‘Derren Brown’s Ghost Train: Rise of the Demon’ at Thorpe Park

Halloween is possibly one of our favourite days of the year. We here at The Amazing Blog love the thrill of all things horror, and so Halloween is the perfect opportunity to seek those thrills.

Get your heart rate rising this Halloween with Thorpe Park’s latest hair-raising experience. New this year, ‘Derren Brown’s Ghost Train: Rise of The Demon’ is Thorpe Park’s immersive horror experience. This horrifying journey on the Ghost Train plunges you into the depths of the unknown, with disorienting physical effects and intense live action. The combination of virtual reality goggles, holograms and live action has been independently reviewed as genuinely scary. In fact, it actually has the longest list of safety warnings of any ride in Thorpe Park. With the initial opening, reviews were good but leaning towards mediocre, as people said it wasn’t 10/10 scary. The Thorpe Park team responded to this and made changes to ensure it was a solid 11/10 on the scare scale. They succeeded, and virtual reality melds into actual reality for a truly terrifying experience where people leave stressed, sweaty and shaking. Sign us up!

We will most definitely be boarding this Ghost Train this Halloween. If you believe you’re brave enough to come face to face with the Demon, purchase tickets for general Thorpe Park entry here, where prices start from £47.99 (Derren Brown’s Ghost Train is included in the general ticket).

Friday Feature - Breadren Cooking Classes

Bread. It’s perhaps one of our favourite comfort carbs not only at The Amazing Blog but for most of us, and the Breadren Cooking Class will teach you how to make it but with an artisan twist. You can learn how to make artisan bread from the comfort of your own home, which sounds fantastic to us. You will be taught by the bread-master Baker Max Tobias at the London-based artisan bakery, Breadren. Breadren, is holding cooking classes with dietary restrictions in mind. They understand the daily struggle if you’re gluten-free, vegan or even vegetarian, and they’re here to broaden your horizons. Their ethos is to promote natural, unpretentious food. You won't learn just how to bake, however, as some of their star recipes include roasted cauliflower with tahini, quinoa with roasted brussel sprouts, crispy kale & fresh pomegranate, Vietnamese-style summer rolls, charred sprouting broccoli with harissa, and matcha and coconut mochi cake.

We’ve often pined for the baking abilities of those we see on the British Bake Off, and now the abilty to shape round loaves, rolls and batards, to knead and proof dough, and manipulating temperatures for the ultimate loaf is at our fingertips. Both sweet and savoury baked goods are incorporated into the classes, and both naughty and nice recipes! You needn’t be trapped by trendy food fads and uninspired ‘free from’ diets. Their recipes naturally forego ingredients like eggs, sugar, wheat or dairy so you can keep to your diet restrictions if necessary, whilst cooking and eating some tasty food.

Vegan Cornbread

There are classes once a month throughout the year, ranging from ‘Vegan Seasonal Cooking and Baking’ to ‘Seasoning & Spice’ classes. However, if you prefer cooking around your loved ones you can book a private cooking class on everyday cooking or a themed cooking class for you and your friends and enjoy the experience. Breadren uses local and seasonal ingredients wherever possible, sourcing primarily from London and the South East, an added bonus.

You can book a cooking class here from £55, and book a private cooking tutorial here for a small group of 2-5 persons for £60 per person.

London Cocktail Week

London is perhaps one of the best places for cocktails, with the endless trendy and quirky bars on offer in this cosmopolitan city. London Cocktail Week is celebrating this fabulous cocktail scene, together with 250 of the city’s best bars, to serve discounted drinks to the London masses. During Cocktail Week there will be a cocktail village at Old Spitalfields Market, where you can immerse yourself in a maze of pop-up cocktail bars and food stalls.

The bartenders can make your cocktail dreams a reality. There is no doubt that the array of ingredients and recipes will be abundant, but do not fret if you don’t drink alcohol! Mocktail lovers are welcome too. London Cocktail week isn’t just about gathering around and consuming alcohol though! There will be a whole host of fun events going on, including masterclasses, distillery tours, tastings and paired meals. Ever wanted to learn exactly how vodka is made? Hint: it's from potatoes. How to tune your palette to tasting nuances of flavours within a drink? Or maybe you just want to gather around and meet some Londoners with some drinks. We don’t blame you.

