Teen Simple Blogs

Who is the new girl at Simple?

2012-04-17T11:19:12.2200000+00:00

There is a new girl on the block at Simple H.Q!

Anna Reich has joined the Simple Advisory Board as Simple Fitness Expert and it was her official first day today.
You'll be hearing lots more from Anna over the next few weeks. We are all feeling super healthy at the moment as she has worked with us to create Simple SkinFIT™ - a series of exercises designed to be just as fab for your skin as your body.

"A good fitness or exercise regime is well understood as a necessary part of achieving a healthy lifestyle. It’s not magic, it’s science”, says Anna. “Through exercise you can teach yourself how to be in better control of your life, which in turn has a positive impact on your skin health.”

Read more about Anna and the other members of the Simple Advisory Board here.

Anna is a massive fan of Face Yoga too so if this sounds like something you might be up for trying, watch this space! Not only is she full of energy (and by full, we mean bursting) but she's extremely passionate about maintaining optimum skin health through exercise.

Keep an eye on Simple SkinFIT™ for more info. We're also going to be running a web chat with Anna - more to come on this later in the week.

Mother’s Day Hamper Competition!

2012-03-12T09:28:28.0570000+00:00

Hi everyone,

I always know that Mother’s Day is just around the corner when I start to see daffodils popping up everywhere – they always make me smile as they’ve actually begun to remind me of my mum!

Sometimes it can be a little tricky to pick out a gift for your mum on Mother’s Day but luckily Simple are on hand to help.

There are few things more luxurious than having a good pamper session, and mums deserve a rest once in a while! That’s why we’ve decided to run a Mother’s Day competition; we’re giving away a little hamper of Simple goodies for our winner to give to their mum next Sunday.

So, what do you have to do to enter?

It’s Simple! The competition will run onTwitter over the next two days.

Simply tweet us and tell us something you’ve done for your mum on Mother’s Day within 140 characters. The one that makes us smile the most will win the hamper!

Our Twitter page can be found here: http://www.twitter.com/simpleskin

Just for fun, here are some facts about Mother’s Day you might not have known:

* Mother’s Day can be traced back as far as Roman times!
* Flowers have traditionally been given as gifts on Mother’s Day since around the sixteenth century.
* Simnel cake is traditionally eaten on the day after being made by a daughter for her mother. If only I could bake!
* In the United States, Mother’s Day is the biggest holiday for long-distance phone calling, even beating off competition from Christmas Day!

We hope you enjoy our competition, good luck!

Charlotte x

Award Season!

2012-03-07T11:29:39.8300000+00:00

From the BRITs to the Oscars, anyone who’s anyone in the celebrity world definitely knows that the awards season is upon us. Of course, apart from the winners, the next big thing everyone’s talking about is who’s going to wear what! So I hope that I’m going to give you some of my personal opinions on who should win what, and who wore what the best!

The Baftas
The Baftas is not the award show for flashy clothes and fantabulous fashion, but some outfits definitely stood out to me for all the right reasons, and black definitely seemed to be the colour of choice for many. Meryl Streep, who picked up the award for leading actress courtesy of her portrayal of Margaret Thatcher in ‘The Iron Lady’, looked much younger than her years in a beautiful black dress and bolero. Elizabeth McGovern, star of ‘Downton Abbey’, was stunning in a black dress with a circled-pattern bodice. A different sort of red carpet outfit was seen on Christina Hendricks, of ‘Mad Men’ fame, who wore an asymmetrical Vivienne Westwood black dress. Bonnie Wright bucked the black dress trend with a blue spotted dress accessorized with pink heels to create a fabulous look, and unlike many of her peers at the Grammys, wore something age-appropriate.

The BRITs
Rihanna accessorised the elegant ensemble with long brown leather gloves and bronze studded heels which matched her chosen outfit perfectly, and wore her blonde hair in a simple up-do with a fringe. Jessie J showed off her cracking figure in a transparent red frock. 10 years after Kylie's biggest Brit performance, the Aussie looks as good as ever in Yves Saint Laurent, wearing her staple smile and a dazzling blue dress, teaming the frock with equally eye-catching earrings. Lana Del Rey also ensured her debut Brits appearance didn't go unnoticed, turning heads in a simple but classic red gown. Award winner Adele looked the part in a trademark black dress, with Pixie Lott wearing a low-cut floor skimming Dolce & Gabbana corset dress, ringlet curls and red lippy.

The Grammys
Last but certainly not the least, the Grammys did not disappoint on the fashion front. Carrie Underwood, the country singer, looked demure but amazingly fresh, showcasing simple is definitely better wearing a Gomez-Gracia long-sleeve backless gown featuring intricately embroidered sequins. Again, Adele showed off herself to the best of abilities in a full-length black gown, showing America what us British do best. Katy Perry almost had the makings of a great Grammy outfit, but unfortunately, she ruined her lovely blue sequinned dress with badly-dyed blue hair in an up-do that didn’t do her justice. Oh Nicki Minaj, you Lady Gaga/Madonna copycat you. The Pope, really? Just Google the pictures to see for yourself. Taylor Swift showed off her stunning figure in a gold dress – she was probably the best-dressed woman (for me) of the night.

So there we have it! And with the Oscars coming up in just three days time on 26th February I’ll be watching those celebrities with my best fashion eye!

The World Schools’ Debating Championships!

2012-02-22T00:00:00.0000000+00:00

Helen from the Junior Board of Skincare Advisors took part in the World Schools’ Debating Championships recently.... read what happened below.

Hey Teen Simple!

I hope everyone is well and wrapped up warm in this chilly weather. I always dislike the British winter and basically just want to hibernate in front of Gossip Girl for five months or so until I can start wearing flip-flops again, so this January I was super-happy to escape the cold and rain for a couple of weeks and fly out to sunny South Africa to take part in the World Schools’ Debating Championships!

I know debating seems like a really geeky activity but it’s actually really cool – it helps your confidence and articulation, and you get to meet a lot of intelligent, interesting people. Furthermore, not nearly enough girls debate, so we need to get out there and show the boys what we can do! I took part in the long, long selection process for the Welsh debating team last October and I was really surprised and happy to be chosen as one of the four people on the team. We had to train every Saturday and Sunday for the three months running up to the competition, which was really difficult in terms of my schoolwork, but my teachers were really supportive, so I (just about) managed.

On January 16th we flew out to South Africa for the competition. The World Schools’ Debating Championships have been running for the last 20 years and over 50 countries take part every year, so you make loads of new international friends and there’s a really supportive atmosphere. Every country takes part in eight preliminary debates, in which you have one hour to prepare your case and you must each give an 8 minute speech with very few notes. After the preliminary rounds are over, the countries are ranked in order of points and the top 16 countries go through to the knockout rounds. The ‘break’, as it’s called, is announced at a big party which is always really fun. Wales was ranked 7th in the break, so we went through to the knock-out rounds where we beat India and Ireland in the semi and quarter finals respectively. We were very surprised to get through to the semi-finals, which is historically the furthest that the Welsh team had ever gone, but it meant that we had to face Team England who were our best competition friends and the favourites to win the whole tournament.

The debate against England was on the topic of a 100% inheritance tax and we were very excited to beat them and go through to the final! The Grand Final is held in front of over 700 people, including lots of eminent South African politicians and dignitaries. The topic was whether the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (the body set up to try and provide peace after the apartheid regime ended in South Africa) was wrong and it would have been better to prosecute the people who had held up apartheid. It was a very complicated and interesting debate, but unfortunately Scotland beat us, meaning that Wales took the rank of 2nd in the world.

Altogether I had a really great time and I would encourage everyone to get involved in debating!

Helen

In front of the camera!

2012-02-22T00:00:00.0000000+00:00

Hi everyone, dropping by to report on the life of modelling - something that I catapulted into by pure chance thanks to Simple!

In this last year I have had the chance to act as an extra in a film where I was given a small speaking role. The film is not yet out but it will be soon. I was also one of the children in the 25th Anniversary Childline campaign advert. I was in a corporate video in January for my agency and I am booked to do a photoshoot next month. Exciting!

I have also done various other photoshoots including of course the very first one at Shout Magazine which was part of the prize I won as the Teen Simple Star in 2010. 2011 passed so quickly and I enjoyed every second of it - the people I got to meet and all the things they taught me plus meeting all the other Teens on the Junior Board who made me feel so welcome.

I would never have thought of becoming an actress or a model. My life was going to be a fashion photographer which is something I am still pursuing but living on the other side of the camera for a while has certainly had its benefits!

Thanks to Simple, I have got the opportunity to live this life! Simple Spotless Skin also keeps my skin looking spot-free which is something that is really important on photoshoots, obviously! When doing a photoshoot I like to keep my look natural but sometimes it’s just not possible as strong lighting means the make-up needs to be put on very dark. My Simple Spotless Skin Wipes are very much the one thing not to leave home without!

Modelling and acting remain something I would like to do but going to college when I leave school is my priority and I still want to pursue my photography. My year has been fun and full of experiences I will never forget but it has also been hard and I have had my knock backs as there is just so many people out there all wanting the same thing to be spotted.

I know my chances are quite slim so I remain on the path of being the photographer and not the model :)

Tegan x

Bloggers to watch in 2012!

2012-01-11T10:03:36.2370000+00:00

2012 is well and truly getting underway, and it’s great to see that many bloggers have made a New Year’s resolution to post more often!

Here at Simple we really enjoyed interacting with beauty bloggers over on our Twitter account in 2011, and hope to do so more in 2012!

We’ve put together a short list of our top ‘Beauty Bloggers to Watch in 2012’. They aren’t necessarily the biggest blogs out there…yet! But we think they are fabulous, and wish them all the best for 2012.
Claire from eyeliningobsessions - http://eyeliningobsessions.blogspot.com/

We love reading Claire’s detailed and informative posts about all things beauty – we especially love her reviews of Simple products! If you’re looking for variety, this blog has it all.

Jen from BeautyJunkieLondon - http://www.beautyjunkielondon.com

Jen is one of the most established bloggers on our list, but she is one to watch nevertheless! Her high quality photos and beautiful blog layout are complimented by her engaging writing style.

Stephanie May from MayLovesMakeUp - http://www.maylovesmakeup.com/

Stephanie May is one of the friendliest bloggers out there – a girly girl and true English rose, her blog is the go-to place for fun beauty reads. We also love that she’s a big fan of the Radiance Brightening Eye Cream too!

Holly Arabella http://www.hollyarabella.blogspot.com/

Holly Arabella is a highly prolific and versatile blogger who is becoming a firm favourite within the blogosphere! Her reviews are detailed and honest, and she can sometimes be found posting on our very own Simple Forum too!

Marc from ABlogAboutMake Up: http://ablogaboutmakeup.blogspot.com/

Marc is a male beauty blogger who loves to experiment with both classic and dramatic make up looks – he’s also a Simple fan, and his reviews are fantastic to read! We think that his blog will become even better in 2012!

Chyaz from http://www.chyaz.com

Call us cheeky, but we couldn’t resist including a link to our very own Simple Star’s blog! Chyaz is the nickname of Charlotte Samuel, who is our online ‘face’ and representative. She has vowed to blog each day in 2012 – think she can face the challenge?

Charity Chic at http://charitychic.wordpress.com

Finally, want some funky fashion inspiration thrown in too? Check out Charity Chic at http://charitychic.wordpress.com/ for proof that you don't need to spend big money on clothes to look amazing. See how easy it is to not only save money but look totally awesome and individual at the same time. Plus you're doing your bit for charity!

We hope that we’ve provided you with some brand new blogs to read this year!

How are we going to cope without X Factor?

2011-12-15T00:00:00.0000000+00:00

As the weekend approaches, I know what many of you will be thinking…“what am I going to do without theX Factor on Saturday and Sunday nights?!” It seems like just yesterday that we were all sitting watching the first auditions; giggling at some, gazing in awe at others and making our predictions for the finalists. But alas, it is over now, with girl group Little Mix making X Factor history when they were crowned the overall winners last Sunday night.

One great thing about this year’s competition was the sheer diversity of the acts – there was something for everyone. Whether you loved the bad-boy rock from Frankie, the novelty of Johnny, the quirkiness of Kitty or the power vocals from Mischa – their performances were guaranteed to get us all chatting.

It seemed that this year was all about the glamour – I’ve never seen so many funky make up looks, apart from perhaps on a high fashion runway. Let’s hope the contestants all had a good Simple skincare routine in place to cleanse their skin after the shows!! Check out some of the Little Mix make-up vids here.... Some of the outfits and stage set ups were breath-taking – Kitty’s rendition of It’s Oh So Quiet, complete with its Alice in Wonderland theme, stood out for me. Love her or hate her, she can put on a show!

I couldn’t help feeling a pang of pride as Little Mix won – to see a group of girls who are a similar age to me achieving their dream is fantastic! I’ve been trying to resist typing the words ‘girl power’ throughout this article…but they had to slip out eventually!

So, is this truly the return of the girl band? With boy band Westlife hanging up their microphones for good any day now, perhaps the way is being paved for the girls. Little Mix have that winning combination of great voices, awesome style and fierce attitude – it clearly won over the X Factor viewers, will it win over the world?

Were you happy that Little Mix won? Who did you vote for throughout the live shows? Drop us a tweet and let us know! @simplecouk

Charlotte x

Young Journalist Of The Year Award Winner

2011-12-14T15:39:23.0400000+00:00

Feeling like you need some inspiration or a personal target for 2012? Ever thought about journalism as a career?

The winner of the Young Journalist Of The Year Awards in the GG2 Leadership Awards was annouced today as Nazia Parveen from Blackburn, Lancashire. Nazia, who left school when she was 17 and put herself through college, currently writes for the Lancashire Evening Telegraph.

Congratulations Nazia!

Read more here on the Daily Mail website.

A big Simple welcome to our newest Junior Board member!

2011-12-06T00:00:00.0000000+00:00

And the winner is....

We had hundreds of fantastic entries from all over the U.K. Clearly you guys know a lot about skincare. We were impressed and...OK, just a little bit worried about our jobs!

There could only be one winner though and she is.... Alexandra Luo, age 16 from Oxford!

We asked her a few questions so you could get to know her a bit better.

What is your favourite colour?
Electric blue

What is your dream career?
I would love to become an events planner. Its such a creative industry and the possibilities for each occasion are endless!

What is your favourite Simple product?
The Kind To Eyes Eye Make-up Corrector Pen. It's great for when I am in a rush in the mornings!

Who do you most admire and why?
Helena Rubinstein is definitely my idol! She married quality and image to create a beauty empire that is still thriving many years after she has gone.

What is your favourite band or singer?
My favourite singer is Beyonce.

What is your most embarrassing moment?
Falling over in high heels is never a good situation to be caught in!

What is your favourite food or dish?
My favourite food is prawn cocktail!

Which festival are you going to or would like to be going to next summer ?
V festival! The acts are amazing and I love camping festivals.

Which make-up essential couldn't you live without?
Mascara. It defines the eyes subtly for an au natural look!

Any other info people would be interested to know about you?
I have a white fluffy cat with mismatched eyes and I would love to have a dog. However I don't think my cat would be so enthusiastic!

The judges were mega impressed with how much Alexandra already knows about Simple so we are sure she’ll hit the ground running at her first meeting in 2012.

There were also 2 runners up... well done to Tamara Corthine and Robyn Kellar. You guys also did exceptionally well to get so far.

Thank you to all who entered. There will be more opportunities to join the Junior Board of Skincare Advisors in 2012 so watch this space all you budding skincare experts.

Until then you can catch up on what the team have been up to by checking out the pics on our Facebook page from their last meeting at Simple HQ in August.

Cleansing For Teens... which Simple cleanser do you use?

2011-11-28T00:00:00.0000000+00:00

The Official Online Spokesperson for Simple and Beauty Blogger extraordinare, Charlotte, offers some advice on cleansing for teenage spot-prone skin... read on...

At different points within our lives, our skin changes – although this can be daunting at first, there’s no need to worry! Here at Simple we have developed special ranges so that you can adapt your skincare routine to your current skin type.

Teenage skin can be problematic for some – as a teenager myself, I experienced spots, oily skin and areas of redness. Things like this can really bring your confidence down, but luckily there’s help at hand! Simple have developed the Spotless Skin range to help combat the common problems associated with teenage skin. Let’s talk about cleansing – an absolutely essential part of any skincare routine!

The Spotless Skin Cleansing Wipes are fantastic for teens. With busy school and social lives, sometimes a quick cleansing solution is what you’re looking for. The wipes contain spot fighting ingredients like Zinc PCA and Chamomile, as well as an ingredient called Phytosphingosine – as well as being a super long word, it is also a natural antibacterial to help fight spots and blemishes!

A great liquid cleanser from the range is the Spotless Skin Triple Action Face Wash. As well as containing all of the same great ingredients as the wipes, the Face Wash performs three important tasks: cleansing, purifying and toning.

If you feel that your skin needs a deeper cleanse, we also have the Spotless Skin Blackhead Eliminating Face Scrub. Blackheads can be a real pain, but with this scrub you can see results from day 1 - perfect for the night before that big party! It gets rid of dead skin cells, dirt and impurities to leave you feeling fresh and cleansed.

The Simple way to Spotless Skin!

Charlotte x

The Junior Board competition is now closed

2011-11-08T09:00:04.5530000+00:00

The competition to join the Simple Junior Board is now closed. Thanks to everyone who entered. We will be in touch soon.

Clear skin doesn't need to be something you only see in airbrushed pictures in magazines!

2011-11-08T00:00:00.0000000+00:00

Clear skin doesn't need to be something you only see in airbrushed pictures in magazines. Oh no!

