Eco Friendly

Danielle Creations - Erase Your Face

Much as we like to wear long-lasting makeup to take us through from day to night, the downside is that it requires using lots of cleansing cream and toner plus a bit of extra effort to remove.  As regular readers will know at the Amazing Blog we like to support eco-friendly alternatives, so you can imagine how thrilled we were to discover  Erase Your Face cleansing cloths. What could be more perfect than to be able to repeatedly use a cloth to instantly wipe away makeup with no waste? Not only good for the environment but also our skin. Solo these clever cleansing cloths combined with just water remove all kinds of excess from the skin, leaving a flawless and makeup-free finish.

Erase Your Face was invented by Danielle Creations, founded in 1969 they’re probably best known for their cutting edge makeup accessories and cosmetic bags. Based in the UK, they’ve grown into a global brand offering everything from cosmetic accessories, K-Beauty skincare to men's manicure and shaving sets.

Let’s talk about how to use the Erase Your Face, it’s made with a delicate and soft fabric which is 100% polyester, it is both pleasant and soothing to use. This cleansing cloth is water activated, once ready, dampen the cloth with warm water and gently wipe away the makeup in sweeping directions. After use, wash and ring out the water before hanging it up to dry. NB: They recommend machine washing the cloth before use to prepare the cleansing cloth for use. These face cloths are perfect for travel or just a quick cleanse. With an array of different colours and patterns to choose from, Erase Your Face is the ideal for anyone who has sensitive skin or doesn’t want to use harsh cleansers. We particularly like that it removes the likes of stubborn waterproof mascara or lip stain – ingenious! Get a pack of two for £6.99 here.  Or you can purchase a pack of four for £9.99 here, or separately for £4.99 each here.

Friday Favourites - Natural Products for the Face

Living in a city our faces are constantly exposed to all sorts of challenging environmental stresses, pollution, chemicals, chilling winds, harsh sunlight and so on. Today on The Amazing Blog we want to share with you some of our special natural face products and #amazingfinds for our Friday Favourites from Sea Magik, Face Halo, Inner Senses and Joji.

Let’s begin with Sea Magik, the world’s first line of mineral-infused spa skincare, which has its origins in Hungary. We recently wrote about their Pink Salt Shampoo and 3-Seaweed Scalp Mud here.

Another one of Sea Magik’s star products, is their 21 Mineral Mist, a refreshing water mist infused with 21 minerals from the Dead Sea. This Mist has 7 key minerals: Magnesium and bromide which have a calming and relaxing effect, potassium used to purify, sodium excellent hydrator, calcium which has anti-aging properties, iodine, ideal for detoxifying and sulphur used for soothing.  Quite a list! This is excellent for remineralising the skin and to awake the senses. You can use the mist over makeup for extra glow and hydration or simply spritz over the face and body as needed for soothing. On top of that, Sea Magik 21 Mineral Mist is 100% vegan, allergen and cruelty-free, free from dairy, gluten, GMOs, parabens, PEGS, petrochemicals, silicones, sulphates, and synthetic fragrance. Additionally, the packaging is recyclable, with plastic made from sugar cane and other sustainable materials.

We’ve loved using this mist during this summer and recommend storing it in the fridge for extra coolness! You’ll find it here for £8.95.

Moving on to the latest trend for reusable and recyclable make-up remover pads, we want to talk about Face Halo. We also like to recycle and reuse packaging wherever possible always in an attempt to save the planet, and so it’s great to see that the make-up industry are starting to do so too. One of the pioneering brands of this is Face Halo. Founded by Lizzy Pike in 2017, these reusable make-up remover pads make it quicker, easier and better to clean your face. Face Halo has redefined the way the world removes make-up by ticking all the boxes; effective, non-toxic, environmentally friendly, and cost-efficient. We think these are great travel companions for girls on the go.

The pads are fibre-filled (100 times thinner than a human hair) to reach deep into your pores to remove all traces of make-up, Using water only, these pads remove makeup in half the time of any other traditional cleansing methods in just one step. Each Face Halo remover is dual-sided, and are able to be washed up to 200 times. Face Halo is a 2-in-1 problem solver; it saves the planet and quickly removes your makeup without making a mess. Wave goodbye to your environmentally unfriendly cotton wool pads and get a single reusable pad here for £7.00.

Talking of cleansing, let me introduce you to one of my favourite organic and holistic skincare brands Inner SensesI’ve been curious to try their rather special Greenhouse Tomato and Carrot Seed Renewing Oil Cleanser. As regular readers will know we like our products to be natural with no nasties or artificial fragrances. This Renewing Oil Cleanser is all that with the added deliciousness of an aroma of ripe vine tomato, just heavenly! When I squirted a few drops in my hands, closed my eyes, inhaled and was magically transported back to my parents’ greenhouse.

Inner Senses was founded by the accomplished teacher, aromatherapist and author Lisa Basso. Lisa offers some of the finest organic botanical ingredients in her skincare and truly takes you on a journey of apothecary and tradition. As members of the Aromatherapy Council, you can also be assured of the purity of their ingredients. This Cleanser is not only 100% natural but 93% organic and packed full of lycopene (tomatoes), beta-carotene (carrots) and papaya enzyme, it is a nourishing cleanser. All you need to do is put 4-6 pumps of the oil onto your face, rubbing it in gently. Then take a warm wet face cloth and lightly wipe away your make-up and residue of the day. I’ve been using this morning and night and it has left my skin wonderfully soft, supple and clean.  To get your Tomato and Carrot seed Renewing Oil Cleanser in 100ml for £42 here. A little goes a long way, and I’m happy to report that this bottle has lasted me well over a month.

