Indice dei contenuti per 07-May-2020 in Pick Me Up!

Flicking through my weekly magazine, I came across an interesting advert. The cancer charity Look Good Feel Better, were looking for makeup and skincare specialists to volunteer for them. As a beauty expert myself, I decided to apply. That was nearly 12 years ago now, and since then, I’ve been doing monthly workshops with cancer patients and survivors. For two hours, I talk them through beauty tips and tricks. The aim is to help them feel confident again. After chemo, their skin can be dry and sensitive, and they could have lost their lashes and brows, as well as their hair. So, for two hours, myself and sometimes a group of other specialists help them get their confidence back. We show them how to draw fake hairs onto their brows…

Sitting down with my mum Tracie, 52, I broke some exciting news to her. ‘I’m going travelling,’ I smiled. I’ve always wanted to explore the world, but there was just never a right time. Always wanting to put my career as a beauty therapist first, I kept putting it off. However, after just coming out of a relationship and leaving my job, I figured there could be no better opportunity. ‘Just make sure you’re safe,’ Mum smiled, knowing that I’d already made up my mind. And so, I booked my flights to Bangkok and six day later I was in the air, ready to take on my solo adventure. I had no plan, I just wanted to go where the wind took me. When I arrived in Bangkok, I started…

As the bell sounded, a crowd of children came bustling through the school corridor. ‘Bye Miss Taylor!’ they called. ‘Have a good weekend!’ I replied with a smile. As an assistant head teacher, I spent most of my time with children – loved every minute. I’d been doing it for 20 years, and the smiles on their faces when they learned something new never got old. The only downside to the job? Being around kids all the time meant I was always catching coughs and colds. With three children of my own – Shenna, now 35, Mari, 29, and Raia-Sunshine, 11 – and two grandsons – Shay, 12, and Rayne, eight – I didn’t stand a chance against catching the common cold. Now, in Autumn 2015, I was hacking away…

More playtime with our pups As households across the UK adjust to the new sanctions restricting outdoor activity, it seems that this has had a delightful outcome for the nation’s dogs. New data by the UK’s #1 dog activity monitor, PitPat, reports a 16% increase in dog activity, proving that owners will go to great lengths to keep their dogs healthy and active during isolation. Get active with your furry friend by learning new tricks, playing hide and seek, using food puzzles or doggy yoga. Remember to keep your dog fit and healthy during lockdown! HEALTH AND HAPPINESS Your furry friends not only improve your quality of life and happiness, but can also improve your overall health. Experts at Forest Healthcare share the incredible benefits your pet brings… 1. LOWER…

FINDING YOUR NEW BRA Looking for a mastectomy bra can be an emotional and overwhelming experience. Figleaves offers advice and products specifically designed for pre- and post-surgery to support you through your journey. From bras to swimsuits, Figleaves offers both style and support with prosthesis pockets and soft, comfortable features. Go to Figleaves.com to shop the range.…

Losing an infant child, during pregnancy or after, is an extremely painful experience. Losing an infant child, during pregnancy or after, is an extremely painful experience. Unless you’ve experienced it, you could never understand the trauma that comes with it. The grief and sometimes guilt can last a lifetime. ‘No sooner do we discover we are pregnant than we start to imagine our baby and plan our new life with them,’ Rachel Fitz-Desorgher, baby and parenting expert at The Baby Show, retired midwife and author or Your Baby Skin to Skin, says. ‘A loss at any stage, devastates those dreams.’ However, many parents can be brought out of this dark state with a rainbow baby. Whilst a rainbow baby cannot change the past, they can help a parent to see…

Working as a funeral director might not have been every young woman’s dream job, but it was all Rachael Anderson wanted to do. After growing up in Warren, Ohio, Rachael, 23, studied mortuary science at university and took a further degree at college. Her drive, her compassion, and her ability to make a lasting impression on everyone she met made Rachael a perfect person to comfort those in grief. Rachael was thrilled when she moved to Columbus for an apprenticeship at the Shaw-Davis Funeral Home. She loved it there. By January 2018, the role was coming to an end, but unbeknown to Rachael, they were about to offer her a fulltime position. Her half naked body was in the wardrobe Her future was beginning. As she approached her 24th birthday,…

