Manicure You London - Nail Polishes

We can never get enough of manicured nails, here at The Amazing Blog whether it’s to coordinate with our latest outfit or to pack into our travel bags for holidays. With Christmas fast approaching we couldn’t resist adding a trio of new sparkly colours from Manicure You to our collection.

Like many of us, Nicola Soremekun, the founder of Manicure You had damaged nails after years nail-biting and acrylics. Finally, she decided that it was time take care of her natural nails which took her on a nail journey creating an Instagram page ‘Nikki & Nails’ where she photographed and detailed her manicures, nail growth and colours of the week.  As a nail polish convert, she decided to launch her own brand in 2018 with a range of luxury nail products offered at affordable prices. Also, a black-owned business, being inclusive for all skin tones was a must for her, Nicola said: “I wanted to create a product that is inclusive of all skin tones, toxin-free and would allow my nails to breathe, be nurtured and grow whilst still rocking the latest shades.” All the Manicure You nail polishes are free from ingredients such as toluene, dibutyl phthalate, formaldehyde, formaldehyde resin, camphor, ethyl tosylamide, and xylene. For those of you new to nail lacquer formulations, here is why they are not included in the Manicure You formulations: Toluene is a neurotoxin that can cause neurological damage when inhaled. Although Dibutyl Phthalate helps improve nail durability but it is also associated with damage to the liver and kidneys. Formaldehyde and it’s by-product Formaldehyde Resin can cause allergic reactions, asthma, nausea, and dermatitis. Camphor can also trigger allergic reactions, headaches and nausea. Low doses of Xylene can cause headaches, and high doses can affect the respiratory system. Ethyl Tosylamide is banned in Europe due to it causing mild to severe allergic reactions; it also can disrupt hormones. With cuticle oil, top and base coat, as well as an array of over 23 vibrant colours in the range, there is something for everyone here. This collection of chic and environmentally friendly products, give results with a long-lasting gel-like finish, without the use of a UV lamp or soaking your nails in toxic acetone. 

Adding some twinkle to fingers and toes, and creating fun nail art always gets us in the celebratory mood. This is where the Christmas trio of shimmer shades from Manicure You with Moonlight, Ruby Queen and Trophy complement, adding some serious festive pizzazz to our home manicure. Best of all, we found that the recommended application of two thin coats gives a gloop-free and long-lasting colour. Ruby Queen is a ‘lipstick red’ with the tiniest flecks of gold which glistens in the light, we think this shade is great for a girly night out or for the on-trend fashionistas. Whereas Trophy is the perfect in-between metallic shade of silver/gold making it the most versatile colour of the trio to rock for Christmas parties. Moonlight is a midnight blue giving a prism effect with light-reflecting rich cobalt shades, all of which add a little drama - this was our favourite shade from the trio. You can use these colours alone, or there are numerous nail art designs you can create. We suggest starting with Trophy as the base followed by a line of Ruby Queen and Midnight on the tips, like a reverse French. Or perhaps having Ruby Queen as the base and then taking Trophy to paint diagonal lines creating a candy cane effect. However, if you’re nail art novices, like us, then go for a more straightforward look by painting eight fingers in Midnight and both ring fingers in Trophy to give a festive accent. Why not follow this by painting all toes in the glorious Ruby Queen, the perfect colour for getting your feet party-ready. You can purchase all the Manicure You nail polishes here for £8.50 each.

The Flat Lay Co: Leopard Print Full Size Flat Lay Makeup Bag

Finding a perfect present for one person can be challenging, but when it comes to Christmas with lots of friends and family, now we’re having a complete meltdown! Here at The Amazing Blog when we ask our makeup-loving friends what they want, they just say: “Oh we’ll leave it up to you…” But then there’s always the question of: “Is it the right brand and colour?” However, the problem‘s solved this year with our latest #amazingfinds and The Flat Lay Co with their Flat Lay Makeup Bags.

