Flower and Spice - Rose & Coriander Travel/Discovery Set

 At The Amazing Blog, we all can relate to the need to pamper ourselves after a hectic week at the office. Therefore, we like to treat ourselves with natural skincare products that are both soothing and calming. So when someone suggested we try the newly launched skincare brand Flower and Spice with their range of natural and organic products, we did just that!

After deciding to stop working in the marketing industry, Flower and Spice founder Karmen Novak  went on to studying organic skincare science at UK-based Formula Botanica before launching the brand last year. Her mission is to ‘...bring nature back to your daily life.’ After experiencing great results on her own skin from the selection of natural oils she chose, Karmen decided to share her propriety blend of essential oils with the world, all in the form of her first launched product the much haled Midnight Beauty Rich Revitalising Serum. Since then, she has gone on to release two other equally successful products. While we only got to try two out of their three products, in the Rose & Coriander Travel/Discovery Set we were extremely pleased with the results. The set is comprises of two of Flower and Spice’s, products the Soothe and Repair Daily Moisturiser and the Midnight Beauty Rich Revitalising Serum. Both of these contain rose absolute and coriander seed oil and other botanical ingredients ensuring the efficacy while also exuding a gentle and relaxing aroma during use. 

The first product in the set is the Midnight Beauty Rich Revitalising Serum. This contains ten essential oils and is void of any parabens and fillers. In addition to the rose and coriander oils, the serums are antioxidant rich with other oils like prickly pear, plum seed, jojoba, apricot seed, argan, evening primrose and macadamia. Together these work to regulate your skin’s oil production and the texture of your skin by hydrating and preventing signs of ageing.  Flower & Spice recommend using this alone at night-time by simply gently press about three pumps of the serum onto cleansed skin. However, If like one of our team, you have particularly dry skin we suggest using this Serum in tandem with the Soothe and Repair Daily moisturiser during the day.  Let the Serum sink into your skin before applying the moisturiser to lock-in the effects.  

Next we tried was the Soothe and Repair Daily Moisturiser. While the rose absolute in the moisturiser provides an aromatherapy feel, other plant-based ingredients such as the anti-bacterial and anti-inflammatory coriander seed oil, grape seed oil, the rare prickly pear seed oil, aloe vera, rosewater and arctic oat extract all soothe, smooth and moisturise giving the skin a dewy, supple complexion. After cleansing skin, apply a generous amount of the moisturiser for day or night. This Rose & Coriander Travel/Discovery Set is perfect to use either individually or together with a layer effect depending on your skin type. Start your journey towards giving your skin a special relaxing treat by purchasing the duo set which contains a 30ml bottle of the Moisturiser and an 10ml bottle of the Serum here for £61.43 and if you purchase now you get 2 gifts offered!

The Kind Planet Company – Power Balm

To keep up with our minimalism goals this spring at The Amazing Blog, that also means using less products that currently clutter in our dressing tables. Besides doing a bit of tidying up around your flat, fewer beauty products mean fewer minutes spent getting ready and more time enjoying the gorgeous warm weather. We have found the perfect product that to do just that. The Power Balm is an all-in-one organic product that will clear your counters of masks, moisturisers, and lip balms.

One of the nine ‘power ingredients’ in the Power Balm is red palm oil, which is used for skin care and eaten as a superfood in West Africa. Palm oil has gotten negative press lately because it is in almost everything we consume (foods, cosmetics, cleaning products) and it causes devastating destruction to ecosystems. We know that, as does The Kind Planet Company, so they’ve come up with a sustainable and kind solution. Working with Sierra Leonean women, Kind Planet’s red palm oil is handpicked and certified by the Rainforest Alliance to ensure animal habitats are not destroyed in the collection process. The company’s shea butter ingredient follows a similar process in Ghana. At the core of Kind Planet and its Power Balm is giving power to its customers and female workers as well as kindness to the environment.

