By Sarah London- Bath Salts

With the weather getting warmer, taking baths shouldn’t just be reserved for the colder months. Certainly a more cooling soak in the summer months never hurt. There is nothing more we like at The Amazing Blog than to have a relaxing soak after a session in the gym or an evening run. While we all love a good bath bomb or a therapeutic essential oil, some of us with more sensitive skin prefer something a little less harsh for our skin to completely relax. UK based skincare brand BY SARAH LONDON has developed their Bath Salts with completely natural and hypoallergenic ingredients, which is a winner for us! We recently reviewed their Organic Hair Oil here which we loved.

The multi-award winning BY SARAH LONDON was launched in 2017 by two sisters Sarah and Lauren after the latter was suffering from dry, sensitive skin during her recovery from leukaemia. After searching for skincare that was both effective yet non-irritating, Sarah then sought out to start her brand that was transparent, authentic and empowering. The sisters wanted to push this transparency and authenticity by pushing for the use of ethically-sourced, plant-based ingredients  in their products.  To take this one step beyond, BY SARAH LONDON is the only UK skincare brand that lists all ingredients on the front label of all their products including their Bath Salts. While BY SARAH London products are great for people with sensitive skin and eczema, they also recommend their products to people with all skin types especially those who are conscious about what they put on their skin.

Besides having no essential oils or fragrances, BY SARAH LONDON’s Bath Salts contains only three ingredients, making sure that sensitive skin is not irritated.  The hand-blended Himalayan Pink Salts, Dead Sea Salts and French Pink Clay all combine in an eco-friendly glass jar to calm and cleanse the body. To start soaking in the minerals, add a handful of the bath salt to your warm bath and enjoy for a minimum of 15 minutes. A 280-gram jar (£20) of the Bath Salts or a 50-gram pouch (£5) of the Bath Salts are currently available to purchase on the BY SARAH LONDON website here.

PHB Ethical Beauty – Pressed Minerals 6 Piece Palette

The brand that gives back is back on The Amazing Blog! Regular readers will know that we’re fans of PHB Ethical Beauty, an award-winning, family-run company that gives 20 per cent of its net profits to charity. Check out our brand directory here to see all of their products we have reviewed. The next product to add to that list is the Pressed Minerals 6 Piece Palette in Night.

Keeping with the brand’s all-natural, cruelty-free, and handmade products, this pallet’s formula is made of pressed minerals including mica, titanium dioxide, and zinc oxide. Mica naturally reflects light, perfect for enhancing your eyes, while minimising the appearance of pores. Titanium dioxide and zinc oxide create natural SPF30 protection, especially crucial when using the blushers during the daytime. The formula is gentle for use on all skin types (even sensitive and acne-prone skin) as it is 100 per cent natural, vegan, halal certified, gluten-free and paraben free.  

This pallet has four highly pigmented colours: Almond (a light cream), Onyx (a black with light flecks), Celestite (a periwinkle blue), and Grape (a purple with bronze undertones). Each colour offers a satin-like finish that looks gorgeous on any skin tone and will last all day or night. The pallet includes two blushers to finish your look: Camellia (a bright pink that matches the blooming flowers outside) and Peony (a subdued dark rosy colour ideal for a date-night look). Both diffuse nicely into cheeks with a makeup brush for a healthy glow. While this pallet advertises a night out look, the bright finish and versatility of the colours can create a perfect springtime look.

The four eye shadows and two blushers come in a sturdy, flat palette that includes magnetic sealing and a large mirror. You can try the Pressed Minerals 6 Piece Palette for yourself here for £49.95. While the price is quite high, we feel the organic ingredients are worth it plus the highly pigmented eye shadows have great staying power.

Moroccan Natural - Pearl Powder

When people think of pearls, they merely think of luminescent and glistening orbs used in jewellery. However, we want to introduce you to finely grounded down pearls, which have a surprising variety of uses, primarily to aid aesthetic and health benefits which in turn help to boost a glowing complexion. When The Amazing Blog heard that this 100% pure Pearl Powder had been used for thousands of years by Chinese and Egyptians (including Cleopatra), we knew we had to experiment with this micronised Moroccan Natural’s Pearl Powder!

Moroccan Natural founder Carole Fraser launched this UK based natural beauty brand in 2010. It all began when she was recommended to use Moroccan Argan oil to treat both her frizzy and dry hair and a 14-year-old skin condition. After seeing the power of the fantastic properties of organic, natural products can have, Carole was inspired to start the brand. All with the premise of cultivating a line of products that are made up of entirely organic ingredients, in order to heal and rejuvenate the hair and skin naturally. Made with 100% pharmaceutical grade natural freshwater pearl powder, Moroccan Natural’s Pearl Powder takes on the ancient beauty secret which is infused with 30 different minerals. With its calcium, proteins and vitamins and a high source of amino acid, Pearl Powder will help speed healing, enhance elasticity and help maintain a perfect skin luminosity. These are all shown to stimulate skin and collagen production, smooth wrinkles, help improve skin texture and help with sun damage. Like all Moroccan Natural products, the Pearl Powder is completely natural and is free from silicones, parabens or preservatives all of which can irritate the skin.

