Friday Favourites - Candles

Candles are often associated with winter months, adding a sense of warmth and comfort to any room. Here at The Amazing Blog, however, we don’t adhere to seasonal stereotypes, and believe that fresh, scented candles are the perfect accessory, whatever the weather. With this in mind, we’ve compiled a list of our favourite candles for the summer months.

We love the scent of fresh flowers in our home, but sadly the effort and cost of keeping the office stocked with bright bouquets mean that it’s more hassle than it’s worth. For this reason, we love the Flower Market range of candles from US company, Paddywax. With a range of wonderfully scented, hand-poured candles to choose from, they’ll have your house smelling as divine as a country garden in the time it takes you to strike a match. Our favourite is Peony & Clover; its deliciously sweet floral scent is perfect for summer mornings. Coming in a range of sizes and styles, there’s something to suit everyone. Pick up this Paddywax products here from only £15.

If you’re looking for a scent a little more unorthodox and true to life, Corpo Sancto have an interesting range of scented candles for any taste. The Biker Jacket fragrance caught our eye. Its leather scent would be perfectly at home in a library or study, with its sleek black packaging making a subtle addition to your home. Made with rapeseed wax, the candles promise a burn time of around 48 hours. Most exciting of all, the brand offer a bespoke service, so if Log Fire or Coffee & Bread aren’t to your taste, you can ask them to make a fragrance that is! Treat yourself to the Biker Jacket candle here for £28.

For the ultimate in clean, chic candles, look to Industria. Combining inspiration from Italian science and alchemy, Industria have come up with a blend of unique, clean scents that are ideal for summer. Our favourite is Cardinalis. Inspired by the Florentine Renaissance, the soft sweet smell reminded us of summer getaways. The simple packaging adorned with alchemic symbols will add a touch of class to any room, and they certainly brightened up our office. Treat yourself to an Industria candle here for £40. Be sure to explore the corresponding perfumes too!

For a quirky addition to your décor, Vineyard Candles have thought up an inventive way to recycle old wine bottles. The artisan brand have craftily filed the bottom of the bottles, filling them with beautifully scented natural wax, inspired by our favourite summer tipple. There’s nothing like lighting a Gin & Tonic scented candle at the end of a long work day. Go teetotal and grab yourself a Vineyard candle here for £19.50.

Friday Favourites - Sweet Treats

The weekend is nearly upon us and so is the urge to indulge, and here at The Amazing Blog we know just how!

For something wickedly moorish pick up a packet of Ultimate English fudge which champions local produce in the Yorkshire region.

Using rhubarb grown in the heart of the rhubarb triangle itself by celebrated farmer D Westwood & Sons, the companies’ new rhubarb coconut ice gives a nostalgic nod towards the childhood-cherished rhubarb crumble.

If you fancy something more traditional check out their All Butter Fudge or the Salt Water Chocolate Truffle Fudge which combines the finest all butter fudge with the highest quality Belgian chocolate which recently was awarded a gold star in the Guild of Fine Food Great Taste Awards.

You can purchase Ultimate English fudge via retailers across the UK. You can find your nearest stockist here.

If you’re after a slightly healthier option then look no further as Chocolift is a lactose free, no added sugar chocolate with sweeteners extracted from plants, 38% pure cocoa, 8.2g whey protein isolate and 2g of coconut oil. The blend of cocoa, whey protein and coconut oil is a great alternative for chocolate lovers on sugar and lactose controlled diets, and at only 89 calories per half a bar we think it’s a great diet friendly option.

You can buy an 8 pack of Chocolift bars for £28.65 here.

Here at The Amazing Blog we also love Sweet Virtues’ award winning luxury truffles, which are nutrient-dense and power-packed with more than five super food ingredients in every truffle. The raw centre is made up of a blend of Maca, Lucuma, Coconut Nectar, Carob, Ginseng, Sunflower Seeds and Ground Almonds mixed with 72% Organic raw dark chocolate with Bio Live Cultures. Each truffle is hand-made and is dairy-free, suitable for vegetarians, vegans and those on gluten-free diets.

Available in three delicious varieties, Maqui, Chia Seeds & Lime and Baobab & Vanilla, the truffles come in boxes of around 10 (£13.95 for 115g), or a two truffle ballotin box (selection pack containing one ballotin box of each variety for £7.50). Both are perfect as a unique and luxurious gift or the ultimate guilt-free treat for oneself.

The Sweet Virtues range is currently available with a number of retailers, including Harrods, Daylesford, Planet Organic and Partridges of London, or from the company’s website.

Last but not least, we all know that chocolate makes you feel good, and Lovechock does just that! Made by hand from the best organic, raw cacao from Ecuador, instead of being roasted the beans are cold grounded, providing a natural source of flavonoids and ‘love chemicals’-  goodies that make you feel happy and loving.

Lovechock is milk free, soy free and gluten free and is sweetened with Coconut blossom nectar, which has a low GI value and therefore keeps the blood sugar levels more stable than common sugars. All Lovechock products are 100% vegan (recognized by the Vegan Society) and come in a variety of flavours including Goji/Orange, Almond/Fig and Mulberry/Vanilla.

We’re also loving Lovechock Rocks which are a great snack for when you’re on the go. The rocks are fruits or nuts covered in raw chocolate and a pinch of reishi, and come in three different flavour combinations Mulberry/Hemp seed, Almond/Cinnamon and Raisin Coconut.

You can buy Lovechock products from Planet Organic, Real Foods and The HealthBay.