The Power Balm has a mix of red palm oil, other natural plant oils, shea butter, and vegan wax to nourish your body while providing protection and long-lasting moisture to your skin. Key ingredients in the formula in addition to red palm oil, which is rich in antioxidants and hydrates your skin, are jojoba oil (removes excess dirt and oil), mandarin essential oil (brightens and diminishes scars), and rosehip oil (reduces redness). These oils combine to create a fresh and aromatic scent. The balm is useful on all skin types as a cleansing tool, face or body moisturiser, face mask, lip or beard balm, and even a highlighter. Our personal favourite is using it as a hand moisturiser at night because it is incredibly soft and hydrating, great for nails and doesn’t leave your skin feeling greasy. Due to its versatility and 100 per cent organic formula, we predict the Power Balm could be the next multipurpose staple.

Power Balm also does not have any preservatives, parabens, synthetic fragrances, petrolatum, animal by-products, or animal testing. You can purchase the Power Balm (50ml) here for £19.50 (postage and packaging included in the price). Five per cent of the sales go to Planet + People Power charities.

Friday Favourites - Manicure and Pedicure Products

While Film and TV shows often depict women having a standing nail appointment at a downtown salon, we are sad to say that is not the reality at The Amazing Blog. While we love pampering ourselves at the spa every once and a while, we often don’t have the time or money to spend on full manicures and pedicures each week. Thankfully for us, there is a vast market for at-home nail treatments, and you can enjoy some of the luxuries from your flat. We have four #amazingfinds for you this week that will leave your hands and nails looking gorgeous while still feeling like you’ve had a day at the salon.

The first product we have will leave your hands looking brighter and more youthful before you put on your nail polish. We had the chance to try another product from one of our tried-and-trusted brands, Beauty Kitchen. Since we tested their Seahorse Plankton 5 Minute Miracle Mask and The Beauty Boosting BB Cream, the company revamped the collection into Seahorse Plankton+, which includes the 60 Second Manicure.

The 60 Second Manicure is a quick and easy scrub that uses Himalayan sea salt to exfoliate dead skin cells from your hands and nail beds. The fine texture of the sea salt works quickly and effectively, revealing smoother and healthier-looking skin, and is especially useful for dry patches of skin. What makes this scrub standout from others is that all of the products in the Seahorse Plankton+ collection contain microalgae and blue chamomile. Microalgae is a unique skin care ingredient that can survive in the cold and harsh environment of the North Sea and increases collagen production, which brightens skin. It also contains proteins and antioxidants that nourish skin and reduce redness as well as fine lines. Blue chamomile gives the scrub the relaxing aroma of a spa and renews skin.

Sustainability is a crucial pillar of the brand, so Seahorse Plankton+ products are made with recyclable materials (glass and aluminium) and sustainably grown microalgae. Despite the name, seahorses are not used to make the scrub, and it is vegan certified. You can purchase the scrub (80g) here for £19.50.



This next product from BalbCare -  Luxury Waterless Manicure/Pedicure Starter Kit provides the perfect layer of moisture once you’ve smoothed your hands with the 60 Second Manicure. BalBCare is a Brazilian-based company that wanted to create a ‘manicure and pedicure service that doesn’t require water: saving both time and resources’. By using their Manicure / Pedicure Starter Kit containing a pack of 20 together with free plier toe nail cutters. Did you know that you can save two to four litres of water with each use and have beautiful-looking hands and feet this summer.

The Manicure and Pedicure Kits come with gloves and socks, plus emollient cream, a nail file and a wooden cuticle pusher. The packets are for single-use only, making them very sanitary – something that is vital when removing your cuticles. They are also flat and portable. The emollient cream in each kit moisturises hands and feet using natural ingredients like witch-hazel extract and allantoin (reduces skin inflammation), tea tree oil (sanitises hands naturally), and calcium pantothenate (nourishes nails). After putting the gloves or socks on, you must break the ends of the glove or sock to push back and remove your cuticles. Like a sheet mask, remember to rub in the excess emollient cream once you’ve removed the gloves and socks. To purchase this Starter kit it will be approximate £40 from here.

