Friday Favourites - Easter Holidays

With Easter weekend finally upon us, most of us excited for the celebrations ahead! However, for those who have left things a little late, or even those who just want to try something a bit different this year, there’s still time to go out and grab some more Easter treats! We here at The Amazing Blog have found some Easter-themed gifts to help you impress your friends and loved ones during this Spring holiday.Lush never fails to deliver quirky gift ideas for the holidays, and they certainly haven’t let us down this year with their creative selection of Easter cosmetics. This season, they are offering an array of ‘Egg-ceptional’ Easter themed handmade products, including bath melts and bubble bars in the shape of eggs and carrots! Made from fair trade and organic ingredients, Lush’s Easter cosmetics include a Golden Egg Bath Bomb, Bunny Bubble Bar, Carrot Soap, and Brightside Bubble Bar just to name a few. If, like us, you are struggling to choose from the wonderful selection of products on offer, Lush are also offering the Funny Bunny Rabitty Wrap – an organic cotton knot-wrap containing four of the most popular limited edition Easter cosmetics. Because the Easter Bunny is packaged by hand, the selection of goodies inside each wrap is different!  However, if a gift you are planning is one item short of complete, the holiday products are available to buy individually for very reasonable prices! Find the Egg-cellent collection here. To add some chocolate with a twist to your Easter celebration, Demijohn has created a Chocolate Orange Cream Liqueur.  This alcoholic chocolate is the adult version of a creamy dark Easter Egg, and the addition of Devonshire Cream, Apple Brandy and Orange Zest make this the perfect springtime tipple.  The thick and creamy liqueur would be a great option for those Easter family gatherings; something for adults to enjoy as the children tuck into their Easter treats.  Demijohn recommends serving the Chocolate Orange Cream Liqueur directly from the refrigerator and over ice for the best taste. Be the life of the party this Easter and present your family and friends with a 500ml bottle of Demijohn Chocolate Orange Cream Liqueur, available here for £24.60 (500ml). You may have noticed our attempt to stray from the typical Easter gift, but who are we to keep your loved ones from indulging in chocolate this Easter?  Charbonnel et Walker offer a new twist to the traditional chocolate egg with their Pink Marc de Champagne Truffle Easter Egg.  Combining their finest milk chocolate with their best selling Pink Marc de Champagne Truffles, this treat is so much more luxurious than your typical Easter Egg.  Housed in a pastel coloured window box with a pink ribbon tied around it, this delicious Easter Egg would make the perfect gift any loved one. It can be purchased here for £35, along with a selection of other delicious chocolate creations, including a Dark Chocolate and English Rose Easter Egg.

Feel like doing something different this Easter? Horniman Museum and Gardens, with their Easter Fair, could be the perfect option if you are looking for activities that are fun, yet educational. Take part in the Easter Egg Hunt, learn more about the rabbits that live in the Animal Walk and enjoy some live country music. If you fancy a bite, you can head towards the food stalls, where you will find a selection of tasty treats; whether you fancy pizza or some Austrian specialities, you will definitely find the perfect nibble to satisfy your taste buds. The Easter Fair takes place on Saturday and Sunday, from 10.30 am until 4.30 pm, and you can find the detailed program here . Finally, what would Easter be without an Easter Bunny? Demarquette offers beautifully hand painted Easter Rabbits in dark chocolate and milk chocolate to complete your traditional Easter gifts. The dark chocolate bunny is made from Demarquette’s award winning CacaoLux blend of chocolates from The Dominican Republic and Ecuador, while the milk chocolate bunny features chocolates from Venezuela and Madagascar. Each bunny is hand painted with bright spring colours, making it unique with it’s own colourful pattern. Demarquette Easter Rabbits are available here for only £5.50. Demarquette also has a lovely selection of chocolate bars and truffles if you are still craving sweets after the holiday is over!

Friday Favourites - Luxury Perfumes

With spring (and even summer) on our minds, we at The Amazing Blog are rounding up our favourite perfumes that represent both our personalities and our surroundings!

Not only representing personalities but also expressing the character of the city are the Londoner fragrances.  After uncovering her love affair with London, beauty industry expert Rebecca Goswell seeks to capture the essence of her inspiration. Londoner fragrances represent the urban society; each scent is named after the postal code of the distinct part of city it captures.  We really appreciate that all of the brand's scents are androgynous, encompassing the character of either male or female which allowed everyone in the office (even Jose) to give feedback on the scents.  Our favourite scent in the line is the N6 Urban Fragrance with its notes of crisp bergamot, English fruit, jasmine and caramel.  Not only does the scent capture a bold yet classy personality, but it represents the elegant character of the Highgate Village as well. Other Londoner fragrances include W1X, EC2 and SE1.  Explore the city without leaving your home with the Londoner fragrances which are available here for £81.

