Tiiya Alanoud Alattiya - Rose Oud Epiphany Eau de Parfum

Every so often you smell a perfume that transports you to another time or place. At The Amazing Blog we instantly felt transported to exotic Arabian nights after closing our eyes and a little spritz of Tiiya Alanoud Alattiya’s RoseOud Epiphany Eau De Parfum and we relished every fragrant moment.

The founder Alanoud Alattiya is a graduate from the UCL Museum and Gallery Practice Masters program. By day she is a museum practitioner and by evenings a couturier. She grew up in a household fully immersed in couture, with her mother being one of the first women to wear Christian Dior in the Arabian Gulf. it was just a decade ago, that her career in couture designing amongst members of elite society was frowned upon. However, her first cousin, His Highness The Father Amir, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani built a platform of newer social meaning and understanding, allowing her creativity to be celebrated.

Regular reader will remember that we recently wrote about her Concentrated Eye Cream here, but today we wanted to tell you about her Epiphany Rose Oud Eau de Parfum. After applying a spritz of this perfume, we immediately felt the warmth and essence of the luxurious Persian Gulf. The Arabic oud’s woody deep scent mixes with the sweet floral notes of rose oil to create an elegant fragrance. Oud oil is estimated as being worth 1.5 times the amount of gold. This ‘liquid gold’ gives the Rose Oud Epiphany perfume a complex aroma and mythical essence of the East. Trust us when we say that with the Epiphany perfume, a little goes a long way. It lingered on the skin all day and then some. If you too want to smell like luxury, the Tiiya Alanoud Alattiya Rose Oud Epiphany Eau de Parfum 100ml can be your too, if you purchased here for £120.

La Chiva Snacks

Do you find yourself feeling guilty for all of the mindless snacking that you do? I know that here at The Amazing Blog we graze at our desks far too often. Hence, we’re on a neverending mission to find healthier alternatives to our usual choices. Enter La Chiva.

La Chiva was created by Ruth Willis who was born in Colombia and always missed her native fresh fruit and vegetables. Inspired by the flavours of her Colombia, she decided to create a healthy snack with light and crispy pieces of freeze-dried Colombian fruit. That’s it. No other ingredients are used to make La Chiva, where we breathed a sigh of relief, after reading this on the packaging. There’s no need to feel guilty about eating these either as each pack is gluten-free, virtually fat-free, vegan, no added sugars and best of all less than 40 calories! By freeze-drying the fruit at its ripest, La Chiva is able to deliver all the deliciousness of Colombian fruit with nothing added or taken away.

The brand’s name comes from the La Chiva buses, which is the only way to travel in the Colombian countryside. Since the brand is dependent on these buses to take their workers to the farms and their fresh fruit to market, they decided to name the brand after them. We tried all three varieties of La Chiva snacks – Strawberry, Pineapple and Mango. Our favourite was the Pineapple flavour, which was a winner of the Great Taste Awards in 2017. While you can eat these alone, the other possibilities are endless, we added them to cereal and also sprinkled them on top of Greek yogurt. Each pack can count as one of the five daily servings of fruit. Plus, their vibrant packaging brings a little ray of sunshine into our UK grey and rainy days.

Want to taste the goodness of Colombian grown fruit for yourself? The La Chiva Freeze Dried snacks can be purchased here. A box of 12 bags retails for £9.00 (7g bags for the strawberry and 10g bags for pineapple and mango) while an individual bag retails for £0.89.

Viliv - skincare range

We love skincare that helps to keep our complexions looking plumped up and lush. At The Amazing Blog we’ve been hearing lots of great things about a new Swiss brand that recently launched here in the UK.  Step forward centre-stage Viliv with their uber-stylish contemporary branding and science-driven skincare.

Dr. Felix Bertram, founder of Viliv, is a leading Swiss skin specialist who’s noted for his exceptional aesthetic and anti-ageing treatments. From teaching workshops to educating doctors and students in dermatology and laser medicine, he also has global recognition for his award-winning dermatological clinic. There is absolutely no doubt that Viliv has an impeccable pedigree with its extensive scientific research behind all of the products.

Regular readers will remember that we reviewed the Viliv e - Shape Your Eyes Rich Eye Cream and so we couldn’t wait to try four more products from the range: Foam to Face Cleanser, Vi-Lift Your Skin Serum, Brighten Your Eyes Serum, and Get a Rich Restore Ultra-Nourishing Moisturiser.

Let’s start with a morning routine cleanser Viliv Foam to Face cleansing foam, easy to use with just two pumps massaged on our face in circular motions, then quickly rinsed this off. What we particularly liked about this cleanser is its fragrance, it contains chamomile and allantoin which soothes the skin leaving a fresh and subtle floral scent.  As a foam, a little goes a long way and with typical Swiss efficiency, it was also extremely effective at removing all makeup residue leaving our city-skin feeling fresh, hydrated and clean.

Next, we have the Vi-Lift Your Skin Serum which offers 24h urban protection. Here’s a fact that you probably didn’t know, blue light and infrared radiation (i.e. from your phone) affect the skin’s defence mechanisms. These disrupt the exchange of information between cells, leading to cell damage and premature skin ageing. The irony is that modern technology is now ageing us! The Viliv Vi-Lift Serum contains an exclusive active ingredient called +VIDERMACTIVE 7 that is rich in vitamin C and protects the skin from free radicals such as pollution or the blue light and preserves mitochondrial DNA. We also like that it’s quick to apply, not at all sticky, fragrance-free and it sinks easily into the pores for protection.

