Incensum Fragrance – Sanctifino Perfume Oil

These past few months, the COVID 19 pandemic has forced us all to reconsider our place on this earth. During the lock-down, nature began to take back this place that we call home: Plants were able to finally grow freely and animals started coming out fearlessly to live their happy and simple lives. And while each and every one of us at The Amazing Blog has had time to reflect about the endangered state of our planet Earth, a new fragrance that we’ve received from Incensum has helped to uplift our spirits, and reconnect us back with nature.

Sanctifino is a unisex perfume oil from the LA-based brand Incensum Fragrance, which is created by designer and founder of the brand Jeannine Clark. With its completely vegan, synthetic-free, and hand-crafted formulas, the brand celebrates the origins of perfumery by honouring the reverie that the ancestors avowed to nature. Through its all organic perfume oil, the brand aims to calm the senses, helping the wearer find peace and embark on a spiritual journey to commune with nature and the universe. When talking about their alchemy and olfactory process, they told us: “Both human and non-human creatures are known to communicate their emotional states through the scents they emit. A fragrance may complement or intensify one's own natural pheromones which can evoke subconscious effects.” Intriguing! This may only be their debut perfume oil, and if Sanctifino is anything to go by, we feel sure that their next one will be even more alluring! 

This perfume oil Sanctifino is supernatural – in every sense of the word – an elixir trapped in a luxurious hand-crafted bottle, that reflects the mystical and heavenly ambience that emanates from the bottle. It comes in two sizes 50ml and 5ml, we received the 5ml with a roll-on top, making it the perfect size to fit into even the smallest bag.  With strong top notes of incense and a piquant of very intense green scent from the galbanum green resin fighting for dominance, it oozes autumn.  We think it’s reminiscent of the wafting smoke from sweet autumn leaves left to smoulder. It gently caresses and with its oily finish makes for a longer-lasting scent release on the skin, unlike its cousin Eau de Parfum. When the organic jojoba base oil warms up, the middle notes become more apparent as they liberate softer aromatic and more comforting notes of clary sage, silver fir. The sweet orange here also lingers, helping to create a warmth and sense of wellbeing. If describing it as a smoky scent sound surprising for a fragrance, we want to point out that it is nonetheless deliciously original, and works well with the other essential oils, to create a perfect balance of a smoky-sweet-earthy scent. When we close our eyes and inhale, we can almost imagine being transported to an ancient temple, surrounded by wild plants, where the incense burn and the sunlight cast shadows on the gold-carved statues of gods. We recommend anointing the wrists, rub a little to warm the perfume oil, and then taking deep breaths; it helps to soothe the mind giving you your own little piece of calm throughout the day.  Again, they say that it is a: “Multidimensional experience as well as shedding light into the nature of reality by fusing the mind, body and spirit through aromatic essential oils.” And, we couldn’t have said it better! If we’ve managed to intrigue you with this Sanctifino Perfume Oil, you too can purchase their 5ml here for $35. 

IGNITE CBD - Skincare

As regular readers will know, we’re always on the lookout for new CBD brands particularly those with sublingual’s or skincare. Today, at The Amazing Blog, we’re bringing you an international CBD brand with their newly launched range of skincare. They very kindly sent us a wide selection of products from face creams, muscle rubs to body oil and bath bombs.   

Launched in the USA in September 2018, IGNITE is a global and premium CBD brand. The inspiration for the IGNITE came from its CEO, Dan Bilzerian, where IGNITE has positioned itself as the gold standard and industry expert in cannabis and CBD, supported with a premium apparel line, beverages, and now a skincare range - all for inspiring an active lifestyle. Their CEO is also best known for his extravagant parties and very public social media lifestyle.  Saying that, IGNITE is keen to be seen as a socially responsible company. It is committed to using its marketing and brand power as a positive catalyst for a healthy lifestyle. Their branding, as you would expect is slick and sexy with stylish unisex black and silver packaging. All their skincare products have no THC, as the CBD here is sourced from CBD isolate only. This means that they have a refined crystalline form CBD which is thought to be the purest and most potent form of CBD and is both tasteless and odourless. Mainly extracted from hemp, the isolate is produced by removing all other compounds found in the plant including other cannabinoids isolating the CBD.  Therefore, making these products ideal for athletes to use, without the fear of THC, if they’re randomly drug tested. The CBD isolate helps treat pain and reduces inflammation and has no psychoactive effects. All IGNITE products are vegan, cruelty-free, gluten-free, with no pesticides, THC free and thoroughly tested.