Picking up the colourful mini bricks, I helped my son Kylan, six, follow the instructions in his Lego book. ‘It’s looking good!’ I told him. ‘We’re almost done, Dad!’ Kylan said, admiring his latest Lego masterpiece. Kylan is mechanically minded and, instead of buying pre-assembled Lego like most kids, he loves to follow instructions and make his own creations from scratch. When we aren’t out on day trips to the zoo or seaside, or on outdoor walks, we’re watching Lego movies on the sofa and building mini construction sites out of colourful blocks. It’s just the two of us at home, and I’m lucky that we’re really close. In December last year, we were making plans to redecorate Kylan’s room. He wanted it Lego themed, of course. But when we…

Planning ahead Cancelled birthday parties are bound to upset your children. But fear not, they don’t have to miss out at home! KinderList.com has put together a virtual birthday party guide to help any parents that are struggling with ideas in lockdown… • Plan – Invite friends and family to join in the virtual celebration via video call. Organise a date and time in advance and create a group chat for everyone to join. • Party food – Message guests in advance to prepare some fun food for the call. Bake or buy a cake, add some candles and let everyone sing happy birthday to your child together on camera. • Games – Organise fun games to play. Send everyone a personalised bingo card in advance and you can be…

Working from home With almost a quarter of workers thought to have spent nine hours a day sitting down before the coronavirus outbreak, the rise in working from home is thought to have only worsened that figure and as a result, the effects on our physical health, too. A new survey by Westfield Health, found that almost two thirds of people say they are worried about the impact of their sedentary lifestyles on their long-term health. They also found only a fifth of people are getting the recommended amount of exercise everyday. 60%… That’s the amount of Brit’s who currently suffer from a skin disease such as eczema, according to new research by The British Skin Foundation. Have you tried… Tints of Nature 50ml Hand Sanitising Spray, £5.99. With many…

Sitting in the car, I took a deep breath before turning to my partner Kyle, 36, and sharing some big news. ‘I’m pregnant,’ I blurted out. ‘That’s amazing,’ he beamed. In 2016, Kyle and I found out we were expecting our second daughter. We already had our little girl, Paige, now seven, and we wanted her to have a sibling. Despite being diagnosed with gestational diabetes and told to cut out the chocolate, everything was healthy. But then, at 34-weeks, I woke up in the middle of the night to a familiar feeling. Urgh, I’ve come on my period, I thought, before the realisation hit. I’m pregnant, I shouldn’t be having a period! Switching on the light, I checked under the sheet, where I was met with a large pool…

Whilst a rainbow baby cannot bring back a lost child, they can help the parents to heal. When Charlotte Warner, 24, lost her son CJ after carrying him to full-term, her world crumbled around her. ‘I’d had a perfectly healthy pregnancy and got to full-term without any complications. ‘However, when CJ was due on 28 April, there was no sign of him. Hospital in Tooting scheduled Charlotte to be induced. ‘When we arrived, a midwife checked CJ’s heartbeat and everything was OK. ‘Within the hour I started to get contractions, but they came on in full-force instantly. ‘I asked the midwife if it was normal and she reassured me everything was fine, however no one checked on CJ.’ Then, in the early hours of the morning Charlotte’s waters broke. ‘A midwife…

Speaking up about hair loss Queen of the Jungle Jacqueline Jossa and Pantene Power Squad member Katie Piper, have launched an exclusive episode of ‘Katie Piper’s Extraordinary people’ to raise awareness of postpartum hair loss. A surprisingly common, yet widely unspoken about experience, 80% of women in Europe complain of suffering from this. Yet, unavoidable hormone triggers that come with postpartum can cause a natural increase in hair loss. Collaborating with Pantene’s Pro-V Miracles Grow Strong Collection, Katie and Jacqueline discuss their own experiences. Bringing women together, they shine a light on this largely unspoken about condition. HAIR HEROES FROM THE HAIR BOSS 1.The Balayage Shampoo, £7.99 With balayage, the hair at the root is ‘virgin’, so it has a lot more oil than coloured or over styled ends. This…