Taking us on holiday to the Italian Mediterranean with every spray is Blu Mediterraneo by the classic Italian perfumers, Acqua di Parma.  Blu Mediterraneo’s first impression is energetic but is later complemented by a soothing aroma after settling on the skin.  These characteristic are captured with notes of juniper, bergamot and spices which are complimented with hints of sage, cypress and Virginia Cedarwood.  After the first spritz, we couldn’t stop passing the fragrance around the office.  From the ocean-blue colour of the bottle to the scent of the perfume, Blu Mediterraneo is the perfect escape!  Find the Eau de Toliette here for £54.

Another beautiful perfume to add some colour to your dressing table, is the innovative brand Aura-Soma Pegasus. An interesting idea, you choose your perfume based on the colour of the bottle as opposed to the scent. The concept behind the brand is that the colour you select is a reflection of your mood and personality, and the fragrance you get will act in harmony with your spiritual and emotional wellbeing. The office favourite is 75, which has a wonderful orange flower aroma. Its combination of turquoise and magenta helped to create a peaceful environment in the office.  Aura-Soma Pegasus perfume are more than just cosmetic; they are intuitive. On top of this unique feature, the perfume is the only one in the world to contain organic alcohol, an aspect we greatly admire. Aura-Soma Pegasus perfumes are available to buy here for £85.

Friday Favourites - Mother's Day

Guess who? She often deprives herself, yet makes certain you have the best of everything.  That’s right, it’s Mum! Our mum’s really are the best and deserve more than one day during the year to be celebrated and appreciated.  All of us here at The Amazing Blog want to help make your mum’s special day perfect, so we have a few original ideas up our sleeves. Ranging from candles to cocktails, there’s something for every mum!

A burning candle is a great way to set the tone for a relaxing afternoon or evening.  Wick & Tallow candles offer the luxury of a home accessory with a touch of British individuality.  Constructed from scratch by product and interior designers, as well as a biology graduate with an interest in botany, Wick & Tallow Waxsmiths intrigue candle-lovers with their contemporary twist on both the candle's packaging and scent.  The original black matte colour of Wick & Tallow packaging (with a vibrant highlight colour) coordinates flawlessly with the unique scent of the candles, which last up to 50 hours!  The Patchouli & Grapefruit Candle, for example, is a calming yellow (perfect for mum!) which flawlessly matches the notes of garden floral and tart grapefruit in the burning candle.  Find the Patchouli & Grapefruit Candle here for £35.00. And as a Mother's Day treat, Wick & Tallow are offering a 20% discount on this candle when you use the code, MUMSTHEWORD. Make mum feel young and modern while relaxing to the scent and design of Wick & Tallow candles.  A variety of candle colours and scents can be found here.

On her special day, mum deserves to sit back, relax and pamper herself with a fun cocktail in hand!  To make her job a bit easier, Pontoon Cocktails have designed pre-mixed, frozen and unpasteurized cocktails which guarantee the same freshness as the day they were made!  Offer your mum the fun and frilly Angelica mixed drink from Pontoon Cocktails!  With a mix of contemporary and traditional ingredients like Ketel One Vodka, Cocchi Americano and Regan’s No.6 orange bitters, Angelica is a hand-crafted pink plunge of citrus and flowers.  Perfectly packaged with a ribbon tied around its top, the Angelica mixed drink from Pontoon Cocktails is a perfect gift for mum!  A 500ml of Angelica is £34.99 and can be found here.

If drinks aren't your mum's style, maybe she'd prefer a chocolate treat. Like most women, mum certainly loves clothing and shoes, but gifting clothing or shoes to mum can be a challenge.  Why not combine her love for shoes with the sweet temptation of chocolate with a La Signorina Chocolate Stiletto! La Signorina specialise in fair-trade, hand-made chocolate delicacies in the shape of shoes, bouquets and chess sets.  These Italian style dark chocolates give personality to each piece with their fair-trade chocolate beans, and La Signorina kindly sent The Amazing Blog the Fortuna Chocolate Stiletto!  Fortuna was the Roman goddess of fortune, promising mum good luck in the months to follow. Not only is the shoe the size of a wearable stiletto (UK size 3), but the inside of the slipper is detailed with the La Signorina insignia and is finished with a chocolate flower on the toe.  Specializing in chocolate gifts, La Signorina lets mum have her shoes and eat them too!  Select the perfect chocolate stiletto for mum for only £40 here.