To get a spotless face we recommend picking up some products from the rather brilliant Simple Spotless Skin range – and using them! They use zinc and chamomile to help banish those zits and, because it's Simple, you know that none of the products will aggravate your skin.

For your first step to spotless skin, grab our Simple Spotless Skin Triple Action Face Wash which will help you to get a spotless face thanks to its deep cleansing action and natural antibacterial goodness.

When you have a little more time to play with, our Spotless Skin Blackhead Eliminating Face Scrub keeps your skin free from dead skin cells, dirt and impurities which equals... you guess it, a helping hand in fighting spots.

If you're out and about then keep a pack of Simple Spotless Skin Quick Fix Cleansing Wipes in your bag so that you can quickly remove all traces of make-up and other impurities that can cause spots and blemishes.

Another good product to keep handy is the Simple Spotless Skin Rapid Action Spot Zapper which contains witch hazel and lavender to visibly reduce the redness and size of your spots. It zaps spots in just 4 hours so next time you feel that dreaded tingle, grab this zapper and use it on the 'suspected' area. This way you are fighting that annoying spot before it makes it's full appearance.

Finally, to leave your skin shine-free while maintaining its natural moisture level, use Simple Spotless Skin Anti-Blemish Moisturiser.

We'll help you get a spotless face from ....... day one! All the products in the Simple Spotless Skin range have been developed especially to give you visibly clearer skin from the first time you use them.

Spill the beans.... share your secrets with Simple!

2011-10-24T00:00:00.0000000+00:00

If you've completed the VIP or Teen Simple survey this month you'll know it's all about secrets.

Secrets... we've all got one or have beentrusted with one at some point in our life. Some of us are fantastic at 'keeping mum' while the rest of us cannot resist the opportunity to blab. Sometimes secrets are fun, bring you closer to your friends or loved ones while some secrets are best kept to yourself.

Simple have got some secrets to share with you but first we want you to spill the beans.... Every day this week, we are going to ask you a question about secrets. What is your Best Kept Secret? You'll be able to share your secrets, read about others experiences and possibly even get something off your chest. They can be funny, touching, strange, mad, quirky, embarassing...... it's entirely up to you!

Today, we're asking you about your skincare secrets. There will be a new topic every day! Head over to Simple Chat here or simply post your secret here on the blog.

At the end of the week, we'll select the best FIVE secrets... the winners will bag themselves a secret Simple treat!

On the up: Hot new star Conor Maynard

2011-10-18T11:10:17.4270000+00:00

If you haven't heard of Conor Maynard yet then you need to retune your music antennae. Forget X Factor, this guy can seriously sing!

Check out Conor's YouTube channel to hear the many covers he's done, some of which he's recorded with his equally talented mate Anth. And it doesn't hurt that this Brighton-based 18-year-old is also rather good-looking!

Enjoy!

And The Teen Heros are...

2011-10-18T10:43:55.2830000+00:00

In August we told you about BBC Radio 1's search for inspirational teens. Well, on Sunday 9 October the BBC Radio 1 Teen Awards took place at Wembley Arena, complete with headliner Pixie Lott, One Direction, Ed Sheeran, Rizzle Kicks and Cher Lloyd. Oh, and 9000 screaming fans!

The real stars were the three teen heroes....

Thirteen-year-old Alec Martin won his award for his tremendous fundraising efforts despite suffering from cancer.

Pippa Haines,17, received her award for her tireless work as a carer for her disabled mum and all-round selfless behaviour.

The final teen award went to 16-year-old Charlie Ward whose quick reactions saved a six-year-old girl from drowning.

Other awards revealed at the ceremony were:

Best British Album: Olly Murs – Olly Murs
Best British Music Act: The Wanted
Best British Young Sports Star: Tom Daley
Best British Actor: Rupert Grint
Best British Single: Ed Sheeran – The A Team
Best British TV Show: The Inbetweeners

Simple needs you....JOIN THE JUNIOR BOARD!

2011-10-05T00:00:00.0000000+00:00

When it comes to skincare, are you the one your mates turn to for advice? Think you know what teens really want from their beauty products? Then we want you!

We have one place for one lucky and talented teenager on ourJunior Board of Skincare Advisors. This is your opportunity to get involved with the skincare industry while you’re still at school. Nice.

It’s an unbeatable opportunity for you to get some hands-on experience of what it’s like to work in the skincare industry. You’ll help 11 other board members, all aged between 13 and 17, in developing product ranges, thinking up marketing campaigns and taking part in boardroom meetings.

And that’s not all. If you get chosen to be on the Junior Board you’ll also get a year’s supply of Simple Spotless Skin products along with lots of other goodies.

Want to know more?

Get to know the JB team by reading their profiles here or see them in action at a meeting in London last year on the Simple YouTube channel. This was filmed by Stardoll TV! Finally, check out snaps from the last JB meeting which was in August at Simple HQ here The girls were treated to some amazing Simple Skincare Masterclass' by members of the Simple Advisory Board. (You'll be taken to our Simple Skincare Facebook page)

You could be at the next meeting scheduled for 2012!

How do I apply?

If you think you’ve got what it takes to wow us lot at Simple then apply today by clicking here

Good luck!

Terms and conditions apply. Closing date for applications is Friday 4th November 2011.

New term = new skincare routine!

2011-09-26T00:00:00.0000000+00:00

After a long but sorry excuse for a summer, it was time for a new term, new challenges and a new skincare routine!

Religiously following a skincare routine is something I have always struggled with, but college is proving to require one! Although we now have fewer subjects at A-level, the exams we’ll take next year will be the most important exams of our lives so far – so stressful times are upon us.

When I get stressed, I get spots which is why the Spotless Skin Rapid Action Spot Zapper is so important to me. Trying to follow a skincare routine day and night with lots of tempting homework (sense the sarcasm?), a part-time job and a number of after school clubs isn’t easy, so wherever I go, the Spot Zapper goes too! I have been there and bought the T-shirt with those annoying spots that randomly appear at the most inconvenient times and in the most obvious places.

I’m sure I’m not the only one who struggles to stick to a skincare routine but I’m slowly getting there! There was – believe it or not – a time when my skin was literally like a baby’s bottom. But unfortunately those days are long gone. Anyone who knows me will know that I’m not the most organised person and I sadly would lose my head if it wasn’t screwed on. And yes, I’m also one of those people who roles out of bed and would go to school in their pyjamas if they could! So I’m sure you will have gathered by now that following a skincare routine is not something that comes naturally to me! Looking after your skin is so important and no matter how hard it is, we need to adopt a good skincare routine to make sure it looks, feels and actually is healthy. This is something I will keep reminding myself of and there will be a day when my skin is again smooth like a baby’s bottom! But it’s like a vicious cycle: spots=bad mood=stressful times=more spots and the cycle continues, which is why you should try the Spotless Skin range because it’s amazing and does exactly what it says on the nicer and prettier tin.

So to me a new term=happier, healthier skin.

Bye all!

Going back to school? Simple has some great tips – and prizes

2011-09-02T00:00:00.0000000+00:00

It's September, which means it's back to school time. Argh. But also hurrah. Argh because, well, days can no longer be spent vegging out doing nothing more strenuous than changing the TV channel. But hurrah because it's back to hanging out with friends all day and happily moaning about algebra, gossiping about that bloke in the year above and discussing which top will look best with those trousers your mate's lending you.

To help make going back to school even smoother this term we've got some great tips.

First of all, pack your school bag and make your lunch the night before. It will allow you a few more precious minutes in bed in the morning – after getting up late all summer holidays it will probably be a bit of a shock getting up at 7am so be nice to yourself, let yourself have an extra fifteen minute kip.

Along the same theme, sort out your clothes the night before as well. Not only will it give you more snoozetime, you'll be able to spend time making sure that the clothes you'll be wearing on your first day back will make you feel confident and happy.

Clear, healthy-looking skin will also help boost your confidence levels. The Simple Spotless Skin range has a great Blackhead Eliminating Face Scrub, an Anti-Blemish Moisturiser, a Triple Action Face Wash and Quick Fix Cleansing Wipes, while the Spotless Skin Rapid Action Spot Zapper helps fight spots in just four hours – perfect.

Eat some breakfast. It will keep your energy levels up for the first part of the day, making it easier to concentrate on lessons. Remember a healthy snack for breaktime as it will keep you going until lunch. It will also stop you spending your money on junk food from the vending machine.

Our final tip for going back to school? Enter the fab competition we're running with Tatty Teddy where you can win a rather brilliant prize pack of Simple Spotless Skin products and oh-so-cute Me To You Sketchbook treats worth £45. CLICK HERE TO ENTER!

Enter now to make this term one to remember! While you're at it, share your back to school tips here.

Have a great term,
Teen Simple x

Winner of Teen Blogger Competition: What makes you feel confident?

2011-08-31T00:00:00.0000000+00:00

Jessica Cozens was the winner of the "What makes you feel confident" category in the Teen Simple Blogger Competition. Here is what she wrote....

We've all had that feeling. It's that big event you've been looking forward to for the last billion years. You've spent what feels like 20 hours in front of the mirror, plucking and preening. You've got your best frock on and you finally step out of the front door, wind fanning out your hair. You feel like a princess and nothing could ruin this moment for you. One single moment of absolute self-confidence.

There are many material things that can make us feel confident. Confidence comes in many different ways for me. Sometimes, it's when my hair falls just how I want it to, while others it's when my skin is looking particularly clear and healthy. Even simple things can make all the difference whether it's putting on a brand new nail polish or my awesome new shoes. On the surface, it's these things that give me precious moments of confidence.

This is all great. Anything that can build your confidence and happiness is worth doing. However real confidence runs deeper than these material things. Real confidence comes from loving yourself inside and out. These days, I feel very happy with who I am.

It hasn't always been that way though. Just a few years ago, I struggled with very low self-confidence and low self-esteem. I was often picked on due to having ginger hair and I've heard every "Ginger-joke" in the books from being called duracell and Carrot-top to people "warming" their cold hands on my hair. I used to let this really upset me and I ended up changing my hair colour so often that even I could hardly remember what my natural colour looked like. I was determined to do anything it took to get away from my natural ginger locks.

This continued until one day I read an article about Nicola Roberts (Girls Aloud) and how she had dyed her hair an even stronger shade of ginger than it naturally was just to show people that she was proud of it. This really inspired me and I had a revelation: Why should I feel inadequate over something as petty as a hair colour? The world would be a boring place if we all looked the same and if we didn't have different features that defined us as individuals. Since then, I let my natural hair colour grow out again and I've had ginger hair ever since. I'm proud of being ginger. I'm proud of being different. And while the ginger jokes haven't stopped, I can now see them for what they really are: not spiteful comments, but jokes. And I laugh along with them!

I guess what I'm trying to say is that as long as you can accept yourself, confidence will come hand in hand with that as will acceptance from others! Everybody deserves to feel confident. You are all beautiful - remember that.

Thanks for reading,
Jess <3

Winner of Teen Blogger Competition: Gorgeous On The Go

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Lucy Sofroniou was the winner of the "Gorgeous On The Go" category in the Teen Simple Blogger Competition. Here is what she wrote....

In the midst of excitement from the summer holidays, many of us guiltily put our hands up to neglecting our skin and not sticking to a daily regime. However, as we slip back into our school routines, we must remember to stick to a daily skincare routine. Everyday, our skin battles dirt and various environmental conditions sometimes resulting in clogged up pores and dry skin. Whether it is really hot or cold, the chances are it’s taking its toll on our skin. As teenagers, our skin is not invincible. We are already prone to spots and oily skin. Therefore, we need to protect its wellbeing and be prepared for whatever life has to throw at us – yes literally!

Morning
Start off the day by gently washing your face with a warm flannel. This opens the pores so make sure you finish with a splash of cold water to close them up. Then moisturise with Simple Kind To Skin Vital Vitamin Day Cream with Sunscreens which helps protect throughout the day!.

Perhaps you’ve had a bad night’s sleep? Dab on Simple Kind To Eyes Soothing Eye Balm which revitalises tired looking eyes. You may be half asleep during history – but you don’t have to look it!

Why wear an ordinary lip-gloss when there’s one that protects your lips and keeps you looking pucker – perfect! Simple Kind To Lips Essential Lip Balm with SPF 15 is suited for the job and Keeps your lips conditioned and protected

With these at hand, you are ready to take on a whole day of school and still look good. Cue the whispers as you walk through the canteen...”How does she do it?” Well, it’s simple...No, it really is Simple!

Don’t forget your Spotless Skin Rapid Action Spot Zapper too, it has been clinically proven to zap spots in just 4 hours!

Night
So, you’ve just survived what seems to be the LONGEST day since time began. You’re tired and oh-so tempted to crash out onto your bed. However, what you don’t do is completely forget about your skin. Oh no, missy...Follow these three steps to ensure you wake up with glowing, radiant and purified skin – despite the fact that you may feel like a zombie.

Cleanse
By cleansing your skin, you are removing impurities that clog your skin. Never use soap, as this dries out the skin...definitely not a good look. In order to look radiant, you must ensure that your skin is not lacking in essential oils. So, “where do I find these?” I hear you ask...look no further. Below are some cleansers that are worth investing in:

Simple Purifying Cleansing Lotion – This promises to remove impurities and leave even dry skin feeling soft and smooth.

Simple Spotless Skin Quick Fix Cleansing Wipes – Clear, spot-free skin? Yes please! These wipes, which include natural anti-bacterial ingredients, are sure to keep those spots and blemishes at bay.

Tone
The next step is toning your skin. The main benefit from toner use is the tightening of the skin and the shrinking of facial pores. Suited for the job is Simple Kind To Skin Soothing Facial Toner. This will leave your skin refreshed and hydrated. Voila...

Moisturise
The final step is moisturising! This will leave your skin feeling soft and supple. Yes, okay...you are free to go to bed now. Spotless Skin Anti-Blemish Moisturiser will do the trick.

Remember...
It is recommended that you exfoliate every week! In order to get the fresh, clean, glowing skin that symbolises youth and health, it’s essential you follow all three steps.
While the steps may seem time consuming, it should only take around 5 minutes to complete the routine. After only two weeks, you’ll start to see the difference! Investing your time and money in Simple products is definitely worth it. It’s all very well when the media advertises a bunch of beauty ‘essentials’ that claim to work wonders. However, what you’ll find with Simple is that the products not only genuinely work but they are also affordable.

Winner of Teen Blogger Competition: Skin-Esteem

2011-08-30T00:00:00.0000000+00:00

Jessica Leonard was the winner of the "Skin-esteem" category in the Teen Simple Blogger Competition. Here is what she wrote....

Hey,

My name is Jessica Leonard, but if you call me Jessica - I will have a tantrum, so just Jess is fine.

From year seven to year ten in school, my skin was as smooth as a baby's bum - no word of a lie. My friends used to comment on how soft it looked and sometimes I sensed, (ever so slightly) jealousy which I secretly enjoyed. Spots were never an issue for me and I never needed to wear foundation to try and cover anything up.

Nothing ever goes that smoothly though, does it? I started to break out a lot and no matter how hard I tried, nothing would stop spots appearing at the worst of times! I literally tried everything - from steaming my face, to trying home remedies such as mashed up avocado. I really thought it wasn't fair, because now, my friends all had better skin than me, who believes in karma? What puzzled me is, I used so many products to try and clear my skin while they only took their make up off with one face wipe and that was that.

The worst part is you can't cover up your face, it's always on display so you want it to look its best. I began to wear make up to try and cover my spots but this was no good as it clogged my pores and made the break outs even worse. I thought I'd never have clear skin again. I had a habit of popping my spots too which was always going to end badly wasnt it.

My skin is a combination of an oily t-zone, dry cheeks and sensitive all over, (yes, it sucks to be me). One day, my mum suggested the Simple range to me as it was unperfumed (which is brill for sensitive skin) and only used necessary ingredients. I'm quite OCD with skincare ranges and had to buy the whole shebang. I used a face wash and moisturiser every morning and face wipes, a face wash, toner and moisturiser every night, religiously - I even took them to sleepovers and on holiday! There's something soothing about having a great skin care routine, don't you think? I used the Simple range in conjunction with a medicated solution and straight away noticed an incredible difference. I now only break out rarely. It's the best feeling, waking up with clear skin, instead of noticing that a volcano has errupted on your chin - yet again. Looking after your skin is so important, I mean, it's going to be with you for the rest of your life! Simple has helped with my 'skin esteem' and has really given me that confidence boost that I needed.

Coping with bad skin isn't something anyone wants to have to do, but keep at it, find your 'swear by' products and stick to them! I know it helped me.

Love Jess x

Come back tomorrow to see Lucy Sofroniou's blog on how she fits skincare into her day.

Announcing the winners of the Teen Simple Blogging Competition!

2011-08-24T00:00:00.0000000+00:00

It's been a fun few weeks reading all the entries you guys have sent us for the Teen Simple Blogging Competition. The standard of writing was very high so needless to say it's been a mighty tough decision for the judges to select the three lucky winners.

So without further ado the winners are......

WINNER of Staying 'gorgeous on the go' - how do you fit skincare into your day? LUCY SOFRONIOU. Runners up Prabjot Mann & Izzy Perrin

WINNER of Have you suffered from poor “skin-esteem” and how did you deal with it? JESS LEONARD. Runners up Chisomo Phiri & Holly Mitchell

WINNER of What makes you feel confident? JESSICA COZENS. Runners up Sam Hutchinson & Abbey (no surname)

The winners blogs will be uploaded here next week so check back then to see their winning words. You are assured of a really good read.

