Valentine’s Day is just around the corner, and whether you are heading out on a date, spending the evening with the girls, or expecting a romantic night in with your loved one, we all want to look our best, so why not start thinking about your skin now?

Winter can be extremely damaging to the skin: central heating and constantly moving from heated cars and buildings to the cold winter air and back again can cause dryness and irritation, while exposure to harsh weather can lead to dry, chapped skin and redness.

So to get your face back in shape, here are a few Valentine’s beauty tips you can use any time – Valentine’s day or not!

* Drink loads of water – nothing peps up the skin like it. Your face will feel firmer and smoother if it is better hydrated, and you’ll give your whole body a good flushing out, clearing toxins from your skin at the same time.

* Eat loads of fresh fruit and vegetables – blueberries are said to be beneficial to the complexion, and because fruit and veg have high vitamin, mineral and water content, you’ll be giving your skin everything it needs to look and feel healthy.

* Protect your lips – use a lip balm to keep lips from drying out or chapping in the cold weather.

* Use a hydrating face mask once a week to put lost moisture back into your skin.

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Brace yourselves! This week Sudocrem Skin Care Cream has launched a fantastic competition!

From today you can WIN a Diane Von Furstenburg Handbag & iPhone 4S!

Sudocrem Skin Care Cream have launched their latest Facebook competition, with the winner bagging themselves an iconic Diane Von Furstenburg Handbag, an iPhone 4S and a year’s supply of handbag sized Sudocrem Skin Care Cream to boot!

And that’s not all! 50 runners up will receive a FREE tube of Sudocrem Skin Care Cream. Terms and Conditions apply.

All you have to do is answer three simple questions about Sudocrem Skin Care Cream to enter. It’s as easy as that!

HOW TO ENTER:

Step 1 – Just visit facebook.com/sudocremtube and ‘like’ the page

Step 2 – Answer three questions about Sudocrem Skin Care Cream correctly and complete your contact details

Step 3 – The winner and runners up will be chosen randomly from those that answer all three questions correctly. Keep your fingers crossed that you win!

GO ON! What are you waiting for?

They say that laughter is the best medicine, and it seems that the medical world agrees with laughing therapy, because hospitals around the country have starting installing cinemas, where patients and their families can enjoy a good comedy or other film from their wheelchair or hospital beds.

So far, a handful of hospitals in and around London have had them installed, and more are currently in development across the UK.

Films can inspire us to make changes in our lives, whether it is aspiring to a new career or vocation, vowing to lose weight and get fit, or simply deciding to change our hairstyle – watching a film can prompt regeneration in our own lives.

And yes, a few laughs at a good comedy can really lift you up when life is getting you down, and give you something else to think about, even if only for a couple of hours. Laughing therapy – what’s not to like?!

My favourite type of film is a chick-flick, but I can’t watch one in the cinema, because there is a girly pampering ritual that needs to accompany any chick-flick. If I have an evening to myself, I like to get out all my lotions and potions, pour a glass of wine, and put on a good rom-com.

Then I sit back and revel in someone else’s world for a while with my face dotted with Sudocrem and my fingers and toes drying, while I sip chardonnay and consider whether the hairstyle of the lead character would look as good on me as it does on her.

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Getting your five-a-day isn’t always easy, especially if you eat on the run or late at night, when convenience comes before nutritional value.

A smoothie is a great way to start the day and a perfect addition to any weight-loss plan, and it’s easier than you might think to make a perfect nutritional smoothie every day that will keep you going from breakfast to lunch.

If you’re really clever. your nutritional smoothie can include several of your recommended nutritional targets: some if not all of your five fruit and veg for the day, one of your recommended three dairy portions, and even one or more of your three recommended portions of whole grains.

* First, you don’t need a special juicer or expensive smoothie maker – a simple, small blender will do.

* Start with either some milk or, if you prefer, some fruit juice – juice from a carton is fine and still counts as one of your fruit portions.

* Add some frozen berries – you can buy these in a bag from the supermarket and keep them in the freezer, and they also give your smoothie a lovely chilled effect straight from the blender!

* Add another portion or two of fresh fruit – kiwi or strawberries give a nice lift to the flavor, while a banana will tone it down for a smoother taste and thicker effect.

* Then if you want to, add a small handful of rolled porridge oats and some seeds – flaxseeds are known for their belly-busting properties.

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In the depths of winter, when the warm days of summer seem both a long time ago and a long time yet to come, it can be hard to find reasons to go outside for anything other than work or emergency shopping (and by that, I don’t mean a shoe crisis).

But while hibernating under the duvet with a mug of tea and a good book might feel like the best idea today, it is important to get out and about for some fresh air and sunlight whenever you can, because lack of natural daylight can lead to depression, and missing out on exercise is not good for either your mental or your physical wellbeing. Embrace Winter!

So if you need a good excuse to throw off the blankets and get out into the great outdoors, here are a few ideas to help you embrace Winter:

* It’s easier to get warm if you get your blood pumping: some days, when I’ve spent a few hours sat at my desk working, I just can’t get my feet warm, no matter how many pairs of socks I wear or how enormous my slippers. But if I take a brisk walk round the field with the dog, 10 minutes later and for a good few hour afterwards, my feet (and the rest of me) are like toast!

* Winter sun can boost your mood without burning your skin – great news and one less thing to worry about if you have kids to take out with you!

* Since the explosion of festival fashion in the last few years, there are some great wellies and Parkers out there to choose from, so you can step out in style – and those shiny new boots by the door will be temptation enough to get in the mood to walk the dog or take the kids to the park, even in the mud and snow.

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