Ting Tang - Dry Wash Shampoo

Do you wash your hair every day? I don't! When I mentioned this to the team at The Amazing Blog – there was a gasp of horror from a few. Did you know that by washing your hair every day it strips the scalp natural oils and microbiomes leaving the hair looking dull, lifeless and brittle? This is why I’ve been a fan of dry shampoo between washes. Not only does it give my fine hair more volume and body, but it also freshens it up and is a lifesaver when I've got a full-on day. So, when I learned about an entirely new type of 'anytime anywhere' foam-based Dry Wash Shampoo - Ting Tang, I knew I had to try it!

First let's meet the creator of Ting Tang, Purdey who was working in banking before she decided to quit and pursue her career as a trapeze artist. However, her secret dream had always been running a business of her own. Her daughter gave her the inspiration when she developed an aversion to water, which led her to create this clever Dry Wash Shampoo.  Despite having had the idea from a toddler, this is a gender-neutral product that and can be enjoyed by people of all ages, with or without toddlers of their own. Not forgetting to mention, that this start-up company even won a BBC One's award on the programme The Customer Is Always Right being selected as the customers’ favourite.

This Ting Tang Dry Wash Shampoo is unlike any traditional or dry shampoo, for that matter. It is a foam-based fragrance-free product that actually cleans! I find that most dry shampoos do offer volume but also mask the dirt and tend to leave a residue of heavy scent. With Ting Tang, I found it easy to apply with about 3 or 4 pumps of foam on my hair, massaging it through from the roots to ends, then towel-drying. Followed by a quick blast of the hairdryer and I styled my hair as usual – start to finish it took all of about 8 minutes. What I like about Ting Tang, is that it washes and cleans the hair with no fragrance or stickiness, as I'd first imagined. It's the ideal size for travelling at 100ml, and can easily be slipped into a carry-on for a long haul flight where it’s perfect for a quick refresh.  This will not only be loved by your hair, but also by the planet as it's fully recyclable, vegan, gluten and cruelty-free - they even offer a refill pack for the bottle!  NB: We reviewed the Ting Tang Tots, but they told us that ingredients are the same as the adult version. Give you dry shampoo the elbow and try this instead. You can purchase your Ting Tang Dry Wash Shampoo 100ml here for only £8.49.

nknaturals - Summer Collection

At The Amazing Blog we first discovered today’s skincare brand when their Cleansing Balm ‘Beautiful’  was listed among the finalists in The Beauty Shortlist Awards 2019. We’re excited to be featuring nknaturals today with their natural skincare to coordinate with the seasons. As we know only too well, with each new season brings new environmental challenges for the skin. This is where nknaturals have rather cleverly incorporated seasonal ingredients to help the skin adapt.  

Nicola Kidd the founder, has had a life-long interest in skincare, from a trainee scientist in skincare development at Boots through to the start of creating her own small natural artisan skincare range in Lanzarote during 2011. It was only 2017, after moving back to London that these seasonal collections were born. She soon realised that having only one type of skincare routine for all year round wasn’t enough. Nicola found her skin reacting differently to the changeable British weather, which is where her inspiration came for creating Spring, Winter, Autumn (and now Summer) Collections. Just as we buy seasonal food ingredients, each of nknaturals product ingredients follows the lunar calendar, being optimised the benefits of each new moon. Plus, nknaturals only uses locally sourced ingredients that are non-GMO and free from pesticides. We also love that she uses beeswax from local independent beekeepers.  Nicola said: “This is essential to support the wellbeing of the bee population in England and completely different to mass bee farming. None of my formulations contains more than eight ingredients in total to maximise each of their qualities and when blended they enhance each other.” This sunny and joyful Summer Collection has five energising, luxurious and natural products to help to fight the rising temperature and humidity. Nicola believes in using a minimal amount of ingredients in order to enhance the effect of the products. Therefore, when blended all together each ingredient intensifies the other, thus creating the perfect formula.

First, we tried the Summer Concentrated Cleansing Balm in 60ml. nknaturals are probably best known for their balms. This new Summer Concentrated Cleansing Balm contains sesame oil, vitamin E, sea buckthorn, spikenard, red raspberry seed oil, frangipani. However, what makes it unique is its richness with the raw organic beeswax where the brand uses local beekeepers. This handmade balm, with its organic bee wax, gives it the bonus of healing capabilities and provides natural hydration to the skin. Rich in vitamin A, the beeswax will support cell regeneration and creates a skin barrier. We found the best way to use it, is by working a small amount into the skin then wiping it away with a damp muslin cloth - both morning and evening. It leaves the face both supple and smelling divine. They also suggest following the cleansing balm with the Summer Copper Distilled Botanical Mist.

