Flores Mediterrneas by Álvarez Gómez

Just because we are in the deep, dark, depths of Winter doesn’t mean we can’t inject a bit of Mediterranean warmth into our lives. We at The Amazing Blog are longing for the heat, the culture and the beautiful smells of our favourite Mediterranean countries, however, with Christmas around the corner the budget for jet-setting off has dwindled down to nothing. If this also sounds like you, then never fear because we have the next best thing, Álvarez Gómez  whose Mediterranean Flowers collection of Eau de Toilette's will transport you to a beautiful Spanish vineyard in a single spritz. 

With eight delightful floral scents to chose from, each fragrance will remind you of your favourite Spanish Garden or Forest filled with Mediterranean flowers. Álvarez Gómezwas established in 1912 and has a long tradition in Spain. Making use of this long history the brand has selected a variety of delicate fragrances in this exquisite range. Featured in Hotels and Restaurants the brand is a Spanish beauty staple, and the simple art deco bottle sits pride of place on many bathroom shelves, both public and private. 

We loved all of the scents, but our favourite was their Orchid and White Lily Eau de toilette. This one has a particularly sultry scent. The fragrance envelops you and left us feeling incredibly sophisticated. Due to this, we think it is the perfect perfume to wear to a special dinner, evening event or just as a winter fragrance. We won’t be wearing anything else!

You can purchase all of their perfumes here, costing £19.50. With Christmas around the corner this is the perfect gift to ask for or buy for that special someone. 

Topp Box - A Monthly Subscription For Men

We are huge fans of the monthly subscription boxes at The Amazing Blog, but we know it can be hard to find the right one for you as the internet is awash with potential options. As great as it would be to subscribe to them all unless you have a bottomless pit of funds it’s a little fiscally unfeasible.  However, having spent a long time scouring the internet, we think we have found the Holy Grail for male subscription boxes, Topp Box. It’s the perfect blend of premium male beauty products and cosy accessories that will leave you feeling pampered and prepared. 

Each month Topp Box will send you an assorted box with 4-5 products selected to suit you and your needs. The boxes are filled with premium grooming and lifestyle products from top brands. The box we received contained a talc-free men’s body powder from Fromonda, an S5 Skincare Resilience Mask, a Henri Lloyd ocean Mineral Spray Sun Defence Cream, a Pits and Bits Rinse Free Body Wash, and a pair of delightful socks from TOPPSOCKS. It’s hard to choose a favourite item from the box, but we are especially fond of the sun cream which had an amazing scent. For only £16 a month it is a steal as the retail value of the box would come to over £40.00; four out of the five products were full size. 

This is the perfect way to treat yourself, it also makes a great gift, and with Christmas around the corner, it’s a fabulous present that keeps on giving. Click here to sign up to the subscription box of your dreams. 

Christmas special: Chocolate Collections.

Let’s be honest, Christmas isn’t really Christmas without a slight overindulgence. Here at The Amazing Blog we are not the type to turn down a piece or two (or three). We’ve searched for the most interesting brands and flavours, including Paxton, Chief Chocolate Officer, Helen’s Hamper , Urban Village and Stateside Treat Emporium. 

Paxton’s Christmas chocolate collection has a mix of 4 delicious and unique festive flavours. These are white chocolate, sage & cranberry, Milk chocolate, orange & Cardamom, Milk chocolate, Orange & Panettone and Dark chocolate, Orange & Ginger. The medium box, which we received, has 12 giant button-like shapes, the sleek metal design alongside the mature flavours makes it extremely sophisticated. These sizes are perfect for a table top to snack on and the interesting flavours means you don’t have too many at one time. They also come in a small size which is 6 pieces and a large version of 24 pieces.

The medium box makes a perfect gift or to keep for yourself, it is £15 available here.

There’s not much better than wine and chocolate, however sometimes it can be hard to find the perfect slice for your favourite glass. Chief Chocolate Officer have got you covered. They have created a selection of chocolates that match specific grapes used to make wine. The individual flavours like Fig, Smoke & Pink Peppermint are matched accordingly, the other flavours included are Liquorice & Rose, Blueberry, Vanilla & Black Peppercorn, Coffee, Cherry & Cacao, Pear and Elderflower and Toffee & Orange. The chocolate is made in England and the box includes all the information for the perfect pairing of the chocolate and wine.

