Scence Natural Skincare - Natural & Nourishing Body Moisturiser Balm

At The Amazing Blog we’ve certainly tried our fair share of beauty and skincare products (in fact, it’s near 4k featured product post!) Week after week we find ourselves still impressed by the new products that arrive for us to try. Most of the time we are just amazed by how cutting-edge and innovative the products really are. However, today we’d like to go back to basics with an organic, eco-friendly packaged and simple to use brand Scence Natural Skincare Products.  For those of you less familiar with the brand, we recently featured their natural deodorants here.

Handcrafted in Cornwall, Scence offers products for people who care about what they put on their skin, and how they impact in the world around them. The founder, Krista Taylor, knew she wasn’t alone in her feelings towards the single-use plastic conflict and created her range of vegan-friendly, all-natural products in fully compostable and recyclable packaging. Sence was born.

We put the Scence Natural & Nourishing Body Moisturiser Balms to the test. Made with coconut oil and mango butter, the moisturiser balm comes in 8 different fragrances, we tried 5 of these each is curated using different natural essential oils. The first two that we had to try were Clary Sage and Earth Spice. They both had quite earthy scents that we felt were perfect for the nights as they draw in and as we gravitate towards the winter equinox.  The stand-out amongst the balms was the Summer Citrus scent with hints of orange and bergamot - this was our hot favourite. Best of all none of these scent combinations are overpowering, instead, they are subtle and light. We love the stick format of this body balm, it simply glide it over your skin after showering and it melts right in. It also creates a soft barrier to the skin without feeling greasy or thick. For those who have sensitive skin, why not try the body balm which is Jojoba Balm and unscented. And finally the After Sun Balm which makes the perfect addition to your travel bag, this has the lavender, peppermint and roman chamomile essentials oils, this healing combination also smells divine.

The fully compostable and recyclable packaging beautifully complements the all-natural ingredients. It’s important to care just as much about what goes into the ingredients as what the product is packaged in, and we love that Scence noticed that. If you would like to purchase a Natural & Nourishing Moisturiser Balm from Scence, they are available here for £12.

Lavera – Organic Lip Balm and Matt n Stay Lipstick

It’s not always easy to find an organic long-lasting matt lipstick or an organic lip balm with an SPF. That’s why we at The Amazing Blog have combined two lip products to review from one of our favourite organic beauty brands Lavera. As regular readers will know we’ve recently reviewed their Powerful Lashes and their SOS help lip balm so when we saw they had two new lip products Lip Balm and Mat’n Stay lipstick, we had to try them.

Lavera’s Organic Lip Balm range is composed of 3 different lip balms: The Protect and Repair made from organic pomegranate and argan oil, The Pearly Pink, Sun Care Lip Balm with an SPF of 10 and Basis Sensitive made of a green Hydro Protection Complex. We tried the Lavera Organic Lip Balm - Pearly Pink, which wowed us with its light pink shade that stays on the lips. The formula is very rich and will moisturise and nourish your dry lips. The lip balm is organic and free of mineral oil with active ingredients like almond oil and mallow to moisturise and help prevent irritation to sensitive lips. Their New Green Beauty Complex consists of active ingredients like coconut oil which prevents lips to cracked, cocoa butter which nourishes the lips and shea butter which moisturises and soothes dry lips. We like using this as it gave a subtle blush of colour and stopped our lips from feeling dry.

As for New the Lavera Matt'n Stay Lips is 2 in 1. Indeed, they all give a lovely colour to your lips and while at the same time, they soften and moisturise. The matte lipstick has only natural pigments all of which give them their pretty colours. It is made up of a flower butter composed of rose, mallow and linden all to aid moisture and nourish the lips. The range is composed of 6 colours: Plum, Pink, Berry, Rose, Peach and Red. We tried the Lavera Matt'n Stay in Rose and loved it. The application is effortless thanks to the pencil lipstick, we applied first at the centre on our lips then move outwards.

We highly recommend both these products and you can purchase the Lavera Organic Lip Balm - Pearly Pink in 4.5g for £4.95 here and New Lavera Matt'n Stay Lips - Matt'n Rose in 3.1g for £10.90 here .

Løwlander Winter IPA Beer

At the risk of igniting your fire, The AmazingBlog  is going to mention the ‘C’ word - no, not that one, but with a certain type of pie and pudding now gracing the supermarket aisles, we feel we can mention ‘Christmas’ without too many crossed expletives being hurled into the atmosphere. Too soon? Ok, what if we mention the aftermath of that certain season which will be with us before we know it? Still too much? Ok, let’s expand this to a more general point of what happens to our Christmas Trees once they have decorated our homes so splendidly? Recycling is of course the go-to choice, but what if we were to tell you that you can now actually be drinking your redundant branches in a new beer brought to you by Løwlander, in their delicious new Winter IPA ? Løwlander are quite literally bottling unwanted trees and turning them into an amazing white nectar, affording us the opportunity to enjoy the magic of a certain season all year round!