This Summer Copper Distilled Botanical Mist is ideal for rebalancing the skin’s pH and unclogging the pores. Restoring moisture, it provides instant relief for any over-sunned skin which could be either parched or clammy. We think this is an essential item to keep in your bag while out and about, as it refreshes, soothes and invigorates tired skin. Ingredients include cedarwood hydrosol which acts as an anti-inflammatory agent and grapefruit seed which is anti-bacterial and helps to regulate any oil build-up. This mist gives a sense of wellbeing and calmness. We used this Botanical Mist with every step in the range from cleansing, moisturising to the home halotherapy (steam inhalation with the Summer Deep Steam Salt Infusion).

Then we have the Summer Enriched Protection Moisturiser available in 60ml. This lightweight daily moisturiser is for face, neck and décolleté. It absorbs quickly leaving no residue and offers enough hydration to keep skin moistured all day long. Key ingredients are again sesame oil, beeswax, vitamin E, sea buckthorn, red raspberry seed oil, spikenard, cedarwood oil, frangipani. What makes it a perfect skin balancer or even a great first base for make-up is the oat kernel flour. The latter provides a silky feeling to the skin with the lipids and ceramides and reduces redness and skin irritation while also hydrating and protecting the skin. Finally, the addition here of titanium dioxide, which is an anti-inflammatory and helps to provide a protecting barrier against UV rays. 

At night we used the Summer Nutrient Rich Facial Oil available in 15ml. This hand-blended facial oil with its a lymphatic drainage effect should be ideally massaged into the face before bed. It has wonderful regenerative qualities with the sesame oil, which is non-comedogenic (meaning that it doesn’t clog pores) and also acts as an antioxidant and anti-inflammatory on the skin. It also contains red raspberry seed oil that helps soothe the skin and heal redness and eczema, reducing flare-ups. This Oil has sea buckthorn as well as, cedarwood oil, spikenard and frangipani all of which can help uplift the mood while still deeply hydrating the skin. They also suggest using the Botanical Mist before use.

Last but not least, we have the Summer Deep Steam Salt Infusion available in 120ml. This salt infusion should only to be used once a week, preferably in the evenings. They suggest using these as halotherapy (a steaming technique) in a skin routine to open pores and act as a deep cleanser. The salt infusion is made out of vanilla pod rich in vitamin B and antioxidants that help it deep cleanse the skin and aid conditions such as acne. It also contains sea buckthorn berries a ‘superfood’ known for their ability to hydrate and provide skin elasticity. This Summer  Deep Steam Salt Infusion also contains Atlantic Sea and Himalayan salts that have detoxifying powers and increase circulation as well. And let’s not forget the air-dried rose petals a skin cleanser and another antioxidant. All-in-all, we think this product is a bit of a wonder treatment for the skin.

Tempted by this Summer Collection? Then see here where all these products can be bought individually or you can get the entire bundle for £85.

Kora Naturals - African Pearl Luxury Body Butter & Organic Papaya Seed Oil

As summer is now here, at The Amazing Blog what we want is for our skin to glow and feel hydrated. so our search to find a new body butter soon became a matter of priority!  We looked at the list of award-winners for 2019 The Beauty Shortlist and found the African inspired brand Kora Naturals. What attracted us to this brand is that they only use organic, natural and environmentally friendly ingredients. We tried their award-winning Body Butter as well as their new Organic Papaya Seed Oil. Although these are were originally formulated for women of colour, we found these products perfect for all of our different skin types too. 

Kora Naturals was founded in 2010 by Corrine Hayford-Kwatchey who found that there was a lack of premium skincare available for (and made by) women of colour.  Corrine has created her brand based on natural, ethically sourced and wildcrafted premium African ingredients. She explained about the brand name: “Kora is taken from the Ghanaian Twi language (pronounced Kraa) for the calabash, a common natural utensil in Africa and the Caribbean. It is widely recognised as a reference to the natural or 'Ital' lifestyle of using organic, unrefined products.”  The idea of creating Kora Naturals came to her with the birth of her first daughter, when she was addressing post-pregnancy skin issues. It has since developed from being an artisan business into the luxury skincare brand that it is today. We think that so many unique African ingredients are very underused here in Europe (see where we recently wrote about the special African Baobab here). Kora Naturals utilises African native raw ingredients and oils, where they are all ethically produced using traditional methods, which is so refreshing. 

We were excited to try the African Pearl Luxury Body Butter which is very rich and smooth. You can almost feel the vitamins, antioxidants and omegas 3 and 6 working into your skin.  The ingredients include cocoa butter, organic shea butter, coconut oil, wildcrafted baobab and marula seed oil. All of these make the Body Butter effective at holding in the moisture and giving the skin a silky finish. This Body Butter certainly lives up to its reputation and is our number one choice to get our skin summer-ready. You can buy a 200ml pot here for £25.00.

Next we tried the Organic Papaya Seed Oil which is for the face, we found that it helped control sebum and remove impurities by unblocking pores.  This is also another product rich in omegas 6 and 9 and vitamins A, C and E; all of which help to reduce the appears of brown spots and scars.  Some studies have indicated that the enzymes of papain in papaya can decrease acne inflammation. It’s effective in removing the dead skin cells which clog the pores, and our skin did appear to benefit from using the oil - so another thumbs up to Kora.  This is a reasonably priced product at £7.00 for 50ml here, we found that a little goes a long way.  Both of these products can be bought directly from Kora Naturals.