For extra soft feet, because we usually don’t put cream on our feet every day like our hands, we suggest using Foot File. We recommend finding a file that is made with 100 per cent surgical quality stainless steel, making it longer-lasting and more effective than a typical sandpaper file that runs down after a few uses. The material also makes the foot file extremely lightweight and has a coarse side and fine side. You can use it with or without water and creams, but we prefer to remain water-less and use the emollient cream. 

We must quickly add that this is in fact a popular salon-based ‘express service’ treatment that is offered in select nail bars and beauty salons UK wide. To have the full experience of mani pedi performed by trained individuals, this treatment will be around £20 (depending on each salons menus).

The next product we have is another alternative to going to the nail salon or even having to use nail polish, and it will have even your closest friends fooled. Bows & Toes offers a unique solution for people who struggle at painting their nails – especially their non-dominant hands, makeup artists who quickly need to paint nails left and right backstage, or someone who doesn’t want to leave home. It also offers a luxurious twist to stick-on nails, which many people still believe are only age-appropriate for children to use.  

The UK-based online boutique was founded by two sisters who have backgrounds in the nail business, art, and design. They combined their experiences to create high-quality and detailed designs for the hand-painted nails. Bows & Toes allows you to express yourself and style through your nails whichever way you like with a wide variety of styles. The nails come in classic round and square shapes, but also trendy stiletto shapes that are difficult to create without going to the nail salon. Patterns vary from glitter and jewels to marble and solid colours, which come in both shiny and matte finishes. The 20-piece nail sets are not all uniform and have different hues as well as patterns that coordinate with another.

Each nail set includes the stick-on nails, gel tabs to keep the nails on, alcohol wipes, and a cuticle stick. All nails can be removed with just warm water and are reusable if taken care of properly. You can purchase the Bow Ladies nail sets here for prices of £14.99-£18.99, depending on the design.

Finally, we have two products for you from HandMade Beauty to complete your nails. The Moisturising Base Coat with Aloe Vera and Top Coat Sun Dry both got a lot of love at this year’s Beauty Shortlist Awards, and we can see why. Diana Burillo’s brand provides organic, handmade, and cruelty-free alternatives to traditional nail polishes that often have harsh chemicals and damage nails. The products are also fair trade and produced with as few ingredients as possible to uphold the company’s mission of ‘creating 100% organic spaces for body and mind care’.

The first item we tried was the Moisturising Base Coat. Our nails truly felt the difference with this base coat due to the formula’s mixture of aloe vera, bamboo extract, and vitamin E. These ingredients add moisture, but also repair existing nail damage and prevent future damage. It’s perfect if your nails are feeling drier with the rising temperatures. On top of feeling more moisturised nails, the base coat left a nice natural shine that could be worn on its own. After the base coat and nail polish of your choice, HandMade Beauty’s Top Coat Sun Dry will give you shiny and glossy nails that look like you got a gel manicure. The catch is that you don’t have to put your hands under a UV lamp or UV light. The top coat creates a hard shell in just three minutes under natural sunlight and protects your nails from getting chipped, resulting in a longer-lasting manicure. The product additionally has a rounded application brush that makes it easier to distribute the top coat onto your nails.

Both products come in simple glass bottles (a clear one for the base coat and a matte black one for the top coat) with wooden caps that would look nice on any counter. You can purchase the Top Coat Sun Dry (11ml) here for €18 and the Moisturising Base Coat (10ml) here for €14. If you buy both together, online orders over €30 qualify for free shipping.

With these four unique at-home nail treatments in mind, we hope you find some time to treat yourself during the weekend. Put on a soft robe, rest your feet, and relax in front of the telly while doing one or all of these treatments because you and your nails deserve to feel like you’ve had a weekend spa holiday.

