Friday Favourites – Eye Products

We always like to stress the importance of caring for your skin, and today we want to talk about the eye area. The skin around the eyes is thinner and more active than the rest of the face, particularly with all our squinting, frowning and laughing. This eye area doesn’t create hydration or replace moisture and is an area that we’re constantly touching or rubbing, making it more prone to dryness or worse – wrinkles! We at The Amazing Blog know what you’re thinking, that eye creams are just more expensive moisturisers in a smaller bottle. Well, this assumption couldn’t be further from the truth. Please read on.

Eye creams are specifically formulated for the thin and delicate skin around our eyes. They are more intense and moisturising than a face cream, plus have more active ingredients aimed at protecting and hydrating the eye area. So, here dear readers we have a new selection of eye care recommendations that we can’t wait for you to try too.

The first eye cream we have for you today is the Tiiya Alanoud Alattiya Epiphany Concentrated Eye Cream.  Alanoud Alattiya is a couturier by trade and because she’s related to royalty, knows all about the finer things in life. The Concentrated Eye Cream was specifically designed to fight signs of ageing around the eyes. It works to fight signs of stress and fatigue, leaving you with brighter and youthful skin. We recommend applying it every morning and night to clean skin for best results. The cream contains Phytocelltec™ Alp Rose, Swiss flowers that grow at high altitudes, forcing them to adapt to extreme conditions. When used in skincare, it helps to maintain the characteristics of skin stem cells and protects the cells against UV-stress. You can purchase the anti-ageing power of the Tiiya Alanoud Alattiya Epiphany Concentrated 30ml Eye Cream here for £96.

Next up we have the Viliv e - Shape Your Eyes Rich Eye Cream. Viliv was created by the expert Dr. Felix Bertram, a specialist with an international reputation in dermatology, skin surgery and beauty treatments based in Switzerland. He is an authoritative voice and sought-after in the field of wrinkle treatment, aesthetic medicine and cosmetics; so, we can all breathe a sigh of relief knowing that the Viliv e -Shape Your Eyes Rich Eye Cream has been created by someone with great knowledge and expertise.

A hot favourite with us all at The Amazing Blog, we particularly liked that Viliv e - Shape Your Eyes Rich Eye Cream felt gentle, soothing and hydrating on our skin. Dr Bertram alerts us to the day-to-day things that affect the skin from the environment to the foods we eat. Something that you probably didn’t know is that when sugar molecules enter the skin via food, they accumulate on collagen fibres, eventually clogging them up and making the skin increasingly inelastic causing wrinkles to develop. Happily, this is where the Viliv e - Shape Your Eyes Rich Eye Cream is specially formulated to help keep lines at bay by gently firming the eye area with ameliox with carnosine (more about this in a later feature on Viliv skincare). Other ingredients such as vitamin E and silymarin (from milk thistle) help to push cell renewal and keep the skin supple. Also, hyaluronic acid, cupuacu butter and macadamia nut oil all provide extra moisture, all leading to rehydrated and more youthful-looking eyes. This is a brand is not only full of biotechnology and science but is also 100% vegan, parabens, mineral oils, colourants, BHT, EDTA, fragrance
and cruelty free. Dr. Bertram gave us a quick tip telling us to keep the eye cream in the fridge during the summer, this makes it very cooling and refreshing when applied. Want to purchase this doctor-approved eye cream? You can get your very own 25ml pot of Viliv e - Shape Your Eyes Rich Eye Cream, for £75 here .

Finally, let’s meet Cinere, their mission is simple: Create pure, natural products made using only the finest ingredients. AEPC Laboratories (Amalgamated Euro Products Corporation) developed this skincare where they believe in using the timeless elements of nature and state of the art research to create unique products. This is another favourite brand with us, and we’ve previously written about their 100% Natural Cleansing Gel and Extra Rich Nourishing Cream. Cinere uses both their passion for natural ingredients and their expertise in science and dermatology. They have created products with some of the finest essentials oils and other natural therapeutic elements that all work at a cellular level.

The Cinerex Ageless Concentrated Eye Serum is a lightweight formula to help reduce dark circles, fine lines and puffiness around the eyes. This contains a unique blend of highly concentrated proteins and peptides, which work to put wrinkles on hold and reduce the signs of ageing. After all, who doesn’t want to look younger? Serums are great for this as they provide a concentrated amount of active ingredients and absorb quickly into the skin. Cinerex Ageless Eye Contour Serum, keeps eyes looking brighter and more rested. Want an immediate skin pick-me-up? Cinerex Ageless Eye Contour Serum 15ml can be purchased here for £28.