Gü Light Range, £3.30, all major supermarkets. Health-conscious pudding lovers are in for a treat as Gü launches their new lower-calorie puds. Each dessert is made up of a silky cheesecake layer on a sweet fruit compote, topped with a sprinkling of crumbled biscuit. Peperami Pep’d Up Chicken Bites, £1.29, Asda, Tesco and Morrisons. Packed full of tender, succulent deliciousness, Pep’d Up Chicken Bites are made with 100% chicken breast, great for those in need of a post-workout snack. Baxters Plant Based Soup, £1.55, Tesco. Baxters are stepping into new territory within the soup aisle, launching their first ever tinned plantbased soup! The flavours include, jackfruit, sweet potato and butternut squash and lentil. Goodfella’s Meatless Mediterranean Pizza, £2.50, Asda and Sainsbury’s. If you’re cutting down on meat and dairy, it…

Getting home from work after another busy day, I was exhausted. I was working long hours at my high-flying job in logistics and my health was beginning to suffer. Spending hours travelling up and down the country every week, I knew something needed to change. ‘I can’t go on like this,’ I said to my husband, Richard, 47. I’d been in a series of accidents which had a knockon effect, and by now I was really starting to struggle. I couldn’t even drive in to work, let alone do my job when I got there. I had Fibromyalgia, and Myelopathy – a longterm incurable illness that was a result of damage to the spinal cord. I carried on for as long as I could, until my doctor managed to talk…

Fill it! Complete the grid then read down the shaded squares to reveal the hidden answer. Clue: Football term. ACROSS 1 Native American language (6)4 2007 fantasy film starring Claire Danes and Charlie Cox (8)10 Irritated (7)11 Enliven (7)12 Additional (4)13 2010 fantasy children’s film starring Dwayne Johnson (5,5)15 Underground passage (6)16 Frighten (7)20 Chorus (7)21 Exhausts (4,2)24 Grocery carrying container (7,3)26 Competent (4)28 Cover and extend beyond (7)29 Demanded further performance (7)30 Produce a new version of an album or film (8)31 Have in mind, mean (6) DOWN 1 Narrowly-avoided collision (4,4)2 Deserving reverence (9)3 Rapper and record producer whose first album was titled Reasonable Doubt (3-1)5 Grip (8)6 The Amazon, for example (10)7 One of the five basic tastes (5)8 Fabric design (3-3)9 A fool (5)14 Coiffures (10)17…

I stroked the fabric of the wristband pinned to my notice board and sighed. It was 2003, two years after my younger brother Michael had taken his own life, aged just 21, and I was still blind with grief. Casting my eyes over the hundreds of music concert wristbands, I could hear the songs of our favourite bands playing in my head – we’d both loved Marilyn Manson, Blink 182 and Nirvana. Michael had been my best friend, and I still hadn’t come to terms with his death. After coming out as gay earlier that year, he’d suffered a torrent of abuse. People would shout homophobic comments at him in the streets, and he was beaten up a lot by strangers. Utterly broken down, Michael had overdosed on alcohol and…

Looking out at sea, I took in the beautiful sunset. ‘Happy 80th birthday, Mum,’ I smiled, cheering a glass of Aperol spritz – Mum’s first ever cocktail. In May last year, we were on a girl’s trip to Corfu to celebrate her birthday. Chatting with the locals, eating delicious food and making memories together – it was the loveliest holiday. Mum had bought her watercolour paints and pad, and at every chance she got, she was bringing the gorgeous island to life in her little book. My mum, Rosemary 80, was an artist, and she was wellknown at home in Barnstaple for her paintings. ‘Morning, Rose,’ locals would call out, as Mum painted the brick houses of Devon in watercolour. Wrapped up against the cold weather, stool and trolley in…

The British asparagus season officially starts in April and only lasts two months so 40 you need to eat as much possible while you can! Asparagus is a labour of love, as each spear is cut by hand when it reaches just the right height. Asparagus also contains vitamin C which helps give your immune system a boost. For more inspiration visit www.britishasparagus.com Serves: 2 Mexican loaded sweet potatoes □ 2 large sweet potatoes□ 2 tbsp olive oil□ 1 small red onion, chopped□ 1 tsp hot, smoked paprika□ 1 tsp ground cumin□ 1 red pepper, deseeded and chopped□ 1 small tin sweetcorn, drained□ Sriracha□ Tahini□ 3 tbsp chopped coriander 1 Preheat the oven to 190?c. Prick the sweet potatoes all over and put on a baking tray lined with tin…