Pevonia - Radiance Mask Gift Set

As regular reader of The Amazing Blog, will know we prefer brands that can offer us natural ingredients and yet can deliver spa-quality results. That’s why we’ve been long standing fans of UK-based beauty brand Pevonia. Having reviewed a few of their products the past few years (check out our review about their EyeRenew Conceal & De-Age Treatment here). Pevonia’s newest release of their collection of Ravishing Radiance Masks did not disappoint, and left us feeling pampered with their three ultra-smooth masks.

Since its founding 1991, Pevonia has used completely natural and organic ingredients made from the ‘purest holistic botanical and marine elements’ in its products. All Pevonia products are free from any mineral oils, lanolin, PABA, animal testing and fragrances and alcohols that won’t dry out your skin. The range of three skincare masks each target different target problems and skin types but leaves your skin feeling just as radiant and glow-y. With the added bonus is that all three masks have aromatherapy benefits .

There was something for everyone in the office – One of us has combination, oily skin so the Bright Skin Green Apple Mask worked best with her skin. In addition to the polysaccharides, sodium lactate and sodium PCA found in green apple, the mask’s brightening and hydrating efforts are heightened with the addition of Red Clover extract which balances and evens-out the skin. For people with more acne-prone skin, Pevonia’s Pure Skin Charcoal mask, made with ‘the finest micronized Charcoal,’ clarifies and detoxifies skin to improve the complexion. The added Shea Butter and Grapefruit extract also gives an added brightening and moisturising boost to oily, clogged skin. The last mask of the range, the Ageless Skin Collagen Mask, contains collagen polypeptides, Orange peel extract and green tea antioxidants that help plump and reduce lines and wrinkles.

For best results, apply a small amount of your mask of choice to cleansed and moisturised skin. After 15 minutes, remove with water and continue with the rest of your skincare routine. If you’re ready to start seeing visible results, purchase one of Pevonia’s 1.7 oz. radiance masks here for the Bright Skin Green Apple Mask (£40), here for the Pure Skin Charcoal Mask (£36) and here for the Ageless Skin Collagen Mask (£40). We think these trio of masks are perfect for a pampering girls night in!

Totally Derma ® by Boley Nutraceuticals

We’ve all heard about how important is to incorporate sunscreens, serums and moisturisers to our daily routine as we get older, but Boley Nutraceuticals has totally changed the way we at The Amazing Blog are thinking about anti-ageing skincare. While a good SPF and retinol serum are great to have in your bathroom cabinet, Boley’s ground-breaking product Totally Derma® Nutraceuticals Collagen Drink Supplement focuses on working from the inside out.

Many brands today push for topical-only application of anti-ageing ingredients but Totally Derma® focuses on counteracting both the more aesthetic signs of ageing as well as the underlying physiological processes that are harder to see with the naked eye. Launched in 2017, Totally Derma® has been clinically-proven to increase Hyaluronic Acid (HA) in the body, and it contains Arthred®, a pre-digested and highly-absorbable bovine collagen, which contributes to skin firmness and elasticity. Even better is that the bovine collagen is so pure that it is hypoallergenic, therefore perfect for those who have digestive problems.

In addition, the increased levels of HA and Collagen have also shown improvements in not only skin, joints, hair, nails, bones; but also even in gut inflammation, bladder, urethra and vagina health too. Totally Derma® also contains other antioxidants like zinc, green tea extract and grape-seed extract to help collagen synthesis and ageing tissue. These health-boosting ingredients are taken once a day, from one level scoop daily into 250 ml of water or juice. After digestion, Totally Derma® is 95 % absorbed in the small intestine and then distributed to the skin to stimulate cells to produce more collagen and HA in the body. Even better about this collagen drink is easy to take and palatable, adding a little boost to your day and body. To purchase a tub of Totally Derma and start hydrating your body, see here for your 360 mg 30 day supply at £105.