A.T. Antao: Beautifying BB Cushion (Pearl)

With everyone getting into the mood for the Christmas season, we at The Amazing Blog knows how important it is to keep up appearances.  Remember when we were all applying our makeup daily? I know that for many of us, it may seem like a distant memory (except for the odd zoom call!) but it’s time to brush up (excuse the pun) and put our face back on! Today we’re reviewing Beautifying BB Cushion (Pearl) from A.T. Antao which has been a welcome addition to our makeup bag. It’s a foundation type that has proved popular our friends in the Far East for a quite while now, as it offers a light, flawless and super long-lasting coverage.

After living in London and working in the beauty industry for more than a decade, the brand founder Teniya Tao decided to develop skincare and makeup with A.T. Antao in 2014. A.T. Antao is considered a luxury brand with a loyal following throughout Asia and is now here in Europe. With their partnerships with top European labs, they provide the brand with premium quality ingredients. The brand has a range of twenty-five products from skincare to cosmetics, and Tao and A.T. want to empower women by helping them realise their potential. We like the brand motto which translates as: “Be your own queen”.

The Beautifying BB Cushion (Pearl) is in a sleek, elegant gold and black casing. We found it quick and convenient to use and a compact to feel proud of when pulling out of our bag for touch-ups.  The definition of a cushion foundation is a liquid formula in a sponge-like cushion housed in a compact. The cushion is sealed with a lid and on top is the black puff for easy application.  It’s a light formulation that offers an even semi-matte coverage, which is buildable depending on the desired effect wanted. A.T. Antao has two different types, Natural (which launched in 2018 and comes with a free refill) and  Pearl which we found to be slightly more hydrating and longer-lasting than Natural. Plus Pearl also offered more of a flawless finish on the skin. Both are suitable for all skin types; however, they only come in one shade which is good for most skin tones except for darker complexions, where the user may find these too pale. A.T Antao site YSL Fusion Cushion as a benchmark to their BB Cushion products, with its similar formula and compact. Although the YSL’s version comes with an SPF 18, eleven different shades and costs twice the price! We applied the BB Cushion onto moisturised skin pressing the black puff into the moist foundation sponge, then gently patting it directly onto the face and neck. We noticed a good even coverage minimising the pores and giving us a more radiant and brighter glow. This is our favourite product so far from the brand (and we’ve reviewed a few, see here) this BB Cushion couldn’t be more timely with winter now fast approaching, where our complexions are in need of further protection and hydration. To purchase your Beautifying BB Cushion (Pearl) visit the A.T. here for the 12g  for only £22.90.

Setunea – Dead Sea Mud Body Wash & Honey Infusion Soap

Finding natural, clean and simple artisan soaps has been our recent mission at The Amazing Blog trying to declutter the bathroom and find good multitaskers. Today we’d like to introduce you to Setunea who use ingredients and methods dating back to the biblical times with their olive oil-based soaps and body washes. 

Founder of Setunea, Waleed Kamhieh was curious about how the market would receive sustainable, all-natural, and organic soaps. “Setunea was born out of an idea of introducing a centuries-old olive oil soap recipe to the modern consumer and try to meet the growing global demand for chemical-free organic products.” He decided to launch the brand at a Natural Products Global Exhibition in London during 2018. Seeing that their 100% chemical-free products were a hit, especially with people looking for sensitive skin-friendly products, they decided to carry on sharing the wonders of olive oil from Nablus, a city located between Mount Gerizim and Mount Ebal near the Dead Sea. This is where olive farming and manufacturing has been part of the local heritage for almost a millennium. All of Setunea’s products are sustainably farmed and manufactured, as the olive oil is directly sourced from family-run farms where products are handcrafted by a family business that has continuously produced olive oil soap since 1611. The pure extra-virgin, cold-pressed olive oil constitutes 80% of the soaps. This olive oil is packed with nutrients and super-antioxidants and the skin will never feel tight or dry after using a Setunea soap no matter how sensitive it is. And if it does, Setunea promises to refund you under 30 days. Best of all their products are vegan, cruelty-free and formulated without any other chemicals, and their packaging is made from recyclable paper-based materials.