The runners up have all won a pack of Simple Spotless Skin Quick Fix Cleansing Wipes.

A massive well done to all the winners and runners up!

My Last Junior Board Meeting

2011-08-23T00:00:00.0000000+00:00

My last Junior Board meeting was quite a fun little affair. Sadly, it is true, I am to follow in the footsteps of Joanna, Susie and Jemma and jump off the good ship Simple when I turn eighteen… But enough of the pity party, for me this meeting was one of the best ones yet.
We were at the Simple head offices in Solihull. After a few wrong turns and what felt like an eternity waiting on a lift, I found myself back in Simple HQ feeling like a VIP (definitely going to miss that!).
Our first task was to make a nice healthy meal with Fiona Hunter, Simple Nutritionist. In groups of threes, we were to produce a three-course meal between us, and I was team Main Course. Megan, Emma and myself were faced with the challenge of making a nice healthy meal out of a variety of ingredients including couscous, salmon, mango and pomegranate. Safe to say the results were a tad messy, and for somebody who hates fish, rather unappetizing but we all learnt a lot about the foods that are good for our skin (oily fish, yes yes yes! Almonds? You go girl! Meringues? Errr… Not so much, but it will put a smile on your face…) After this, we had a skincare master class with Simple’s resident make up artist, Caroline Frazer… I remember it like it was yesterday, it still sends shivers up my spine. We spotted the cotton wool pads sitting on the table, and thought it odd. Suspicions were raised. We then realized what was happening and my mind filled with dread, my heart started thudding wildly; they wanted me to TAKE MY MAKE UP OFF. If you know me, you know this is not something I am comfortable with. I caught Helen’s eye, she was looking equally nervous! The make up went on quicker than it went off, but I kept my cool long enough to find out the benefits of cleansing not once, but twice in a night (do it! do it! do it!)
All in all, it was a wonderful day and I’m going to miss everyone involved, it was such a brilliant project to be a part of, thank you everyone at Simple and good luck!

BBC Radio 1's search for an inspirational teen

2011-08-23T00:00:00.0000000+00:00

Do you know a fabulous teen who deserves recognition for how great they are? Then let everyone know how brilliant they are by nominating them for the BBC Radio 1 Teen Hero Award.

The radio station is looking for three people aged 12- to 17-years-old who have done something extraordinary and selfless to present them with an award at the BBC Radio 1 Teen Awards. Not only will they get the recognition they deserve for being so amazing, but they will also get to meet loads of celebs!

You have until 5pm Tuesday 30 August to get your nominations in. So, if you know someone who has acted selflessly, inspired others with their behaviour or shown bravery in a tough situation, then now is the time to show them how much you look up to them – click here to nominate them today.

The BBC Radio 1 Teen Awards will be held on Sunday 9 October 2011 at Wembley Arena, London, and nominations for the entertainment categories will be announced on the Radio 1 website in September, as will details on how to be in the audience on the night.

The Junior Board meeting

2011-08-19T10:22:26.3000000+00:00

Hiya it’s me, Tegan!

Well what can I say about the Junior Board of Skincare Advisers meeting which was held in Solihull on 11th August? Firstly, because it was Becky’s last meeting it was sad, I may have only met the girls a couple of times but they have made me feel welcome and part of it all, so to say goodbye to one of them was such a shame. On a happier note we met the winner of the Girl guiding competition Harriett! I have only just begun myself so I knew how nervous Harriett must feel, so I sat next to her and talked to her, hoping to make her feel less nervous.

In the meeting we were introduced to Fiona Hunter, the Simple Nutrition expert. She is on the Simple Advisory Board. To begin Fiona showed us bags, which contained a whole range of foods and we were told to get creating, to come up with a healthy dish, and name it. We all knew that this could be quite tricky trying to prepare a healthy meal.
We were split into groups I worked with Caitlin and Helen, Michelle helped a little too.
None of our group really had that much experience with food ( apart from Michelle, but she was only allowed to help cut things), so we were worried about what we would create. Our group was in charge of making the starter. In our bag we had prawns, sweet cure mackerel, peppers, lemons, lettuce, yoghurt, tomatoes and mint. We firstly made a dip from the mint, lemon and yoghurt, this was to dip the prawns into, we then made a salad and added the mackerel to it.
Fiona Hunter went to each group after we all finished to let us know how our meals helped to keep us healthy and to keep our skin, blemish free, supple and soft. For our meal Fiona said that the fish oil was a great source of nutrients that helped the skin and that the salad also had various vitamins that worked inside our body keeping it healthy, which would help keep our skin healthy.

After the healthy food activity with Fiona we were introduced to Caroline Frazer. She is also on the Simple Advisory Board where she is the Simple Skincare Expert. As a celebrity make-up artist she knows lots of hints and tips about how to apply make-up. She spoke to us about the Simple skincare range, telling us which are best to use, how to use them and when to use them.
Before we attended the meeting we had all been given forms to fill in, saying what we felt our skin was like., Was it combination, greasy etc, mine is normal. We were all given advice about our skin and what we could use based on our skin types. Afterwards she gave us some make up tips which was great fun! The products I liked was the Kind To Eyes Soothing Eye Balm, this helps to smooth the eye area and keep the bags and puffiness less noticeable. I also really loved the Kind To Skin Moisture Boost Hydro Mist which gives dehydrated, tired and dull skin an instant boost of hydration.

The day was packed full of exciting news on products due to be coming out, which I cannot tell you about yet! It is all very exciting! So you will have to keep an eye out for what comes next.

I learnt a lot at the meeting, not only did I come away with some great Simple Skincare products, I have come away with the knowledge from professionals on what I can do to keep my skin looking it’s best.

My new video blog is on the Simple YouTube channel now so please check back soon. One of them is an interview with the Junior Board at the meeting last week and the other is an interview with Caroline Frazer herself answering your questions.

Tegan

British teen beats thousands to win prestigious computing prize!

2011-08-17T12:07:10.1970000+00:00

We thought we were pretty handy on a computer but 15-year-old Rebecca Rickwood knocks our socks off when it comes to using Excel spreadsheets. She beat a staggering 228,000 competitors from 57 countries to win the Excel 2007 category of the 2011 Worldwide Competition on Microsoft Office.

She was presented with a $5000 scholarship at the Worldwide Competition on Microsoft Office Student Awards Ceremony in San Diego on 2 August 2011. Congratulations from all of us at Simple!

Check out her winning interview on youtube where she talks about what she's going to do with her winnings.

If we suddenly became as incredibly clever as Rebecca and won $5000, we'd spend it on some gorgeous new clothes and a trip abroad. What would you do? Let us know below!

Junior Board meeting photographs!

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Click here to see photographs from the Junior Board meeting last week! You will be directed to our Simple Facebook page.

Simple x

Summer Junior Board Meeting

2011-08-16T00:00:00.0000000+00:00

After an early start and getting completely lost in Solihull I finally made it to the Simple offices!

Despite being a few minutes late, I got stuck in straight away. We met the latest Board Member, Harriett and after a fabulous introduction from Liz (Junior Board Manager) we had our very own Nutritional Masterclass with Simple’s Nutrition Expert Fiona Hunter. After being split into groups, we were each given two bags containing ingredients and were asked to create a healthy meal. My group (see pic of me, Beki and Emma below) had to create the main course. Our meal consisted of salmon, fruity couscous (pomegranate & mango), feta cheese and finished with some mint leaves and a slice of lemon. It was aptly named ‘Fruit, fruit de la Mer’.Congratulations to the Dessert team as their dish was voted the best!

We then had a Skincare Masterclass with Caroline Frazer, Simple’s Resident Skincare Expert. It was fantastic and not only did we get great skincare and make-up tips but she also gave us each a bag containing Simple products that are best suited to our skin. After lunch we then discussed a new, exciting campaign for next year, so watch out for that. We also discussed some ideas for some exciting new addition to the Spotless Skin range, they may be coming out next spring so don’t forget to look out for it. Below is a picture of her teaching me how to conceal dark circles under my eyes.

We then helped Tegan film her next video blog. All in all it was a great day! Unfortunately we had to say goodbye to Beki, as she is 18 in November so this was her last meeting.

That’s all from me today. Thanks for reading!
Megan

What would you ask? The WINNERS are..

2011-08-16T00:00:00.0000000+00:00

A couple of weeks ago we asked you guys to submit questions for Tegan to ask Caroline Frazer, our Simple Skincare Expert and oh-so famous celebrity make-up artist, for her August blog on Teen Skincare. Thank you to everyone who submitted questions via Twitter, Facebook and the Teen Simple blogs.

The lucky five below have each won a pack of Spotless Skin Quick Fix Wipes!

Naveena
Kat
Cally
Liz
Jasmine

Watch out - your Spotless Skin treat is on it's way to you!

There were so many questions to pick from that we asked Caroline to answer a few of them right here on the Teen Simple blogs. Click here to read more.

Teen Simple. x

Caroline Frazer answers your questions

2011-08-16T00:00:00.0000000+00:00

You guys sent in tonnes of questions for Tegan to ask Caroline! Sadly we only had time for five so here are some others Tegan selected...

Can I use wipes morning and night without washing my face as well? From Jane
Yes, you can! Simple Cleansing Facial Wipes are the perfect product for quick and effective cleansing every day. Spotless Skin Quick Fix Wipes are tough enough to remove waterproof mascara too yet gentle enough for teenage spot prone, sensitive skin.
Face Wipes will refresh and tone your skin but they won’t moisturise so follow with a moisturiser suitable for your skin type. Spotless Skin Anti-Blemish Moisturiser has been formulated especially for teen skin.
I also recommend doing a deep cleanse once or twice a week using cleanser such as Simple Spotless Skin Triple Action Face Wash followed by a gentle exfoliating product such as Spotless Skin Blackhead Eliminating Face Scrub. This will ensure that any build up of dead skin cells is thoroughly removed to reveal healthy, clear skin. Follow with a moisturiser.

Cleansing and toning really dry my skin out, why is this? From Caroline.
It sounds like you may be using products which do not suit your skin type. It’s really important that you follow a routine based on your skins individual needs. What works for someone with oily skin will not work for someone who suffers from dry or combination skin.
If you are finding that cleansing and toning is drying your skin out, try using a cream cleanser such as Simple Kind To Skin Purifying Cleansing Lotion rather than a cleanser designed to be used with water. I advise clients to apply the cleansing lotion to skin using a soft cotton wool pad until you can see all your make-up has been removed. If you prefer using water, avoid products which foam too much as this can dry skin out.
Use a gentle toner designed for sensitive skin such as Kind To Skin Soothing Facial Toner and always follow with a moisturiser suitable for your specific skin type.
Is washing your face with just warm water and a cotton wool pad, without any cleanser, bad for my skin? From Natalie
Whilst there is nothing wrong with this cleansing routine, it won’t remove make-up from your skin. If you don’t wear any make-up, this is fine although I would suggest a deep cleanse once a week to give your skin some TLC.
If you do wear make-up, warm water isn’t enough to remove it. To avoid nasty spots and blackheads use Spotless Skin Triple Action Face Wash as part of your evening routine to ensure you remove all traces of make-up. This contains spot fighting ingredients and natural anti-bacterial goodness to deeply cleanse, purify and tone removing hidden dirt and unclogging pores. If you do get a spot (sometimes you simply can’t avoid them) the Simple Spotless Skin Rapid Action Spot Zapper should sort them out! It’s been clinically proven to reduce the appearance of horrid spots in just 4 hours!
How do you get rid of dark circles under your eyes? From Oriana
Dark circles under your eyes are a common skincare complaint! It’s really important to drink plenty of water and get enough sleep as dark circles under your eyes can be made worse if you are dehydrated and tired.
I suggest trying Simple Radiance Brightening Eye Cream to help reduce dark circles and brighten the eye area. This cream contains four skin loving nutrients including Mango goodness to hydrate and refine skin tone as well as light reflecting particles to smooth and illuminate your delicate eye area.
Should you cleanse, tone and moisturise every morning and night or do you only have to do it in the morning? From Kalsoom
Your individual skin type will dictate whether you choose to cleanse, tone and moisturise morning and evening.
If you have oily skin, you may need to do both to keep skin healthy. Use a moisturiser specifically formulated to help keep the production of sebum (oil) under control such as Simple Spotless Skin Anti-Blemish Moisturiser which contains Zinc PCA to gently absorb excess oil. However if you suffer from dry skin, a once daily cleanse and moisturise should be sufficient.
We are going to be running a Q&A with another member of the Simple Advisory Board soon so watch this space for another opportunity to get your questions answered!

Summer!

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Emma Owens, one of our lovely Junior Board girls, was here on work experience last week.

She wrote this blog for us.

SUMMER... It’s finally here; the one thing that’s been on all our minds since that Christmas feeling went. Now is the time we can sleep in till midday, go to the beach, and generally enjoy life without maths or English to worry about. However, with all this hot air and sea salt your skin will no doubt get really dry, really quickly.

Never fear though, because Simple understands this problem, and that’s why they’ve created so many different moisturisers to suit your skin exactly. Moisturising will do your skin the world of good this summer, and will probably reduce the amount of spots that appear too. If you’re like me, a girl who is prone to spots and has oily skin, the best for you would be either the Simple Spotless Skin Anti-Blemish Moisturiser (which I actually use) or Simple Clear Skin Oil Balancing Moisturiser. Now you’re probably thinking ‘Wait, this girl just said your face gets dryer, and now she’s recommending oil reducing moisturisers?’ which is true, but even though your face becomes dryer, sebum (oil) is still being produced, and you still need to make sure that your oil supply is being combated. I know, confusing right? But the road to healthy, beautiful skin is easy once you get it.

Don’t forget, it’s not only your face that you need to look after this summer. The Simple Derma range is great for reviving dry hands, legs, or any other part of your body and making them gorgeously soft and ready to show off. It's been clinically proven to work in just 4 days.

I hope everyone has a great time off school, I know I will! Keep checking Teen Simple for more tips on how to look after your skin during these six weeks.

Love Emma,
Simple Junior Board Member x

What would you ask?

2011-08-02T00:00:00.0000000+00:00

UPDATE! THANKS FOR ALL YOUR QUESTIONS! THIS IS NOW CLOSED. WATCH THIS SPACE FOR TEGAN'S BLOG AND TO FIND OUT WHO'S QUESTIONS GOT PICKED!

You’ve already met Tegan, our Official Teen Simple Video Blogger, and now’s your chance to get involved in her next video blog.

She’ll be interviewing Caroline Frazer, our lovely Simple skincare expert and oh-so famous celebrity make-up artist, for her August blog on Teen Skincare. Tegan wanted to give you guys the chance to ask Caroline a question so go on – if you were interviewing Caroline, what would YOU ask?

Post your questions here! And if you’re one of the lucky five who have their questions picked by Tegan to use in her interview then you’ll win a pack of Simple Spotless Skin Quick Fix Cleansing Wipes. Hurrah!

We need you to submit your question by Monday 8th August. Sorry but any questions posted after this time will not be considered.

Tegan heads to the 12th Annual Young Carers Festival in Southampton

2011-07-12T00:00:00.0000000+00:00

Most of you will know me by now as the Official Teen Simple Video Blogger but what you may not know is that I am also a Young Carer. On the 24th June 2011 I was lucky enough to be on my way to Southampton to the 12th Annual Young Carers Festival! This was the first year that I was chosen to attend this event. There are so many young carers that only a select few from each area can go each year. The number of young carers who attended this year’s event ran into their thousands.

We had a list of items that we needed to take but I threw in lots of extras and my Simple products were a complete must. These included Simple Shampoo & Conditioner, some Simple toiletries like Simple Kind To Skin Relaxing Body Wash, Spotless Skin Blackhead Eliminating Scrub…. well actually all my Simple Spotless skin range as I did not want to get a single spot while I was away. I also took several packs of Spotless Skin Quick Fix Wipes as you can never have enough wipes!

On the Friday night there was a silent disco. We all wore separate earphones and had a choice of two channels with different music to listen to. We all danced away but it was funny if you took your earphones off as it just looked like hundreds of children waving and moving randomly!

Throughout Saturday there were bands playing. Tin Soldiers and King of Hearts were the two main and most recognisable bands. Tin Soldiers were really nice and stood with me so that I could have several photos taken with them.

Although I enjoyed myself, I found that the showers were COLD. I don’t know what I expected, of course there would be with hundreds of us trying to use them and I doubt they were even warm to begin with. But thanks to the Simple Spotless Skin Quick Fix Wipes my face was clean and fresh. I have to say also that feeding all of us didn’t work out too well either…I did not enjoy the food at all, another reason I was glad to have my Simple Spotless Skin range with me … a bad diet can really affect your skin.

Throughout the festival there was also a radio show, running competitions, prizes (I won a netbook) like bikes, phones and mp3 players. Then on Sunday morning I got to present on the radio show for a couple of hours. It was certainly more advanced than our school radio show as they had a touch screen computer. The fun didn’t stop there as over the weekend there were also lots of activities laid on for us like kayaking and tightrope walking. This was quite scary as you tightroped across a lake! It was fun though and I did manage to complete it. There were also lots of inflatable’s, a bouncy pillow, a zip wire and football, oh and face painting, wall painting…The Simple facial wipes came to the rescue again!

We did have some rain throughout the night but thankfully it stayed sunny through the day for us all to enjoy our time away from our normal responsibilities.

Tegan x

It's Prom Time! (plus how to get a FREE mini skin health check!)

2011-07-05T00:00:00.0000000+00:00

The buzz around my school is the older girls who have been in and out of school taking exams, but talking excitedly about the Prom that is coming up in July! They have so much to organise, as so much rests on the right dress and shoes, accessories, transport and more.