Which one will you choose?

soapNskin - Skin Cashmere Face & Body Mask

Most of us have long perfected the art of our regular skincare routine. At The Amazing Blog, we love to put our best face forward, but then often end up forgetting about the rest of our body. It’s time to start developing a proper daily body care regimen too, it’s as important to take care of the skin on your body, as it is the skin on your face. One of our favourite brands soapNskin, who recently launched a very special mask that we’ve been waiting to try with anticipation! Regular readers may recall how much we love this brand, when we featured their Argan & Orange Blossom Elixir here .

Founded based on friendship and heritage, soapNskin was created to empower women to change the way they see beauty. Beauty has been a part of culture for thousands of years and soapNskin pulled from some of that ancient beauty wisdom. Drawing inspiration from the mystical Silk Roads of the East, founders Rabia & Samar learned that nature, when harnessed correctly, offers interesting alternatives to chemical-based products. Every product from soapNskin is hand-bottled on demand, in their London studio. Freshness and quality is not something they’re prepared to compromise on when it comes to beauty, and they certainly prove this. We love how everything is made in Britain, cruelty-free, natural and that they support empowerment and gender-quality, providing a fair wage for workers where their ingredients are sourced.

Today we decided to pay homage to the more neglected parts of our skin with the Skin Cashmere Face & Body Mask. After cleansing your skin, simply combine the Skin Cashmere with your favourite floral water (we used rose water) and mix it into a thick paste. It’s quite fun to mix the Skin Cashmere yourself and apply it to the skin. Leave it on for 5-7 minutes, allowing the ingredients to soak into the skin, then remove with a warm damp cloth before the mask dries. It left our skin feeling fragrant, cleansed, hydrated and smooth, after rinsing off the mask we followed with applying our regular body moisturiser. The Skin Cashmere Mask is inspired by the ancient bridal rituals of the region of Kashmir, the mask contains rose petal, turmeric and sandalwood powders to protect the skin from ageing and pollutants. It also contains yoghurt and chickpea powders which exfoliate nicely and leave your skin glowing and silky. Kashmiri brides have practiced this tradition for hundreds of years to achieve cashmere-like skin and now you can, too. We urge you to discover a true test of time, with the soapNskin’s Skin Cashmere Face & Body Mask, a pot of 100g can be purchased here for £55.

amaiaa - atma oil secrets of the soul & morning radiance facial elixir

The skin is the largest organ in our body and our face is what gives the first impression of us. Therefore, at The Amazing Blog being number one fans of natural products, we like to know exactly what the ingredients are, that we’re about to put on our faces. As winners of 2019 Beauty Shortlist Award amaiaa, a natural skincare brand with Indian methodology, caught our eye, they have everything that we value with their ethos and quality botanical ingredients.

amaiaa brand is based in the USA but was born in the Himalayan Mountains of India. Ashu the founder of amaiaa, who took on a soul-searching journey that drove her to her native land, India. Inspired by her mother and grandmother as well as the culture and history of the country, she began developing what we know today as amaiaa. The brand is known for two products, atma and saya facial oils. Atma, Ashu’s grandmother’s name meaning ‘soul’, embodies her grandmother’s knowledge as an alchemist to provide skincare through natural products. Both products are primarily composed with jasmine, rose and sandalwood which boost rejuvenation and restore your skin. With every ingredient carefully picked and blended, amaiaa’s products make you want to travel all the way to India to explore the mysteries of Mother Nature.

We tried their atma Oil which we think will soon become your new best friend. With ingredients like Argan oil known as liquid gold, it offers amazing source of hydration. There is also apricot kernel oil which has a natural anti-ageing properties, rich in vitamin C and E which enhance collagen production and skin elasticity. The jojoba oil here is packed with vitamin E and other antioxidants that boost cell regeneration. The avocado and jasmine oils remove blemishes; and finally the sandalwood oil a natural illuminator of the skin. atma oil’s formula will undoubtedly help to encourage great results for all skin types. We mustn’t forget to also mention the vitamins B1, B2, B3 and B5, all of which treat rosacea, acne, sun-damage and ageing with its cell regeneration properties that aid redness and inflammations.

We applied it in the morning as a face oil or serum, this oil absorbs easily which means you can follow it quickly with your regular skincare routine, if you so wish. atma is cruelty, fragrance, paraben, sulphate, alcohol, toxin, additive and gluten-free. It’s vegan, hypoallergenic and non-comedogenic, making it perfectly suitable whether you have dry, oily, combined or hypersensitive skin. What we particularly admire about amaiaa is their giving-back policy, with a mission to empower women and young girls to lead a life of dignity, the association with the Animedh Charitable Trust ACT, through a series of a projects, which stays true to their core ethics of sustainability. This trust helps Indian girls get an education – so by buying amaiaa’s award-winning atma morning radiance facial oil, you’re helping, too.