You can purchase these here for £15.95.

If you’re looking for a variety of chocolates for that wow factor, Helen’s Hampers are the place to go. They create amazing hampers from afternoon tea to corporate gifts which can all be personalised to your chocolate taste and with pictures. Our Hamper was the Christmas Chocolate hamper, including chocolate truffles, shards, bars, a lolly and champagne truffles. The different brands within the box made sure the chocolate was very varied, with milk, white and dark chocolate of all varieties included. Our favourites were the rocky road bar and the salted caramel shards! The simple black box is decorated with bright red ribbon elegantly festive and sure to put a giant smile on the lucky receiver’s face.

The Chocolate hamper can be purchased here for £50.

Combining beautiful designs and exciting flavours, Urban Village Chocolates are deliciously simple and yet extremely hard to refuse. We received their single-origin tasting collection, a sweet selection of hearts imprinted with pretty, modern designs, we also received the large (think giant, giant buttons) buttons, all with different patterns and a mixture of dark and milk chocolate. As well as a pack of 4 of the best-selling, award winning champagne chocolates, these luxury gold circle treats are rich and super tasty. All three a packaged in clear plastic with white labels embossed with gold writing.

They are all handcrafted in St Margaret’s, Twickenham, you can buy the single origin collection here for £11.95.

Last but not least we were grateful to receive a variety of chocolate treats from the company Stateside Treat Emporium, when these treats arrived it was a happy day in the office as we were all impressed with how good these chocolates tastes when they touch your lips. What we loved about these chocolates overall and were really impressed by the brand was the variety of flavours, some were unusual flavours that we would of never selected together but they work really well and the team were pleasantly surprised with how delicious they were such as their signature range which  includes  Maple Bacon Pancake Chocolate Bar. Another chocolate treat that really stood out for us and we all loved the design was the Popcorn Lolly, it is mixed with Belgium milk and white chocolate and the popcorn flavour is toffee it tasted like heaven the chocolate melts into your mouth and tastes really delightful and didn’t give you the sickly feeling after indulging to much.

Explore the word of American inspired treats, and you can grab the maple chocolate bar here for £1.60 and the popcorn lolly here for £1.90.

Christmas Special - Alternative gifts for Her

At the Amazing Blog, the atmosphere in the office over Christmas is amazing we are all counting down for the Christmas celebrations and looking forward to spending it with our loved ones, plus we are excited to see what everyone got given for Christmas presents. Leading up to Christmas we have been doing a Christmas gift guide leading up to the big day, and this is guide is for all the last minute people who need to get alternative presents. 

Winter nights at home lounging on the sofa in your comfy pyjamas are the perfect setting when you have candles lit around the living room; a delightful candle that smells gorgeous when lit is the Violet & Sweetpea by the brand Etta French. Etta French is known for being a luxury that are full of surprises that hides a special item of jewellery in each candle which is exclusively created by their UK designers, we thought this is a lovely idea as each jewel has a special touch of beauty and style that we think would make a lovely gift to someone for Christmas. Plus it is the element of surprise as they will unwrap and find two presents in one product.  The candle it’s self has an gorgeous scent to it, that makes you want to have it lit straight away also each candle is hand poured in the UK and uses 100% natural plant wax.

The candle is available to grab here for £38.50.

The brand Fressko kindly sent us two of their flasks, which is appropriate considering it is winter these are the perfect gifts to give someone to keep them hydrated and warm over this season especially if they live in the UK, and we all know how unpredictable and cold our weather is. The first flask we received was the Tour flask this is suitable for tea and fruit water, perfect if you know someone who is an adventurous day-tripper, we really liked the packaging of this design it has a wooden top but the actual flask is clear so you can see all the goodness from the fruit within the flask. The second flask which we all really loved in the office was part of their colour collection; the Colour Flask is the colour blush it is a beautiful tone of pink it’s very appealing, feminine and would make the perfect gift for a female. The colour flask is slightly smaller has its 360ml compared to the tour mask which is 400ml, however the colour collection has 6 hour insulation and is suitable for hot and cold beverages, and it is colour coated with a variety of colours you can choose from and it is a stainless steel flask.