Simple are here to help! The Simple Prom Planner 2011 takes the drama out of getting ready. Not only is there a checklist, which will make sure you will not forget a thing, but there are helpful hints and tips.

Skin is a key concern when it comes to a big event like your prom. The Simple Mini Skin Health Check gives you everything you need to know about how to improve your skin in a short space of time.... perfect if there are only a couple of weeks until your prom. It costs £1.99 BUT.... heads up.... follow simplecouk on Twitter as next week Simple are giving out some freebies and the Mini Skin Health Check just may be included in that!

You can see me all dressed up in this months vlog talking about the prom planner. Check it out on Simple’s YouTube page.

Thanks and see you next month.

Tegan x

Exams are nearly over!

2011-06-29T00:00:00.0000000+00:00

I’m sure loads of you, like me, will be taking exams at the moment, and will know just how much terror your maths GCSE exam can inspire! Exams and the stress that they cause can be really bad for your skin, causing spots and blemishes, which in turn add to the stress.

The best thing you can do for your skin at this time is to keep it clean using an anti-blemish skincare range, such as Simple Spotless Skin. I’ve used the Spotless Skin range throughout this exam season and used some tips that I picked up from the Simple SkinTrition pages, like eating plenty of anti-oxidant rich foods and fish and thoroughly cleansing daily and exfoliating twice a week. As a result my skin is still squeaky clean and I can go to all the after exams parties without a care in the world, hurrah!

Helen from the Junior Board of Skincare Advisors.

Heading to any festivals this summer?

2011-06-23T12:06:49.7130000+00:00

Heading to any festivals this summer?

Share your festival skincare (or anything else) tips here....

For some top tips from the Simple team (some of us are hardened festival goers!) read our advice here on the gossip page.

Enjoy the music.. and we'll keep our fingers crossed the sun shines for you all!

Meet Harriett....Our newest Junior Board member!

2011-06-07T00:00:00.0000000+00:00

To help you get to know our lovely Harriett, we asked her some get-to-know-you questions!

Her favourite colour
Purple

Her dream career
Paediatric doctor

Her favourite Simple product
Spotless Skin Rapid Action Spot Zapper (its really fast and very effective)

Who does she most admire
My Mum because she has done everything she can to help me get to where I am today and I realise how much she has given up for me; I love her so much for that.

Her favourite band or singer
Scouting for girls, Bruno mars, one direction
Her most embarrassing moment
When I was about 9 years old I was walking along the wall at the sea front and I bent down to pick up a sweet and disorientated myself so when I stood up I walked straight off the wall and sliced my lip open!

Her favourite food
Tzatziki with herb and olive oil toast

Her dream valentine
Harry Styles

Which festival is she heading to this summer?
T4 On The Beach and Take That
Her makeup essential
I couldn't live without my concealer.. it has saved me on so many occasions. I love it!!

To find out more about the Junior Board of Skincare Advisors click here!

There will be more opportunities to join the Junior Board later this year so watch this space all you budding skincare experts!

Simple ways to enjoy the half-term break!

2011-05-23T00:00:00.0000000+00:00

Revision, exams, more revision, more exams... The summer term can feel exhausting at times. This half-term give yourself a proper break by having a laugh with your friends the Simple way. All you need is SingStar (or possibly a DVD if your singing talents have more in common with Jedward than Rihanna), a group of your best mates, a large bag of popcorn and some beauty products for a relaxed evening packed with giggles.

We're pretty awful at singing but we do know what products you need for a girly night of pampering. First up are facials, and for these we've got plenty of spot-zapping choices for teens (you can save money by buying our Get Spotless pack). Manicures and pedicures are always loads of fun – dollop on moisturiser for soft hands and feet before treating your nails to some funky new colours [http://www.barrym.com/glitter-nail-paint] topped with pretty stickers and cute gems [http://www.nailtopia.co.uk/].

You'll wake up looking and feeling great after your evening of pampering and silliness, making you more than ready to handle the rest of the term. After all, you have only a few more weeks of school before the summer holidays – goodbye stress, hello fun!

Get Spotless Skin - It's Simple

2011-05-19T00:00:00.0000000+00:00

You know that horrible feeling – you’re getting ready to go and meet that gorgeous boy you’ve had your eye on for months, or even putting your dress on for the school prom, and disaster strikes – a spot! Even if it’s an on-going problem, spots don’t make you feel good, which isn’t great for your confidence. A skincare routine seems like a lot of effort, but once you get into it (and maybe even enjoy it!) you’ll see how fab the results can be. Luckily, Simple have a great range for spot-prone teen skin – the Simple Spotless Skin range. I used to get spots as a teenager, until I started out with a skincare routine – it’s really worth it.

Cleansing
Dirt and clogged pores (urgh!) can be a major cause of spots, so cleansing is really important. The Spotless range has a couple of great products for getting rid of any grime hidden away – the cleanser Simple Spotless Skin Triple Action Face Wash cleanses your skin and contains spot-fighting ingredients like Zinc. If you find blackheads popping up on your skin, the Simple Spotless Skin Blackhead Eliminating Face Scrub is here to help! Blackheads can be frustrating, but with the right products you can say hello to a clearer complexion and a glow of confidence. If you’re a make-up fan, we know that it can sometimes be more tempting to hop into bed and watch the latest episode of Glee rather than taking your make up off fully – that’s where the Simple Spotless Skin Quick Fix Cleansing Wipes come in handy!

Moisturising
You might think that moisturising is something only your mum needs to think about, but that’s not the case – anyone can get dry skin, no matter what their age, and if your skin is prone to spots the Simple Spotless Skin Anti-Blemish Moisturiser is perfect. It helps your skin stay hydrated throughout the day and it also gives you shine control – there’s nothing worse than feeling that someone is trying to check their reflection in your forehead!!

Spot Zapping
All of the Simple Spotless products are designed to give you results from Day 1, but just in case of those spot emergencies, the Simple Spotless Skin Rapid Action Spot Zapper is on hand! The spot-fighting ingredients visibly reduce the redness and size of the spot without causing any irritation to your skin. A complete lifesaver!

It’s amazing what a good skincare routine can really do, and once you start you’ll wonder how your skin coped before. And with Simple, spots can be tackled on even sensitive skin.

For more great advice and to see how easy looking after your skin really is visit Tegan's May blog at http://www.youtube.com/simplecouk#p/u/0/Yym_835DhOc
Charlotte x

Expert advice from Dr Chris Bundy on beating spot break outs during exam time

2011-05-18T00:00:00.0000000+00:00

It’s the most dreaded time of school year – GCSE and A-Level exam time.

Stress is something we all experience from time to time and events like school exams can make us particularly stressed. It’s really important to think about your well being and skin care routine to manage the effects of stress and beat those break outs which always appear at the worst time.

Our resident Simple Advisory Board expert Dr Chris Bundy is on hand to offer some expert advice on how to beat stress and most importantly stop stress from having a negative effect on your skin. Check out her expert advice below.

Be extra careful to get a good amount of sleep and good quality sleep. This may be difficult when you are worried and probably cramming for the exam, but planning ahead is the answer. Get into a good sleep / wake cycle.

Do your studying in chunks of time - about 45 minutes in one go – then take a short break, about 10 minutes is enough. If you do this in each of the three parts of the day, morning, afternoon and evening for a good few of weeks prior to the exams you will get into a good routine. This will help you process information better than if you try to study for hours at a stretch but start too late. The pressure you put on yourself by starting late and cramming will result in you being anxious and that anxiety will stop you taking in new information and stop you remembering the information you had learned!

A good routine is essential for wellbeing and will have a good effect on your skin too. You need to have at least 6-8 hours of sleep each night to allow your stress hormones to adjust to normal levels as it’s these stress hormones that cause the breakouts. If you don’t get enough sleep the stress hormones continue to circulate in your body.

Don’t take books to bed to study! Bed is for sleeping – certainly during exam time. Studying in bed will give ‘wind up’ signals to your brain and start the stress process going again. Listen to some music or just go off to sleep without too much stimulation.

The folk tale of 'one hour before midnight is worth two after' really is true. We produce a hormone during sleep that repairs tissue, gives us a mood boost and switches off the production of the stress hormone and we produce more of this during certain phases of sleep than others. If you delay going to sleep before midnight this process is disrupted and skin and other tissue repair is not so efficient.

Why not try a calming and gentle night time routine to manage stress. Make time to cleanse your skin with a cleanser from the brand new Simple Spotless Skin range which has been specially formulated with the goodness of Zinc and Chamomile to give visibly clearer skin from day 1!

Give yourself a relaxing facial massage with a moisturiser like Spotless Skin Anti-Blemish Moisturiser for about five minutes, this will signal to your brain to start winding down.

Have you got any top tips to share with fellow exam sufferers to manage stress? Do you suffer from bad skin during periods of stress?

And the new Junior Board member is.......

2011-05-17T00:00:00.0000000+00:00

Drum roll.......

A big Simple welcome to our newest Junior Board member who is Harriett Stenton from Lincolnshire!

Harriett, age 13, has a variety of hobbies including scuba diving, swimming and horse riding. Her career ambition at the moment is to be a paediatric doctor. (Very impressive!)

Harriett is the winner of a competition we ran with Girlguiding UK & we are thrilled to have her on board.

Watch out for more on Harriett & the Junior Board in the coming weeks. There will be more opportunities to join the Junior Board of Skincare Advisors later in the year so watch this space all you budding skincare experts.

Until then you can catch up on what the team have been up to by checking out the pics on our Facebook page from their last meeting at a top secret venue in London during last February's half term.

Teen Simple x

Tegan & her mates chat about confidence

2011-04-28T00:00:00.0000000+00:00

My vlog this month is all about confidence. To do this I had four of my friends come round so that we could talk about a common teenage problem, spots. We spoke about how this affects our confidence and what we do to help fight against spots.

Confidence and skin confidence is something that as teenagers we worry about often, it doesn’t matter if we get one or two spots or lots of spots, it can still knock our confidence. We asked each other to see what each of us thought about a particular issue, of course we didn’t all agree on all of it, but one thing we did agree on, the Simple Spotless Skin range has really made a difference in our lives and this has meant that we do not have to worry so much about spots, we can get on and worry about other things instead.

I hope you will check out the vlog on Simple’s YouTube Channel and see what my friends had to say. You can always ask your own questions for anyone of us to answer, you can visit either Simple chat or Teen Simple Facebook.

I will see you all again next month.

Tegan x

Have you seen our Facebook competition?

2011-04-21T12:12:01.4370000+00:00

We haven't been shouting out about this loudly enough!

There is a competition on our Teen Simple Facebook page at the moment and we want you all to enter. We love things which make us smile so this month we are asking all our lovely Teen Simple fans to upload a picture of any Simple Spotless Skin product in an unusual place...

Last time we had pics of Simple Spotless Skin Quick Fix Wipes at 40,000 feet and on a lilo in the Carribean. Genius! It doesn't have to be in some far-flung exotic place though...The more imaginative the better. The best pic will win a special Simple treat so get snapping guys!

The countdown has begun..... only a week to go!

2011-04-21T00:00:00.0000000+00:00

We're rather overexcited about the royal wedding. Not because we're getting an extra bank holiday, although that is pretty darn good. Oh no, the real reason we're looking forward to this is finding out what Kate's dress looks like!

So far she's shown herself to be a bit of style icon with her obvious love for high street shops (see, we knew she was just like us, she just happens to be marrying a prince in true fairytale style) as well as cool designer labels such as Burberry and Issa London

According to Huffingtonpost.com she's getting her dress made by the very talented Sophie Cranston, the woman behind the Libélula label – we really hope she is designing Kate's wedding dress because her designs are, quite frankly, gorgeous with not a meringue in sight. Sleek, sophisticated and stylish without being over-the-top, they have Kate written all over them.

What do you guys think about the royal wedding? Are you excited? Perhaps you're hosting a street party or watching on the box? Whatever you think get involved in the wedding chatter here.

The countdown has begun.... only a week to go!

x

How to get the beach look... even if you're not going to the beach!

2011-04-21T00:00:00.0000000+00:00

No school, gorgeous weather, lots of hot blokes wandering around town... Life is good.

And thanks to Simple it's about to get better, because we've just launched our Sun-Kissed Moisture Cream, a fabulous combination of vitamin goodness and gentle tanning agents.

We all know that frying in the sun isn't good for us, but having a bit of colour makes us feel like beach goddesses – this clever moisturiser will let you get some colour the safe way. Sun-Kissed Moisture Cream lets you gently build up a tan (no scary orange faces for us, thanks) while keeping your skin hydrated and happy.

To complete the beach goddess look try spritzing a bit of salt water through your hair when it's towel-dried for surfer-style curls that will make you look effortlessly cool.

So there you have it!

Be sure you let us know how you get on here or on the Teen Simple Facebook page... and whether you managed to catch the eye of that hot lifeguard!

Eye make-up becomes simple!

2011-03-23T10:12:12.5200000+00:00

You know when you've spent ages applying your eyeshadow, just to muck it all up by streaking some mascara in the wrong place...and how that means you either have to a) start again, which means missing your lift into town or b) wipe both eyes free from make-up and haphazardly apply new make-up without poking your eye out while in your mate's car?

Nightmare.

But not for much longer thanks to our special scientist bods here at Simple. We've come up with a truly brilliant new product – the Kind To Eyes Eye Make-Up Corrector Pen.

It removes any mistakes, even those made with blooming-hard-to-remove-but-we-love-it-anyway waterproof mascara, leaving the rest of your eye make-up untouched. Result. And as it is enriched with vitamins your delicate eye area will be happy as well.

You'll be able to get your hands on this awesome new product from today exclusively at Boots stores as well as Boots.com. Well, if you're quick you'll be able to, because we predict this little pen of wonder is going to fly off the shelves.

Give it a go and tell us what you think!

Oscar night: Red carpet hits and misses

2011-03-03T08:32:42.7930000+00:00

Okay, so we're rather excited about the gorgeous Colin Firth winning Best Actor at the Oscars. We know he's a little on the old side but who cares? He looked sweetly shy at the awards last night and we loved loved loved him in The King's Speech. We're not even going to talk about the usually swoon-making Christian Bale and his awful beard. Sigh.
But enough of this chatter and on to the most important part of the night – the dresses. Our absolute favourite gown of the night had to be the frothy loveliness that was Mila Kunis's dress[http://hollywoodcrush.mtv.com/2011/02/28/mila-kunis-oscar-dress/]. The Black Swan actress wore a lavender Elie Saab creation with lace detailing – fab. Close runner-up was Gwyneth Paltrow's deceptively simple dress of pale, molten gold from Calvin Klein Collection[http://www.stylebistro.com/Oscar+Gowns+2011/articles/RkG9PciolnY/Gwyneth+Paltrow+Oscar+Dress+Calvin+Klein+Collection], while Mandy Moore rocked the nude look with a Monique Lhuillier number[http://www.hollywire.com/2011/02/Mandy-Moore-Monique-lhuillier-lovely]. The ever beautiful Natalie Portman, winner of Best Actress for her role in Black Swan, was never going to let being pregnant ruin her style, picking up her award in a custom-made purple Rodarte gown[http://www.elleuk.com/news/star-style-news/best-dressed-oscars-2011/(gid)/752771].
Sadly this year there were no horrors on the red carpet – we do like gossiping about celeb clothes. Some commentators were scathing about Cate Blanchett's unusual dress from Givenchy Couture[http://www.catwalkqueen.tv/2011/02/2011_oscars_cat.html] but we thought it looked stunning and original – job well done. Helena Bonham Carter looked delightfully eccentric as always in a Colleen Atwood gown[http://www.catwalkqueen.tv/2011/02/2011_oscars_hel.html] – we love the way she manages to inject any situation with a bit of silliness.
In fact the main disappointment, clothes-wise, was Scarlett Johansson and her floor-length lace number from Dolce & Gabbana[http://www.catwalkqueen.tv/2011/02/2011_oscars_sca.html]. It was an odd choice and if the beautiful Scarlett couldn't work it, then we're not sure who can. Nicole Kidman wore an equally baffling dress[http://justjared.buzznet.com/2011/02/27/nicole-kidman-oscars-2011-red-carpet-with-keith-urban/], courtesy of Dior, which reminded us of table decorations, and not in a good way.
Do you agree with us? Or do you think we're fashion-blind and that Scarlett had the best dress? We want to know who you think wore the most jaw-droppingly gorgeous dress and who needs some help from the fabulous Gok Wan[http://www.gokwan.com/]!

My day

2011-03-01T15:18:50.9370000+00:00

Making my way through the tube station, I could hardly contain my excitement. It seemed like forever since the whole Junior Board had been together! This time we would be joined by our latest addition, Tegan Davies the winner of The Teen Simple Star. In the midst of all my excitement I managed to take a minor detour in the opposite direction of where the meeting was being held. When I found The Qube (yes it looked as awesome as it sounds!) and made my way upstairs I finally saw all the JB members and had a good catch-up before we started our busy day. We were introduced to the Vizeum and Audacity team, who then spoke to us about the importance of media and especially media placement. Media placement is something I’d never even considered; the JB isn’t just fun, I’ve actually learnt a lot too! After this we got into groups and discussed the ways which Simple could be advertised in the media; once we had presented our thoughts the winning team won some DVDs. There were many exciting tasks throughout the day, some of which are top secret and I cannot wait to see how they develop! Before the meeting we were set a project to come up with a new product for the Spotless Skin range. The whole team came up with some brilliant ideas all of which would work superbly with the teen range. Another point we discussed was the Teen Simple webpage and how it could be improved. The board had many ideas of how the site could become a more exciting and teen friendly place, something I cannot wait to see as I’m sure it will be spectacular. As the day came to a close it was time to say goodbye and unfortunately for some of the older members of the board this was their last meeting, I will also be leaving soon as well. The board won’t be the same without them but we look forward to welcoming new members soon. We all had a wonderful day and cannot wait to see the developments that come from the meeting.

