Albiva - ECM Advanced Repair Brightening Serum

Everyone knows that the weather conditions here in the UK are wildly unpredictable. One minute it’s rain, the next sun, and who knows what the following day might be doing - snowing?! All these temperature changes effect our skin with varying degrees of dryness or break-outs. Which prompted our mission at The Amazing Blog to look for a natural skincare to protect and nourish it rain or shine. This is where we’d like to introduce you to Albiva (who we met at the CEW Awards showcase) a new natural skincare where science meets nature, and they kindly sent us their ECM Advanced Repair Brightening Serum to try out.

Ivana Iesini founder of Albiva, was diagnosed with a spinal tumour at the age of 28, where she was having to combine so many conventional medicines, that it started to make her feel worse. During her months of recuperation, she thought about her grandmother, Albina who was a herbalist. She remembered the natural remedies that she was introduced to from an early age, and the power of all these botanicals used to help heal and regenerate the body. Her journey into launching Albiva had begun. The name is a portmanteau combining the name of Ivana’s grandmother and her own. Ivana combined her knowledge of these natural remedies, her studies in biomedical sciences together with embracing an organic way of life, and bingo! From this, Albiva skincare gradually took shape combining her knowledge of science and natural compounds, all collated from sustainable sources. Another thing that sets this brand apart is their use of ‘gemmotherapy’ (an advanced branch of phytotherapy, which isolates the active ingredients from the embryonic tissues of plants). They also remove plain water from their formulations, where Albiva prides itself on replacing the plain water with COSMOS certified organic Raspberry water, this in itself is an active ingredient renowned for firming, lifting and smoothing properties. There are skin-identical and cell communicating ingredients, all designed to stimulate cell regeneration using the skin’s own cell biology. Let’s not forget to mention the ultra-hydrating blend of botanical extracts, powerful antioxidants, collagen supporting ingredients, peptides, ceramides, compound of oligo-elements, phyto-stimulins, nucleid acids, marine algae extracts, essential fatty acids and many more. Now you know why this brand is so very special!

The ECM Advanced Repair Brightening Serum (ECM means extra cellular matrix) combats hyperpigmentation (age spots) and equalises the skin texture providing natural minerals and vitamins that the skin might be lacking. This serum rejuvenates and restores damaged skin by combining an array of natural botanicals: Mallow, Peppermint, Cowslip, Lady’s Mantle, Speedwell, Melissa, and Yarrow together with Swiss Garden Cress extract; all to enhance the complexion protecting it from environmental damage. It is vegan, cruelty-free, dermatologically tested, contains 77% of certified organic ingredients and 92% of natural ingredients. We like that it’s light in texture, absorbs quickly (no oiliness), with the subtlest of fragrance and left our skin feeling hydrated and looking brighter. We used it under our regular moisturiser and SPF primer, and were pleased to note that it complemented these other products. This serum is suitable for all skin types, so whether you are combating age spots or the effects of the erratic UK summer weather, the ECM Advanced Repair Brightening Serum is going to be your perfect ally. This is one brand to keep an eye on, as we’ll predict they’ll being going places…. To get your very own special serum, go to Albiva’s website here 30ml for £195.00.

Friday Favourites - New Haircare

Gorgeous, healthy hair will never go out of style and here at The Amazing Blog we're always on the hunt for the latest haircare products to suit each of our specific needs. If like us, you have anything from the frizzy and unruly to the sensitive scalps or have hair loss issues, then we’ve got you covered. Please read on, as we’ve got some new and exciting brands to share with you.

There is nothing worse than unruly and frizzy hair. Those of us on this boat understand the struggle of styling this type of hair and the frustration of having it frizz-up within moments of styling.  However, the smoothing system from the new Australian brand evo got our tresses on a sleek lock-down. The creators at evo are a no frills, professional hair and beauty brand that tells it like it is. They are 'saving ordinary humans from themselves' and we like their straightforward attitude and cheeky personality that bursts from their luxurious products.

