The London Evening Standard Food Month - Night Market

If you want to sample a diverse and exciting range of London’s favourite restaurants and street food the London Evening Standard Food Month's Night Market is a must-see. Located at Perks Field, Kensington, the Night Market runs from Wednesday, June 7 to Sunday, June 18. Delicious food in an iconic London location is certainly not an opportunity we here at The Amazing Blog would miss. Pop over after work and spend a lovely evening exploring London's food, or visit on the weekend in the day or the evening.

There is an exciting array of cuisines on offer, from Turkish to Taiwanese, to African, to Japanese, to Texan BBQ and of course the best of British. The market even caters for vegans, with indulgent vegan churros and ice-cream on offer. This is your opportunity to sample food from some of London’s favourite restaurants, such as Asia de Cuba, Patty & Bun, Mews of Mayfair and The Ivy. The opportunity to sample food from Britain’s best chefs, such as Angela Hartnett, Fergus Henderson and Claude Bosi, along with top international chefs including Dan Hunter, Ana Ros and David Thompson, is one that doesn’t come around very often. Browse the mouth-watering line-up here.

Not only does the Night Market showcase intriguing food, but you can also explore art installations and entertainment, such as DJs, live music, Westfield Open-Air Cinema and themed pop-up bars from Ketel One Vodka and Cobra Beer. You can take part in a Q&A by creative director Grace Dent discussing important topics such as fighting food waste and supporting social inclusion. You will be served some serious food for thought here. While Londoners and visitors indulge in the delicious food, Massimo Bottura, the founder of Food for Soul has partnered with London Food Month and is launching a community soup kitchen. This is a cause everyone can learn more about, and help support.

You are bound to have a fun-filled (and food-filled!) night. As Grace Dent puts it, ‘We’ll be eating the entire world, in one city’. We’re in.

Purchase tickets here for £15 for adults, £8 for children and £35 for a family pass. These allow access to the food stalls, bars and entertainment. You can add on tickets to Westfield Open-Air Cinema at checkout, for £4 for adults and £2 for children. See timings of the Night Market here.

Pranalife 4 and Pranalife 1-7-6 by Equisalud

At this time of year, the change in seasons can sometimes make you exhausted and discombobulated. We felt that it was time to address this in a more holistic way, looking into our ‘chakras’. This is an ancient and holistic practice which balances seven energy centres throughout the body. We at The Amazing Blog were excited to try Equisalud's Pranalife range. Equisalud are one of the leading laboratories in dietary supplements based in Huarte, Pamplona.

Chakras connect your spiritual body to your physical body. The seven are located at the base of your spine, slightly above on your spine by your pancreas, your digestive system, your heart, your throat, your third eye and your crown, respectively. It is thought that all of the chakras need to be free from stress, emotional or physical problems for one to live a happy, healthy and free life. This is where Equislud’s special product Pranalife comes in; they have created ten energy centre harmonisers to help aid in the restoration of these chakra points, in the form of liquid drops. There are seven varieties of drops for each specific chakra and three which focus on the three energy lines;  1-7-6, 3-4-6 and 2-5-6. We tried Pranalife 4 and Pranalife 1-7-6.

Pranalife 4 works to harmonise the chakra 4, which is related to the cardiovascular and immune functions. Pranalife 4, therefore, works to balance the immune system and strengthen the stream of life that is anchored in the heart, according to ancient Oriental traditions. The energy line 1-7-6 involves all of the body. It's important to allow the spiritual energy to flow throughout the chakra line so keeping this clear is crucial. Pranalife 1-7-6 works towards this, aiding in regular control of hormones and the glands. The Pranalife drops are easily dissolved into water, and it's suggested that you drink the mixture three times a day before a meal. We found this was easy enough to incorporate into our daily routines and the bottles are small enough to carry to work and back. It's worth it, in our eyes, for an overall health benefit.

You can purchase the two bottles we reviewed, as well as the whole Pranalife range here for £15.27 each.

Skincare and Lipcare by Skôt Beauté

Skôt Beauté’s philosophy is centred around incorporating natural and pure botanical ingredients to enhance your skin. The company prides themselves on their cruelty-free, vegan, eco-friendly and organic products. The people at Skôt believe that beautiful skin can only be achieved by treating it right and we at The Amazing Blog couldn't agree more. Skôt very kidly sent us a few products from both their skincare range and lip care range.

Toks Fahm Ajayi, the founder of Skôt Beauté, was inspired to create the company after experiencing various beauty rituals from different cultures around the world. The star ingredient of the skincare products is Calendula, a flower that has been used throughout history to regenerate and heal dry and damaged skin. Skôt sent us their Discovery Kit which included the Supple Glow Moisture Crème, Divine Cleansing Crème, Nevaeh Hydrating Mist and the Lip Smoothie. The Glow Crème contains anti-ageing antioxidants and extracts of spinach leaves and grape skin which protect skin from damaging UV rays. The Divine Crème gently removes makeup while the calendula and sunflower oil stimulate cell regeneration. The Hydrating Mist is delightfully refreshing and it instantly hydrated, refreshed and brightened skin. The Lip Smoothie acts as a treatment to help diminish fine lines around the mouth. Enriched with lemon balm extract, shea butter, carrot extract, peppermint oil and beeswax, lips are left feeling softer and more supple.