Jemma Holton

My meeting

2011-03-01T08:57:48.8070000+00:00

Luckily for me the meeting on Tuesday 22nd February was being held in London so a lie in was lovely. Arriving at the Qube to see everyone again was nice as it was lovely to catch up with all the other girls. We were all very excited about the day ahead so when we walked into the meeting room and we saw our favourite magazines on the table we knew it would be a fun day. Many top secret tasks were completed throughout the day and we all pitched our own product ideas for the new Simple Spotless Skincare Range at the end of the day as well. The day ended well for me as I have enjoyed every meeting I have been invited to since I joined the Simple Junior Board of Skincare Advisors but sadly this was my last. Yet I hope to still be involved with Simple as they have some exciting ideas for the future.
Suzie x x x

My day

2011-02-28T16:49:45.1400000+00:00

Tuesday came round so fast, it was the day of our next teen board meeting which are always super exciting. I woke up fairly later than the other board members as I live in London, lucky me! I walked to my local train station and made the mistake of trudging through a muddy park thinking it would be a shortcut, it was but I got very muddy shoes and strange looks on the train!
I got to Victoria and had a lovely Starbucks Nutella hot chocolate (Mhhmm) Then got the tube to the Vizeum offices near Warren Street. I arrived on time, without getting lost to see everyone already there having tea and biscuits. After non stop chatting for half an hour we went into the boardroom, which was just for us, with little goodie bags which everyone soon raided!
We then met the people who are down to all the marketing for Simple and our baby of a brand, “Simple Spotless Skin”, and learnt about how much work goes into planning one advert. We got to create our own marketing ideas and tell everyone about them, my group won, and we each got a DVD, I got “I love you Beth Cooper”, a good choice!
**A couple of hours talking about our Top secret ideas**
Later we had a lovely prêt lunch with all these fancy sandwiches, I ate my weight in grapes, they were so tasty! That sounds so sad, but the food was really good!
After lunch we got onto new product ideas and how well our product range is doing, which is really well thanks to all you lovely people buying it...
The day went so fast and before you could call us “Simple Teen Skincare Advisors...” (A bit of a mouthful!) The day was over and we were all ready to go back home.
Sadly we are losing 4 members of our team, don’t worry they are not lost, just too old at 18! We will miss them but i’m sure they will go onto doing great things!
Enough of my bad jokes and over use of exclamation marks... I got home after a lovely day seeing everyone at Simple and I finished the day going to the Circus, pretty exciting for a Tuesday!
Georgia xx

My day

2011-02-28T13:57:06.9870000+00:00

The third Junior Board meeting took place on the 22nd February during the half term holidays. It took place in London at the Qube where one of Simple's placement partners are situated. As opposed to previous meetings where I was able to wake up in leisure and then make my way to the meeting location, this meeting required me to catch a train at seven in the morning! However the biggest hurdle arrived when attempting to find the location. After walking around twice in a circle and asking for some assistance, we discovered that the building was none other than the one we were standing in front of.

The day commenced with a brief overview of what we as the Junior Board have contributed to as well as a measure of its success. We were then given a minute introduction to Vizeum, who were the placement partners and allowed us to carry out the meeting in such a sophisticated and beautiful meeting. From this, we learnt that the places where advertisements are placed are just as important as the advertisement itself, as well as an idea of the best places to market a product and ways in which to do so. We then joined in small groups and discussed how we would market and where we would market some of the Simple products before presenting the ideas we had generated to the rest of the group. The judges went to deliberate-gulp....And we were told the winners who undoubtedly deserved to win due their outstanding views and the professionalism of their presentation. The next task was similar however was based purely on our views about different competitions which are on the horizon in order to advertise different Simple products. We short-listed the different ideas into out favourite and least favourite and ways in which each could be enhanced to entice as much potential customers as possible. Thankfully, there wasn't competition involved however the thought of speaking in front of people always gives me the shivers!

The lunch was delicious and the rest of the day was based around putting forward new ideas and existing products which Simple could take advantage of. My idea which was generated during my journey in the train-it was extremely silent, was a products which I was told will be on the market soon, in fact the next day! I must have been doing something right.

Overall, the day was very productive and I really appreciate what a great opportunity this is and hope that our ideas and input was useful. It was great to meet all the friends I had made in previous meetings and hope to meet them all as well as the Simple staff again in the next.

My day

2011-02-28T11:20:16.0200000+00:00

A six hour train journey isn’t everyone’s cup of tea, definitely not mine. But maybe getting to meet with the Junior Board and Simple’s amazing team to discuss all things Spotless made it a little more bearable! Arriving at the Qube-the home of Simple’s media placement agency Vizeum, made me feel very nervous but that little bit more excited. We were introduced to the world of media: TV, radio, films and magazines and just how important choosing the right place to promote Simple’s fantastic new range really is. We were put into teams to decide the best ways of promoting the Spotless Skin range in various different types of media which saw lots of popular ideas. And watch this space for some exciting new opportunities involving all things Simple!
After lunch it was back to the boardroom to discuss our ideas for new editions to the Spotless range! My lips are sealed...for now, so keep a watchful eye!
We also took a look at your area of the website (Teen Simple) and looked at ways of improving the design and content. Comment below if you have any ideas of ways in making it an even more exciting and Spotless...Ha...
It was great getting to meet Tegan for the first time. The team did a great job in choosing her to become our ‘face’ so to speak and I am excited to watch her blogs in the not so distant future.
But sadly this meeting was probably the last time we would see two of our members-Jo and Suzie. They are such valued members of the board and we’ll all miss them a lot. Good luck in your futures!
SO I would like to say a huge thank you to everyone who made the day as enjoyable as it was!
I believe that is all
LOVE, PEACE and SPOTLESS SKIN
Caitlin xox

My day

2011-02-28T11:17:21.6630000+00:00

Usually I am not very happy to be waking up at 7am however on the 22nd of February I had slight motivation knowing that the Junior Board meeting was today! When arriving at the Qube in London I was given a name tag and sat down in a very nicely decorated office building while we waited for the boardroom to be prepared. Once the meeting had begun we first discussed the previous successes of past meetings and it was good to know we had helped make a difference! We all discussed ways to advertise and the best way to advertise Simple, we split into groups to show how we felt it should be advertised. We then learnt of some very exciting upcoming projects (you shall have to wait and see!) and went for lunch. After lunch we talked about products we felt Simple should launch, and again it was interesting to learn what some people thought. I look forward to the upcoming projects and I am sure you will all love them!

My day

2011-02-28T11:15:47.1570000+00:00

After wandering around central London for 40 minutes, asking three passers-by and realising that google maps on my phone was completely unreliable, I arrived at the Qube for the third Simple Junior Board meeting. It was great to see all my friends again and have a good chat – we were all very excited by the news of how popular the teen range is. Our meeting was in the offices of Vizeum, Simple’s media placement agency, and we began with a presentation on media planning – I realised that the placement of adverts is just as important as the content. We split into groups to complete a task in which we had to present our ideas for marketing for the teen range. The ideas that everyone came up with were really interesting and it was great to learn how products can be marketed through so many different channels – TV, film, radio and magazines. We had a delicious lunch and then it was back to the boardroom to give our presentations on ideas for new products – the same ideas popped up several times, so keep an eye out for exciting new additions to the teen range! We then talked about potential ideas to develop the Simple Teen webpage and forum. I am looking forward to seeing the changes that these discussions will fuel, so I would like to say a big thank you to Simple for another fascinating insight into the skincare industry, and a brilliant day.

Hear my view of our JB meeting

2011-02-28T11:13:19.7130000+00:00

On Monday the 21st of February, I packed my bags and headed for the bright lights of London. The purpose of this trip was another Simple Junior Board meeting, and to tell the truth I was really rather excited… The day started on a bit of a sad note, we found out that this meeting was to be the last one for Joanna and Suzie (mine and Jemma’s days are numbered too!) and I think it’s safe to say, Susie’s presenting skills will be sorely missed (see her in action here on our facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/teensimple)! We talked about a variety of things to do with our range, from new products (I’d keep my eyes peeled for a Spotless Skin facemask or body scrub if I were you) and advertising slots, to road shows and competition prizes (sleepover in a luxury hotel anyone?). Details about all of this should appear on the afore mentioned facebook page, so be sure to like it if you want to be kept in the loop! All in all, I think we had a pretty productive day, and to top it all off I got a free magazine that came in handy on the plane trip home, score.

My first meeting!

2011-02-28T00:00:00.0000000+00:00

As you can see by all the new blogs the Junior Board members have uploaded, we have just had the first board meeting of the year, and my first board meeting! For weeks leading upto the day I was excited and nervous! But I had nothing to be nervous about as all the girls were absolutely lovely and friendly.

My journey Started on Monday morning at 8.30am I was travelling from Devon, I was going to be spending the night in a hotel before heading to the meeting the next day, as the journey takes us 5-6 hours depending on traffic and whether we get lost, there would be no way we could make it leaving on Tuesday as the meeting started at 9.40am, even then I only just made it – Yes we got very lost! It meant I had very little time to get changed into the Simple T-shirt, or to meet the girls properly, but thankfully I was able to meet them all properly throughout the day.

We all sat around a large table in a building called The Vizeum, it was a marketing companies building, so the topic of our meeting was marketing. We had to discuss best ways to market Simple products, I learnt a lot and we all came up with different ideas that we thought would work, Simple listened and took us all seriously, we even debated with Simple on ideas and why we thought they would work or wouldn’t work.

We had a break for lunch, we then went back in, each of us had to stand up and give a presentation about any ideas we had for a new product, we mentioned ideas that you the teen simple members have asked about in simple chat.

There were other things discussed, but that’s Top Secret for right now, but don’t worry, you will get to find out soon.

But sad news four members of the Junior Board are leaving, I have only just met them, but they are moving on to new things in their life and are turning 18, Becky, Jo, Suzi and Jemma it is sad to see you go, and the very best of luck to you.

You can get a sneaky peek of the Board meeting by going to Simples You Tube page.
Where you will learn a little bit about the board and what we were doing.

You will hear from me next month when I bring you news of a Simple Spotless Skin Product.

To find out more about the day and see us in action view my vlog at www.youtube.com/simplecouk
Bye.

My last meeting

2011-02-24T09:16:28.6000000+00:00

When my alarm woke me up at 6.15am on Tuesday morning, I almost thought I was back at school. Thankfully, the day brought a rather more exciting prospect – it was time for our first Simple meeting of the year, however, it was also a little saddening for me as I realised it would be my last one as a Junior Board Member. After running for the train, working my way through the tube packed full of commuters and getting only slightly lost on my arrival (since it was only slightly, I still regard this as an achievement!), I found myself outside the headquarters of renowned media planning group, Vizeum. Early arrival meant a good chance to catch up with all the girls again, especially Tegan whom I hadn’t seen since the selection day when she was crowned winner in the Simple Search for A Star competition. The room was buzzing with excitement as we were introduced to people from Vizeum, Audacity and of course, Simple. We settled into the day with an introduction led by the lovely women from Vizeum as to how and why media placement, not just the advertising itself, is so important and how it can be suited to different ages and audiences. We completed a task in small teams on what we thought was the best to market Simple to other teens and then presented our findings to the group – it actually turned out to be a competition and the winners were awarded a mixture of prizes including DVDs. This was followed by a second task in which we were asked to analyse possible marketing strategies that could be used by Simple – all of this is sadly top secret so I can’t speak of it or they would have to kill me- but trust me, it’s awesome! This summer is definitely worth looking forwards to and will be simply super (excuse the pun!) Time flew and before long, a lovely lunch was served (which was good as I realised in my morning rush I had missed breakfast and my stomach was starting to growl!). We munched our food and talked about everything that had happened since we’d last seen each other – facebook chats are good but there’s nothing like a face-to-face catch up ?. Then, we were called back inside the meeting room to proceed with the afternoons tasks. We met with Gav who called on the Junior Board to talk about potential products- this had actually been part of our homework so each of us gave presentations on where we thought the Simple brand could go next – boy, it’s going to get exciting at the Simple headquarters! We went on to take a look at how we could revamp the webpage and tackle a lot of the constructive criticism which had been left by the users – we’ve got some brilliant plans in store and we look forward to unveiling a new and improved webpage somewhere in the future! To conclude the day, we discussed the graduation of some of the eldest members, including Jemma, Suzie, Becky and myself as well as the initiation of some new ones, starting with Tegan and hopefully, welcoming another member through Simple’s partnership with the girl guiding organisation. As a graduating member of the board, I’d like to just give a huge thank to everyone I’ve worked with, the staff at Simple who’ve taught me so much about how a business like Simple works as well as the staff of companies which work with Simple such as Vizeum, Superdrug, RKCR (Rainey Kelly Campbell Roalfe) and Audacity who’ve illustrated the importance of other aspects of a business including marketing and advertising. Of course, thank you ever so much to all the other Board members, working with you has been a wonderful experience and it’s been fantastic to be part of such a friendly, smart and bubbly team. I will miss being a member of the Junior Board but the experiences I’ve had, the friends I’ve made and the little collection of Simple t-shirts which now hang in my cupboard are things I will treasure forever! I wish all of you the best and I know you all have bright futures ahead of you!
That’s all from me!

The February meeting

2011-02-24T09:13:51.5500000+00:00

After an early morning (6:30 to be exact) and pushing through the crowds in at London’s tube stations it was a relief to finally arrive at the Vizem building. After having a security pass made up I was given directions to Vizeum offices and feeling very out of place. Luckily Lauren (one of the other Board Members) had arrived just before me; it was nice seeing a friendly face to calm my nerves. After being reunited with the rest of the team and being introduced to Tegan (the newest member and winner of the Simple Star competition); we got straight into things. We learnt about Vizeum, who are apparently Media Moguls; and looked at ways of promoting Simple by using just that, the media. During this session Caitlin’s group won the competition so congratz to them. We also came up with some exciting new plans for the future, so watch this space. After a light lunch we returned to the board room and talked about Teen Simple’s current webpage/site and what we would like to do to change and update it, I’m sure you’ll be finding out about that soon enough. We also looked at existing products on the market and discussed new product idea’s, Hafsa was obviously on Simple’s wavelength, as her product is actually already being produced and if you look at Simple’s home page you’ll find some more information there. Finally we were told of some changes- Tegan has just joined the team and soon we will also have a girl guide but we also said goodbye to the four older Board Members Jo, Suzie, Becky and Jemma, who are turning 18 and are soon heading of to Uni, so good luck and I wish you all the best. That’s it for this time so let me know what you think.

Simple meeting 22nd Feb 2011

2011-02-23T15:05:08.9000000+00:00

Walking into the offices of Vizeum in London, I felt like a million dollars (or pounds, alternatively!) The glass lift let me have a peek at all the media experts hard at work, on their computers and phones closing multi-million pound deals with publications across the country, (or I imagined!) and I was a part of it! Fast forward thirty minutes and I was seated in the middle of the Simple Junior Board meeting, discussing make-up wipes and moisturizer, surrounded by the nicest eleven girls I’ve ever met! We discussed everything from the new competition ideas (which I have to keep on the down low!) to coming up with our own product ideas. Even though I haven’t really made it, I know that my experiences will come to help me in the future, and the four girls turning 18 by the end of this year and flying the Simple nest will be sorely missed!

Get a celeb pout for Valentines's Day

2011-02-11T09:12:41.9100000+00:00

Red roses, boxes of chocolate and tacky cards – yup, it's Valentine's Day again.

It can be a little (oh okay, totally) cheesy at times, but secretly we rather like it. We may not actually have our dream man yet (but one day Alex Pettyfer will realise that he's meant to be with us), but we do have a perfect pout thanks to the amazing Caroline Frazer, Celebrity Make-up Artist and Simple Advisory Board Skincare Expert.

Who's she, you ask? Only our fave make-up expert and the woman with all the answers on how to make your lips look as gorgeous as your favourite celeb's. Not only does she explain how to get full, luscious lips like Angelina Jolie or Miley Cyrus's rosebud look, but she also has great advice on how to combat any problems like dryness. Caroline rocks, basically. As do Simple Kind To Lips products .We heart them too. A lot. It is Valentine's Day after all.

Click here to read all Caroline's advice!

My photo shoot at Shout magazine!

2011-01-25T00:00:00.0000000+00:00

15th January 2011..... A date that probably does not mean much to most of you, but to me it was a date I had been looking forward to for a long time! When I had won the Teen Simple Star Competition, part of the prize was to have a makeover and photo shoot, and yes, the 15th January was that date.

Living down in Torbay, travelling anywhere takes hours. The photo shoot being in London meant at the very least 5 hours of driving in a car and then adding another hour on as getting lost is something we do often!

The photo shoot started at 10.00a.m. Inside the bright white warehouse style studio, there was the make-up artist with her huge range of make up, a wardrobe girl sorting out the rails of clothing that had been bought along, the Fashion Editor from Shout Magazine, Liz from Simple and lastly the photographer.

The hair and make-up took about an hour to do but this was about the same time as it took the photographer to set up all of his equipment. I loved getting all dressed up in different clothes from what I would normally wear, having make up professionally put on and my hair groomed like it had never known before. The photographer was really nice and friendly so it made it easy for me to pose and do all the things he asked of me at the shoot, accept be able to walk in a pair of shoes that had heels like I hadn’t worn before and couldn’t walk or stand in!