Let’s start with the initial product that caught our eye their Dead Sea Mud Body Wash. A rare blend of Dead Sea mud and olive oil, this unique two-in-one cleanses and heals the skin. Dead Sea mud has been used for healing the skin since biblical times; it has an extraordinary calming result on highly sensitive and problem skin with conditions like psoriasis, eczema, or keratitis. This minimalist formula has only four ingredients: Olive oil, food-grade lye (soda), water, and Dead Sea mud. The salt minerals work together here with the purest olive oil to gently cleanse the body restoring the skin’s PH balance and effectively hydrating and fortifying the dermis. If you have trouble coping with one of the skin conditions (mentioned above), we recommend this as your next go-to gentle body wash. This formula comes in a recyclable plastic 250ml bottle. It has slightly vanilla/nutty fragrance and is a translucent pale brown-olive greenish and lathers up well. To use, put a small amount on damp skin and massage in, then rinse off. We found that our skin felt cleansed and incredibly soft after use - its another one of our #amazingfinds. This gentle 2-in-1 is available for purchase at 250ml with a price of £9.00 here.

The next product that we tried is from their traditionally hand-crafted collection of Natural Olive Oil Soap. The Honey Infusion Soap bar is also clean in composition with simple ingredients of olive oil, honey, coconut oil, glycerin, food-grade lye (soda), and water.  The making these soaps are by a century’s old method, where the saponification process takes place in a large heated vat where the olive oil, lye and water are carefully combined for several hours before the mixture is laid out on a horizontal surface in a flat layer. Once the soap is hard enough, individual squares are marked out, hand-cut by an artisan who then expertly carves out each bar of soap. Finally, the soap bars are stacked in drying towers. Because this manufacturing process includes drying the soaps for five months, the bars do not reduce or turn to mush like industrial soap bars – so well worth the extra price point! This lightly honey-scented soap lathers nicely on the skin, leaving it smooth and thoroughly hydrated, even several hours after drying. Like the Dead Sea Mud Body wash, this Honey Infusion soap bar is excellent for dry, damaged, and sensitive skins. Note that being a soap with a clean formula, it can be used for the whole body: hair, hands, and body wash, just like the full range of Setunea’s Natural Olive Oil Soap bars. It is 100g wrapped in recyclable packaging, where you can purchase this highly nourishing soap for £5.00 here or a choice of their two full collections of six bars for £25 here.

Vedic Botanicals – Alk-Align Toning Mists

During these colder months, skin hydration is more important than ever. Going between the extremes of the chilly outside world and central heating plays havoc with our skin. This is where for us at The Amazing Blog we’ve been regularly ‘spritzing’ our faces with these Alk-Align Toning Mists from Vedic Botanicals, best of all, we’ve found that they’re stopped our skin from feeling tight and dehydrated. 

The Vedic Botanical’s founder Rachel Warnock has always had a desire to do what’s right by the environment and the people around her. After gaining a master’s in Vedic Science and Ayurvedic Medicine, the global 2008 economic crisis happened… Unsure of what to do, or where to go, she started working mediocre jobs to get by. However, dissatisfied with what she was doing, she decided to follow her passion by making her own products and thus started the brand with the motto of: “From soil to skin, only goodness goes in!”. Vedic Botanicals has created a variety of organic Ayurvedic body and skin care, hair serums and mists. Warnock is committed to using environmentally friendly practices where her products are certified organic and cruelty-free. Their packaging is reusable and is made from compostable plant-based plastic. They use eco-friendly practices wherever possible and compost any products past their sell-by date and have a workshop which is 100% solar powered. One of the more unique aspects of this company is their ‘empty jar guarantee’. If at the end of using one of their products you’re unhappy, you can simply return the empty to them and receive a full refund! We applaud Vedic Botanicals for their ethos and have quoted here from an interview with Warnock and Conversations with Kim: “We believe that profit made at the expense of the Mother Earth is not worth making. It only robs future generations along with the other species sharing this planet with us.  We vet the companies we source our herbs, oils, and packaging materials from choosing companies with eco-friendly practices to maintain sustainability top to bottom.” 