After a few weeks of incorporating the Pearl Powder into our beauty regimen, we loved the radiance it gave our complexion. The less visible sun spots, fewer large pores and a more luminous and even skin tone. To start seeing radiant results for yourself, mix a pearl-sized scoop (using the spatula included) into your daily moisturiser or try one of Moroccan Natural’s five different ways to use the powder depending on your skin care goals. Our Exec Editor’s favourite way was to have this Pearl Powder as a finishing powder, it is so finely ground that it absorbs the shine and leaves the skin supple. We really love the versatility of this 100% natural product. While a 15g container of the Pearl Powder retails at £25 on the Moroccan Natural website here. You only need use a tiny bit in each application and found that this pot lasted for quite some months.

Bay’s Kitchen: Stir in Sauces

There are days in TheAmazingBlog Towers when we get to tell our fabulous followers, not just about a great product, but one that has an inspirational background story and clearly a very exciting and fulfilling future ahead of it. And for this one, we invite you to focus on the glorious part of our fair British Isles known as the Cotswolds, to learn about an incredible young woman called Hayley Burdett whose love of cooking has led to a fiercely delicious range of what will fast become essential for our larder’s shelves. However, in so doing, she has done this with a mission to encourage understanding and help alleviate the symptoms of the often debilitating condition of IBS.

Irritable Bowel Syndrome has a tough ask in getting the airtime such a condition needs, mainly because the whole subject is one most people have felt embarrassed or unwilling to talk about. However, the truth is as many as 1 in 7 of us will suffer from it, and for many of this group, they will suffer quietly without much backup unless they are prepared to invest their time in serious research for their personal symptoms. IBS takes so many forms, and can kick off with many triggers - not simply a case of what an individual eats, but also stress levels and other lifestyle choices. The good news is that because of the amazing work carried out by The International Foundation For Gastrointestinal Disorders there is an immense amount of information, help and advice now literally at our fingertips to ease the discomfort. The IFFGD designated April as IBS Awareness Month many years ago, and have given countless people a portal through which they can find some answers in their own personal journey.

Each story is as individual as the people who have to deal with the condition, which is why, when we hear about such an amazing young entrepreneur as Hayley Burdett, we literally want to shout it from the rooftops … or the highest point of TheAmazingBlog Towers to be more precise! The fact that this success story encapsulates one of our favourite and very necessary pastimes  of eating and cooking is a very happy bonus indeed.

Having suffered from IBS for many years, Hayley put her considerable energies into researching the causes and coming up with solutions for her own needs and now thankfully for the needs of her ever-growing legion of culinary fans. She set up Bay’s Kitchen bringing her own brand of delicious stir-in sauces quite literally to our table, and in so doing has helped to make life enormously more comfortable for many people, but also fabulously delicious for us all.

Bay’s Kitchen currently offers three sauces: the Tomato & Basil Stir-In Sauce, the Sweet & Sour Stir-In Sauce, and the Jalfrezi Curry Stir-In Sauce - all of which we can confirm not only set our tastebuds humming, but also continues to satisfy them most effectively! Each of the recipes are certified Low-FODMAP, Gluten-Free and totally Vegan, and aside from the gratitude of many, Hayley is collecting awards for her creations in increasing number, gaining Gold and Silver at The Free From Awards 2019 .

Competitively priced at £4.15 for a 260g two portion serving, and available through their online shop here However, for anyone who finds themselves in the sometimes excrutiatingly uncomfortable pangs of an IBS onslaught, we urge you to check out Ms Burdett’s comprehensive website and also visit for further information, help and advice.

Friday Favourites – Eye Feature

With the Easter holiday fast approaching, what better time is there to try out new eye products? The colourful blossoming flowers and leafy trees have inspired us at The Amazing Blog to explore new hues for our eye products. Ideally we prefer it when our products are organic, knowing that what we put onto our skin also goes into our bodies. We’ve found some great organic and natural products which all pack the same punch of colour as traditionally made beauty items. So, whether you are spending the holiday abroad or strolling the streets of London, we have some great recommendations that will make your eyes pop.

The first eye product we have for you is from Fat and the Moon. The California-based company was started in 2014 by Rachel Budde a herbalist who wanted to take her knowledge and provide an alternative to chemical-filled products. At the core of the brand is the creation of products with non-toxic, plant-based ingredients as well as the message of empowering yourself through self-care.

