Lycopene

The One Skin Range

If you are a skincare aficionado like us at The Amazing Blog , this newly launched skincare brand One Skin has a range of products that are just for you! One Skin prides itself on creating skincare made for specific lifestyles, focusing on long-term skin health rather than short-term results. If you live in a heavily polluted area or if you regularly exercise (yes, this can also affect your skin), then One Skin offers products to target all your specific concerns.

In 2005, British skin expert Noele Hammett, officially launched her exclusive skincare range One Skin to her salon clients. Moving forward to 2018, she finally unveiled her full collection of tried and tested, gentle but efficient, cosmeceutical skincare range to the public. What makes this range special is that contains only the finest results driven bioactive ingredients. All these products are free from sulphates, parabens, fragrances and colours, making the line perefect for everyday use.

I met Noele at a trade beauty event in London, where we engaged in conversation about my skincare needs and she very kindly gave me three of her products to try.

Let start with the cleanser PH Cleansing Wash. Like in any good skincare routine, the first step is always to prepare the skin in order for serums and moisturisers to perform their job correctly. One Skin’s sulphate-free pH Cleansing Wash removed grime, oil and make-up while still hydrating and soothing my skin in the process. One of the key ingredients is Lycopene, an antioxidant found in tomatoes, which helps to protect against any damage or build up, without irritating the skin. Other surfactants in the wash like the sunflower and coconut oils gently yet deeply cleanse while still leaving skin soft and not feeling uncomfortably tight. I noticed that this cleanser left my skin feeling soft, not taut as some other cleanser have done. I used a small amount of the wash mixed with water to lather and cleanse both in the morning and evening. The pH cleansing wash is available here for £17.60 for the 50ml bottle and £32.00 for the 100ml bottle.

The next step is to repair any damage which skin the has received from living a fast-pace, polluted life in the city (i.e. me in London!) One Skin’s City Repair Serum does just that by stimulating collagen synthesis, protecting your skin in the process. The serum ‘s key repair ingredients are built around a soothing seaweed extract containing minerals such as sulphur, iodine, calcium, magnesium and selenium to maintain collagen generation. Not forgetting the major ingredients like hyaluronic acid and glycerine, which further condition and protect the skin. After cleansing, I applied 1-2 pumps of the serum morning and night and allowed for a few minutes to get complete absorption. To purchase the 30ml serum for £60 click here. If you aren’t living the city life like me, don’t worry One Skin has five serums targeting different lifestyles like the Stress Repair Serum, Holiday Repair Serum and even a Party Repair Serum. Check the full Repair line here.

Finally, after the City Repair Serum, I then applied my last skincare step with Noele’s amazing Wonder Age Cream. This rich moisturiser helps to lock-in the serum’s skin protective properties. The Wonder Age Cream is just one of the five moisturisers offered in the range. The Wonder Age Cream is the anti-ageing cream in this range and I noticed that combining this with the City Repair Serum that it not only hydrated and nourished my skin, but also it brightened my complexion. The Wonder Cream is made with resveratrol, hyaluronic acid and a variety of muscle-relaxing peptides, these ingredients work together to improve the complexion and reduce the appearance of wrinkles and fine lines. For best results I applied two pumps morning and night, and then in the morning went ahead and applied my foundation and make up. To purchase the 30ml bottle of Wonder Age Cream for £74 click here.

All of these products and the rest of the One Skin line are available at their Skin Clinic located in Essex or online on their website here. Not sure where to start? There is a skin consultation questionnaire on their blog here that will help you to choice the right products for you and to understand your skin better. Finally to say, that we were THRILLED to see that our new discovery, One Skin, has won 3 x Editors Choice Awards in the prestigious 2019 Beauty Shortlist Awards for their Wonder Age Cream, Eye Repair Serum and The Cosmeceutical Apothecary Set. We say don’t miss out on trying this new result driven skincare!

Healthy Drinks - Friday Favourites

Following last Friday's Healthy Food Feature, we at The Amazing Blog thought it would be apt to continue the theme with a healthy drinks post. So we gathered together our current favourite selection of healthy drinks to keep you fighting fit this season.

Big Tree Farms' sachets of their Coco Hydro Coconut Water Infusion are the ultimate quick fix when you're on the go and hankering for some goodness. Big Tree Farms is a brand that truly upholds their ethical vaues and promote sustainable living and organic agriculture. The results are environmentally friendly and deliciously natural products.

The Coconut Water Infusion is unique as they pick Indonesian coconuts at the height of their nutritional content, evaporate the water, concentrate the nutrients and pack them in an easy to use, on-the-go solution. We loved the ease and efficiency of this product, and it tasted fresh and clean too. To pack in the nutrients and support the environment, buy Big Tree Farms' Coco Hydro Coconut Water Infusion here for £1.59.

