Lifestyle

Friday Favourites - Mother's Day Feature

Here at The Amazing Blog, we know that we’ll never be able to repay our mum’s for the endless amount of love and support they give us. We may not get to see our mum’s regularly, but we always think about them and how much they have impacted our lives. This Mother’s Day, we wanted to give you a proper gift guide designed to please your mum, since she deserves only the best on this day and every day. 

To help your mum unwind on her special day, treat her with a beautiful quotation candle from Not on the High Street.

You can choose from four different quotations to put on the candle, including “A mother holds her child’s hand for a short while but their hearts forever” and “Mum, I know you’ve loved me as long as I’ve lived, but I’ve loved you my whole life” and two other sweet phrases. After the quotation, you also have the option to customize the signature, which a remark such as “you’re the best,” followed by your name.

In addition to the four different quotations you can choose from, the candles come in four colours to choose from: light stone, medium stone, pale rose and duck egg blue. It’s made from 100% natural soy wax and has an average burn time of 35-40 hours. The gift wrapping is also included with the price, plus you have the option to add a personalized gift tag to the candle to make it extra special.

Order your candle here for £25 and give your mom a long-lasting gift this year.

To give your mum time to reflect this mum’s day, give her this bold “I Love My Mum” notebook from Smythson. She can gather all of her thoughts and record all of her goals and dreams in this stylish notebook.

Featuring a lambskin cover, in a fun hot pink colour with shiny gold text, this notebook makes a statement and lets the world know how much you love your mum. It’s filled with 96 leaves of lined, pale blue, featherweight paper designed to capture every note or idea written on every page. Just like any quality journal, a sturdy pink ribbon bookmark is attached so your mum can mark her most recent page. It’s portable, easy to carry and will always remind her of you.

Head to the Smythson website here to get this lovely notebook for your mum for £35.

To add a sweet touch to your mum’s bathroom, pick up a few bars of the Lavender Hand Soap from Dr. Harris and Co. for a beautifully scented hand washing experience.

The soap is designed for delicate skin, so it will not cause any irritation if sensitive skin is an issue your mum deals with. It lathers extremely well, so let all of the lavender-scented suds wash away any impurities while deeply moisturising your skin. Hand washing just got a lot more luxurious.

Get a three-bar pack of these adorable soaps here for £17.50.

For a gift your mum can display for all to see, we recommended a Mother’s Day inspired flower bouquet from The Flower Stand Chelsea. With all of the vibrant colours and varieties to choose from, you can choose an arrangement that suits your mom and her personality perfectly.

The Flower Stand shop can be found near Fulham Road and Old Church Street, with clientele ranging from footballers to film stars. The prices of their flowers are some of the most competitive in London and are of very high quality. When you mum receives one of the bouquets, the flowers will be in top-notch condition. They are shipped from Holland overnight, and then are cut and arranged into vases within 24 hours.

The Mother’s Day arrangements come in a variety of colours, ranging from white to yellow to pink to red. Some of the flowers you can choose include lilies, roses, tulips and lilacs, depending on whatever your mum prefers.

Head to the Mother’s Day section of their website here and check out all of the different arrangements you can choose from, starting at £35.

 

Of course, Mother's Day wouldn't be complete without a special treat. Macarons by Babette will be having a pop up shop just in time for the holiday.

These macarons compare with the best of French macarons. With flavours like pistachio, raspberry, salted caramel and lemon, they are almost impossible to resist! These lovely treats are sold in beautiful gift boxes that your mum will love.

The pop up shop will be on 62 Old Church Street and will be open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on 14th March and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on 15th March. Can't make it to the shop? Not to worry, you can order your box of 20 Macarons by Babette here for £23.

Puressentiel Purifying Air Spray

Did you know that indoor air quality can be up to 100 times worse than that outside? If you surround yourself with poor air quality, you can suffer from asthma, infection, headaches, eye irritation, coughing, and more. Here at The Amazing Blog we want to keep everyone in the office healthy, which is why we use Puressentiel Purifying Air Spray.

The goal of Puressentiel is to use 100% pure and natural products, making essential oils accessible to all. The company addresses the day-to-day healthcare needs of an individual or group of people, with practical, easy-to-use and ready-blended products.

The Puressentiel Purifying Air Spray contains 41 essential oils, sourced from raw plant material, and works to get rid of bacteria, viruses, microscopic fungi, unpleasant odours, etc. The solution should be sprayed about 6-8 times in the four corners of a room, several times per day, and particularly at night. It can even be sprayed onto carpets, bedding and other surfaces.

This amazing bottle of spray can get rid of dust mites and bed bugs. It also has the ability to alleviate respiratory symptoms, improve sleep and relieve certain stress-related symptoms. It’s no wonder this spray has been the number one selling aromatherapy product in French pharmacies.

If that isn’t enough to convince you, the efficacy of the formula has been supported by nine research studies and 3 tolerance tests.

No matter what time of the year it is, you always need to worry about your health and the air you’re breathing, especially when people are getting sick all around you. Spray your worries away with Puressentiel Purifying Air Spray, which you can purchase here at £19.99 for 200 ml.