We requested to try their Eye Coals in Black, Lapis (a bright marine) and Leaf (a mossy green). Handmade with all-natural and organic ingredients, Eye Coal does not irritate your eyes and has sunflower oil to help your skin absorb the pigments while beeswax holds the product in place all day. Leaf particularly enhances hazel-coloured eyes while Lapis can make any eye colour pop. The soft waxy product is easy to use, with a brush for a defined line along your eyelashes or with your finger for a smudged look, and comes in a small tin that is easy to travel with. We also had the chance to try the Ruby Red Tinted Lip Balm. It comes in a similar tin meant to be reused or recycled once finished and leaves a light orange tint while moisturising and protecting your lips.

Both products are available from UK retail stockists listed here. Or you can go online, the prices are in US Dollars, but they do ship to the UK. $18 for the Eye Coal here and $12 for the Tinted Lip Balm here. Although the prices are quite high, we have to say that a little goes a very long way.

This eye shadow palette that we’ve found for you is a little bit different from Fat and the Moon. ZOEVA is a German brand that was founded by Zoe Boikou, who originally sold makeup brushes on eBay before she turned her passion into a company that advocates for women’s lives. We are fans of the ZOEVA ethos, which is built on supporting and celebrating women’s individual beauty with high quality and reasonably priced products.

So, let us introduce you to their latest collection that will help you create a unique and individual look. The Eclectic Eyes Eyeshadow Palette markets itself as a way to ‘let your eyes say what your lips can't’. This is a strong statement that perhaps rings true. The palette has 10 diverse, intense, and fashion-led shades ranging from ‘Limitless Motions’ (a matte mauve rose) to ‘Dimensional Play’ (a shimmery teal with gold flecks). The different finishes offered (matte, metallic, glitter, shimmer, and duo chrome) are also versatile for everyday use or an evening out. The colours are highly pigmented and easily blendable.

They recommend using an eye primer first to keep the blended shadows in place, we didn’t but found the colours still to be long-lasting. The palette comes in a stylish flat purple, red, teal, and gold box that will look chic on a dressing table or in a handbag. Perfect for every skin tone and guaranteed to give you hours of fun mixing and matching. Purchase it here for £17.50. 

The next up is a trusty liquid liner. Not any old liner is like ZAO ’s Refillable Liquid Eyeliner. It comes in a delicious plum that suits just about every eye colour! The eyeliner has a total of five shades, but we want to talk about the Plum shade. It’s not typical like Intense Black or Dark Brown and not too bright like Electric Blue or Emerald Green. Plum is a perfect rich purple shade that actually enhances the eye colour and is particularly popular among celebrity make-up artists. We also like that it lasts throughout the day without smudging. The thin brush tip applicator allows for high control over the thickness of the line, which is useful for different eye shapes.

We've been well-acquainted with ZAO, a UK-based company dedicated to making organic-certified products, after loving their Light Touch Complexion foundation. All of their products have an all-natural formula and organic ingredients, and this is reflected in the Refillable Liquid Eyeliner. It has key ingredients like aloe vera juice, bamboo water, and shea butter to soothe and moisturise even the most sensitive eyes. The products also have sustainability in mind, and the liner comes in a sturdy and recyclable bamboo packaging as well as has available refills that cost £11.75 (£7.20 less than the product's original price).

If liquid eyeliners are not your thing, they also do a refillable felt tip version, which is vegan, gluten free, and cruelty free as well. You can purchase the Refillable Liquid Eyeliner here for £18.95.



Finally, the pièce de résistance for us to have a completed look is mascara. This is where we discovered another great product from one of our favourite brands: PHB Ethical Beauty. After trying many of their skin care products from the 2-in-1 Hand & Body Moisturiser to the Skin Brighten Gel and Rosehip & Chamomile Gentle Face Wash, we were very excited to see what PHB's makeup line has to offer with their recently launched All-in-One Natural Mascara. It's safe to say we were not disappointed.  

The mascara is truly all-encompassing. The formula's organic olive oil strengthens and conditions your eyelashes with one coat, plant oil lengthens and volumises with the next, and acacia gum ensures the results last. It is also water resistant and pH balanced, making it suitable for sensitive eyes. But what really makes this a #amazingfind is that PHB's All-in-One Natural Mascara is vegan, gluten free, halal certified, paraben free, and cruelty free.  

After a day of use and no flaking or smudging in sight, we can see why this mascara got lots of love in 2018 from the Natural Health International Beauty Awards, the Free From Skincare Awards, and Vogue. Want to see what all the beauty awards are talking about for yourself? You can buy it here in Black or Brown for £15.95. Twenty percent of the company's net profits also go to helping people and animals in the UK and globally.

We hope we’ve given you a little inspiration to help put back a little colour into your lives. After all, spring has sprung and we think that it’s time to hatch into a colourful bird of paradise and not a grey London pigeon!