The amazing blog

Rejuvenated: H30 Hydration® Sachets

Rejuvenated.jpg

Now we’re all held captive ‘inside’ during lockdown, it’s given us time to reflect on the state of our nutrition and its effect on our skin. Today at The Amazing Blog we’re talking about supplements and featuring one of our favourite nutraceutical brands Rejuvenated, with another of their hero products H30 Hydration® powders which are rich in natural ingredients like polyphenolic antioxidant from resveratrol - a potent weapon against ageing. 

Rejuvenated is a British nutraceutical brand founded in 2003 by Kathryn Danzey, a health and wellness expert. With a team of scientists and nutritionists, she developed a range of natural supplements focusing beauty from the inside with harmony and balance. Danzey recently said: “By embracing an overall progressive approach, we can make drastic improvements in not only our face but our whole well-being.” The brand’s core values are keeping their products 100% natural, traceable and ethically sourced. There’s no artificial sweeteners or flavourings and all their products are GMO, gluten and lactose-free. Although all products are cruelty-free they also recently launched some vegan alternatives to some of their marine collagen supplements. We applaud Rejuvenate for committing to provide 90% plastic-free packaging by the end of 2021.

Having won the prestigious global Beauty Shortlist Award three times, we consider this a must-have supplement to try. The H30 Hydration®  is a skin hydration supplement it offers a radiant boost to both the skin and energy levels. Rejuvenated has carefully combined a list of key ingredients such as hyaluronic acid giving a long-lasting surge of skin hydration.There’s resveratrol, a plant compound with powerful antioxidant properties, that tackles underlying skin stress plus protects the heart and circulatory system, and lowers cholesterol levels. With other specific nutrients included like vitamin C to protect the body from oxidative stress and inulin a fermented fruit sugar and prebiotic, it’ll further enhance your daily supplement regime. The ionic minerals here also play a crucial role and allow this drink to absorb through the gut wall more effectively. Once again, Rejuvenated has delivered an exceptional supplement where this H30 Hydration® drink, when taken regularly, will do its work by plumping up skin cells keeping them firm; where the ionic electrolytes will adjust and control the even distribution of fluids throughout the body. All of these ingredients will regulate the lipid barrier function, cellular turnover and anti-oxidant production ensuring that a supple, glowing and beautiful skin is enhanced and maintained. Drink it anytime (we drank it at night), it’s easy to use and all you have to do is add one sachet to 400ml of water, stir well and drink. This  H30 Hydration® is available in 24 individual Sachets here at £24.95.

Orange County: CBD Gummy Buttons

orange county.jpg

Don’t they look delicious? Having seen a lot of positive reviews on this CBD brand, we were excited to finally get the chance to try these goodies out. Needless to say that with the team here at The Amazing Blog, the jar did not last long! Yes, today we are reviewing Orange County CBD’s Gummy Buttons, and we are telling you all about these sweet treats!

Orange County CBD is an all-American CBD company that produces all sorts of CBD-infused goods, from E-liquids to beauty care products, along with…edibles! All of Orange County CBD’s  products are home-grown, manufactured, and tested in the U.S. The hemp is grown in controlled farms in Colorado, Kentucky, and Northern California, where the company is based, and the manufacturing occurs in a GMP certified lab. Since their beginnings, they have been aiming at producing high-standard quality products, and today they are recognised as one of the companies with the highest-quality CBD oil, which is used to infuse their products. Their distillate is indeed one of the purest on the market, thanks to their extraction method that uses supercritical CO2a method with low environmental impact and that has been approved by the U.S. FDA. The distillate is broad-spectrum, meaning that it contains mainly CBD as well as a few other phytochemicals (CBDV, CBG, CBC) present in the hemp flower, but no THC. In other words, yes, it will relax you and soothe you, but no, you will not get high with CBD edibles, as CBD is non-intoxicating and has no psychoactive effects. What’s more, all of Orange County CBD's manufactured products are thoroughly tested in a third-party laboratory to ensure that their high standards regarding the accuracy of the cannabinoid profiles are reached. And you can check these yourself before buying (or eating if you purchase online) thanks to the embedded QR codes on each packaging, it doesn’t get any safer than that!

