Herbal Dynamics Beauty - Acai & Mango Sugar Lip Scrub with Volumizing & Smoothing Rapid Lip Mask

Wishing all our readers a very Happy New Year! Let’s kick 2020 off with looking at lip products as we know that the key to any fabulous full-on red lips or just a healthy-looking pout is a quality lip scrub and mask. So imagine finding products that smell good enough to eat! Enter Herbal Dynamics Beauty ’s. Their Acai & Mango Sugar Lip Scrub contains only natural oils and extracts. Yummy as this might sound, we at The Amazing Blog do not advocate eating it! Instead, it’s best to use for exfoliating dead skin, paired with their Volumizing & Smoothing Rapid Lip Mask to help achieve plumper and healthier looking lips.

Herbal Dynamics Beauty is based in Scottsdale, Arizona. It was founded just a few years ago with the core belief that ‘what you put on your body is of the utmost importance’. Natural ingredients, like acai extract and pistachio oil, are combined with botanicals, such as xylitol and vitamin E, to create the Acai Lip Scrub and Volumizing Lip Mask Duo. Cocoa butter and pistachio oil add an extra layer of hydration and reduce inflammation with the scrub while peptides in the mask increase hyaluronic acid for plumper lips. This 'science-meets-nature' approach results in useful products that are gentle for sensitive skin and as we mentioned, smell amazing. Both products also are free from sulphates, parabens, phthalates, and are also cruelty-free.

The duo is perfect to use when you have time at night or when you want to pamper yourself. The sugary texture of the lip scrub allows it to work with just the slightest pressure from your fingers and creates a base for the lip mask to be most effective. A small coat of the lip mask should stay on your lips for about 3-5 minutes before removing and revealing more full lips ready for the next day or some lipstick. The company prides itself on making products for ‘consumers seeking affordable options’. It’s £24 for the Sugar Lip Scrub here and £21 for the Rapid Lip Mask here. This price point may appear high, but a little goes a long way and they’re something you will only use 2-3 times a week.

PHOERA - The Body Luminizer

As the glimmering snow is beginning to fall (wishful thinking!) And we’re the smell of eggnog and gingerbread are overtaking our senses,  Santa’s coming to town very soon! Every nook and corner of London is shimmering with festive decorations highlighted by the twinkle in everyone’s eyes and hearts. Here at The Amazing Blog, we love to part take in Christmas holiday fun and thus with all the festivities just around the corner, we thought when everything around town is embellished with glitter and gold, why shouldn't you do the same? We bring to you a little shimmer by our new #amazingfinds beauty brand PHOERA with their glistening Body Luminizer. Say goodbye to your old self and hello to the new dewy, shimmery and angelic person you will soon see in your mirror.

The Body Luminizer is a gel-based formula with light-reflecting pearl pigments that give you unfathomably smooth and glossy skin. Key ingredients are rose water, glycerine, distilled, water, witch hazel, and mica. The formula melts like butter on toast into the skin ensuring a streak-free finish that's perfect for buffing into any area of the body in order to glow like a goddess. Additionally, it also has priceless moisturising qualities so that it not only leaves your skin shiny but also healthy and hydrated. Especially with all this winter weather, the gel-based formula promises soft, supple and smooth skin that feels drenched in a sunny, radiant luminous finish making you look as though you just vacationed in the Bahamas. However, this post-holiday look is now yours to keep all year round, after all, who said you needed a tan to look golden?

The formula is available in three different shades. Rose gold for fair and light tones, Metallic gold for medium and tan tones and finally, glistening bronze for deeper skin tones. Whichever of the three you chose according to your skin tone is up to you however, the end result will surely be the same, glowing and dewy complexion blessed by the heavens above! Consider this recommendation from us our little Christmas present to you for your New Year’s Eve celebrations. You can easily purchase the 30ml bottle online from their official website for as little as £5.95 here.

Friday Favourites – Christmas Gift Sets from Heathcote & Ivory

As regular reader may have gathered from our week of reviewing gift sets, at The Amazing Blog we’re now really getting into the Christmas spirit.  Since one gift doesn’t always work for everyone, we have gathered a selection for our gift set finale, with a trio from one of our favourite brand Heathcote & Ivory

Founded in 2000, this quintessentially British brand Heathcote & Ivory has successfully established itself as a lifestyle brand spread across over 35 countries, with its most unique and recognisable hallmark of bright and floral patterns on all its designs and collections. With an extensive variety of products from home fragrances to bath and body care, there is always something for everyone. If you’re new to The Amazing Blog then see here for some of our other #amazingfinds from this company.

The first item we’re going to talk about today is their Sweet Pea & Honeysuckle Floral Hands & Perfume Pair. This adorable Christmas-themed packaging contains a roll-on perfume gel and hand cream. The 10ml pink flacon of perfume gel is alcohol–free, and the smell is soft and floral with notes of fresh sweet peas and honeysuckle. The 30ml hand and nail cream has an identical scent and is enriched with shea butter, vitamin E, glycerin and pro-vitamin B5 to help keep hands soft, smooth and moisturised during this chilly season. Both products are small and will fit beautifully into a small clutch or travel bag, so if you know anyone who loves travelling this would be the ideal gift. It has a retail price of £8 here.

Next up is the gift set styled as a set of classic Christmas crackers. Young or old, everyone loves opening crackers to see what’s inside. We know that we do. Vintage & Co Grand Circus Let’s Go Cracker Set has themed carton crackers with all the fun of the circus,  each contains a three 30ml tube of hand cream. We love that it’s full of long-lasting festive fragrance notes of pomegranates, ripened red berries, eggnog, mulled wine, vanilla frostings and sweet orange swirls. Each tube contains shea butter, vitamin E and sweet orange essential oil as part of their key ingredients to help keep hands soft and smooth. The texture is thick and creamy, and a little goes a long way. We must quickly point out that the crackers contain three identical hand creams, so no swapsies here. Instead spread the love and make three people very happy with just one purchase here. All for the princely sum of £10!