 

Friday Favourites - Candles

There are many different ways to go about choosing the perfect fragrance for your home. We at The Amazing Blog adore candles, but sometimes we find it difficult to narrow down all of the choices each candle company in the UK has to offer. In attempt to truly broaden our horizons, we have decided to select candle companies that started in countries outside of the UK and have a special back-story. La Montana, EssentialCandles, PaddyWax and Mila Isla are just the exotic and refreshing companies we have been looking for.

Inspired by a mountain village in Valencia, each candle made by La Montana is sure to provide a special experience. The story behind each candle is based off of the founders’ new experiences after their move from London to Spain. Featured scents include: First Light, Alfredo’s Café, Galan De Noche and Winter Oranges. Each variety resembles either a scent or place that reminds the founders of a special moment in their lives, and we just love this concept. If you would like to read more about this candle company and their story, visit their website.

Mila Candles is a company rich in history and family values, for its founders are a niece and aunt power team who desired to carry on their great-grandfathers legacy. The business is based off of an essential oil company in Vienna, which extended into the UK once the grand-father immigrated prior to WWII. We received one of their newest candles, the Isla candle, which reminded us of a casual and relaxing day at the beach. The company offers other fragrance scents as well, including Chiara and Scuro. To browse around their candle, diffuser and oil selections, visit their website.

Now that we have ventured to companies all throughout Europe, we decided to seek a candle company based out of the USA! When we were sent samples from PaddyWax Candles, we were pleased to find that not only are their candles American, but each candle is truly one of a kind. PaddyWax sent us two candles: Amber & Smoke from the Apothecary collection and Old Fashioned from the Mixology collection. The Mixology collection was our favourite because they honour the craft cocktail movement. Each candle contains a hint of alcohol, which inspired the cocktail glass it is presented in, along with a recipe on the back. After each burn, you can enjoy a room that smells like the drink you will soon indulge in. There are other collections you can browse through on the PaddyWax website.

We believe we saved the most interesting story for last. EssentialCandles was started by a young boy at the age of 12 as merely a hobby, when he would make candles for his family and friends and give them away as Christmas presents. Once he discovered his knack for it, he started his own business of different kinds of seasonal fragrances. The company is based of out Scotland, and he supplies shops in the Borders and Edinburgh with his distinct seasonal scents. We particularly had a soft spot for the scent Christmas Hearth considering the fact that we we received the sample, it was so close to the holidays! To read more about how Aidan Paterson and how he got his company off of the ground, visit the EssentialCandles website.

101 Naked Confessions of a Gay Hairdresser

Here at The Amazing Blog, we have a plethora of wonderful friends from all walks of the beauty industry. One hairdresser who is particularly close to our heart is Hair Organics own Terry Wilson, one of the very few talented top stylists and hair colourists that I trust to tame my tresses to perfection. Of course, when we got wind of his new book, we were absolutely thrilled for him, and couldn’t wait to lift the lid on all the juicy gossip that only someone like Terry can give.

101 Naked Confessions of a Gay Hairdresser is a compendium of hilarious anecdotes, entertaining stories and, of course, a hair tip or two. With an impressive 30 years of industry experience under his belt, Terry has worked with everyone, from suburban housewives, celebrities and models, to Her Majesty The Queen, and as a result, he’s managed to compile a tome full of scandals, gossip and invaluable advice that’s sure to keep you intrigued. Although we were enthralled and read from cover to cover, we love that the book is packed with mini chapters, so you don’t have to read it front to back; you can just flick through for a bit of what you fancy. It’s the recipe for a perfect book in our humble opinion.

We love his selection of hot tips about things that you wouldn’t normally think about such as using an all-natural bristle brush which will give you much more shine, or the fact that we are programmed to ‘scrub’ our scalps, whereas we actually need to treat it with the utmost respect and be extremely gentle and ‘condition’ it! My favourite tip is to dissolve some vitamin C in a jug of water rinsing over the hair in order to neutralise and get that post-swim chorine smell out. As a hairdresser, Terry is particularly empathetic with his customers and is a wise and worldly guru on all things hair. As a person, it is safe to say that he can truly brighten the moment and make you smile no matter how your day has been. Bravo for producing this book and we love you Terry! 101 Naked Confessions of A Gay Hairdresser is available for purchase for £9.97 online here.

 

Ina Crystals - Bath Crystals

Now that we’re winding down from Christmas and New Year, and the hectic months are behind us, it’s time to finally take a breath and relax. We here at The Amazing Blog love nothing more than a pampering evening in, soaking in a nice hot bath with a few candles burning and a good book in our hands. Mercifully, we’ve found the perfect aid to a stress free evening in Ina White Gold Detox Bath Crystals.

The indulgent grains are a perfect combination of carefully mined white gold crystal salts, and the essential oils of Basil, Fennel and Juniper which help to detoxify, cleanse and heal the body, exactly what we need after a season of over indulgence and partying! Not only this, but the pure salts can also be used for aches and pains, and even to treat mild cases of eczema and psoriasis, so you don’t have to reserve them for your major post-Christmas detox. The brand do recommend that you use the entire 1kg container in a single bath, which may seem a little pricey for one soak, but we must admit, it was totally worth it for a one off treat. When we emerged, we really felt like we were walking on air, and drifted off to bed without a care in the world.

We can't think of a better way to soak your troubles away. Immerse yourself in a little bit of heaven, and buy the Crystals here for £46.50.