You grab the tour flask here for £36.85, and the blush flask is available here also for £36.85. 

The third product we recommend is a beautifully scented diffuser by Heathcote & Ivory, called Atlas Silks  it smells gorgeous and will fill your room with an inviting scent of atlas silks, mountain rose, ylang ylang, sandalwood plus it is blended with essential oils such as coriander.

We chose this particular brand to feature in our gift guide because the artistic packaging is really pretty and would make a perfect alternative present for a loved one or family friend, especially if they love bringing colour, scent and sophistication to their home interior this product would be make a really nice gift.

This product is available to purchase here for £22.00.

Another alternative we recently got sent to our office and as a team we loved how convenient and useful the product is by Tweexy. We have find a new product that will help make your life easier, any girls who regularly paint their nails at home know how painful it can be when your knock a nail polish over. Tweexy is a comfortable polish holder that fits for all, and will make painting your nails become less of an annoying task. What we love about Tweexy is it comes in a variety of different colours, it is very comfortable and light on the finger and it doesn’t get in the way of painting and makes your life less complicated. This product is perfect for a female who loves try new things, it is small and perfect to travel with and also small enough to make a good stocking present or a secret Santa gift. 

Whether this product is for you or to help a best friend out, this will make life easier. You can grab this product here for £9.95. 

Christmas Special - Alternative Gifts for Him

Christmas shopping is fun when you go out for the day and pick everyone’s present, but it can be a struggle when you have a family relative or a close friend who is slightly picky or you just have no clue what they would like. At the Amazing Blog we can definitely relate to this so we've decided to put together an 'Alternative Guide'.

During Christmas day to keep the entertainment going, it’s nice to play games with your relatives and friends. The first product which would make a good small gift is the Rubik Sparks. It’s a new Rubik's cube that has six new games with 25 unique levels, and each level will challenge your mind, speed, memory and logic. We saw this and thought it would make a good family activity for the kids and parents to get involved with and see who the best gadget player is. This Rubik's cube is also upgraded with a new revolutionary way to control the game: there is no buttons or touch screens, and you control the spark by tilting and turning. You can play this game either in a single or multiplayer game play.

You can purchase this cube here for £24.95. 

The second alternative we find is this luxurious brand that specialise in the finest tableware called The Posh Trading Company. Each product is beautifully made and we were really impressed with their Luminescent Coasters. Mixed with the old and modern interior design, they come in a variety of colours you can choose from. They are presented in a clear acrylic box or a silver leaf lacquered box to show off the beautiful design of each coaster. We loved the modern twist to the coaster display that will definitely enhance your dining room décor and will look lovely if you or someone were hosting a dinner party or a corporate event. 

Our team’s favourite is the gold coaster box that you can purchase here for £135.00.

Celebrations and enjoying yourself with your family is the best time on Christmas day surrounded with your loved ones. We have found a company that specialise in 'special' gifts that you would give to someone over Christmas to add that bit of humour.  The company is called Barbuzzo.  We loved their motto of  'life is too short to be serious' and here at The Amazing Blog we definitely agree on that. A silly joke or a gift you may see that reminds you of a relative will always work over Christmas, but if you are finding it specially difficult to purchase a present for a male we definitely recommend going to their website. Our favourite product was the Beer Hammer, a real hammer that actually works but that you can also use as a bottle opener. It is the perfect 'two for one' funny gift if you know anyone in your family who loves DIY's and a good beer

You can purchase the beer hammer here for £7.38.

The final alternative product that we think would make a really good and useful present is by the brand Udoq. They have come up with a Docking station that is suitable worldwide for any brand of mobile phones. We were also really impressed with Udoq's vision of helping to protect the environment, stopping tons of electrical goods going to waste by just using one device. You can customise each docking station which we find even more intriguing and impressive.  The team here really liked the idea, specially as it is sometimes common to have two phones or a phone at home for back up. This will make your life easier as you can even use other kind of devices such as iPads and it will also help  protect the environment, what's not to like?

Grab this, either for yourself or as Christmas present here for £ 89.84.