The Natural Luxe Lipstick, made again from organic oils, extracts, botanicals and butters, intensely rejuvenates lips, visibly reducing the appearance of lines leaving your lips looking luscious and kissable.The colours are bright and attractive; we tried the brilliant but deep fuschia rose colour which we think is the perfect summer shade. 

You can buy the products in Pounds on their US website via PayPal, where prices will be listed in Dollars. The Discovery Kit is roughly £43.00 and the Natural Luxe Lipstick here for approximtely £19.30.

Skincare by GENbotanicals

At The Amazing Blog, we know that everyone has different skin needs and no two people have skin exactly alike. As such you could easily spend years building up a collection of products that might be effective for you, or you could try GENbotanicals. After having a consultation with them and discussing what skin issues we wanted to focus on, we were advised to try the Jojoba Rice Essential Cleanser, the Organic White Rose Adapting Toner, Green Tea Azuki Exfoliant and the Wild Japanese Camellia Emollient Face Oil. GENbotanicals is a brand dedicated to providing a botanical and organic customised skincare collection for your needs. As such you can purchase all of the products as is, or have them altered to suit you.

The Jojoba Rice Essential Cleanser is effective for all skin types but particularly those with dry skin. It works as a daily balancing cleanser, that gently cleans and nourishes the skin with its blend of Jojoba, Rice Bran, Meadowfoam and Hibiscus Oils. The natural product is absorbed quickly and effortlessly removes makeup, while encouraging the skin to produce a healthy oil balance. The Wild Japanese Camellia Emollient Face Oil is an effective weekly exfoliator. By blending herbs, grains and tea leaves, the water-activated product can cleanse and remove dirt from the face. The azuki powder cleanses and nourishes skin, leaving it smooth and supple to the touch. The green tea injects a much-needed boost of antioxidants into the skin while the clay detoxifies it.  The exfoliator isn’t abrasive or harsh on skin, making it ideal for those of you who have sensitive or easily irritated complexions. The Organic White Rose Adapting Toner is a refreshing way to hydrate, strengthen and protect skin. The active ingredients help to tone the skin, while the Rose Geranium holds moisture and stimulates blood circulation. This is perfect for anyone looking to reduce pore size. Finally, the Wild Japanese Camellia Emollient Face Oil is a natural and rich moisturiser that protects skin, reaching the deepest levels of the epidermis. This oil is ideally suited for to those with dull and dehydrated skin, helping to restore lost vitality and brightness. 

GEN botanicals are uncompromising in their commitment to promoting natural and organic products, and they follow a strict personal guideline regarding the ingredients that they use. You can purchase the Exfoliant Scrub here for around £36.00, the cleanser here for about £20.00, the oil here for roughly £28.00 and the toner here for around £22.00. Although GEN botanicals are based in New Mexico and their prices are in dollars PayPal.  
 

Passionfruit , Chocolate Orange and Sour Cherry Curds - Thursday Cottage

What we really miss during the Winter months at The Amazing Blog, is the vibrancy of summer tastes, we have always found that just as everything looks brighter in the summer so too are the flavours stronger. While it might be hard to believe it's June by looking out the window, you can certainly tell it is as you stroll through the supermarket aisles. As big fans of summer flavours we couldn’t wait to get our (oven) mitts on Thursday Cottage’s delicious jams, curds and marmalades. We love the twist that they put on traditional flavours to create unique and mouth-wateringly good products. We decided that we had to try their Sour Cherry Curd, Passionfruit Curd and Chocolate Orange Curd to really get us in the summer spirit.

Thursday Cottage takes great care in choosing the best ingredients for their products and combines a variety of traditional and unusual fruits to recreate your favourite summer flavours. It’s, therefore, no real surprise that they’ve won so many awards including the 2010 AND 2012 Great Taste Awards. We loved the Passion Fruit Curd, which had a delectably moreish sweet and tart flavour that was fantastic at jazzing up some plain vanilla ice cream or adding a zing to a Pavlova. In fact, it was this curd that won the much sought after award in 2012.The other two curds we tried are relatively new to Thursday Cottage as they only came out in 2016. The Sour Cherry Curd is bursting with a vibrant taste and sent us back to our childhoods – just as it promised it would. The Chocolate Orange seemed like something entirely different and unusual. With a smooth and creamy texture, the curd had chocolatey overtones with subtle hints of Orange coming through; this flavour is so good it was awarded one gold star at the 2016 Great Taste Awards. We found that the chocolate orange was a great addition to cakes, acting as a moist and flavoursome filling. What’s more, these curds are vegetarian. Thursday Cottage uses pectin instead of gelatin so everyone can enjoy these delicious table favourites.

You can purchase all of these curds here on Thursday Cottage’s website for as little as £2.65. While you’re there, we seriously recommend checking out their other items as well as the recipes they suggest for their products. With this brand by your side, you’ll have the best desserts all summer!