The accessories were wonderful, a table filled with so many lovely items and I was really pleased when they told me I was allowed to choose some of them to keep.

The time passed far too quickly, after a quick talk with the Fashion Editor from Shout Magazine it was time to make the five hour journey home.

Time to wait until March 2nd when Shout Magazine will publish some of the shots, but you can head over to Simple's YouTube channel next week where you can watch my vlog showing some of the photo shoot.

Tegan x

Minimalism – the hot new make-up trend

2011-01-24T15:40:24.4270000+00:00

here's a trend that will suit every budget – make-up is going minimalist.

Just take a look at the models who stomped the catwalk for British designer Christopher Kane's spring/summer 2011 show – their natural faces contrasted brilliantly with the acid-bright clothes

The minimalist look is easy to achieve and rather gorgeous. The key to it is clear skin, so make sure you follow your cleanse, tone and moisturise routine religiously, exercise regularly, eat a well-balanced diet and drink lots of water.

To achieve this look use a light base or tinted moisturiser, add a little highlighter to your cheeks....we love Benefit's High Beam (worth the investment we promise!) while Barry M's shimmer pencils are ace, reasonably priced at £4.59 and can be used on eyes and lips as well.

Slick on some lip balm, our Simple Kind To Lips Intensive Lip Moisturiser and add a little shading to the eyes, try Topshop's cream eye shadows, £7.

Don't use any powder: the idea is to look as natural as possible. Powder can add a bit of a formal air to your look – save it for when you get papped on the red carpet or, in our world, when you're a bridesmaid.

If you do have some spots you'll still be able to rock this look because the highlighters let you draw attention to certain parts of your face, i.e. your lovely cheekbones rather than that zit that actually no-one else has noticed apart from you.

And don't forget to tidy up your eyebrows. Full but neat is the aim – just five minutes with a pair of tweezers like these ones from Boots, £1.89, can totally transform your face.

There you have it, how to rock the minimalist look the Simple way!

x

We need your help!

2011-01-21T00:00:00.0000000+00:00

Simple needs your help!

We are doing a survey of 11 - 17 year olds on how they feel about their skin, the products they use and the things which stress them out..... want to help? We'd be eternally grateful (ok slight exaggeration!) if you would click here to go to our e-survey where you can tell us what you think. Every opinion counts!

Thanks!

The 2011 BRIT Awards are nearly here!

2011-01-14T00:00:00.0000000+00:00

It’s that time of the year again when we look to The 2011 BRIT Awards to lift our January blues. Everyone at Teen Simple HQ has been eagerly awaiting the nominee announcement particularly as we are all huge (and we mean HUGE) Take That and Tinie Tempah fans. Plus we totally love the re-styled award statue by our British style queen, Vivienne Westwood. Our favourite fashionista, Fearne Cotton, hosted a special event to announce the nominations which is being screened tonight. There is only a month now until we see them all battle it out at The O2 in London on Tuesday 15th February. Oh the suspense...! For the full listings head to: http://www.brits.co.uk/news/2011/2011-nominees

Top skincare tips from Caroline Frazer, resident Skincare Expert

2011-01-14T00:00:00.0000000+00:00

Caroline Frazer, our resident Simple Skincare Expert and member of the Simple Advisory Board, is a font of knowledge when it comes to skincare and how best to ensure you keep those pesky zits at bay.

Read her spot-on (wink) advice here on everything from blackheads and oily skin to whether you can make a difference to your skin in a week....

Don’t forget you can ask the Simple Advisory Board a question the blogs or on our Teen Simple Facebook page too.

Your problem:
I’m having yet another breakout of spots and they are quite sore and very noticeable! Are there any ideal products that will reduce the redness in a few days?

Caroline says:
Try using products that are formulated for skin that is prone to breakouts that only contain gentle ingredients as you don’t want to make your skin more sore.

The Simple Spotless Skin range includes a Blackhead Eliminating Face Scrub, a Triple Action Face Wash, a Rapid Action Spot Zapper, an Anti-Blemish Moisturiser and Quick Fix Wipes plus is clinically proven to show results from day one.

It contains:
- Zinc PCA, a natural ingredient which absorbs excess oil to help prevent spots coming in the first place
- Chamomile is skin soothing and is an anti-irritant (perfect for those itchy spots which you just want to scratch, pick and annoy you)
- Witch hazel which tones and tightens pores to help improve your skins complexion
- Phytospingosine helps to fight spots and blemishes to get rid of the spots you have got fast

If you do break out in spots, try using the Rapid Action Spot Zapper as soon as it appears. This has been proven to zap spots in just 4 hours! Really try not to touch, pick or squeeze any spots or blackheads unless you really must as this can cause scarring. See Simple’s Teen Simple blog on blackheads for more information on this.

Your problem:
You get spots under your skin and on your forehead. You are not sure if it’s down to stress or the skincare regime you are currently using.

Caroline says:
Simple facial skincare products are alcohol free so they won’t dry your skin or strip it of its own natural oils.
Stress can have a huge impact on skin health and can lead to breakouts. Deep breathing will really get oxygen into your lungs and therefore into your skin, leading to a brighter, less stressed look.

Your question:
Are two-in-one products as good as a separate face wash, cleanser and toner?

Caroline says:
It really depends on what you want to get out of your skincare routine, your skin type and how much time you have.
Most people have combination skin. A key characteristic of this is that you will find your t-zone (forehead, chin and nose) will feel greasy, whilst the skin around your cheeks will feel much drier. If this sounds like you, try using Simple Kind To Skin Pore Minimising Toning Cleanser followed by Spotless Skin Anti-Blemish Moisturiser. It contains a blend of active ingredients and vitamin goodness to visibly reduce the size of pores helping to leave skin feeling refreshed and clarified.
If you have normal skin try the new Simple Kind To Skin Vital Vitamin Foaming Cleanser which is full of multi-vitamin goodness and added moisturisers.

Your problem:
I have sensitive combination skin. After washing my face my skin gets very dry so I have to moisturise but then I get spots. How can I get the balance right?

Caroline says:
This is a very common problem.
Using a creamy cleanser such as Simple Kind To Skin Purifying Cleansing Lotion instead of a soap-based one will help clean without stripping the skin. When the skin is stripped of its natural oils it can start to overproduce sebum to compensate and this in turn can lead to outbreaks.
Don’t feel that you have to use moisturiser all over – you can use it just in the dry patches. Try using a moisturiser such as Simple Spotless Skin Anti-Blemish Moisturiser, which is formulated with Zinc PCA to help keep spots under control.

Radio One announced Teen Awards Winners

2010-11-17T00:00:00.0000000+00:00

Last Sunday was the first ever Radio 1 Teen Awards at Hammersmith Apollo in London. The audience got to see Katy Perry, The Wanted, Taylor Swift, JLS, Professor Green and Pixie Lott, as well as celebrating some dauntingly inspirational teens.

We are positively green with envy.

If, like us, you are slightly gutted you weren't there, now's the time to cheer up. Turn on the telly tonight at 7pm, flick over to BBC3 and you can watch the show from the comfort of your sofa. Hurrah!

Get your Christmas shopping sorted.... early!

2010-11-03T00:00:00.0000000+00:00

Surprise your family... Get your shopping sorted before Christmas Eve.

Grannies, aunts, sisters and friends will be fighting over our special packs on sale in Superdrug, which include Fresh Faced Beauty, Goddess To Go, Goodness Goddess and Sparkle.

And as the last three packs come with 10% off any purchase at Figleaves along with free postage, you can guarantee your popularity on Christmas morning.

For more information, click here to see what's on offer or head to your nearest Superdrug store now. All Simple Skincare Christmas gifts are on a 3 for 2 offer so you'll save some pennies too which means more for your new party lip gloss.

Only at Superdrug!

Winning the Teen Simple Star competition!

2010-11-02T00:00:00.0000000+00:00

Hi, my name is Tegan and I am the lucky winner of the Teen Simple Star Competition!

I felt really lucky to get to the Top Ten and could not wait for Beauty Boot Camp. As the day got nearer my excitement grew and I became more hyperactive, my mum who was coming with me, had to keep telling me to calm down.

To get to Solihull for the Beauty Boot Camp we had to leave a day before as I live down in Devon so I had to ask my school permission to take the day off. We also had to spend over 4 hrs on a train, half of that time we shared a carriage with a screaming child.

Saturday 18th September - they day of the final!

My excitement is like nothing I have ever felt before! Even Christmas does not come near to the feeling! My mum and I walked into Simple HQ and it all suddenly became so real. I was nervous yet really happy and excited to get the day started wanting it all to be so good and it really was good! I made friends with some of the girls and we had a good time. We had to answer questions about Simple, take part in challenges, talk about ourselves and do a presentation while knowing that we were being filmed and trying not to think about it.

The day was over too soon and it was time to hear the top 3 -Victoria, Kaitlin and I! I was happy for Kaitlin as I had spent most of the day with her and becoming friends. It was really hard to hold back how I felt but I think my smile gave most of it away especially as what happened next was to hear my name spoken as being the winner! I was face to face with Suzie Leigh (Stardoll TV presenter and Junior Board member) asking how I felt.... amazing was the only thing I could say right then and as I looked over and saw my mum crying I know she was happy for me too! As my mum tried to dodge one of the photographers getting a picture of her crying, I went through a mix of emotions, being happy and amazed for myself, but also disappointed for Kaitlin to not win.

I do not remember seeing all the other girls leaving but did manage to speak to Kaitlin before she left. I stayed behind having more pictures taken and my interview with Shout magazine which comes out November 3rd. I thoroughly enjoyed all the pictures and interviews, I just smiled and smiled as I was so happy the smile just stuck and even the 5 hours it took to get home the smile stayed and I just kept going over it again and again my heart pounding with joy each time!

I can’t wait to start my time officially as the Teen Simple Video Blogger in January 2011 and being part of the Teen Simple team to gain some great experience. Maybe after a few months I will stop smiling, but probably not.

Love Tegan x

We heart Kate Moss' new range at Top Shop!

2010-11-02T00:00:00.0000000+00:00

Everybody at Teen Simple HQ is eagerly awaiting pay day so that we can splash out on Kate Moss' stunning new range at Top Shop. We just hope it hangs around long enough for us to grab at least one item....

Check it out here!

x

Money money money

2010-10-20T00:00:00.0000000+00:00

See, we knew that would grab your attention. If you want more cash to splash on the fun things in life, then why not set up your own business? Plenty of teens are setting up their own companies – and doing rather well. Take Christian Owens, who set up his company, Mac Bundle, when he was 14-years-old. By the age of 16 had made his first million, according to the Daily Mail. He's just one example of a 'kidpreneur' ('kid' 'entrepreneur' = kidpreneur. Cunning. Also blooming impossible to say out loud without sounding slightly weird).

For true stories about teens who have made money, check out here. It will give you some great ideas.

Facebook security: the latest news

2010-10-19T00:00:00.0000000+00:00

Stop updating your status for two seconds because we've got some Facebook news for you. We know you're pretty savvy about updating your security settings on Facebook so people can only see exactly what you want them to see, but you may have missed the latest announcement and, as it's rather a good one, we wanted to make sure you knew all about it.

Basically, you know that "Argh!" moment when you realise you didn't log out of your Facebook account on your best mate's computer? The one you were using last night? The one you are now absolutely nowhere near, and neither is she, but her annoying little brother is?

Well, now you can keep calm rather than legging it round to her house. All you have to do is log on to Facebook on another computer or phone, and go to Account Settings. It will show you if you're logged in anywhere else and let you log out. Hurrah!

You should get regular reminders from Facebook about your security settings, and if you want to read more security tips at any point then go here.

Simple on screen with Zac!

2010-10-19T00:00:00.0000000+00:00

Okay, so we didn't get to meet him – we wouldn't be writing this post if we had, we'd be running around screaming – but thanks to the power of Stardoll TV, our Search For A Teen Simple Star was shown straight after a piece on Zac Efron. That's nearly the same as being his best mate. Or his girlfriend. Really.

And he's just one of the many stars that we share Stardoll TV with. To see all the celebs – and Simple – on Stardoll TV, then click here.

One day left to blog for Channel 4

2010-10-14T00:00:00.0000000+00:00

If you want to be a blogger for Channel 4 then hurry! You've got just one day left until the TV channel's hunt for a blogger aged between 16 and 24 finishes.

Click here to enter

If you've missed the deadline of 15 October then panic not, as us lot at Simple are always looking for brilliantly talented teen bloggers too. So, if you're under 19 and reckon you're a blogging legend, what are you waiting for? Tell us about you and your blog here. Right now.

Gossip on Simple Chat

2010-10-11T00:00:00.0000000+00:00

It’s time for a break. So, grab a cup of tea and enjoy a natter with other Simple fans on the new Simple Community Forum. We’ve got topics on fashion, fitness, food, oh, and skincare of course. If you want to know whether that moisturiser will suit your skin type, just log on and ask other Simple users. It’s that easy.

We also have special areas for VIPs and Teens, as well as an FAQ section and a place where you can chat with our consumer relations team.

And as if that wasn’t enough, the forum is THE best place to find out about our new products before anyone else – and the place to let us know what you think of them.

As the forum is still in its infancy this is your chance to shape it into the place that you want it to be. We look forward to meeting you all!

Looking for a TEEN blogger...

2010-10-09T00:00:00.0000000+00:00

Hi guys,

We are on the search for teen bloggers to guest blog on the Teen Simple blog site at simple.co.uk. If you'd like to get involved and guest blog for Simple, please drop a line to teen@simple.co.uk telling us a bit about you, what you do, your blog URL etc.

Thanks!
Simple x

Love vintage fashion? The read on.....

2010-10-07T00:00:00.0000000+00:00

If like us you love vintage style, we know you’re going to love Retro Chick! Retro Chick is Teen Simple’s favourite Fashion and Beauty Blogger. She was also our Guest Blogger Judge at the Teen Simple Star Beauty Boot Camp day on 18th September and she really knows her stuff when it comes to sourcing fabulous vintage bargains.

Retro Chick loves trawling Boot Fairs and Charity Shops for amazing vintage finds as well as sharing vintage hair and beauty tips. Her philosophy is about helping you discover your own personal style by finding the best in affordable vintage, and ethical fashion and making it work every day. She has a knack of looking at seasonal trends, fashion & lifestyle and making them completely relevant for today but with a funky vintage twist.

Retro Chick also has her own store on eBay where she sells some gorgeous vintage frills so check it out by clicking here to go to her blog page for more info.

You can check Retro Chick out on Stardoll TV too where she helps us pick the Teen Simple Star at Beauty Boot Camp!

Enjoy

Love Simple x

Write about saving and win an iPad

2010-09-29T00:00:00.0000000+00:00

If you're aged between 13 and 18, then we have found a fab competition for you. Financial Mail is offering teens in full-time education the chance to win an Apple iPad 16GB, worth £400. All you have to do is write an essay on how, if you were a member of the coalition government, you would encourage the nation to save. There's more information and guidelines here, with a category for 13 - to -15year-olds and another for 16- to 18-year-olds. And if you enter the older category then you could win a work experience placement at Financial Mail. Which is a money-can't-buy opportunity for all aspiring journalists.

Click here to enter the competition.

If you decide to enter (the deadline is November 5) then Teen Simple wish you the very best of luck – and don't forget to let us know how you get on.

Beauty Boot Camp at Simple HQ!

2010-09-21T00:00:00.0000000+00:00

Our Search for a Teen Simple Star may have ended but it’s just the start of it for our well deserving winner!

Beauty Boot Camp at Simple HQ on Saturday was a fun packed day for all the finalists but there could only be one winner on the day and that was... drum roll..... Tegan Kensa Davies, age 13 from Devon. Tegan totally wowed the judges with her passion for Simple and savvy skincare know-how. Click here to see some sneak peeks from the day.

A massive well done to all the other finalists who were also absolutely fantastic. For exclusive behind the scenes gossip and an interview with the winner see 3rd November issue of Shout Magazine.

You can also catch a peek inside Beauty Boot Camp by checking out Stardoll TV on Wednesday with Sergeant Suzie Leigh from the Junior Board of Skincare Advisors. Put that whistle away Susie!

One stage nearer to finding the Teen Simple Star!

2010-09-09T00:00:00.0000000+00:00

How excited are we?! The 10 Teen Simple finalists have now been announced! It was a tense last few days of the competition with lots of jostling between the top 20 entrants but the lucky final 10 have secured their space and can move into the next stage of the competition.

The lucky girls are: (in no particular order!)

Tegan Davies, age 13 from Devon
Lauren Thompson, age 14 from Aberdeen
Holly Molyneux, age 13 from Chester
Fiona and Zoe Bartle, age 17 from Halifax
Celine Blakely, age 17 from London
Rebecca Fiddes, age 15 from Congleton
Samantha Davidson, age 14 from Edinburgh
Kaitlin Richmond, age 12 from Surbiton
Victoria Howkins, age 13 from St. Neots
Victoria Robinson, age 14 from London

To see their Simple Star profiles, click here.

So, what happens next? It’s going to be tough but there can only be one Teen Simple Star. All 10 finalists have been invited to Simple HQ on Saturday 18th September for the Teen Simple Star Beauty Boot Camp. It’s going to be an action packed day where we put the finalists through their paces to determine who has the personality, values and attitude to win. The lucky winner will bag themselves the role as Official Teen Simple Video Blogger as well as an Honorary Seat on the Simple Junior Board of Skincare Advisors. If that’s not enough they’ll also win a makeover, take part in a photo shoot, get £200 to spend at Roxy and finally receive a year’s supply of Simple products. Not much then....!