If your mum grew up during the 60s or 70s she is probably familiar with Aqua Manda, after smelling the perfume on her own mother!  This nostalgic perfume is the ultimate memory jogger, taking mum back to her flower power days. Aqua Manda uses the psychedelic colour orange to reflect the era in both colour and scent!

Made with essential oils of mandarin, ginger, lavender, patchouli, cinnamon, and other aromatic herbs, Aqua Manda consists of an abundance of fruity scents.   The refreshing and light smell is a great pick me up and works perfectly as a summer fragrance. The oriental and spicy base notes give a kick to the perfume which can help in the mornings if you get up early and need something to wake you up. Once applied, the perfume sits on your skin all day and only fades slightly. Take mum back to childhood with this happy, fruity and fun scent!  A bottle of Aqua Manda is £39.99 and can be purchased  here.

The Perfume Studio – Design Your Own Fragrance 'GIVEAWAY'

If you’re like the girls here at The Amazing Blog, you’ve likely been searching for the perfect perfume, but have been unable to find the exact scent that expresses your personality.  Luckily, we have found a very original solution: designing your own fragrance!  The Perfume Studio invites you to Design Your Own Fragrance with the Oriental kit to capture the essence of your individuality.

The Perfume Studio’s master perfumists have spent years developing 18 blends to capture the essence of all personalities.  These high-street inspired fragrances are enduring on the skin with their combination of top, middle and low note scent extracts.  Lasting for up to three hours, top notes include refreshing scents like Citrus, Green, Aldehydic, Fruity, Herbal, and Amber.  The middle note fragrances, which the Perfume Studio argues are the most important part, linger on the skin for up to 12 hours.  These include scents of Ozonic, Fresh Flora, Rose Floral, Tonic Sport and many others.  Low notes by The Perfume Studio last even longer, with a scent-life of 24 hours!  This assures a constant yet luscious scent without continuous reapplication.  These low notes are represented by the scents Woody, Balsamic, Musky, and Mossy.  All of these diverse scents are represented in The Perfume Studio boxes Oriental, Fresh, Floral, Master Perfumer and Diamante Master Perfumer here. The Perfume Studio classes also feature all of these high, middle and low note scents.

We too had the chance create our own fragrance!  We tested the Oriental design kit by The Perfume Studio which includes 3 pipettes and 6 tester blotters to assist in becoming a perfumer.  This set contains the scents Woody, Citrus, Spicy, Amber, Floral Floral and Musky.  The ingredients of each fragrance express a distinct emotion.  Woody, for example, is primarily made of Sandalwood and conveys and elegant yet mellow emotion.  With seven easy to follow steps, the ideal fragrance is yours in no time!  This do-it-yourself, Oriental perfume kit can be purchased here for £29.95.  The Perfume Studio has been kind enough to award the FIRST FIVE  readers who email The Amazing Blog, press@amazingpr.co.uk, with a complimentary, do-it-yourself Oriental Perfume kit*.

Though we find The Perfume Studio kits to be super innovative, we especially love the pampering The Perfume Studio offers through their creative classes.  The Perfume Studio sessions are hosted by master perfumists who assist attendees in their selection of premiere scents.  Group Scent Events for wedding parties, groups of girlfriends and even men are just a few of the events sponsored by The Perfume Studio.  This exclusive experience can even be brought to the comfort of your home when hosting a ‘home fragrance party’.  With nationwide locations, and an annual event in London, The Perfume Studio offers their sessions in numerous salons and day spas.  Theses exclusive sessions which ‘Capture the Essence of You’ start as low as £39.95.  All of The Perfume Studio events can be found here.

*In your email please include your name and post address with the subject line "Perfume Studio Giveaway". We will announce the winners on our Twitter page @AmazingPRltd on Tuesday 11 March by 12.00!

Terms and Conditions:

• This giveaway is free to enter. No purchase is necessary.
• Entrants to this giveaway must be aged 18 or over and it's open internationally.
• The giveaway prize is : 1 do-it-yourself Oriental Perfume kit
• Employees and the immediate families of The Perfume Studio are not entitled to enter this giveaway.
• The Perfume Studio reserves the right to amend and/or withdraw the giveaway at any time without prior notice.
• This giveaway closes at 12pm on Tuesday 11^th March.
• In your email please include your name and post address with the subject line "Perfume Studio Giveaway". We will announce the winners on our Twitter page @AmazingPRltd on Tuesday 11 March by 12.00
• No cash option or alternative to prizes offered.
• The winners will be notified on the 11/03/2014 by email. This must be acknowledged by the winner, by telephone or email within twenty-four hours of end date. Failure to respond means an alternative winner will be selected from all valid entries received.
• Entrants will be deemed to have accepted these rules and to agree to be bound by them.
• We will not pass on your personal details to any other organisation without your permission, except for the purpose of awarding the giveaway if necessary.
• The judge's decision is final. No correspondence will be entered into.
• The promoter of the giveaway is The Perfume Studio. The name and region of the winners may be obtained by writing to the following address after 11/03/2014: The Perfume Studio Giveaway, Amazing PR, Worlds End Studio, 134 Lots Road, London SW10 0RJ.