The Vi-Lift partners well with Viliv Brighten Your Eyes Serum, this is serum is our favourite out of the four we tried. We often forget that the skin around the eyes area is continually moving with active facial expressions and is four times thinner than the rest of our face. Therefore it needs support as we age and Viliv addresses this with their special ingredients of tetrapeptide eyeseryl which improves circulation and firmness, as well as reducing dark circles and puffiness. Plus the liftonin xpress which gives an instant lift with its microalgae extract and natural polymers. We found this Eye Serum gave us visible and instant results, it felt very cooling when applied and really does work wonders on tired eyes.

Lastly, in this skincare routine is Viliv Get a Rich Restore Ultra-Nourishing Moisturiser.  This is a cream that keeps on working, and as they say, it’s a ‘24-hour anti-ageing expert’. Containing PerfectionPeptide P7 which activates the skin’s natural defences by stimulating the responsible enzymes and managing the impact of UV related stress to protect against moisture loss. Other ingredients are silymarin, carosin and vitamin E all to help reduce wrinkles and firm the skin.  We also mustn’t forget to mention that Viliv is 100% vegan, cruelty and gluten-free, with no parabens, mineral oils, colourants, PEG, BHT EDTA or fragrance. See the full Viliv product range here with prices starting from £29. These products get a big 10/10 from us!

Popcorn Shed

At The Amazing Blog we always have a small selection of snacks at our desks to feast on. We try to be good by consuming only low fat and healthy snacks. Today we want to tell you about our new discovery Popcorn Shed that left our taste buds tingling!

Popcorn Shed was founded by cousins Laura Jane and Sam Feller in 2016, and like every great brand it has a story, Jane’s and Sam’s story starts in a shed! Their popcorn is a home-grown, family-owned business where they’ve created a unique set of flavours, that not usually found in rival popcorn brands. These are gourmet popcorn range that are natural, gluten-free and suitable for vegetarians. Their popcorn is made using an artisan cooking process using a fresh caramel batch in every process, before being scattered in either melted chocolate, nuts or dried fruit all adding a new texture to the popcorn. What piqued our interest is that each of their packets of popcorn have an average of fewer than 140 calories per pack. Don’t worry the popcorn is easily chewable and you won’t have to worry about kernel or sticky caramel getting stuck in your teeth! We’re also fans of the vibrant packaging which make them unmissable.

The first of the seven flavours we tried was the Pop ‘n’ Choc. These are evenly coated with Belgian milk chocolate in a smooth cocoa-caramel base. They are not too sweet and the chocolate is in the right quantity to be enjoyed without being overpowering. Next is Salted Caramel which was our favourite. Coated with sea-salt caramel and Belgium milk chocolate, it has a fabulous crunch and a slight hint of salt, making it very moreish. We then move on to Butterly Nuts, all peanut butter with a blend of salt, caramel and nuts, this hit the spot! The peanut butter is creamy and the nuts offer an irresistible crunch. The Pecan Pie popcorns are partly coated in caramel and real golden pecan nut pieces. They have a smooth nutty, buttery and sugary taste and a sensational crunch that leaves you wanting more.

Probably the most unusual flavour of the collection is the caramel and cheese in Sweet Cheesus. These popcorns are partly coated in caramel and cheddar cheese offering the bursts of sweet and salty together,  this is one for the fans of less sugary snacks.  Then we have the Berry-licious where fruit tart meets dark chocolate – freeze-dried raspberries in the rich chocolate make it almost a dessert in itself. Lastly, Say Cheese! The Cheddar Cheese popcorn flavour is coated with cheese that leaves a tangy tingle on the tongue, melting perfectly to release a creamy milk and cheesy flavour which all cheese fans will adore.

A Popcorn Shed box of 80g is £3.50 and a 16 pack of 24g is £19.98 here. Why not grab a new popcorn flavour and awaken your taste buds.

Malavara - Ultra Luxuriant Hair Elixir

Who else feels like they’re constantly stripping their hair by colouring it, curling it, straightening it or washing it? At the Amazing Blog we’re constantly looking for that ‘Holy Grail’product to reverse all of our hair damage… and we just may have found it!

Malavara Ultra Luxuriant Hair Elixir is a modern take on a 5,000 year old Ayurvedic ritual of hair oiling. By Inspired by India but made in London, the elixir utilises potent Hairy Basil Root which acts as food for hair follicles and promotes growth. With sleek packaging, easy-to-follow directions and all-natural ingredients, Malavara gives hair oiling a modern twist.

A Gold Winner at The Pure Beauty Awards 2018, Malavara’s Ultra Luxuriant Hair Elixir is meant to be applied at least 30 minutes before washing your hair. Although it’s meant as a pre-shampooing treatment, a little goes a long way and we recommend to only use enough to massage through your scalp without friction. Made with Gooseberry, Almond and Bhringraj Oil, the Hair Elixir conditions the scalp while transforming the health of your hair. We love that the Malavara Hair Elixir doesn’t leave a layer of oil on your hair that is hard to remove with just a normal amount of shampoo. The best part? It’s vegan, naturally-derived and sustainably-sourced.

Want to experience the 5,000 year old ritual of hair oiling for yourself? A 30ml bottle of the Malavara Ultra Luxuriant Hair Elixir can be purchased here for £29.