Untamed ™ The Defrizz Wave Tame Machine Hairdryer

As regular readers will know, at The Amazing Blog we’re always trying to find you ‘something a little bit different…’ Well, today we’ve got a truly new and innovative product. Think hairdryer but with a spritz, in fact, an Argan spritz!  Say goodbye to frizzy hair and meet Untamed™

Untamed has an impeccable pedigree in the world of hairdressing. They’ve had years of experience working with top hairdressers and premium brands, which is when they saw a gap in the market for those (like us) who complain about their unruly frizzy locks. Having spent over two years perfecting this unique hairdryer/ styling tool, they said: “ This is the most amazing styling tool for all hair types. We want to bring an end to frizzy hair. Our Untamed™ defrizz wave tame machine is more than a hairdryer it is a styling tool. It is unique and a UK first”. This little beauty first came to our attention when it won the Editors Choice for the Beauty Shortlist 2020 Awards. It has taken hair drying to a whole new level dispensing Argan oil on your hair as you blow-dry.  What could be better timing to purchase such a product, when we’re all missing our wonderful hairdressers and scrambling to get our hair looking good enough for our Zoom parties or work meetings.  

Thrilled to be one of the first to try out this Untamed™ in isolation, it has cheered me up no end!  As we’re always extolling the virtues of Argan oil in different products here, you’ll see we’re big fans of this magical oil, particularly for dry skin or hair.  The oil contains vitamin E and fatty acids and has antioxidant properties, so it has all bases covered.  I started out being a little sceptical as my hair is very fine, curly and flyaway and I was nervous about spritzing Argan oil after a conditioner in case it made it flat and lifeless.  However, I’m happy to report my fears were ill-founded – it was far from flat or greasy giving me only a lustrous finish. Following their advice, I part dried my hair first and used the Argan oil sparingly, I’d recommend you go slowly at first as everyone’s hair is different.  It is quite easy to use, powerful and yet lightweight.  Putting the Argan oil spritzer onto the hair drying nozzle was super easy but you can check out the video clip on their website if you need it here. I found the heat came out evenly, so it won’t damage the hair over time.  Also after reading the blurb, I discovered that emitting negative ions was also helping stop static and frizz, who would have thought? Well, Untamed™ did!  In addition to the 5 other settings, I finished with the cold shot to keep everything smooth; as we all know, it’s something hairdressers always do at the end of the blow-dry.  The Argan oil bottles do of course run out, how quickly depends on how often you use them, but you can refill with any other Argan hair oil.  I loved this Untamed with or without the Argan oil. It gave me the results I wanted and I found it to be quicker and kinder than other hairdryers I’ve used. I’m happy to report that the home blow-dry just got professional! To get your Untamed™ for £69.99  with 3x 5ml Argan oil bottles and 3 x different styling nozzles see here.

Disco Dust – Biodegradable Extra Chunky Glitter and Natural Glue

What better way is there to make yourself stand out at the festivals this summer, than with a little splash of glitter on your eyes or face? Although, most commercial cosmetic glitters have a microplastic film that pollutes the environment and takes almost 1000 years to decompose. Yes, 1000 years. We’re happy to say that The Amazing Blog has found a biodegradable and sustainable fix to these woes: Disco Dust.

The London-based company was launched in November 2016 to ‘break stigmas and push boundaries in the beauty industry’, similar to the way disco broke social and racial barriers in the 70s. Disco Dust advocates for having fun and expressing yourself while also taking care of the environment. Their glitter is made of a biodegradable film, which is even compostable in your own home, and renewably sourced raw materials.

We tried two shades from Disco Dust’s Biodegradable Range of extra chunky glitter in Gold and Silver. The individual pieces of glitter are quite large and rich in colour for a bold look. You can layer the extra chunky glitter with other colours as well as sizes in your hair and face for a unique look or use them alone to match your jewellery. Our favourite method was layering the glitter on top of liquid eyeliner for extra sparkle to an ordinary eye look. The product can be applied with a makeup brush or your fingers. Lastly, the glitter is easy to remove with a makeup wipe or soapy water, so you’re not harshly scrubbing your face before bed or finding remnants of glitter the next day. Of course, to keep the glitter on your face, you need glue. To complement the biodegradable glitters, Disco Dust created 100% Natural Disco Glue (an aloe-based and vegan glitter adhesive) as an alternative to slippery Vaseline and harsh chemical glues. The formula lasts all day and is hand poured into recyclable containers in Bristol.

Add more shine to your makeup look and your life this summer with these extra chunky glitters. You can purchase the Gold Extra Chunky Mix glitter (3g) here for £6, Silver Extra Chunky Mix glitter (3g) here for £6, and Glitter Glue (5ml) here for £5. Each product is available in a larger size and glass container, with the glue £10 for 45ml and the glitters £15 for 20g. Why not have some fun and let yourself sparkle this summer.