As big CBD fans, we were thrilled to receive this bumper gift box with ten skincare products to review. Let’s start with the 100mg CBD Bath Bombs (Energise and Relax). The CBD level in both bath bombs is less to 0.2% (100mg). Here is shea butter, known for soothing your skin and giving a velvety texture but also treat your inflammations. The oils found here are coconut known for having antibacterial and moisturising properties, golden Argan which calms the skin, peach kernel that will give your skin a great glow. And lastly avocado rich in vitamins and fatty acids such as vitamin A, D and E and proteins, that provide the skin with protection from UV rays damage. Then the essential oils, of rosehip act as an anti-ageing ingredient whereas the pomegranate oil is a has potent anti-inflammatory.  Of course, we mustn’t forget the crucial key ingredient for Energise, is the citrus and orange oil which leaves a sense of freshness and lifts the mood. Whereas Relax, has lavender oil to help ease muscles and joint pain after a hard day’s training in the gym. IGNITE advises using one of their bath bomb every day, leaving it to fully dissolve in the bathtub before getting in, then soaking in this great mix of aromas and CBD for 30 minutes to get the best results. Both retail here at £8 each.

The IGNITE 500 mg CBD Body Oil, certainly piqued our interest. This CBD Body Oil is blended with five oils designed to fight dry skin and nourish the body. The CBD here is the healer and rejuvenator of skin cells. Mixed with grapeseed oil a powerful antioxidant, sweet almond oil for treating dry skin like eczema and psoriasis; the lavender oil known for killing bacteria and preventing acne breakouts, it also unclogs pores and reduces inflammation. This vanilla and floral-scented body oil also has the nut oil tamanu oil promotes collagen and helps to slow ageing. The fifth oil in this blend is the evening primrose oil which provides hydration and elasticity. This Madagascan Vanilla & Lavender 100ml Body Oil smells divine and applies easily. To get the best results, gently massage it into dry skin to stimulate circulation and blood flow. Apply at least once a day for £25.00 here. 

Because tattoos can hold significant meaning to those that have them, it’s essential to take care of your skin before, during and after having the procedure. Here IGNITE has launched a pot of  500g CBD Tattoo Balm. For preparation, procedure and aftercare this is the balm to have. The chamomile oil with its anti-inflammatory properties, the lavender oil reduces inflammation and redness, and the miraculous tea tree oil will ease swelling and speed up healing. The CBD isolates here also act as a healer and protector. You can find a 50ml pot here for £25.00. That brings us on to the 500mg CBD Footcare Cream, rich and silky this footcare will help soften the hard skin on your feet. The sea buckthorn oil promotes hydration, elasticity and cell regeneration. The shea butter here will hold the moisture and heal dry skin; the jojoba oil is used as a deep cleanser and moisturiser for the skin. This cream has a thick whipped consistency guaranteeing an intense foot treatment, see here for £25.00. Moving on, IGNITE also has  500 mg CBD Joint Cream and a Muscle Rub Gel both have been created to ease joint and muscle pain, particularly after exercise. The CBD here, as previously mentioned, holds anti-inflammatory properties and helps increase mobility. Theses blends are mixed with natural oils such as olive and avocado oil both of which help to speed up healing. They also contain coconut oil which is antimicrobial and reduces inflammation while keeping the skin moisturised and shea butter is an excellent skin conditioner. Plus, the camphor and menthol relieve skin irritation and gives a cooling sensation. The Muscle Rub Gel is as it says a gel, and has the addition of aloe vera which provides pain relief, it also penetrates the dermis to help lubricates the joints thanks to the hyaluronic acid. The lavender oil extract will help ease muscles boosting blood circulation and helping to reduce any stiffness or muscle discomfort at night.  The 50ml Joint Cream is here for £25.00. The 50ml Muscle Rub Gel can be found here for £25.00