Watch this space for all the gossip from the day. You’ll be able to see the final 10 battle it out on Stardoll TV at the end of September.

Love Simple x

Are you up for the challenge?

2010-09-09T00:00:00.0000000+00:00

Is your school taking part in the Simple Wellbeing Challenge? Have you even heard of the Simple Wellbeing Challenge? Wondering what on earth we are going on about?.... the read further...

Last year, GMTV's resident psychologist Emma Kenny conducted a totally unique social and scientifically tested experiment for ITV's Tonight show: Make My Kids Happy. The programme involved a group of teenagers at a secondary school agree to...shock.... horror.... stop wearing make up, fake tan and even loose their gadgets such as iPhones and laptops. This may sound completely mad but the objective was to see if these are some of the reasons behind the low self esteem levels amongst some teenagers.

Tests were conducted before and after and .... you guessed it..... they showed dramatic increases in levels of self-esteem amongst students. In order words, the students were happier, more confident and felt better about themselves.

So, we thought that we would set up a similar challenge but open it up to lots of schools across the UK. Over 500 in fact! That’s how the Simple Wellbeing Challenge came about.

The Simple Wellbeing Challenge is taking place during September to October 2010. Not all schools are going the whole way with the experiment – every school is doing it slightly differently however all schools are following a simple 'healthy skin regime' and making one other positive change, for instance, wearing no make up for a 4 week period.
They are also getting lots of free Simple Spotless Skin products!

If your school is taking part in the Simple Wellbeing Challenge, tell us here how you have been getting on! Send any pics you have to wellbeing@simple.co.uk and we will make sure they are put up online.

Don't forget that if your school is taking part, you can bag yourself a half price Wellbeing Challenge pack for £4.99 which is full of Simple Spotless Skin goodies.

If your school isn’t taking part, what do you think about the idea of taking part? Would you give it a go?

We hope you enjoy seeing what the results are!

Love
Simple
x

Grab yourself a FREE pack of Simple Spotless Skin Quick Fix wipes now!

2010-08-02T00:00:00.0000000+00:00

Do you want a free pack of Simple Spotless Skin Quick Fix Cleansing Wipes? Yup, just as we thought. We have got a limited number of absolutely free wipes to dish out to you lovely Teen Simple fans! All you need to do is click here.

The NEW Simple Spotless Skin range has been designed especially for teenage spot-prone skin and is the perfect blend of spot fighting ingredients and antibacterial goodness. Give it a go to get visibly clearer skin from day one! Spot on!

Don't forget to tell us what you think of the range - as always we love getting your feedback. Have you seen our new Teen Simple fan page? Be the first to hear about competitions, freebies and opportunities to get involved with Teen Simple. Click here to check it out now!

Holiday time!

2010-08-02T00:00:00.0000000+00:00

Hi Everyone! I’m Megan, one of the members of the Simple Junior Board of Skincare Advisors. This is my first blog so go easy on me but any comments or advice would be great!
My topic this time is skin and sun care. Yes, we’ve heard it all before but sun cream is hugely important. It may be a chore but it’s vital to maintaining skin health and helps to prevent premature aging. Whether you’re going abroad or enjoying the weather here in the UK, you still need to use sun cream! Especially if you don’t want to burn - sunburn is not only painful but very bad for your skin and it looks dreadful. Use a sun cream with a minimum SPF 30, it may be a bit high but believe me it’s worth it! Avoid sun bathing between 12pm and 3pm as this is when the suns rays are at their strongest. Also look for sun lotions that have a minimum of 3 star UVA and UVB protection. Even if you’re like me and you don’t burn easily it’s still best to be on the safe side. Don’t forget your lips either as dry or chapped lips can be painful so use a lip balm with an SPF for kissable lips.

When you’ve washed all the sun-cream off make sure you cover yourself in aftersun or a really rich moisturiser as this will keep your skin hydrated, soft and healthy. Plus it will help you keep your tan longer!

I’ve just come back from a trip to sunny Italy with school and it was great! For the rest of my holiday I’ll be enjoying the weather here in Wales with my family! We’ve got a caravan in Pembrokeshire and love the area! We’ve had it for 8 years and still haven’t run out of things to do. At my most recent visit I went to ‘Heatherton’ and got zipped into a GIANT plastic ball before being pushed on to the water. It was amazing! You literally walk on water! It was really hard to stand up though. The archery was fab too, and I had the highest score of the day! I’ll also be looking forward to the great beaches and body boarding! My Aunty & Uncle are also visiting from Australia so I’m looking forward to spending time with them too!

Let us know what you are up to. Have fun and Happy Holidays!

Make us chuckle with your stories about Simple!

2010-07-23T00:00:00.0000000+00:00

Does your boyfriend steal all your moisturiser or worse still your Cleansing Facial Wipes? Has your wrinkle-free Granny used Simple since she was a young woman? Do you use our Sun Sensitive products on your dog?... OK that’s a little bit far-fetched but you probably get the gist of it. You know we love hearing your stories on how much you love Simple but it’s not all about massaging our ego (well ... ok it is a little bit!)

Here’s what we want. If you have got any stories you can share with us, specifically about our products, we want to hear them. They can be funny, poetic, surprising, anything you like as long as they are about products in the Simple range. It’s a chance for you to share your story, make people laugh, inspire others and make yourself famous! The best quotes or stories will be published on our website. If it’s yours, you will win one product from the range your story is about. What better incentive do you need to start scribbling now!

We would love it if you posted your stories on our Teen Simple Facebook fan page. Click here to check it out. Become a fan and you'll get to hear about exclusive competitions, freebies and all our gossip before anyone else!

Win a Simple Kind To Lips Intensive Lip Moisturiser

2010-07-16T00:00:00.0000000+00:00

It's our 50th anniversary this year (you may have spotted if you've bought a pack of our Cleansing Facial wipes recently!) and we thought we would share our birthday celebrations with our Teen Simple fans. So, we have got an opportunity for you to win one of fifty Simple Kind To Lips Intensive Lip Moisturisers. Our new Intensive Lip Moisturiser is packed with Simple vitamin goodness to keep your lips hydrated, nourished and perfectly kissable.

All you have to do is click here and answer a very easy peasy question. We will then randomly select fifty correct entries. Psssstttttt.... the answer is easy to find if you look on our product pages!

Announcing the winner of the Teen Simple School Prom competition!

2010-06-30T00:00:00.0000000+00:00

We are thrilled to announce that the winner of the Teen Simple School Prom Competition is Holly Sanders from Maidstone in Kent! Thanks to Holly, her school prom on Friday night has been taken over by the Simple School Prom Team who have organised for ... wait for it.... drum roll..... Daisy Dares You to headline to entertainment! But not only that, yes, it gets better – Holly and her crew get a Simple Spotless Skin make-over before jumping in their ride to arrive at the prom by limo. Style! The Simple School Prom Team are also throwing a cocktail reception (non-alcoholic) at the prom too. For all of you going to Holly's school prom have an amazing time and watch out for the paps who will be snapping away! We are exceptionally jealous that our school prom wasn’t that cool!

Win a Roxy T-Shirt PLUS a Simple Get Spotless pack!

2010-06-25T00:00:00.0000000+00:00

It’s been a few weeks now since we launched the brand new Simple Spotless Skin range and the feedback we have had so far has been phenomenal.... it’s simply disappearing off the shelves!
So, we thought what better way to celebrate than to launch a little competition! We have managed to get our hands on a Roxy Active White T-shirt (size: small) and will give it to the Spotless Skin fan who writes the best poem on our fab new range. Get scribing peeps – your witty words could bag you the aforementioned Roxy T-shirt plus a Get Spotless pack which contains all the products in the new range. Don’t delay though because you have only got 10 days to submit your rhyme - the closing date for entries is 4th July. We'll let you know who the winner is on 5th July.
Best of luck!

A week in the life of Simple - my week's work experience

2010-06-21T00:00:00.0000000+00:00

Parking up, my body was filled with nerves - what was I going to be doing? Who would I be meeting? I walked into reception with what seemed like a million eyes staring at me. I was on the 4th floor so I decided to take the lift (I’m not usually lazy!).

During the week I did so many interesting and exciting things. From finance (which I can’t say I understood fully) to designing a new product for the Spotless Skin range (watch this space) the week couldn’t have gone faster! I even got to make my own Simple Clear Skin Oil Balancing Exfoliating Wash (jealous much?!). It was great insight into what actually happens within a business…a lot more than I originally thought! After making the product I realised how much goodness actually goes into a Simple product and why they’re so effective.

Everything I learnt is going to be so helpful for the future…I have discovered a love for writing (Shakespeare watch out)! I would like to thank the Simple team for an amazing experience and hope I get to experience it again soon!

Win Tickets to the Clothes Show!

2010-06-17T15:41:31.1730000+00:00

The Clothes Show: the hottest fashion and beauty event of the summer!.. And you could win two tickets to this massive event!

To enter the competition, visit this link: www.simple.co.uk/clothesshowtickets and answer the following question:

Which famous supermodel is a fan of our Kind to Skin Cleansing Facial Wipes?
(Pssst! The celebrity fan pages might just help you out!)

...it’s as simple as that! (unintentional pun there!)

The closing date is 22nd June…so get entering! The show will be at Earls Court London on Saturday 26th Jun 2010…

…Good Luck!

Have you been watching Stardoll TV?

2010-06-15T18:06:49.1730000+00:00

We are really very excited to let you know that we are featuring on Stardoll TV. If you don’t know what Stardoll is all about, we suggest you definitely head to www.stardoll.com to find out what you are missing.

There will be a new TV episode every 2 weeks crammed full of celebrity gossip, sneak peaks into back stage antics, interviews with the hottest stars and yes, features from your favourite skincare brand Simple. Over the next few months we’ll be talking to you about everything from skincare at festivals to keeping you up to date on what the Junior Board are up to.

This week we are talking about how to get prom ready. Are you in the midst of prom madness? Have you still got to decide on which dress you are going to wear?
If so, stop panicking. If you watch the brand new episode of Stardoll TV you’ll get the low down from our very own Junior Board member Suzie Leigh on how to get prom ready. So, you can stop talking about whether the school hottie spotted you drooling over him earlier (the shame!) and get your prom hat on (um, you know what we mean)

To view the new episode simply click here

Don’t forget use our prom planner and you'll remember everything. Even the tiny details. And your night will rock more than a big, er, rock. Which is rock-tastic indeed.

Junior Board Meeting April 2010

2010-05-05T16:05:22.2200000+00:00

I approached Greater London House and I could literally feel my heart beating through my rib cage. It was MASSIVE! The taxi stopped and we got out. I couldn’t believe I was going into such a big building. I could see all these really smart business people walking in, I felt really nervous, in fact I felt sick. I walked in and then saw the rest of the board members (sitting in some rather comfy chairs). My nerves dissolved instantly.
We were escorted upstairs, past some rather fancy offices and rooms. I could feel the workers staring at us, and we did receive some rather strange looks. After all it’s not everyday these people see ‘kids’ walking through their office. When we finally reached our room I was astounded, it all looked so professional and the décor was amazing. We all sat down and started talking; we learnt about advertising, pitched ideas and commented on the new Simple Spotless Skin range (its fab by-the-way!) the majority of the day was filming and promoting the Simple Star Competition. It was really fun and I hope we get to see the outtakes. The end of the day came too soon. I can’t wait to see everyone again, for another meeting.

Junior Board Meeting April 2010

2010-04-19T00:00:00.0000000+00:00

One long car journey, two lengthy train rides and a short walk later, and I’m in a building that’s home to the UK’s most effective creative agency (called RKCR Y&R), to talk all things Simple! After a short welcome, we were introduced to the world of advertising by a representative from RKCR Y&R (possibly the world’s longest named company ever!?). We were given insight into how creating an ad works, which-to my amazement-was more than coming up with a good idea and putting into practice!
Next, we were given a bit more information on the most exciting thing ever...the new Simple Spotless Skin range! We had all been given the products to test before hand and were given time to discuss what we do and don’t like about the products. Everyone agreed that they were eye catching and the thing that made it appealing to me was the fact that it not only targets existing spots, but keeps them away at the same time.
The perhaps most daunting bit of the day was next to come: recording a short couple of sentences on why we loved the new simple spotless skincare range. I think we all found that hard not only because it was surprisingly nerve-racking, but also considering that there were so many great things to say about it! Next was a piece of extremely exciting information...the chance for one teenage girl to become the Teen Simple Star! I was so excited by the fact that we would have an input into deciding who would represent us! Someone to represent the brand and what it stands for.
After lunch, we were able to take part in making and shooting some film footage for the new online TV programme: Stardoll TV. Stardoll is an online area where you can make your own mini-me, play games and chat to friends. Suzie did a great job, as she was given the role of the presenter for Simples’ section of the programme! It was great getting the chance to be involved in making a TV programme, it wasn’t quite so scary as I first thought!
Finally (is probably the wrong word to use!!), we had a discussion on Simple and Superdrug! From new iPod apps, to in store offers, everything was covered and it was great not only sharing my ideas but getting to hear everyone else’s too. If you see a cardboard cut out of a stage with a Simple product in the spotlight, it was Becky’s idea!
This is a pretty short blog for such an exciting day! But it was so enjoyable and great to see everyone again. I can’t wait for the next meeting, the long car journeys and lengthy train rides are definitely worth it!

Junior Board Meeting April 2010

2010-04-16T00:00:00.0000000+00:00

“Is that it Dad?” As the humongous building over towered me crossing the busy London street, I stood in awe. The name ‘Greater London House’ obviously means that it’s Great, but it really did look it; two giant cats stood at the entrance, looking so grand that you just couldn’t take your eyes off them (although when a black cab went zooming down the road, you soon snapped out of the trance).
Walking through the doors felt like a scene out of ‘The Devil Wears Prada’, so elegant and chic, but very business-like at the same time... Revlon had their own office there!
After we’d signed in at the reception desk, we moved towards the area set aside for the Junior Board, while my little sister moaned about not wanting to wait there for ages because she wanted to go into Claires. I said goodbye to my mum and dad, and went over to several Junior Board members huddled around a sofa.
“Hi Guys!” I said, trying to sound a little braver than I felt. It’d been almost a year since we’d all been together, and I just hoped I got along with them all as well as I had last year. Thankfully, they all smiled, and I sat down in between Hafsa and Caitlin. Soon we were all talking about the horrendous train rides to get here (it was peak time on the tubes and trains in London), and how Google Maps had said it would take 6 minutes to walk from the tube station to the building, when really it was about 30 seconds.
After a few minutes, Lisa and Liz turned up to give us our name-tags, and we learnt that Emily was away on holiday so she couldn’t make it. Once they had taken us up in the lifts, we had to walk through an incredibly long room, willed with cool, but official looking people, all working on iMacs, or huddled together on some of the lavish sofas. It was quite embarrassing, as you could see on their faces, they were thinking: “What are they doing here? We knew we were meant to be here, though we did keep a little quieter.
However, we soon got through to the room we would be in for most of the day, and sat down in a random order (different to the last meeting I may add) around the table. After we’d got settled, done a bit of filming for Stardoll and got settled again, we started the meeting.
The next few hours were cram packed with talks about the brand new Simple Spotless Skin range (which in my opinion is brilliant), and possible ways to advertise it. We also had a talk from an advertising executive about how the world of advertising works, what methods RKCR/Y&R uses and some of the adverts they produced which I have to admit, I was pretty awestruck about.
Lunch came far too quickly (as we had all enjoyed the first half of the meeting so much), and we all munched on fruit, sandwiches and the odd chocolate biscuit.
The second half unfortunately went as fast as the other half had, but this time we were mainly doing work for Stardoll, and in front of the camera which was a little daunting and we had a lot of outtakes!
When it was time to leave I wanted to do it all over again. We all said goodbye to each other as we headed out the doors. It may have gone so quick, but we all knew we’d had the time of our lives, and how lucky we were to even get the chance to do something like this.
I know I can’t wait for the next Junior Board meeting or to see some of the entries for the Teen Simple Star campaign!

The Second Face-to-Face Junior Board Meeting

2010-04-12T00:00:00.0000000+00:00

Our second face-to-face meeting was held in London on Wednesday the 8th of April. Our venue was the office of the brilliant people who make the adverts (and lots more) for Simple and other prestigious British brands. As we were escorted to our headquarters for the day, we saw a lot of "creative spaces", including what looked like a plot of grass (in an office!) and a gigantic dinosaur...

We ran through the agenda of the day, and were introduced to the Stardoll Film Crew, who were filming a Junior Board segment to be shown on Stardoll TV (go on Google it). Susie is the Official Stardoll Board Reporter, and she was like an old-pro with the cameras!

After some very serious discussions about the new Simple Spotless Skin range (look out for it when it hits the shelves in Superdrug very soon), we concluded that it is absolutely fantastic and your dressing table isn't complete without it! There wasn't a unanimous vote on which was our favourite product but personally I liked the moisturiser because it made my skin feel so soft and smooth.

We really hope you like the new range and I'd love to hear your thoughts on it all!

Junior Board Meeting April 2010

2010-04-12T00:00:00.0000000+00:00

After a short walk from our hotel we (being my dad and myself) found a huge building which seemed to be what we were looking for, and went in to be greeted by other members of the Junior Board and were sat down in a colourful waiting room till we were lead upstairs. After sitting down and discussing what would be on the agenda for the day we were introduced to Stardoll TV and exactly what they were doing. We were then told more about the new Simple Spotless Skin products (and why we loved them!) and wrote a short line to be featured in Superdrug of our views on the products. Throughout the rest of the day we talked future Simple projects and a lot of filming! I can say I thoroughly enjoyed the day and am looking forward to the next meeting!