The product that we have received at the office is the CBD Gummy Buttons, in Small size and with 10mg per gummy – which is higher than most gummies on the market. They come in a small plastic jar and are available in three strengths: 10mg, 25mg, and 50mg per sweet, and three sizes: the small grab bag with 8 buttons containing 25mg each (approximately 200mg total), the small jar (which is the one we have) that contains approximately 20 buttons and a large-sized jar at 1250g. When we tasted these, they were not, as we suspected, too sickly sweet and we were surprised how fruity, soft and chewy they were – unlike traditional gummies which are glutinous and have a much firmer bite. No wonder they were won the ‘Best Edible’ Award at the Hemp and CBD Expo 2020, and got so many positive reviews! Usually, CBD edibles have a strong CBD oil taste which leaves a bit of an aftertaste -  not the case with these. They taste sweet and fruity, almost like traditional gummies, and each colour is a different taste. You can taste the berry, orange, lemon, and apple. Also, they have a 2-year ‘best before’ date, so if you can resist having them near you all this time you don't have to worry about a near expiration date. Although they are all vegan and GMO-free, they do contain sugar (no corn syrup or artificial sweeteners here), so if you feel a bit concerned about the presence of sugar, you may want to take them at strategic times during the day, like just after getting up, or just before/after a workout, and avoid eating these at night. If your main concern is insomnia or sleeping at night, you may want to try taking one before going to sleep to beneficiate from the relaxing effect of the hemp. As most of you know, CBD can be a great help to cope with joint, nerve and muscle pains, or anxiety. We think that edibles are perfect for a stressful period at work or to combat the winter blues! Orange County CBD recommends eating 2-4 gummies a day to get your dose of CBD in your system. The perfect dosage varies from a person to another, so we recommend that you experiment step by step, starting with small doses then increase them in case the relaxing effect is not there, especially if CBD is new to youYou can purchase the Small CBD Gummy buttons 10mg here for £16.99. Also thanks to CBD-Produce who sent us these and another CBD food product from their extensive range (visit here ) if trying CBD for the first time, or if you’re an experienced user, we think you’ll find something to tempt you at this this great one-stop shop for all things CBD.

Alvarez Gomez - Agua de Colonia Concentrada

 

As someone who loves a great refreshing aftershave or cologne, those lovely girls at The Amazing Blog have been sourcing me some great new signature smells to go forth into the summer. I told them to find me something light, breezy and a classic fragrance to boot. They bobbed up with Agua de Colonia Concentrada from the Spanish fragrance brand Alvarez Gomez  In fact, they’ve actually written about their Flores Mediterrneas collection here, so I was curious to try the Agua de Colona Concentrada find for me…

Agua de Colonia Concentrada is a timeless classic cologne and is one of the first fragrances created by the Spanish fragrance house Alvarez Gomez in 1912.  Now with its fourth family generation of owners, this company is a global name with over 100 years of experience in the fragrance sector, well-known for its quality and distinctive traditional fragrances. And as they say about this cologne, “it’s a product that has survived the intense competition of fashion and is knows no age, gender or time…” You’ll often find their fragrances in top 5-star Spanish hotels, showcasing their stylish art deco bottles and sitting in pride of place on many washroom shelves.

This cologne is somewhat zesty and fresh with prominent lemon citrus that really lifts up the fragrance to set it apart from the others. The other top notes are geranium and lavender (two varieties here Spanish and English!) both of which add a little piquant. The middle notes of rosemary and thyme give a more mellow sweet and sour quality to the fragrance followed by the base notes of aromatic bergamot and lavender. This Agua de Colonia Concentrada perfectly captures the scents of the Mediterranean. What I particularly like is their Travel Kit which offers a selection of cologne, deodorant, body lotion and shower gel all for just £34. If you’d like to try Alvarez Gomez - Agua de Colonia Concentrada, it can be purchased here for £30 for 300 ml.  This is definitely topping the list for my go-to summer fragrance must-haves - in fact, it’s a ‘must-have’ for any time of year!

