, all you need to worry about is the initial installation costs.

Regardless of these costs, renewable energy is very helpful in reducing energy costs and eliminating any worry regarding huge utility bills. Whether you would like to install solar panels or biogas, investing in renewable energy will help your club make big leaps in sustainability.

4) Provide Sustainable Food and Drink

As a leisure club, you will be offering food, drink and other refreshments to your club members. As such, make an extra effort to buy locally whenever possible to cut down on carbon emissions.

Moreover, look into whether there are any food surplus hubs near your club. These organisations prevent excess food from going to waste and help share it with the community.

By partnering with any such organisation, you can ensure that all your food goes into bellies alone instead of bins.

5) Understand Relevant Legislation

Another way to help you along your club’s journey to sustainability is to understand the laws and relevant applicable legislation.

If you were to flout any important laws, it could result in your club receiving a heavy fine. As such, to avoid this and form a comprehensive sustainability strategy for your club, familiarise yourself with all the relevant legislation.

6) Compile an Energy Efficiency Report


report


Creating an energy efficiency report can help you identify all the areas where your club can make improvements to increase sustainability.

To begin, consult government energy efficiency policy to better understand how to reduce operational costs and save energy. Similarly, perform an audit to create a sustainability strategy that will effectively reduce your club’s bills and its carbon footprint.

As an overarching policy document, it will serve as a key reference point for any individual decisions that need to be taken throughout your organisation. Consequently, helping you create a sound sustainability strategy for your club.

7) Let Nature Thrive

If your club has an outdoor space or plant pockets, think about and identify areas of space where you can leave nature untouched.

While plants like dandelions, buttercups and clover are considered weeds by many, they are also a source of food for pollinators. As such, avoid weeding them out whenever you can.

If you don’t have many green spaces, consider adding a couple of potted plants. Not only will they improve the aesthetic beauty of your club, but they will also make a big difference for the bees and butterflies.

To Wrap Up

Due to rising energy costs, it’s not uncommon for leisure clubs to incur enormous energy bills. However, there is no reason why you ought to let excessive utility bills dent your revenues.

By applying the right techniques and implementing certain eco-friendly strategies, you can combat this issue and make your club more sustainable along the way.

Sustainability is not to be taken lightly. Start small and gradually build on your achievements while making sure they align with the needs and values of your club. More importantly, never lose sight of the bigger picture of saving our planet.


Some Tips For New Freebie Hunters

Everyone loves the word "free." That's why you will find countless people lined up outside of Krispy Kreme when they are giving away free doughnuts. Yet the truth is, that people will go to any lengths to get something for free. Yet if you are interested in the freebie game, you will want to follow certain rules to ensure you get the most out of it. If you need to be better versed in the world of freebies, read on to find out my tips below.

Top Tips For Freebie Hunters

freebies


1. Don't Believe Everything You See

It is exciting when you get freebies however don't let your judgement become clouded by the potential of scoring freebies. Getting something for free can give us a very powerful emotional response which can trick our brains into valuing it more than it is worth.  This may cause us to forget our common sense and give away more personal information than we should. With companies looking to acquire more data than ever before, you need to ensure that not only the freebie sounds genuine, but you also read all of the terms and conditions. 

2. Don't Allow Your Expectations To Go Unchecked

The truth is, most of the freebies you'll get are going to be relatively small. Companies are giving away freebies for a specific reason. That reason is typically to get you to try their product so you can become a repeat customer. They know that if you try and like their product, they are likely to win you over as a customer. Thus, often you get smaller sample sizes when you sign up for a freebie.
 Don't expect to get a full-sized product. 

Likewise, these companies get so many freebie requests that you may not get everything you want. They sometimes have a limited number. To ensure that you aren't wasting your time, you should examine the terms and conditions when applying for freebies. Generally, you can find your odds of getting the freebie in there.

3. Always Ask

This goes for pretty much everything on this planet. You aren't going to get what you don't ask for. It's always worth emailing or sending snail mail to these companies with a polite request if you really want to try a product.  Let them know that you want to try out their product or enjoy using it. You will have more luck when a product has a new formula or is new. 

4. Don't Feel Guilty

When you are applying for freebies, don't feel guilty.  You may think you are taking advantage of the system or a company but the fact is, they aren't doing it for your benefit. They are giving away products and freebies because they know it can help them win over a customer. It's an effective marketing strategy. They know it may boost sales and score new customers. 

5. Get a Second Email Address

Don't dish out your primary email address. When you sign up for freebies, you are often required to input your email. This will give the companies a place to send marketing offers. The last thing you want is to clog up your primary email address with offers from all of the brands you're applying with. So get yourself a 'freebie' email address and use it only for this.

6. Get Ahead Of The Competition

As I said earlier, everyone loves freebies. Because of this, applying for freebies can be competitive. You will have a lot of other freebie hunters applying for the same freebies as yourself. The best way to stay on top of all of the latest freebies is by signing up for our curated newsletter. You'll get all of the day's top freebies sent straight to your inbox at around 11 am. Check out the freebie sites available online.