The week runs from Monday 2nd October to Sunday 8th October. All you need to do is purchase a Digital Pass to receive London Cocktail Week special offers, including unlimited £6 cocktails in more than 250 venues across the week and exclusive discounts in bars, restaurants and events.

Celebrating our gorgeous city’s vibrant cocktail scene is our kind of fun, so we’ll see you there! You can purchase the Digital Pass here for £10.

Sculpt at Kew

As summer melds into autumn, amble through the picturesque gardens whilst admiring the contemporary sculptures situated amongst the foliage. If you’re an admirer of the art of sculpture and of gardens, like us at The Amazing Blog, Sculpt at Kew marries the two perfectly. It forms the ideal combination, as you can marvel at the man-made beauty in a beautiful natural setting. The exhibition runs from September 18th – October 15th and is held at the famous Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.

The stunning gardens are the perfect backdrop to over 30 renowned British and international artists’ work. This innovative exhibition features sculptures in an array of materials from bronze, ceramics, glass to woodwork. There is something for everyone, whether you’re partial to figurative, abstract or modern works of art, and if one happens to take your fancy you can even purchase the sculptures on show. The sculptures range in prices, so there is one for every budget. Carefully curated with a contemporary approach, you are sure to see a diverse variety of work, but all sharing quality, tradition, heritage and integrity in the work. The artists were all chosen with their craft skills in mind, so you are bound to see a high calibre of sculptures.

For a pleasant stroll through the Royal Botanic Gardens amidst stunning sculptures, purchase a ticket here for £14 for an adult and £2.50 for children aged 4-16.

Don't Miss the 2018 Beauty Shortlist Awards!

 The 2018 Beauty Shortlist Awards are now open for entries!

We are excited to announce the seventh annual, 2018 Beauty Shortlist Awards which will take place in London on Friday 2nd March 2018. It’s the second year that the awards are open to submissions from international beauty, health and men’s grooming brands, with judging panels in the UK, USA and Australia. For categories and entry details, please see their website here.

Closing date for all entries: Friday 17th November.

Lead judges for 2018 are now confirmed, including:

LONDON - Red carpet, cruelty-free humane society ambassador and makeup artist Justine Jenkins (Fearne Cotton, Eleanor Tomlinson), health coach and yoga and beauty expert Amber Macintosh (Dandelion Wellbeing) and contributing beauty editor and freelance beauty/lifestyle writer Helen Wilson-Beevers (Marie Claire, Stylenest, Cosmopolitan).

NEW YORK -  TV fashion stylist and on-air presenter Dawn Del Russo (Access Hollywood, E!, Cosmopolitan, Vogue Italy) and her sister makeup artist Denise Del Russo, with new judge Beauty + Content founder and beauty photographer Amy Schneider joining the panel.

AUSTRALIA – Holly Spierings, creator of award-winning makeup brand Eye of Horus Cosmetics and eco-luxe skincare blogger Arjun Sudhir.

There are twenty international beauty judges for 2018, and five for the Men’s Grooming categories, including Josh Blackburn and Liam Jennings, founders of London grooming destination Regal Gentleman. 

100% independent, these awards are sponsor-free and ad-free.

About The Beauty Shortlist Awards:

Fiona Klonarides founded The Beauty Shortlist in 2009 and in just a few short years, has transformed her hub of beauty wit and wisdom into one of the UK’s number one natural beauty destinations and one of the UK’s top ten beauty blogs. The awards have fast become an important event in the beauty calendar, Fiona and her team leave no pot unopened on their quest to discover the very best in beauty, and every year bestow coveted ‘Beauty Shortlist Awards’ upon their favourite bathroom cabinet must-haves. 

First launched in 2012, The Beauty Shortlist Awards are the largest, non-sponsored, judged (not voted) beauty and wellness awards in the UK. “The Beauty Shortlist Awards always give us a fantastic, eagle eye view of emerging trends and breakthroughs as we hunt down the year’s top "feel good" finds - and with the international judging panels we look forward to an incredibly exciting few months of beauty discoveries, in the lead up to March 2018,” says founder, Fiona Klonarides.

For further information about the Awards please contact:

Hannah hannahbeautyshortlist@gmail.com or Fiona beautyshortlist@gmail.com

@Beautyshortlist  (TWITTER & INSTAGRAM) www.thebeautyshortlist.com

For media enquiries:

Edwina Wynyard  edwina@amazingpr.co.uk