After spending time getting her bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering, the founder Izzy Howe realised that it wasn’t the right career for her and promptly switched to business for her postgraduate education. After working in multiple tech companies, she decided to change her focus and 2017 The Flat Lay Co was born. Based in Shoreditch, Howe’s goal has been to create a product which offers a time-saving solution for an everyday problem. She noticed a gap in the market for a drawstring flat lay make up bag. This is a cosmetics bag that opens flat, offering the user to view all their makeup at once, with no more scrabbling around to find that all-important lip gloss at the bottom!  This ingenious drawstring flat lay makeup bag is the brand’s signature product and comes in a variety of colours and designs. Apart from the drawstring open flat makeup bags, they also have Brush Cases, Box Bags, Oversized Eye Masks and Scrunchies, so something to suit every budget.

The Leopard Print Flat Lay Makeup Bag has been a joy to use, as it’s both practical and stylish and comes in two sizes 50cm at £19.99 (that we have) or in a ‘Mini’ in 33cm at £17.99. Best of all, there is a range of fourteen different colourways to choose from, as well as three pale coloured soft velvet bags that coordinate with the Box Cases and Brush Bags. This leopard print was the one that caught our eye, and in a matter of seconds, we could open the flat lay makeup bag and find exactly the product we wanted, rather than rummaging around for ages.  The outer shell is made of a thick material which protects products from breakage, where there’s also a raised edge to stop anything from rolling away. Let’s not forget to mention the inside and outside pockets too, which hold loose products that might get lost, plus four elastic holders designed for brushes. What more do you need? We love these and think the ‘Mini’ is ideal for everyday use in our handbag, whereas the ‘Full size’ also makes an excellent travel companion. More importantly, we think this is an absolute must-have present for every makeup lover.  You can purchase any of The Flat Lay Co Makeup Bags here and by using our exclusive code THEAMAZINGBLOG15, you can receive 15% off your purchase.

THE PASTRY CHEF’S GUIDE by Ravneet Gill

Here at The Amazing Blog we not only enjoy eating delicious food but also finding new ways to simplify and cook it ourselves.  We’ve been making sure that we have got a supply of flour, baking powder and bicarbonate of soda so we can enjoy the current baking craze whilst staying at home.  Talking of which, today we’re featuring  The Pastry Chef’s Guide which will help ‘to up your game’ and get you onto another level in the world of baking. It also helped satisfy a sweet tooth! 

The Pastry Chef’s Guide is written by the inspirational Ravneet Gill for both chefs and home bakers, it’s a reference book that should be on everyone’s cookbook shelf.  Don’t be ‘afraid’ of baking is the message!  Gill writes about her love of baking and pastry which shines through, it’s easy and fun to read. It shows how to go back to basics and explains the use of each ingredient in detail like butter, gluten, gelatine; so you know how to get it right every time. Having started her love of sweets with chocolate covered raisins and Cadbury’s Fruit & Nut;  Gill studied at Le Cordon Bleu before taking over the pastry sections at St John, Llewelyn’s and Wild by Tart. Now a freelance chef, during 2018  she set up an industry networking forum called Countertalk, it’s a job service and community that advises on healthy work environments in the food industry. She has since successfully hosted events that encourage chefs to expand their knowledge outside of their stations by learning directly from other chefs.

The book is a joy to read as well as being straightforward in telling you how to line your tins, boiling points and what equipment you really need.  This book is all about the ingredients and taste-making sure it is seasonal whilst producing impressive puddings and pastries, Gill says she learned a lot of that from Fergus Henderson who writes the introduction to the book.  The Cherry and Custard Pie that she created here, is still on the menu at St John’s Restaurant.  The recipes are seriously good having been organised into sections of Sugar, Custards, Chocolate, Pastry, Biscuits, Cakes and Puddings.  There are step-by-step recipes to help you master custard, nail crème patisserie, or bake the ultimate gluten-free chocolate cake.  So whether you want to make a fluffy birthday cake, smooth and rich ice creams macarons, or meringues, Gill gives great advice to make it all seem easy, a good pastry chef is all about balance.  There are also great tips to help avoid the pitfalls, i.e. for meringues use a clean dry glass, ceramic, or metal bowl to avoid the egg absorbing any smell, colour, grease from a plastic bowl. French, Italian even Swiss meringues are all clearly explained; as are all the uses for custard from ice cream to doughnut filling, delicious. You can buy the book here at the price of £18.99, we think it’s a must for any cook!  

For those who want an online course, you can join Ravneet Gill at the Puff Bakery School for pastry online, where there are some great reviews on their courses.

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!