 

Lastly, we move on to Joji with their Hydrate Moisturiser. Joji is a small indie brand that was founded by Jo Mortensen with sustainability as her top priority. Their motto is: “We are natural without compromise.” Jo who confessed to being beauty obsessed, wanted to initiate a force for good in this sector. Therefore, all Joji products are organic, fair trade, cruelty-free with raw materials that strive for zero waste. We have featured their Frankincense and Sandalwood Oil Cleanser previously here.

Joji Hydrate Moisturiser contains only organic ingredients with patchouli, bergamot, black pepper, and lavender essential oils. The blend of these oils together with others from almonds, cocoa and thistle plants, provides your skin with a softening and rejuvenating effect. This number one selling moisturiser is ideal for all skin types and it sinks in perfectly in the skin. Do good and feel good by getting your Joji Hydrate Moisturiser here starting from £10.00.

Hopefully, these products have inspired you to not only take care of your face, but also the planet too. We think supporting brands, that support the environment should be a priority. Protect you face and wrap up warm for the weekend!

 

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.

L’Araboutique® Skincare

Today at the Amazing Blog we’d like to share with you some natural treasures from Arab world. The Middle Eastern cultures have some of the best kept beauty secrets, and we’re going to introduce you to one of them. Meet the natural and organic skincare brand L’Araboutique who have an array of exotic ingredients including: Extra virgin olive oil from Palestine and Syria, mineral-rich Zamzam water from Saudi Arabia, the finest royal green hojari frankincense from Oman, fragrant pink roses from Madina and rich organic sidr honey from Yemen.  And these are just a few of the wonderful pure ingredients found in their products.

L’Araboutique® was created by Dr. Samira Zaidan and Dr. Mona Alyedreessy (a mother and daughter team) and they claim to be the only skincare and haircare brand to make natural products with Zamzam water. These products are handmade in the UK, are organic, chemical-free, cruelty-free, halal, eco-friendly and vegan (apart from those containing camel milk, beeswax and sidr honey) they are also UK and EU tested approved and certified.

They very kindly send us a selection of products to try, and the first products we used were their soaps. The Oat, Sidr Honey & Madina Rose Soap can be used on the skin or hair to soften and hydrate. The combination of oat, sidr honey & Madina roses calm and moisturise the skin. The Arabic Gum & Bay Leaf Soap has a strong anti-inflammatory and anti-bacterial properties while simultaneously stimulating the skin’s collagen production. One of our team even noticed that their skin appeared brighter after using this bar. Next we tried the soap Arabic Coffee, Ginger & Cinnamon. Did you know that coffee is the number one natural product to combat cellulite? No neither did we, but we loved how energising this scrub left us feeling.

Then there is The Madina Rose & Saffron Face Cream which dates all the way back to ancient Egypt when Cleopatra discovered the beauty benefits of rose water. This luxurious face cream has three key ingredients: Iranian saffron flowers blossom, mineral-rich Zamzam water infused with fresh Madina rose water and oil. All of which help to reduce hyperpigmentation. This was our Editor Edwina’s favourite. Staying on a rose theme, we also tried their Madina Rose Deodorant  which is a 24-hour deodorant cream made from organic cold-pressed coconut oil that helps to  fights bacteria. It also has turmeric to lighten dark patches and pigmentation on the underarm area and smells divine.

Finally, we come to The Sutanah Face Lift Mask a recipe apparently only shared between Arabian royalty. Made with pomegranates, Moroccan rhassoul clay and aloe vera juice, this mask instantly tightens and lifts the face – this powder you simply mix with water. Best of all, we like how the brand contribute 50p from every sale to a charity that helps to build wells around the world. The Water Project charity provides essential clean water to families and communities where it’s needed the most. 

L’Araboutique® can be purchased here with skincare prices starting from £15. We think they are a wonderful new discovery, where the ancient and modern worlds meet and we can’t wait to try more for this brand.

 

L’Erbolario - Albero di Giada, Jade Plant Perfume Mignon

Fragrance is definitely our thing at The Amazing Blog. We always try to find new scents that excite! We were thrilled to try a perfume from a new discovery brand for us L’Erbolario, which is intriguingly made from the jade plant blossom.

L’Erbolario was started in 1978 in Lodi in Italy and  was founded by Franco Bergamaschi and his wife Daniela Vila. Over the years, L’Erbolario has not lost its unique and original philosophy of respect, and nod towards nature combined with the latest technology and knowledge. L’Erbolario has also implemented its zero impact project with energy savings, short production chains and vegan recipes.

They have recently launched a new face and body collection: Albero di Giada, which is made from jade plant flowers and this Jade Plant Perfume Mignon is among them. The Jade Plant Perfume comes in an elegantly designed, slender jade green packaging. The perfume is a feminine fragrance with a floral and citrus scent.  It is made up of jade plant flowers with notes of bergamot, yellow rose, white tea, exotic verbena and amber.

It is a super fresh fragrance and smells like a mix of wild flowers, and different green plants with a hint of zest and sweetness combined with well-brewed green-tea. Neither of the scents overpower each other giving a really refreshing green fragrance.  We recommend spritzing and then waiting for a few minutes, for that subtle and unique floral scent to sweep over you. This is an all-year-round fragrance with its intoxicating botanical mix.

L’Erbolario Jade plant perfume has no animal ingredients or animal testing. It has been tested for seven metals, (nickel, lead, arsenic, cadmium, mercury, antimony and chromium) ensuring that it suitable for use even on the most sensitive skin. It is GMO free with recyclable paper packaging. We also like the 15ml bottle because of its versatility and can fit in any bag. The Jade Plant perfume 15ml is £18.50 or 30ml for £33.50. Purchase your Jade Plant Perfume Mignon here.