Why not pamper yourself and get your Atma Oil here for $75.00 (worldwide shipping) for a 30ml bottle which will give you nurtured skin for around 3 months, a little goes a long way. Also, enjoy a 15% discount off your first order using the code WELCOME15.

Albiva - ECM Advanced Repair Brightening Serum

Everyone knows that the weather conditions here in the UK are wildly unpredictable. One minute it’s rain, the next sun, and who knows what the following day might be doing - snowing?! All these temperature changes effect our skin with varying degrees of dryness or break-outs. Which prompted our mission at The Amazing Blog to look for a natural skincare to protect and nourish it rain or shine. This is where we’d like to introduce you to Albiva (who we met at the CEW Awards showcase) a new natural skincare where science meets nature, and they kindly sent us their ECM Advanced Repair Brightening Serum to try out.

Ivana Iesini founder of Albiva, was diagnosed with a spinal tumour at the age of 28, where she was having to combine so many conventional medicines, that it started to make her feel worse. During her months of recuperation, she thought about her grandmother, Albina who was a herbalist. She remembered the natural remedies that she was introduced to from an early age, and the power of all these botanicals used to help heal and regenerate the body. Her journey into launching Albiva had begun. The name is a portmanteau combining the name of Ivana’s grandmother and her own. Ivana combined her knowledge of these natural remedies, her studies in biomedical sciences together with embracing an organic way of life, and bingo! From this, Albiva skincare gradually took shape combining her knowledge of science and natural compounds, all collated from sustainable sources. Another thing that sets this brand apart is their use of ‘gemmotherapy’ (an advanced branch of phytotherapy, which isolates the active ingredients from the embryonic tissues of plants). They also remove plain water from their formulations, where Albiva prides itself on replacing the plain water with COSMOS certified organic Raspberry water, this in itself is an active ingredient renowned for firming, lifting and smoothing properties. There are skin-identical and cell communicating ingredients, all designed to stimulate cell regeneration using the skin’s own cell biology. Let’s not forget to mention the ultra-hydrating blend of botanical extracts, powerful antioxidants, collagen supporting ingredients, peptides, ceramides, compound of oligo-elements, phyto-stimulins, nucleid acids, marine algae extracts, essential fatty acids and many more. Now you know why this brand is so very special!

The ECM Advanced Repair Brightening Serum (ECM means extra cellular matrix) combats hyperpigmentation (age spots) and equalises the skin texture providing natural minerals and vitamins that the skin might be lacking. This serum rejuvenates and restores damaged skin by combining an array of natural botanicals: Mallow, Peppermint, Cowslip, Lady’s Mantle, Speedwell, Melissa, and Yarrow together with Swiss Garden Cress extract; all to enhance the complexion protecting it from environmental damage. It is vegan, cruelty-free, dermatologically tested, contains 77% of certified organic ingredients and 92% of natural ingredients. We like that it’s light in texture, absorbs quickly (no oiliness), with the subtlest of fragrance and left our skin feeling hydrated and looking brighter. We used it under our regular moisturiser and SPF primer, and were pleased to note that it complemented these other products. This serum is suitable for all skin types, so whether you are combating age spots or the effects of the erratic UK summer weather, the ECM Advanced Repair Brightening Serum is going to be your perfect ally. This is one brand to keep an eye on, as we’ll predict they’ll being going places…. To get your very own special serum, go to Albiva’s website here 30ml for £195.00.

Nailpad

I think you could say that we all love to paint our nails, not just to look pretty, but also to protect them from all the chores that we do. As we’re always in a rush, invariably it’s a bit of a balancing act with painting our nails on the go. You know the story, grab a magazine, hand down, open nail polish and then it slides …whoops it’s a full-on nail polish spillage alert!  That’s where the clever handbag-friendly Nailpad comes into play as it ideal with those awkward speedy manicure moments. And we at The Amazing Blog are always suckers for a new gadget!

The Nailpad concept was created by two time-poor twins Tori and Carrie, who both saw a niche in the market for a stable, portable, foldaway manicure base with a nifty holder for nail polish. The purpose of Nailpad is to make home manicures (or pedicures) easier, steadier and less stressful. Not only this but it can also be adapted for placing on knees, whether on the sofa or bed, on the floor (for toes) or flat on a table. We were pleasantly surprised by how light and comfortable the Nailpad was to use. It's also small and neat just perfect for your handbag, and yes we’ve even tested it out on the tube to work!

What we particularly like is the ease of using the Nailpad on the go. The Nailpad comes in two colours, bright pink (easy to find in a handbag) and shiny black (less obvious when on the go). You too can discover the NailPad for £12.95 each on the website here.