These are now some of our go-to winter products, the Alk-Align Toning Mists which come in two different blends has alkaline water and are one of the first toning mists to have a pH level of 9 (see the recent feature here where we talk about pH levels in the skin) There is the Ourika or the Kamogawa blend, both of these mists are created as multi-taskers they can hydrate, balance, cleanse, or tone the skin. We’ve been using these by spritzing onto our face and letting it absorb on makeup-free skin (at home in lockdown!) or as a cleanser/toner using these either end of the day.  Both mists contain oxygenated water which promotes hydration, detoxification and blood circulation. The Ourika mist, which is named after the Ourika river in Morocco, is created to help with your dry or oily skin with a spring-like floral scent. The key ingredient here is the frankincense which is known to help hydrate dry skin and reduce the appearance of wrinkles. Whereas the Kamogawa mist, which is named after Duck River in Kyoto, it addresses uneven skin tone and has a more autumnal earthy scent. The white rose hydrosol here is a popular toner often formulated for dry skin. The helichrysum hydrosol is good for calming and correcting redness or dryness helping to balance the skin. We like how both these are pocket-sized at 30ml – making them easy to keep with you to spritz on the skin throughout the day.  Keep your skin nice and hydrated throughout these cold weeks and purchase your Alk-Align Toning Mists for the Vedic Botanicals here for $18.47 each.

The Health & Beauty Botanical Handbook by Pip Waller

Now that we’re all working from home, at The Amazing Blog regular walks in the countryside and gardening have become even more precious, as we get back to nature and using our kitchens as never before.  Herbal lore and remedies have been used by humans over the centuries.  In London there are a number of wonderful apothecary’s gardens growing medicinal plants, The Chelsea Physic Garden is only a ten-minute walk for us and has over 5,000 different varieties of edible and medicinal plants.  We have found ourselves inspired by this Health and Beauty Botanical Handbook which is full of information and recipes.

The Health and Beauty Botanical Handbook is written by Pip Waller who is an experienced medical herbalist and plant spirit practitioner. She has taught at the Academy of Natural Health in London and was a clinical supervisor for the UK-based National Institute of Medical Herbalists Training Clinic.  Pip is also the author of Holistic Anatomy - An Integrative Guide to the Human Body (North Atlantic Books, 2011) and The Domestic Alchemist. She has successfully taught anatomy, physiology and pathology to students of natural medicine since 1991. Her teaching style, which is informal yet extremely informative, comes across well in this book.  Pip Waller shares her invaluable herbal know-how for natural wellbeing.

The book helps to turn the kitchen into a pharmacy providing plant-powered health and beauty recipes. From making tinctures and tonics to syrups and creams, this world-renowned herbalist shares over 350 recipes for pure well-being and holistic health.   An introduction to the power of plants is followed by growing tips and profiles; guidelines on how to set up your kitchen to make the recipes, and techniques for making everything from tinctures to tonics.  It starts with some information about herbs and making herbal recipes, then the recipes themselves and a herb dictionary. Although this book doesn't have any photographs, it's illustrated beautifully. Each recipe has a little blurb and there are extra notes and cautions throughout the book too. The ingredient dictionary at the end is helpful for anyone inexperienced in making herbal remedies. One of the best things about this book is that each recipe lists tell us how long it keeps for, and instructions on how to store, which is great for peace of mind so you know you're only consuming/using fresh and safe products. 

This book has inspired us to try out some of the recipes and read up about herbs and their healing properties.  This is the perfect time of year for the Soothing Sloe C Syrup as sloes are now in the hedgerows (the fruit of the blackthorn) this can help with bronchial conditions, colds, catarrh and inflammation of the throat.  The Weight Loss Spice Tea is also good to try with ginger, cardamom, turmeric and cayenne pepper to help burn fat. The Rosemary Vinegar Hair Rinse can be used in multiple ways, as a rinse to increase shine and restore the hair’s protective acid pH or as a drink to improve circulation.  Totally fitting into our way of life now. You too can buy the book a here from Quarto Books, the price is good value at £12.99. We think that this book is a great introduction to gaining a better understanding of plants and herbs and their uses.  Now we have it, we’ll be dipping into it as we go foraging! 