Friday Favourites - Nourishing Lip Balms

With cold weather and wind flocking our skin this season, our dry lips are in need of a moisturising treatment.  To help soften lips this spring we here at The Amazing Blog have gathered a few handbag sized lip balms (and pocket sized for men) to help keep your lips moisturised...and kissable!

Bomb Cosmetics, a company specializing in natural and handmade lip treatments, believes in curing the body, face and lips with the powers of natural butters and pure essential oils.  With a love for all things green, Bomb Cosmetics containers and packaging are constructed with 100% recycled products; they also promise to never test products on animals!  Bomb Cosmetics channels their passion for the planet into their bright, natural and fun product designs.  Their lip care products come in various scents and flavours, all at an affordable cost!  We particularly love the Lipology Intense Lip Treatment balm in Chocolate Jaffa Orange, as it is designed to deeply moisturise and hydrate tough lips.  With ingredients like Cocos Nucifera (Coconut) Oil and Fruit Oil, the Chocolate Jaffa Orange balm leaves a zesty chocolate scent on the lips that’s good enough to eat!  Unlike many balms, the Lipology Intense Lip Treatment in Chocolate Jaffa Orange does not leave a waxy coating on the lips, but certainly leaves lips feeling soft with additives of Aloe and Beeswax.  This pocket size lip balm is perfect for treating lips on-the-go!  Bomb Cosmetics Lipology Intense Lip Treatment in Chocolate Jaffa Orange can be found here for £2.49.

Next we have yet another balm perfect for refreshing dry lips.  These natural and vegan friendly lip balms by Crazy Rumors make moisturising fun!  Designed by a couple with the passion to create an all natural & vegan lip balm, the recipe for a 100% natural and vegan lip balm was created.  Crazy Rumors lip balms include zero artificial aromas and all of the ingredients are certified organic materials.  Such natural ingredients used by Crazy Rumors are organic shea butter and organic jojoba oil, all perfect for moisturising and hydrating lips.   All Crazy Rumors flavours smell (and taste) amazing because they are slightly sweetened with a hint of Stevia.  Their lip balm flavours include Tea, Citrus, Ice Cream, Floral, Bubble Gum and others.  You can view the entire Crazy Rumors lip balm line here.  With a passion for natural products, it is no surprise that Crazy Rumors Lip balms can be found at Holland & Barrett locations, as well as online here, for £3.49 each.

Sticking with the theme of vegan friendly lip balms, we have also discovered HURRAW!  Unlike most lip balms, HURRAW is not the typical girly, sweet smelling lip balm; rather all HURRAW lip balms are designed to offer a natural yet fun flavour and scent.  It is no wonder these balms have an organic flavouring, as they are constructed from wild-crafted, fair-trade ingredients such as seed oils and butters.   Some of the lip balm flavours offered by HURRAW include Almond, Earl Grey, Vanilla Bean and Mint and 17 other creative yet natural flavours.  Because of the unique taste and design of these lip balms, HURRAW balms are suitable for both women and men.  All HURRAW balms offer a layer of long-lasting protection without being too glossy for males.  Select HURRAW lip balms also include SPF.  They are also the perfect size for your handbag or your back jean pocket (gentlemen!).  Select your favourite, natural HURRAW lip balm flavour here for £3.99.

Our final nourishing lip balm find is by skincare artist, Jane Scrivner.  Uninterested in providing the repetitive skincare used by everyone else, Jane Scrivner uses raw ingredients with a proven track record.  Her care lines combines pure, natural and organic materials to feed skin with fresh nutrients.  As an award winning skincare company, it is no wonder Jane Scrivner offers a smooth and hydrating lip balm.  This 100% organic lip balm softens and moisturises lips with a tingly fresh finish with ingredients like Coconut Oil, She Butter, Wild Mint Essential Oil, Rose Hip Oil and Vitamin E.  For the best results, Jane Scrivner recommends users generously spread the lip balm on both the top and bottom lips daily.  This portable 5ml lip balm also doubles as a cuticle balm or an emergency spot moisturiser when your typical skincare rescuer is left at home.  Treat your lips (and dry skin spots) with the Jane Scrivner lip balm for £9 here.

May these naturally nourishing lip balms be the perfect pick-me-up for your dry lips and skin this season!