The AIM Escape Room

At The Amazing Blog, we love to have a good bone-chilling themed challenge! Readers may remember last year we were ‘Trapped in a Prison Van’  here, and if you are like us enjoy this thrill of the game, then the AIM Escape Rooms are for you!

HQ of AIM Escape Rooms

This East London based adventure spot has four different ultra-realistic ‘rooms’ with various difficulty levels, so if you or your children fancy being spies, then Spy Heroes would be ideal for you where you all go undercover. Then in Patient Zero 2150 is where you are battling a global bio-threat, otherwise, humanity will cease to exist – one of the challenges is to see if you can hold your breath for 60 seconds!  The spookiest has to be The Psychopath’s Den, perfect for those who love a spin-chilling experience or lovers of horror movies – because here you are part of it. Or there’s the Hangover-Deja Brew for those wanting to experience what happened the morning after the night before … However, this is ONLY for Adults 18+!

The Psychopath’s Den

Are you feeling the adrenaline rush already? Then hurry to get locked up one of the themed hi-tech adventure rooms, and become a player ready to escape the room by solving a series of their puzzles and riddles. These 60-minute nerve-wracking experiences are perfect for friends and family get-togethers or as a great ‘ice-breaker’ for even a date!

Patient Zero 2150

BTW, if you don’t pick up on clues and fail to escape on time….. you will be doomed. Ha! Fear not, the staff will be watching over you and provide you with some guidance without spoiling your fun.

Of course, before entering the room in the first place you need an appointment, which can be made via an online booking system. Decide on the number of people (between 2 and 5) and select your time slot. AIM Escape Room is open 7 days a week. Prices start from £25, but it depends whether you select a peak or off-peak ticket. It’s worth checking the website from time to time as you may be lucky enough to stumble across some discounts. You can get the tickets and all the information here. Bonne chance!

Sxollie - Cripps Pink Cider

Hustling is not something we would normally advocate here at The Amazing Blog, however when an advertising campaign comes in which is structured around the very essence of a jolly good hustle, we sit up, keyboards poised and channel the inner opportunist. Sxollie is the brand, and their delicious cider is the product which takes no prisoners and proudly promotes a good down to earth hustle.

Now ‘sxollie’ is derived from the english word scallywag, the afrikaans word skorrie-morrie, the dutch word schoelje meaning rascal, and the yiddish word meaning jackal. Quite a heady mix to get our teeth into, but also a highly effective marketing tool to ensure we are sitting up and taking notice, especially since it forms the basis for the philosophy behind Sxollie Cider. ‘In a nutshell’, as they decree, the term Sxollie means ‘hustler’, and its composition is a barrelful of single varietal cider, backed up by the company’s rousing chorus that this is the best cider to come out of Africa.

The interesting part of this approach is that actually the taste of Sxollie is rather refined - elegant almost, which must derive from the Champagne yeasts which are used to ferment their carefully chosen apples from the Elgin orchards of Cape Town. Perhaps the harder edge synopsis of this drink comes from the urban jungle itself which forms an integral ingredient to the finished product? However, that final product is certainly one to take a chance on, as it celebrates with all it’s might it’s African heritage, right down to the pottery design mosaic ‘X’ sprawled across the bottle. We discovered the brand as they were the winners of the International Cider Challenge 2019. There is a trio in the range to try, although we were ONLY sent one bottle Cripps Pink (Pink Lady) - ahem, Sxollie we would have like to have tried more!

Sxollie is available from our high street supermarkets, Waitrose and Sainsburys across the country have them on their shelves, as well as many good independent outlets. Waitrose currently have a 330ml bottle on at £1.85, but if you get your skates on, Sainsbury's have an offer running with bottles priced at £1.60. As the ‘Sxollie philosophy’ tells us - “Pursue that glint in your eye … a little hustle goes a long way”!