Let me know if you are a freebie hunter and what items you have managed to score.

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How To Rewild Your Garden

According to the Royal Society, the abundance of wildlife in the UK is declining. Our gardens are increasingly recognised as vital sanctuaries for wildlife in a world facing habitat loss. But how can we transform our carefully cultivated plots into havens for butterflies, bees, and a chorus of birdsong?

Below, we’ll explain how to rewild your garden, creating a flourishing ecosystem that buzzes with life while still offering you a beautiful, natural space to enjoy.

Create A Flourishing Ecosystem


wild flowers


The first step is to abandon the idea of a perfectly manicured lawn. Instead, embrace a diverse planting scheme featuring a tapestry of native British wildflowers, grasses, shrubs, and even small trees. Native plants have coevolved with local wildlife, providing essential nectar sources for pollinators and fruits and seeds for birds.

Include berry-producing plants like honeysuckle and dogwood, offering a late-summer feast for birds. For winter interest, opt for plants with interesting seed heads, such as echinacea or rudbeckia, which provide a vital food source for hungry birds throughout the colder months. Hollow stems in plants like bamboo canes can offer winter shelter for insects, while a strategically placed log pile becomes a haven for beetles, ladybugs, and other beneficial creatures.

Minimise Intervention

Resist the urge to constantly tidy up! Fallen leaves and dead plant material decompose naturally, creating a nutrient-rich mulch that feeds the soil and provides a cosy haven for overwintering insects and small creatures. You should also move away from chemical fertilisers and pesticides. These products not only harm the very wildlife you're trying to attract but can also disrupt the delicate balance of the ecosystem you're creating.

Give nature full freedom in designated wilder areas. You might be surprised by the beauty of a self-seeded wildflower patch or the industriousness of a colony of earthworms! However, minimal intervention doesn't mean neglect. If a specific overgrown shrub blocks a pathway or poses a safety hazard, selective pruning with a heavy-duty hedge trimmer might be necessary. You need to ensure the right balance between wild aesthetics and functionality.

Work With The Sun

flowers


Observe your garden throughout the day to identify areas with different sun exposure patterns. By understanding how much sun different areas of your garden receive, you can choose plants that are suited to those specific conditions.

Some plants thrive in full sun, basking in its warmth for most of the day. These are perfect for creating a vibrant wildflower meadow or a flourishing vegetable patch. Other plants prefer dappled shade, perhaps beneath the canopy of a mature tree or along a north-facing wall. These shady areas are ideal for planting ferns, hostas, and woodland wildflowers.

Let Nature Take The Lead

Our gardens are more than just green spaces; they're stepping stones in a vast network of wildlife corridors. Every rewilded garden, no matter how small, plays a vital role in the fight against habitat loss and biodiversity decline. For taking up the cause, you’ll receive a garden that requires less maintenance, is more resilient to pests and diseases, and offers a year-round display of beauty and wonder.

Let nature take the lead and be surprised by the beauty and wonder that unfolds. Over time, you'll see an increase in wildlife visitors: a bumblebee buzzing amongst the flowers, a robin perched on a branch, or a family of hedgehogs snuffling through the undergrowth. These are all well-deserved signs that your rewilding efforts are bearing fruit.

5 Tips to Help You Choose the Right Size for Your Pergola

Homeowners must be creative when designing gardens to make their homes comfortable and attractive. What better way to improve a garden than building a pergola? These structures provide shade without shielding the sunshine or the pleasant outdoor breeze. However, pergolas are pretty expensive. Therefore, homeowners should choose a durable pergola that complements their garden and home. Here are five tips to help property owners choose the right pergola size for their backyard.

1. Understand the Space

pergola


When installing a pergola, homeowners should not estimate the measurements by looking at the space. They need to be hands-on with a tape measure, ladder, pen, and paper to measure the space they want to install the pergola. They can also work with The Luxury Pergola to take the correct measurements and construct the structure. While measuring the space, they must consider obstacles like trees and flowerbeds that might affect the style of the pergola. Remember that the height of the pergola should be carefully calculated, especially if installed near the house.

2. Determine the Purpose

Homeowners must determine what they want to do with their pergolas and how many people they want to fit in these structures. They should also decide if they need to leave extra room for plants and flowers around it. If possible, they should consider the furniture they plan to use in the space to know how big the pergola needs to cover it and allow all their guests to sit comfortably.

3. Anticipate Future Changes

pergola


Future plans and vegetation growth could determine how a pergola will look a few years later. Therefore, property owners should understand that trees might flourish and block the view or the breeze they want to enjoy. They should determine the size of the pergola while estimating the potential growth of vegetation and the plans for constructing other structures around their home. This ensures the trees and structures do not overshadow the pergola.

4. Keep It Proportional

Homeowners need to understand that a pergola is an additional space in their home. Therefore, it is prudent for them to consider the size of their home to ensure the size of the pergola they get is proportional to that of the house. They should understand that a large pergola next to a small house will not be aesthetically pleasing. At the same time, a small one may not work well with a large home or backyard. The secret is to make everything proportional to boost the curb appeal.