Finally, we have the three skincare products for the face. The first step is the orange and grapefruit 500mg CBD Hydrating Face Serum. This formula is infused with natural oils and contains CBD isolates (which we have discussed). The grapefruit oil will detox and brighten your skin, the orange peel oil gives a healthy complexion thanks to the vitamin C. It is blended with avocado oil, great for shielding your skin against UV rays. There is retinol, a pure source of vitamin A, making this serum a rejuvenator as it will stimulate the collagen in the skin. The aloe vera leaf powder here is for hydration and skin healing;  argan, jojoba and rosehip oils will balance the skin and sebum production; and the green tea extract is full of antioxidant properties. And finally, the passion fruit extract will help with fine lines. IGNITE suggests gently dabbing this product onto cleansed skin, then after applying tap the face with fingertips to encourage the serum to penetrate to the deepest layers of the skin. You can find this refreshing anti-ageing serum here for £25.00. The second step is the 500 mg CBD Moisture Day Cream.  The key ingredients are the blackberry and ylang-ylang which will renew the skin cells and balance the pH of the skin helping to prevent any extreme dryness. The sunflower oil is rich in vitamin A, C, D and E and acts as an antioxidant. It contains shea butter which softens the skin helping to rid it of dark spots. Also rich in olive oil, hydraulic acid and green tea all known for reducing sebum oil in the skin, rejuvenating and repairing it make the skin look younger and glowing. CBD Moisture Day cream will also tighten the pores, use it every day on your face and neck for good daily hydration. Find it here for £25.00. Last but not least, in the face care range, we have the 500mg CBD Hydro Night Cream.  On top of the significant CBD effect on the skin, it contains avocado oil, shea butter, olive oil, sunflower oil, rosehip oil, and, lavender oil. This night cream complements the day cream where the skin feels hydrated in the morning, with the new skin cells being regenerated overnight. It also contains coconut oil which will heal the redness of your skin; oat silk which mattifies and brightens the skin, it removes greasiness and excess oil, all without drying. This night cream Is also ideal for sensitive complexions. This mildly lavender-scented, the night cream won’t clog the pores and penetrates the deeper layers of the dermis, providing long-lasting hydration and reducing the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles. You can find it here for £25.00.  

NB: For those new to CBD skincare, these products contain 500mg of CBD isolates which translates into 0.5% except for the bath bombs which are 0.2%. This percentage is enough to act effectively and add an extra boost to a skincare routine. Due to the antioxidants present, it will help acne-prone skin and is also suitable for those with sensitive skin as it has deeply soothing properties. If you’re unsure of the percentages, you can check here with A Beginner Guide to CBD Dosing.

Clockface Beauty – Beard Oil Ho Leaf & Bergamot

They say ‘time is measured in days, weeks and beards’ and with this yo-yo-ing lockdown, it feels like I’ve been cultivating one for months! Yet again, this presents another perfect opportunity to put those girls at The Amazing Blog through their paces, to search out a natural, super-gentle and great smelling beard oil for me. Not an easy task as my skin is quite sensitive and when washing my face, which is now quite often, it becomes a little sore and sensitive. This time, they introduced me to one of their favourite organic skincare brands Clockface Beauty who has created a fantastic grooming range from cleanser, masks to shave balms and oils. They kindly sent us their award-winning Ho Leaf & Bergamot Beard Oil which I couldn’t wait to try. If the brand sounds familiar to you, it probably because you’ve read our feature on their Foot & Leg Scrub and Balm here.

Sarah Thomas founded Clockface Beauty with the help of her mother, Karen. During her pregnancy, Sarah found there to be a noticeable lack of transparency on beauty product labelling. So this is where the Clockface Beauty story began where she and her mother decided to create their brand of natural, organic, cruelty-free and vegan skincare. This luxurious and natural skincare also offers products without artificial chemicals or synthetic fragrances.

As with so many of their products, the Ho Leaf & Bergamot Beard Oil has ingredients that are 99% organic. I used this Beard Oil first thing on my freshly washed beard, massaging it in to help nurture not only my hair follicles but skin too. The result was that my whiskers felt softer and my skin soothed and hydrated. A few drops of this Beard Oil go a long way, it absorbed quickly leaving me with a very pleasant fresh and subtle aroma. Light in consistency, it’s versatile enough to use on all beard lengths and skin types. The key ingredients of bergamot have antibacterial benefits helping to reduce skin irritation, oiliness, acne, psoriasis and eczema. Whereas the frankincense here has anti-ageing properties that protect the skin cells while reducing the blemishes and shrinking the pores. The carrier oils are jojoba which stimulates the hair growth and apricot kernel gives a toning and slight tightening effect to the skin. I was also pleasantly surprised to learn that the ho leaf here is mildly antiseptic, stimulating and known to also be an aphrodisiac! All in all, this Beard Oil feels cooling and healing, so if you too have a newly acquired beard that is giving you some grief, look no further. To purchase the 30ml Clockface Beard Oil for £22 here.