We know this time of year a lot of us try to ditch the weight we inevitably put on over the holidays, so it's great when we can kick-start the process to get us feeling our best. We are currently loving Bio-Synergy's Skinny Waters, which are gorgeous flavoured waters designed to aid weight loss.

These drinks are sugar and calorie-free, which make them an excellent substitute for those calorie-laden fizzy drinks that can be hard to resist. They come in many different tasty flavours, including Raspberry Ketones, Pomegranite, and Orange, which will be sure to tantalise your sweet-cravings. We think these drinks fit perfectly into any diet, and help to assist in avoiding cravings and burn calories. Get these Skinny Waters at Ocado here from £1.45 and also available at Primark stores.

 

Lycolife's Lycopene drinks are an exciting find, since they are one of the very few brands that include lycopene in their products. Lycopene is extracted from tomatoes and is one of the stongest natural antioxidants obtained from plants. These drinks contain at least 30mg in each bottle and it is assimilated completely by our bodies. This neat little ingredient helps to neutralise free radicals which can harm the body.

Research indicates that Lycopene may help to lower the risk of certain diseases such as some types of cancer and cardiovascular disease. We loved the benefits of this product and it comes in a variety of delicious flavours such as Apple and Peach, and our favourite, Apple and Grape. Try Lycolife's drinks here for £1.65.

Sometimes our energies need a boost, and rather than going straight to sugary or caffeinated drinks it would be great if there was a healthy alternative to choose from. That's where Trévo comes in - Trévo has created a one-of-a-kind blend of 174 of the finest ingredients that nature has to offer and combined them into a delicious, highly bio-available liquid drink.

The drink is designed to replace minerals and vitamins that we have lost throughout the course of the day, which can result in sluggishness and tiredness. Trévo provides your body with essential vitamins and minerals, amino acids, essential fatty acids, powerful antioxidants, digestive enzymes and Co-Enzyme Q10. The result after drinking is feeling refreshed and energised, and after the holiday season that is exactly what we need. Find out more about Trévo here.

Finally on our list is KIKI Health's Aloe Ferox Fresh Juice. KIKI Health believes in adding only the purest of ingredients with the highest potency available to their products, leaving out nasties and fillers so that we can enjoy pure forms of ingredients and their benefits. 

We enjoyed trying their Aloe Ferox juice - Aloe Ferox is a pure and unfiltered ingredient that comes from the last wild Aloe variety that grows in the natural and wild environment of the Cape region in South Africa. The juice contains 100% natural ingredients, with no artificial colours or sweeteners. It is suitable for vegans and is naturally free from gluten and wheat, so this is the perfect healthy option for all to enjoy. Buy the Aloe Ferox Juice here for £12.95. 

 

 

 

 

A Natural ‘Collagen’ Boosting Serum

I love getting product recommendations from friends, but I hadn’t heard of Henry Tianus skincare so I decided to do a bit more research on his BioCollagen Ultra Serum. It claims to have the highest and purest grade of organic botanical extracts, multivitamins and advanced cosmeceuticals.  Well, as we love natural products at The Amazing Blog this was just all too irresistible for a beauty junkie like me! I’m still on my collagen kick, both internal and external, (see my post on Collagen Shots)  so I hoped this will aid my skincare regime as a collagen boasting serum before my day or night cream. I keep reading that our skin starts to age when we reach our mid-20s. So by our 40th birthday, the collagen levels in our skin will have depleted by at least 30%, causing sagging, dull complexion and a permanent sad expression. Somewhat depressing – eh?

This BioCollagen Ultra Serum was named ‘Best Facial Serum’ by Natural Health Magazine, they even said that “its natural collagen-boosting properties are more than worth it!”  (so just imagine how excited I was to get stuck into using this serum…) It’s very light in consistency, has a delicate herbal fragrance and penetrates the skin extremely quickly without leaving a greasy residue. And joy of joys, it also lends itself brilliantly to being used in conjunction with any of my given day or night creams. I have to say that generally you get what you pay for and the key ingredients in this serum don’t come cheap: Hexapeptide-11, BioCollagen, Vitamin A, Hyaluronic acid and Panthenol Stabilised Vitamin C, Vitamin E, Lycopene, Resveratrol, Pine Bark and Grape Seed. However something I must mention is that a little really does go a long way – I use about the size of pea and it give me full face and neck coverage. Also a top tip: Make sure that you shake the bottle well – it makes a huge difference or you don’t get the full effect from mixing all the good ingredients.

I really like this serum and am looking forward to seeing the results. It is a bit of a ‘gulp’ when you know that you will be paying £99 for 30ml but it's worth the pricetag. Head over to their website to pick up your Ultra Serum!