Junior Board Meeting April 2010

2010-04-12T00:00:00.0000000+00:00

The latest meeting hosted by Simple was on the 7th April was in the Greater London House, obviously in London! We arrived at the meeting at 9:30, only to discover a whole floor to ourselves overlooking the London landscape. Amid the room was a conference table consisting of notebooks and pencils for ourselves as well as water and coke for thirst! Throughout the day, we discussed the different stages which an advertising company goes through in order to produce a fantastic advertisement which draws in consumers to buy the certain product. The most embarrassing aspect of the day had to be when we were told to say few words regarding the new rang, incorporating our favourite and why. Due the fact that the whole day was based around ‘episodes’ for Stardoll TV, it was Stardoll who filmed the mini clips. My favourite undeniably was the triple action face wash which cleansed, purified and toned all in one for a fraction of the price of other brands. I had to memorise a line to say in front of the camera which included many a blooper like when I had forgotten the first word on the first go! The afternoon challenge was also a camera challenge which was to make our very own teen simple star audition videos which will be uploaded onto the internet for others to see and act as a example, setting a foundation for those who wanted to audition. Mine was well...interesting. I don’t think comedy is my area of talent, especially when I’m trying to funny - it just came across as lame yet my random nature seemed to do the trick. I think overall the day was extremely productive and hope we provided the Simple team interesting information for them to work around and continue to be the best in their genre of retail. Even though I am extremely camera shy I still came to love the work we were doing and enjoyed the day !

Bang On Trend Or Bang Out Of Order?

2010-03-18T00:00:00.0000000+00:00

Have you spotted the new trend that has emerged in the world of fashion?

Inspired by veteran fashion designer Jean Paul Gaultier, underwear (you know your knickers, bras and other slinky undergarment accessories) are now being termed “outerwear”…

That’s right fashionistas, we’re talking wearing your knickers over your Miss Sixty's finest or your Myla brassier over your Top Shop skinny-T.

Bang on trend or bang out of order? Have you spotted this trend on the streets of Blighty? Can this look ever work? Is it a look you would be proud to be seen sporting? You tell us! Don’t be shy!

Mother's Day treats at home

2010-02-22T12:38:07.9070000+00:00

Pampering is very important to me and to most girls and women on this planet! Pampering for me is something I associated with sleepovers when I was younger and even now I still share those views. But recently it’s been sidetracked at sleepovers by films, chatting and eating – okay, mostly eating.....

Nowadays pampering has become so much easier to do and at a much lower cost. For example many magazines will tell you how to make your own face masks and there are fairly inexpensive ones available in stores like Superdrug and Boots.

As Rebecca expressed in her blog, brothers aren’t the best people to pamper you! My mum is the person I go to for advice about beauty and let’s face it, I’ll ask her help for just about anything! But my mum is a busy woman and has almost no time to treat herself. With Mother’s Day coming up I’m considering issuing her with a personalised gift voucher for a pampering session but instead of going to an expensive spa I’ll pamper her instead!

Do you think this is a good idea to pamper mums, friends and siblings at home instead of paying a fortune for them to go to a spa?

Leave me a comment, please! Let me know what you think. What will you be getting your mum this Mother’s Day – and is pampering her at home the best way to save some money and make her feel a million dollars?

Pampering with your siblings?

2010-02-12T12:10:59.2470000+00:00

I have a two year old brother. He is called Daniel, but he introduces himself to everybody as Dan the Man McGrattan. Every morning that I attempt to have a lie-in, without fail, he bursts into my room like a one toddler stampede and makes a beeline for my dressing table. This dressing table is sacred. It is a shrine to my many collections of make-up, skincare and hair stuff, and the little monster loves it all. If I didn't leap from my bed and restrain him each and every time, my brushes would be ruined. My blusher would be smashed on the floor. My Simple wipes would be strewn across the room in little white flags of defeat. As annoying as it is, I wouldn't change my little Danny boy for all the world, but I was just wondering if everybody else had the same kind of relationships with their siblings? I don't have a sister, but my mother borrows enough of my stuff as it is, and I know that's very annoying... So do you have girly pampering sessions with your sisters? Have you ever painted your brother's toenails (I know I have!)? Are there any special skincare routines you have in common, or are attempting to install into their little minds? Leave a comment below and let me know!

What is your must have beauty essential?

2010-02-05T16:11:58.9770000+00:00

We have all got one – our must have, everyday beauty essential that we can’t live without and get stressed out about if we can’t find. It’s the one thing we make sure we never run out of and there is trouble if anyone so much as thinks about borrowing it without asking us first.

Let us know what yours is. It can be anything at all. If it’s a Simple product let us know which one it is so that other Teen Simple users can benefit from your words of wisdom!

Pucker up!

2010-02-05T16:10:14.8370000+00:00

Get ready to pucker up everyone, it’s almost Valentine’s Day - that time of the year when the whole world goes all gooey and everyone looks forward to a kiss (or two if they are lucky) from their beau.

Don’t panic if your lips are not in tip top kissable condition because Simple is here to help. For lusciously kissable lips, why not try our brand new Kind To Lips Essential Lip Balm or our Kind To Lips Intensive Lip Moisturiser. Both are packed with vitamin goodness to nourish dry lips leaving you with smooth, soft and thoroughly kissable lips.

These new products are available in Superdrug right now so why not give them a try and let us know how you get on!

Blackheads..... how to prevent them and get rid of them

2010-01-15T11:05:41.6970000+00:00

Urgh, blackheads. We all get them and we all hate them. But how do you send them packing if you’ve got them and better still prevent the little wotsits from coming in the first place?

Simple are the skincare experts so check out our simple tricks to keep your skin clear of blackheads for good!

Cleansing routine

Keeping your skin clean is key to ensuring blackheads don’t rear their ugly head anywhere near yours. This means removing all traces of make-up and build up of dirt on your face every day, without fail!

Why not try Simple Clear Skin Exfoliating Wash with witch hazel goodness for healthy clear skin. It leaves your skin perfectly clean and refreshed.

Make sure you rinse your face clean of all face wash or cleanser as leaving a residue can sometimes cause spots, blemishes and blackheads.

Exfoliate, exfoliate!

Gentle exfoliation every other day will help decongest your skin by removing dead skin cells. Being gentle is crucial as you don’t want to upset the natural balance of your skin which can also cause spots and/or blackheads.

Try Simple Clear Skin Oil Balancing Facial Scrub with witch hazel goodness for healthy clear skin. It’s the perfect blend of active ingredients and exfoliating goodness to remove dead skin cells, dirt and impurities. Plus it’s clinically proven to reduce blackheads in just 7 days!

Water & food

Drink plenty of clear fluid and pack your diet full of fruit and veg. It will do wonders for your skin and general well being.

Make-up

Try to use make-up which doesn’t block your pores – this will help to reduce the occurrence of blackheads in the first place.

Always remove your make-up at the end of the day, no matter how tired you are.

Don’t forget, regularly wash items that you use to apply make-up. These can harbour nasty bacteria which don’t do your skin any favours.

Finally, if you must squeeze….

OK we admit it, we do it too but if you must squeeze do the following:

Wash your hands
Use a tissue or cotton wool bud to GENTLY apply pressure – we cannot stress how important it is to do this as gently as possible to prevent damage to your skin or even worse scarring
Clean the area after you have squeezed to prevent any transfer of bacteria

Why not share your tips with us for getting rid of blackheads!

Christmas is coming...

2009-12-09T08:46:00.7400000+00:00

So Christmas is coming, the shops are stocking up and we’re all making lists that go on for five miles – but is that what Christmas is all about? No, it is not. Christmas is all about keeping your skin healthy through the winter months, and looking absolutely gorgeous at all those smashing Christmas parties! So what do you use to perk up your skin? Facial? Face mask? Just some good moisturiser? I want to hear from you.....

Love, peace and chocolate,

Em x

Christmas is coming...

2009-12-07T14:01:43.1900000+00:00

So it's that time of year again... And I can't say I'm unhappy about that!!! I love, love, love Christmas with a passion, what I don't love is trawling endlessly through the shops looking for presents for people who are impossible to buy for... So what's everybody getting? Me, I'm searching through every single site promising nice stuff for a tv that might possibly look nice in my room, but as a result of my pickiness I probably won't have found something until next year... :(

Which clothing brand do you like the best?

2009-10-21T15:59:05.6770000+00:00

Which do you think is the most aspirational clothing brand; Miss Selfridge, New Look or Roxy?

Una Healy from the Saturdays uses Simple too!

2009-09-03T00:00:00.0000000+00:00

Una Healy from The Saturdays even has skin problems! She told Body & Soul Magazine "I've got oily skin, and when I was a teenager, I had pimples on my forehead. I used a heavy concealor to hide them, but it made them worse as it clogged my pores. Nowadays it's all about prevention, so I use Simple Moisturising Foaming Facial Wash.

Does this sound familiar to anyone out there?

First Junior Board Meeting

2009-08-20T00:00:00.0000000+00:00

The table was surrounded by nervous, anxious faces. “Welcome everybody, and congratulations on becoming a member of the Simple Junior Board of Skincare Advisors!” Yes – I’m in!

We all did our introductions and then went through products we had bought that had stood out to us on the shelves of Superdrug and Boots, and we discussed them. Then the exciting stuff began!

We were told all about the Junior Board and how lucky we were to get picked from over 300 applicants – we all felt pretty big headed right then, I can tell you!

Afterwards, we basically had a really cool chat and talked about, what’s hot and what’s not? - in the genre of skincare.

Then bowls of sweets were put on the table (no one really listened past that point!) but I do remember winning chocolate for answering some questions right in a quiz we were set.

Just as we were all feeling a bit sick after eating too many jelly sweets, we were asked what we thought about skincare and skin health – and we thought it was really important to have healthy and glowing skin without using chemicals, harsh perfumes or surgery.

After a spot of lunch, we talked about different groups of skincare brands e.g. Clean and Clear, T-Zone and Freederm and why they were grouped together.

Another competition arose, and we split into groups for 1¼ hours for this cool task. We had to invent some exciting new products for Simple. My group – Team Goodness – came up with “On The Move Moisturiser” and a lip gloss with lip gloss at one end and lip balm at the other. We were nervous during our pitch to the Marketing Director, but we presented our mood board and product information sheets well. And somehow Team Goodness managed to win! We collected a Roxy (very) large beach towel and umbrella, and £250 worth of Simple products! Sadly the day ended and we all left the table, loaded heavily with Simple products galore.

First Junior Board Meeting

2009-08-20T00:00:00.0000000+00:00

A few short months ago I applied to be a Junior Board Skincare Advisor for Simple. After I surprised myself by being uncharacteristically successful I was given a place on the Junior Board, and on Tuesday the 28th of July, I was on a plane (I'm from Northern Ireland, you see), headed for Birmingham. From Birmingham, I took a taxi to Solihull, which was where I was to attend my first meeting as one of twelve Junior Board Team Members. To say I was excited would be a bit of an understatement.

After my bad sense of direction (and a few helpful tips from passers-by) brought me to the Simple head offices, I was zoomed into my own personal paradise.  As soon as I walked through the door, I was greeted with a bag of Simple goodies, including a pack of travel-sized sample bottles, stationary emblazoned with the Simple logo (including my very on business cards!!!) and a Junior Board t-shirt.
  After we all got changed into our new attire, we were photographed, interviewed and seated round a big table in a large room where we met a few members of the Simple team. A short time later we got stuck in to the job in hand, which included showing each other products that we had brought with us, deciding which brands and celebrities we liked (Kate Moss), loved (Johnny Depp) and hated (Vanessa Hudgens, it seems), and watching two of Simple's adverts, one from quite a few years ago and a more recent advert. Both were really good, and the first one shocked many of us as we didn't know that Simple had been going on for so long!
  The whole team got on really well, and everybody had really great ideas and opinions about brands, skincare and everything else we talked about. I was surprised at how much the younger girls knew about skincare, as back when I was thirteen, moisturiser was an alien concept, but all the girls are really smart cookies (that'll teach me for thinking age equals wisdom).

After a short break for lunch (which was delicious by the way), the hard work started when we were given a ‘teen’ task. We were split into three groups by our age, and although we were able to present it to the other groups, it's all top secret information (cue the Mission Impossible theme tune). What I can reveal though, is that the well deserved winners of our little competition were the youngest group of girls (I'm telling you, very smart cookies here), and in return for their genius presentation and ideas, they got Roxy beach towels, umbrellas, and A YEARS SUPPLY OF SIMPLE PRODUCTS!!! Jealous? Me? Nooo...
As soon as it was time for us to depart, I felt the time had gone far too quickly (despite having had a long day... I was up at 4.00 am that morning to catch my flight!). All in all, I had an absolutely fantastic day, met a lot of brilliant and fabulous people, and if anyone who reads this ever gets a chance to be on the board, I would definitely recommend it as this is an opportunity too good to pass up.

Simple Products

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I think Simple products are meant to be just that – simple. Uncomplicated packaging, easily available and, of course, they are kind to your skin.

As the Junior Board Reporter for the younger members of the Board, I think it’s important to encourage teenage girls to look after their skin because you only get the one chance.

But why do you buy Simple products? And what’s your favourite Simple product of all time?

If someone asked me those questions, my answers would probably be – I think Simple products sell well because they promote a healthy image of how your skin should be if you looked after it, and Simple products encourage you to keep your skin healthy, glowing and vibrant. I think I buy them for this reason alone, but Simple to me is also a no nonsense brand – great for teenagers without making false promises like “You’ll look ten years younger in 10 minutes!” Simple just give you the facts – there are no harsh chemicals or perfumes used in their products and they are great for sensitive skin. My favourite product may not be the same as many other girls my age – Daily Radiance SPF10 moisturiser. Even though my skin isn’t sensitive to the sun, I like to know it has some protection against burning. I also love the way the light reflecting particles in the moisturiser makes the sun work a little bit harder for me by giving me a healthy looking glow.

But you’ve been listening to me babbling on about my ideas, so now I invite you to make your voice heard. Leave me a comment! What do you really think about Simple?

Simple

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Hello there, it's Rebecca here, and you're reading my first blog (woohoo!!!). As school is finished and I have more time to get ready for the day ahead, whilst sitting at my dressing table in the mornings, I have been getting side-tracked. The other day I decided to count all the make up (26), nail polishes (12) and skincare products (17) I had sitting on my dressing table. And by the way, that isn't everything I own, just the various items that have made the journey from their designated drawer to my dressing table surface, and haven't yet been put away. I was quite shocked at the (quite frankly, useless) figures, and it led to the thought, if i could only have one, what would it be? Obviously, being as vain as I am, I started debating in my mind between foundation and concealer, and then I remembered both of these would be useless without moisturizer below them, which led to more thinking and debating... In the end I gave up, the only thing that I was agreeing with myself on is that moisturizer is my must-have skincare product, but I want to know from everyone else out there, what is your favourite Simple product? Or, better yet, which are your top 3? Any particular reason why?

Are you a savvy shopper?

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When your skin looks good, you feel great and when your clothes look great, well you feel awesome.

Are we right? Naturally !!

We know that Simple Skincare products are affordable to Teens and you know that being a Simple VIP you get access to special promotions on our product packs, sometimes offering 50% off. So saving money on skincare solutions is not a problem for you savvy guys and gals.

A few of us were watching “Mary Queen of Charity Shops” the other night on TV (BBC2) and started chatting about saving money on fashion. We had a chat about what to do about following fashion trends when money is tight and that charity shops at the moment are pretty handy seeing as 80s fashion is back on the scene.

We would love it, if you would share with us your thoughts on how to be a savvy shopper.

By savvy shopper we mean; finding ways to look fashionable without being out of
pocket.

Perhaps you are the first to visit the clearance lines at the end of the shop? you share clothes with your buddies; or maybe the shop phones you up when a sale is on!!

Maybe you have the knack of picking up some gems for your local charity shop, if so tell us about them here, and we too (like Mary Queen of Charity Shops”) can promote these retail stores too.

Anyway enough ramble from us

Feel free to share your tips for saving money on high street fashion & beauty and being an overall savvy shopper.

Are you a new Teen Simple member?

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Firstly a big Welcome, thanks ever so much for joining us, we are overjoyed.

If you came via Stardoll that is supertastic too. Stardoll did let us know this morning that there was an issue getting our Virtual Simple Dress out to some of your suites, rest assured that problem is fixed now, so dress should be in your suite shortly.

(Tip: After registering with us, visit Stardoll and your dress will be in your suite, and wipes in Style medoll both in some lovely Simple Skincare bags)

Secondly, letting you know that we are aiming at setting you up with your very own Teen Simple VIP community area, we wish to chat with you first though to find out whether this is something you would like. You will be making the club, which is kinda cool.
As you have registered you will receive emails each month full of tips and advice and links back to new chats within here or the NEW Teen club. The future of which lies in your hands.

In the meantime feel free to let us know in this blog post:
Any initial ideas you may have? Beauty / Fashion / Celebs / Music / Life advice / Teen Simple Stardoll ideas Perhaps we could come up with questions of the week: Is plastic surgery needed for fame?

And if you have used our Teen skincare product we would love to know what you think of them too.

Look forward to seeing you beautiful people back here again soon

Wishes
Teen Simple Team xx

We are a UK brand and so this offer was just available to UK residents. Unfortunately when it comes to blogs, we only accept blog comments in English. The reason being that we don't have a translator in house. We welcome comments from our friends outside the UK but please can these be sent in English. Thanks!

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