Finally, we’ve saved the best till last. The Enchanted Forest Beauty Trilogy, with its majestic look, this elegant body care collection opens like a book and weights like a treasure chest. We took a peek and found 150g Bath Salts, 200ml Body Lotion and 100ml Hand Cream. The Bath Salts, have the enchanting scents of forest greens, with relaxing chamomile, bluebells, jasmine and rose; with subtle base notes of sandalwood, cedarwood and sweet vanilla. The Body Lotion quickly absorbs into skin, making it soft to the touch and locks in the shared fragrance. The Hand Cream is the same but enriched with shea butter and vitamin E. Its light non-oily texture leaves hands feeling soft and moisturised. Best of all we love that this Beauty Trilogy box can be reused to store papers, photos and memories – what a gift! If you wish to treat someone you love we recommend you buy this gift set here for only £18. We love the originality and affordability of the Heathcote & Ivory gift sets – they never fail to disappoint!

Lavera - Sweet Moments Body Lotion & Body Wash

We’re well aware of how difficult the quest can be to find effective, organic and sustainable skincare products. That’s why, at The Amazing Blog we’d like to reacquaint you with one of our favourite brands Lavera, which is an organic, vegan and 100% certified natural skincare.  Regular readers will know how much we love this brand, with many of their products featured here. Their mission is a simple one, and we particularly like that they practice what they preach.

The founder of Lavera, Thomas Haase dedicated his life to achieving his vision of producing organic and natural beauty. Over forty years on, it is still a family run business with their production in Germany. The range now has over 300 plant-based products, with organic ingredients sourced from all around the globe. Lavera is a multi-award-winning brand, which serves as a testament to their hard work and success.

We were very kindly sent their latest collection of Sweet Moments Body Lotion & Body Wash which we tried, tested and loved by all. The elegant duo pack comprises of a refreshing Body Wash as well as a nourishing Body Lotion. As we’re into the winter months, they couldn’t be more perfect to help nurture and protect the skin from the cold weather. Enriched with organic plum and vanilla, our skin felt pampered and healthy - the warm, inviting and subtle fragrance is an absolute treat for the senses. Both products nourish the skin, the Body Wash gently cleanses, while the Body Lotion quickly absorbs giving the skin suppleness. Also to quickly to mention with both these products, a little goes a very long way. Why not treat yourself or your loved ones to this body care duo this Christmas, at a very affordable £15.95 see here to purchase.

The Facial Box by Michaella Bolder

With Christmas just around the corner, the pressure of getting your loved ones the perfect gift is burning up and we can all surely feel it! A knitted sweater that might not fit or a bag that they may just have to pretend to like, but later return? Here at The Amazing Blog, we can do you one better and introduce you to the Michaella Bolder’s Facial Box that will surely put a smile on the recipients’ face!

Michaella Bolder has created The Facial Box by putting together a brilliant selection of products that take on a number of skincare challenges leaving you with beautiful, radiant and glowing skin. With over 10 years of experience in the beauty industry, Michaella has gained a reputation as a truly iconic facialist and tanning expert. Appearing regularly in leading international publications, she is now the go-to person for many celebrities including Dame Helen Mirren, Naomie Harris, Olivia Munn, Noomie Repace, Nick Grimshaw and Frankie Bridge to name but a few. Further, she is also known as a ‘facial expert’ for global skincare brands L’Oréal Paris, Time Bomb, Romilly Wilde, Rodial & Fusion Mesotherapy, alongside her tanning and skin finishing skills for St.Tropez and Vita Liberata. Thus it isn’t farfetched to say that the items included in The Facial Box will surely be effective and worthy.

The Facial Box by Michaella Bolder includes eight magnificent products. It includes two items by the brand Rodial from their Pink Diamond range. The first is a Cleansing Balm with vitamin E and diamond powder that works towards removing make-up and dirt helping to transform the skin. The second product is the Magic Gel Day which is a lightweight cream-gel targeting dehydration and fine lines for an instant glow. Thereon, the box also includes two items the organic skincare brand, Weleda which is a cream called Skin Food for dry and rough skin. This is formulated with plant extracts traditionally used to sooth the skin. There is also a Skin Food Light sample sachet which is an intensive instant moisturising skin cream for the face. Furthermore, the box includes the reputed Lactic Acid 10% by The Ordinary which visibly targets uneven tones, textural irregularities and fine lines. It is a high strength lactic acid superficial peeling formula that truly does wonders. Then there is the Self Tan Purity by St. Tropez which is a bronzing water face mist that results in natural glowing skin. Up next is the multipurpose soothing balm by PawPaw for lips, skin, cuticles and beauty finishing. Last but most certainly not the least, is the SPF 30 High Protection Face Moisturising Anti-Ageing Sun Protection by Ultrasun specifically for sensitive skin with antioxidants and ectoin®.

These eight products will certainly help your recipient’s skin for the better considering they were all put together by the knowledgeable and esteemed Michaella Bolder. Michaella’s expertise and knowledge of the beauty industry is endless and ever-growing. You can find her treating clients in some of London’s leading hotels, including The Mandarin Oriental, The Corinthia, The Ned and currently even Harrods and John Frieda Salon Mayfair.

Another perfect gift for a loved one, as well as the perfect treat for yourself, hop on over to the official website to purchase The Facial Box for £49.99 here to make your Christmas a little easier, happier and brighter. Hurray now, as for a limited time only there is a special offer of 30% off!