Pop Brixton

Stuck for something to do this weekend? Here at The Amazing Blog we think you should check out Pop Brixton, a new unique space focusing on supporting local enterprise. Pop Brixton plays host to some of the community’s most exciting independent start-ups across food & drink, retail, creative industries and the arts.

With Brixton already established as a go-to foodie destination in London, Pop Brixton is set to build on this success, creating London’s hottest new destination in the heart of Brixton. There is plenty to choose from, including the renowned Zoe’s Ghana Kitchen taking up her first permanent residency offering authentic Ghanaian dishes, through to Miss P’s BBQ bringing their juicy beef ribs and Baba G’s serving up an Indian and British food fusion. As well as over 20 mouth-watering food and drink vendors, Pop Brixton boasts a diverse selection of independent retail outlets. From vintage clothing sellers Make Do and Mend through to Japanese tea house, Kyonocha, Pop Brixton provides a unique shopping destination full of hidden gems.

Other initiatives range from Pop Farm – a garden and greenhouse area planted by the local community – to local artist exhibitions, workshops and an event space with a programme orchestrated by tenants. The 200 capacity event space will offer a chance to enjoy a wide range of events, including TEDx Brixton talks, gigs and cinema screenings.

To find out more please check out their website and Twitter page.

Friday Favourites - Father's Day Gift Ideas

With Father’s Day just around the corner, here at The Amazing Blog we’ve compiled a list of our favourite beauty and grooming products to treat your old man, and get him looking and feeling great this summer.

First on our list is Belnatur’s Only Men line which has a great range of products designed to provide deep hydration, firmness and luminosity without a greasy feel. Two of our favourites are Belnatur’s Only Men After Shave Comfort (£16.99 for 150ml) and Belnatur’s Only Men Energy Fluid (£17.99 for 75ml).

Rich in White Willow, Cucumber, Witch Hazel and Aloe Vera, the Only Men After Shave Comfort is a refreshing gel that soothes the irritations caused by shaving. It assists with the prevention of premature aging and stimulates collagen production.

Belnatur’s Only Men Energy Fluid is light and non-greasy and recharges the skin with vitality and energy. It also improves water retention and increases skin’s flexibility.

Belnatur’s high performing products can be purchased from their official UK website and at salons nationwide.

Next on our list is one of our favourite ranges of hair products over here at The Amazing Blog. Label M is high on our list, and we think their thickening tonic (£10.95 for 150 ml) and deconstructor matt paste (£11.50 for 50 ml) make a great Father’s Day gift.

If your old man is slightly thinning on top, the thickening tonic is a unique gel to liquid formula which gives instant volume and texture to your hair. The deconstructor paste is also a fabulous product, great for those who like to style their hair, but love the rough and ready look.

The Label M range is available in a number of hairdressers including Toni & Guy. You can also buy the products from Label M’s site here.

Next we have men's body and skincare brand Scaramouche & Fandango , who have brought out two new grooming gift sets right in time for Father’s day. The Twin Pack (£13.50) comprises the daily shower essentials for men, including the brand's cleansing black quinoa and shea butter Shampoo and invigorating Brazilian papaya and vitamin E complex Body wash.

The Triple Pack (£25) helps start a skincare regime in three simple steps, and includes a Face Scrub; Shave Cream, containing guava extract to protect against razor burn; and a Hydrator.

We love that the products are fragranced with the range’s signature scents and are paraben free and 98% naturally derived. The products are suitable for all skin types and are made in the UK, and can be found at John Lewis, House of Fraser, Fortnum & Mason and Fenwick or from their website here.

Last, but certainly not least, New British luxury men’s grooming brand Thomas Clipper have the perfect shaving gift set this Father’s day, featuring the brand’s trademark built-to-last solid metal razors.

The Mark One (£85) and the Mark K (£125) shaving kits come with an exfoliating organic cotton flannel, an anti-inflammatory, organic shave balm, and razors that can be hand etched with up to 4 initials, to give your gift that personal touch.

Unfortunately we did not receive a press sample, so we can't really tell you what it is like. But we really liked the look of it! You can buy the gift sets from the Thomas Clipper website.

 

V&A Exhibition- Shoes: Pleasure and Pain

Christian Louboutin once famously said: “A shoe is not only a design, but it's a part of your body language, the way you walk. The way you're going to move is quite dictated by your shoes.” At The Amazing Blog we could not agree more.  From June this year all the way through to January 2016, the V&A will be home to a very special fashion exhibition exploring the transformative power of extreme footwear, our fascination and obsession with shoes as well as their agonising aspects.

 
In this exciting exhibition, there is an unrivalled collection of more than 200 pairs of historic and contemporary shoes from around the world. Some are as old as 2000 years and have never been seen before.  The collection includes shoes worn by high profile figures including Marilyn Monroe, Queen Victoria, Sarah Jessica Parker, Kylie Minogue and the Hon Daphne Guinness.  There is footwear for men and women by 70 named designers including Manolo Blahnik, Christian Louboutin, Jimmy Choo and Prada.

Exhibition curator, Helen Persson, said: “Shoes are one of the most telling aspects of dress. Beautiful, sculptural objects, they are also powerful indicators of gender, status, identity, taste and even sexual preference. Our choice in shoes can help project an image of who we want to be.”

In addition, the exhibition reveals the evolution of shoes and how little style, material and shape are so much more symbolic than you realise.  This exhibition is a must for any fashion lover or someone passionate about history.  You can find out more about it here.