Budslife – CBD Patches

The girls at The Amazing Blog are big fans of all things CBD and have finally persuaded me to try some. What harm can there be, I thought, only good things can come from the wonderous hemp plant. I think I would be right in saying that many of us have been feeling a little stressed with the possibility of yet another lockdown and the current uncertainty – so something to potentially ‘take the edge off’ was most welcome. I didn’t want to take any of the sublingual CBD (I’m not good at ingesting things that taste a bit strange!) So they found me the perfect solution with some rather innovative skin patches – yes, patches! They’re the newly launched CBD patches by Budslife which are scent-free, flavourless and easy to use – just unpeel and stick it onto clean skin – et voila!

Budslife founder Shaun Williams came up with the CBD patches concept at the time when his daughter was going to university. She was about to face new challenges all alone, and that’s when her stress and anxiety kicked in. Instead of taking pills and medications, Shaun came up with the idea to create these CBD patches, which helped her cope to feel more relaxed and focused; which is when he realised that many others could also benefit from these CBD patches. 

These CBD patches come in a box with two silver foil sachets (eight patches to the sachet). Budslife sources their Full-Spectrum and 0% THC CBD from Holland, which is then impregnated into the patches which are made up of pressure-sensitive medical glue and penetration enhancers (antioxidant, hydrocarbon C5 / C9 and copolymer). The patches have a slow release of over 8-10 hours with each patch being infused with 16g of CBD. They are designed to release safe and measured levels of CBD throughout the time of wearing. Conveniently this could be night or day (I preferred to stick my patch on at night) where they are absorbed trans-dermally. This is thought to be quicker to get than into the bloodstream than through sublingual application. I have to be honest and say the 16mg patch was not enough for me and so I was advised to double up with 2 x patches = 32mg. Which BTW is perfectly safe. I believe that Budslife is about to launch the next range with 32mg and a 64mg range of patches. Upping the CBD dose did make a difference to me, I would say not immediately but accumulatively; by night 3, I was feeling more relaxed despite having had a rather stressful day. So if like me, you dislike the taste of hemp, but are curious to try CBD, then these are definitely for you, a box of 16 patches is £14.99 here.

Ting Tang - Dry Wash Shampoo

Do you wash your hair every day? I don't! When I mentioned this to the team at The Amazing Blog – there was a gasp of horror from a few. Did you know that by washing your hair every day it strips the scalp natural oils and microbiomes leaving the hair looking dull, lifeless and brittle? This is why I’ve been a fan of dry shampoo between washes. Not only does it give my fine hair more volume and body, but it also freshens it up and is a lifesaver when I've got a full-on day. So, when I learned about an entirely new type of 'anytime anywhere' foam-based Dry Wash Shampoo - Ting Tang, I knew I had to try it!

First let's meet the creator of Ting Tang, Purdey who was working in banking before she decided to quit and pursue her career as a trapeze artist. However, her secret dream had always been running a business of her own. Her daughter gave her the inspiration when she developed an aversion to water, which led her to create this clever Dry Wash Shampoo.  Despite having had the idea from a toddler, this is a gender-neutral product that and can be enjoyed by people of all ages, with or without toddlers of their own. Not forgetting to mention, that this start-up company even won a BBC One's award on the programme The Customer Is Always Right being selected as the customers’ favourite.

This Ting Tang Dry Wash Shampoo is unlike any traditional or dry shampoo, for that matter. It is a foam-based fragrance-free product that actually cleans! I find that most dry shampoos do offer volume but also mask the dirt and tend to leave a residue of heavy scent. With Ting Tang, I found it easy to apply with about 3 or 4 pumps of foam on my hair, massaging it through from the roots to ends, then towel-drying. Followed by a quick blast of the hairdryer and I styled my hair as usual – start to finish it took all of about 8 minutes. What I like about Ting Tang, is that it washes and cleans the hair with no fragrance or stickiness, as I'd first imagined. It's the ideal size for travelling at 100ml, and can easily be slipped into a carry-on for a long haul flight where it’s perfect for a quick refresh.  This will not only be loved by your hair, but also by the planet as it's fully recyclable, vegan, gluten and cruelty-free - they even offer a refill pack for the bottle!  NB: We reviewed the Ting Tang Tots, but they told us that ingredients are the same as the adult version. Give you dry shampoo the elbow and try this instead. You can purchase your Ting Tang Dry Wash Shampoo 100ml here for only £8.49.