Løwlander we’ve featured before see here and we’re always impressed with their stylish branding and delicious offerings.  The spruce beer is actually not a new concept, but perhaps in our more enlightened times, the sustainability of such a beverage is ever more poignant. The process appears to be quite a simple one - taking the neglected needles off their branches, brewing them up with those stalwarts of the drinks menu, juniper berries and literally turning waste into something extraordinary - a light beer who’s citrus and hoppy aroma naturally recalls evergreen forests, and much more besides. Aligning the perfect botanical normally saved for the gin label, with the pine needles delivers all kinds of interesting characteristics, and at 5% alcohol, we have a libation to suit all palates.

Being around £2.70 for a 330ml bottle, the cost is also something to celebrate, and at the moment only available from online suppliers, of which there are many – give Beer Wulf  or 31 Dover a try, or indeed Løwlander themselves. If you enjoy an evening at The Botanist or Harvey Nichols in London, why not search out a festive tankard, as it sits proudly on their drinks menu. Scrooge would be proud, and he may have enjoyed the prospect of ‘Christmas Past’ a little more had a bottle of Løwlander’s finest been included!

CluedUpp

 Do you love a good murder mystery novel or movie? At The Amazing Blog we often place ourselves into the story and try to solve it. Now, we can put our mystery solving skills to the test with CluedUpp, a city-wide crime-solving adventure game.

CluedUpp is a new type of gaming experience that allows you to walk around your city with a group of friends and solve murder mysteries! It’s basically a giant, outdoor version of the game Cluedo but with a fun new twist. They have games all over the UK, but one will be happening in Westminster on November 2nd 2019. You don’t want to miss out; over 100 detective teams are expected to take part.

Set in 1960s London, you and your fellow team of detectives will be solving the double murder of the notorious “Kray Brothers”. Download the CluedUpp app & follow the clues around the city to collect information and interview witnesses! Will you be able to solve the case in time?  CluedUpp’s founder, Tref Griffiths said “We’ve held events in London several times before and always have a fantastic turnout. We can’t wait to see if our detectives are up to the challenge of solving our hardest case yet!”

Taking place entirely via CluedUpp’s award-winning phone app, the game will see teams of up to 6 players competing to unveil the mysterious murderer. The game is fully self-guided, you can start the case anytime you want between 10:00 and 13:00 on November 2nd, but you must be able to finish by 17:00. Make sure to grab five of your best mates dressed in fancy 1960s dress! There are prizes awarded to the fastest team, best dressed team, the best team name & many more.

Grab your magnifying glass and start cracking the case! An Earlybird Ticket can be bought for £36 per team of up to 6 adults (little detectives and dogs play for free!) And can be purchased here. If you miss Earlybird prices, don’t worry! Standard Team Tickets can be purchased for £46 per team of 6. If you can’t make it on the 2nd, check out the schedule here to take part in other days .

Saskia’s Flower Essences - My Personal Space / Focus Energise Create

Sadly living the city, we often find ourselves in an urban zone which is truly disconnected from nature. At The Amazing Blog we try to step back, take time out and tap into the energy of nature and the plants around us. However, being time-poor, this is not always as often as we would like. This is where we’d like to introduce you to natures little helpers, plant-inspired healing flower essences from the award-winning Saskia’s Flower Essences.

Saskia Marjoram, founder and creator of Saskia’s Flower Essences, has over 30 years of experience in gardening including working as a florist for the Prince of Wales’. During a complicated time in her journey through motherhood, she discovered flower essences and how powerful they could be. Flower essences are created by capturing the unique vibrational energy of a plant and holding it as a memory in water. When you use the essence, you take in the vibration from the plant which reminds your own personal energy how to be.

Firstly we tried the My Personal Space Spray, which is perfect for those who are easily disrupted by other’s energies. Made with pure rosewater, we recommend a spritz of this essence, just before hopping on the tube for your daily commute. It’ll uplift the senses and help to make your travels feel like a breeze. Also this is very good for warding-off negative energy in offices (not that we have any here!) The My Personal Space Spray was the winner of the gold category of the Green Parent Natural Beauty Awards in 2018, and Editors Choice winner in the 2019 Beauty Shortlist Awards. Not only do we think that this is a daily essential to keep close for protection, but it smells divine and feels so refreshing and replenishing on the face.

Next, we used the Focus Energise Create a flower essence combination. I’ve always been a big fan of flower essence since childhood, my mother was a firm believer and even used them on her nervous pedigree show dogs! So for me to discover an indie brand like this, which is made with such love and care, is a joy. Just put 7 drops under your tongue in the morning to unblock creativity and ward off procrastination. Some of the delicious ingredients include carrot, buttercup and blackberry. These drops are perfect for when you have one of those days where you feel listless, unable to focus and blocked.

The wonderful thing is that Saskia has flower essences for almost any problem that ails you. Whether that be stress, depression, low self-esteem or even fertility. She also offers consultations and custom combination essences for a more specific solution. If you’d like to try Saskia’s Flower Essences, My Personal Space essence spray can be purchased here at 30ml for £10. Or the Focus Energise Create drops at 30ml for £10. If you are a novice to flower essences, THIS is the brand to try!