Gold Haircare: Metamorphyc Dream Shampoo & Come True Conditioner and Ten-in-One

In our never-ending search to find green and sustainable products (that also care for the planet) at The Amazing Blog we happily stumbled across this multi-award-winning professional haircare Gold Haircare that offers all of the above.  Although they are a salon-based professional haircare they supply the consumer too.

Gold Haircare is a Danish company created by hair specialists and founded in 2009 by Victor Moreno and Marco Merie. Both these two haircare professionals have challenged the professional hair industry by redefining the standards of haircare with their green credentials. This is a new generation of haircare designed for a luxury performance that also takes into consideration sustainability and caring for the planet. This is where Gold Haircare meets with the stringent environmental regulations in Denmark, a country known to be one of the most advanced in terms of green credentials and sustainability. All of the products are formulated to be cruelty-free, natural, with renewable and sustainable ingredients. There are certainly no parabens, ammonia, and Resorcinol (a toxin that is often found in hair dyes) or sulphates to be found here Gold Haircare is vegan and ISO 16128 certified which guarantees that all shampoos are formulated with at least 60% natural ingredients and their conditioners and masks are with a reassuring 90% too. Furthermore, the company is a member of PETA, and strongly supports two other environmental organisations: The Nature Conservancy and Oceana. In just ten years of trading, this brand has gained global recognition as one of the most innovative Danish haircare brands, and in the last couple of years, it has carved out space in the beauty and fashion sectors. This year, Gold Haircare competed in the Global Green Beauty Awards 2020 and were a Gold winner in the Best Hair Masque with their Luxury Hair Masque. Every year Gold Haircare organises their exclusive Gold Show, where the Gold international artistic teams from all around the world, meet to compete showcasing some of their artistic and cutting-edge hair designs. 

 The two of the three products we’re talking about are the GOLD Dream Shampoo and the GOLD Come True Conditioner, are from the Metamorphyc range. We note that these were also awarded at the Global Green Beauty Awards were these two products with Silver and Bronze in their respective categories. This range is designed to bring hair an innovative two-stage regenerating programme working together with their other products ‘healing bond’ and ‘vitamin miracle’. The key ingredients in this range are marula seed oil, porcelain flower, and purple orchid; which when combined help to boost strength and protect the natural structure of the hair. This collection is specifically designed to enhance inner hair strength with a coating of oils that help to lock in and ensure long-lasting colour. The gentle shampoo and conditioner here both have a pH of 5 and 4 where they intensely moisturise hair, scalp as well as protecting colour with its incorporated UV filter. The GOLD Come True Conditioner also gives control to curls together with moisturising and nourishing. To apply start with the shampoo, using a small amount on damp hair, massage then rinse away. Follow this directly with the Come True Conditioner which needs to be left in the hair for 3-4 minutes, then again rinsed away. We found that our hair felt incredibly soft and revitalised with a glamorous and healthy-looking sheen. It also left the hair smelling fresh with a subtle vanilla/floral scent. You can purchase the GOLD Dream Shampoo 250ml for £27.95 here and the GOLD Come True Conditioner 250ml for £30.95 here.

The third product that was kindly sent to us was the GOLD Ten In One. This spray is an all-in-one mist that can be used either on wet or dry hair, to untangle, control frizz or simply as a prep for a blow-dry. It has oils like sunflower and argan as well as hydrolysed wheat protein all of which offer a high concentration of omega-6 acids, vitamins A and E, and antioxidants to moisturise and protect the hair. We sprayed this on dry hair and found it to be a lightweight and perfect for achieving a velvety lustre that controlled static, all without weighing the hair down. To use on wet hair, spray from a 20cm, untangle the hair with a comb, style the hair, then blow-dry, straighten or let the hair dry naturally. Or on dry hair, apply on the palm, then gently apply from mid-length to the ends. We mustn’t forget to mention that this Ten In One was also awarded the Best Argan Product and is available for £24.95 here. We think that Gold Haircare products are perfect for anyone looking for high-performance luxury haircare with an environmental conscience.