5. Pay Attention to the Roof Coverage

Some homeowners want a fully covered pergola that protects occupants from the sun and other elements. Others install an open or translucent roofing that allows sunlight and allows free flow of air. Therefore, homeowners should choose the best material and install the right size of roofing to ensure comfort and convenience. The roof of the pergola should also complement the roof of the house., what is the right size of a pergola? The size of the pergola homeowners should install depends on their needs, space, purpose, size of their homes, and future growth. When it comes to getting these structures, homeowners should take their time and get it right rather than rushing and ending up with an outdoor structure that does not serve their needs. They should also involve professionals from the planning to the installation phase. This will minimize the chances of making costly mistakes that are hard to fix later.

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Where To Look For Freebies Online

There's a lot of free stuff online, but only those who know where to look can find it.

The old saying that says, "There's no such thing as a free lunch" is now obsolete. There are so many freebies readily available, that you can solve many of your problems without having to purchase anything.

Why You Need To Proceed With Caution




Freebies are awesome, but you should be able to disseminate between the good and the not-so-good ones.

There are situations in which it's better to avoid free stuff and others in which you should go ahead and get the goodies. This guide is going to help you understand what to look at before taking the freebie you need.

Twitter and Facebook

Twitter and Facebook are more than cool places to get fresh information on celebrities or on the life adventures of your friends. They are also the place to be for all freebie hunters out there.

Many brands are already present in social media, as that's where their potential clients are, too. Some of these use channels like Facebook to offer free product samples in exchange for a like or a tweet.

However, by overusing this opportunity, you can easily find yourself flooded with messages and updates from brands you don't really care about. Even worse, some of these companies may abuse your personal data. Social media is a thriving environment for fraudsters, so you have to be very careful.

Besides, your social media profiles speak volumes about who you are, so you shouldn't use them to endorse companies or products that could hurt your image.

Online Communities

The internet has helped our efforts to get rid of unwanted stuff. Freecycle and Freegle are only two examples of places where you can advertise your unwanted items for other people to take them. You can also use such websites to search for free things you'd like to have.

Sites such as Streetbank as well as specific donation groups on Facebook, have pushed this limit, allowing users to share more than items they want to get rid of. By signing up for this website, you can offer your services and list things you can lend to others or give away for good.

This enables you not only to offer your junk to others, but also to help people by lending them useful items, and to provide your services for peculiar tasks. The members of such communities help each other, thus being able to save some money by not having to pay for services or tools they need.

Nonetheless, you have to be aware that becoming a member of such websites involves giving as well as taking. You can't only benefit from the generosity of others without giving something in return.

Follow Freebie Websites

There are many companies that offer easy-to-win stuff on their Facebook pages. For instance, Domino gave away hundreds of thousands of pizzas to those who happened to be on their page by the time they announced the promotion. These special offers are difficult to get, as they last for a very short time. This is why you should follow some of the best coupon and deal websites. Personally, I'm a big fan of sites such as HotFreeStuff, because they usually post legit offers with quick expiration times. Here I can find lots of freebies that are in my neighbourhood, thus being very easy to get. You should search for such a website that caters to your area of residence, and follow it closely. Then you won't have to go very far away to collect your free stuff.

Unlike many other offers, you won't have to write reviews or use your social media accounts to promote anything. You may have to sign up for a newsletter or like a Facebook page. This isn't hard at all, so you'd only need a few seconds to grab your freebies.

Top 3 Sites


free stuff


1. Gumtree

Gumtree boasts a freebies section which is very similar to Freecycle. Its members upload stuff they don't need any longer.

You can expect to find some rubbish among all these listed items, but you may also find things you've always wanted to get. For instance, I've spotted a dishwasher, a vintage typewriter and a coffee maker in only one day. Things some people don't want to use anymore can be other people's treasures, hence the popularity of such websites.

2. Hot UK Deals

Hot UK Deals has been around since 2004. You can register for free. The site features the latest top 10 best deals, lots of competitions and requests for deals on certain products. It is definitely worth checking out.

3. HotFreeStuff

Hot Free Stuff is a user-friendly website that lists over 600 freebies. They add 5-6 new ones each and every day, so you'll find something new each time you check it out again. By taking a look once a day, you can stay on top of the news, and grab your desired stuff before it goes away.

Most of these freebies are product samples such as shampoo, chocolate, and various other products. I love this site for its toiletry samples, as they are extremely handy while travelling.

Things To Be Careful About

Read The Fine Print

You may come across popups saying you are the happy owner of a £100 gift card to McDonald's or another store. I'm sorry to tell you these offers are nothing but fake. To get your card, you'll have to complete several offers, many of them requiring a certain spend. You'll end up spending a lot of money in exchange for your "gift card", so it's obviously a scam. This is why you must read the fine print, as well as the terms and conditions before signing up for anything, even when it comes to global brands or big and reputable companies. 

Finally, I always use a separate email in case of spam or your inbox will be inundated with emails. 

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