Does your hair eat combs for breakfast? Then this Lockdown Smoothing Treatment will become your newest ally in this crazy world of the hair battle. This 150ml bottle of 'liquid tamer' is formulated specifically with colour-treated, medium to course texture haired individuals. What makes this one stand out amongst the crowd for us is that it gives you the shine and smoothness you desire, without any of the weight or grease. We’ve said goodbye to those pesky strays and hello to sleek hair simplicity. This leave-in treatment is the hero of the line-up, which also has the mane tamer shampoo and conditioner. We adore the light, refreshing and subtly sweet scent of the lime and the way our hair seems to get softer with each use. You can purchase the Lockdown Smoothing Treatment here for £29.95

Next up is a new discovery for us, so we’d like to formally introduce you to Halier, a new Polish brand that specialises in creating haircare products that promote growth and prevent hair loss. They use the latest scientific technologies to provide effective products. We asked to try out their Fortesse Shampoo and Conditioner and one of us in particularly has been enjoying using them to help build up the quality of her hair.

Fortesse Shampoo works to prevent excessive hair loss and promote healthy hair growth while cleansing and preventing split ends. The shampoo is able to do so because it contains the Advanced Hair Booster ™ Formula. This formula specifically works to condition hair follicles, improve hair elasticity and regenerate the scalp. The product also contains horsetail leaf extract, fatty acids esters from olive oil, saw palmetto extract, biotin, and vitamin B3. These unique ingredients help to create moisture-rich hair that is healthy and full of vitality. We found that our hair has been noticeably shinier and much easier to style. Fortesse Conditioner contains the Hair Vitality Complex ™ Formula which works to prevent excessive hair loss and boost hair growth. It also contains horsetail leaf extract, fatty acids esters from olive oil, saw palmetto extract, biotin, vitamin B3 and ricin oil. The combination of ingredients in this conditioner work to reduce hair loss, promote hair growth, balance oil production, and promote hydration.

After using the combination of these two products we noticed that not only did our hair smell great, but after a few washes we noticed our hair was healthier with less hair loss and giving us a fuller head of hair. The only caution we have to flag-up with this haircare system is that it is not a colour-safe, so if you colour your hair, please do a patch test first. You can purchase a 250ml bottle of Halier Fortesse Shampoo here for £29 and you can purchase a 150ml bottle of Halier Fortesse Conditioner here for £32.

Finally, we're featuring an organic and natural haircare which almost feels like it came from 'mother nature' herself. These products are particularly for those of you with super-sensitive scalps, and/or chemically coloured or treated hair too. Both these products are from the very special myrto naturalcosmetics where we tried the Bio Shampoo Sea Buckthorn Chia and Bio Antistatic Hair Oil which are sourced straight from plants to give the hair the best natural shine, volume and vibrancy.  myrto naturalcosmetics is a German skin and haircare brand by Eva Silvana Kruck, founded in 2012 myrto strives to produce products sourcing only the freshest and most natural ingredients wherever possible; which means small batches with no preservatives or chemicals. Eva was initially motivated to create her own product line due to the needs of her own children's skin disorders. She paired up with Prof. Dr. Peter Kruck to create a range of organic effective, nourishing and natural beauty products for everyone. 

This shampoo is perfect for dry, dull, damaged and chemically treated hair. The combination of sea buckthorn fruit oil and organic chia seed extract work to strengthen every hair fibre, add luminous shine and help to prevent hair breakage. Derived from plant amino acids, the gentle wash-active cleansers in this shampoo leave your hair clean but never stripped of the essential oils naturally produced on the scalp. We loved this shampoo with its invigorating sea buckthorn fruity fragrance. A little goes a long way with this one and you can even dilute it with a bit of water for extra sensitive scalps that still need a good cleanse. The Bio Shampoo Sea Buckthorn Chia is available to purchase here for €9.50. 

The Bio Antistatic Hair Oil has already found its way into our Executive Editor's bathroom! This magical hair oil is an intensive repair for fine and chemically treated hair, and extremely effective if you also happen to have fly-away/statically charged tresses. Containing organic cold-pressed seed oils from macadamia, jojoba and basbass it is a superb hair repair complex that smoothes the surface of the damaged hair fibres giving deep regeneration for split-ends.  You can purchase Bio Antistatic Hair Oil here for €16.50. What we love about all the myrto naturalcosmetics products is that they have no preservatives, alcohol, silicones, petroleum derivatives, synthetic colouring or artificial fragrances. These products are also without the genetic modification or nanoparticles and... are vegan!