IVAR - Ho Wood Handwash

Due to how frequent we wash our hands, it is essential to use a handwash that is both gentle and moisturising. However, a good handwash must also work hard to cleanse our hands of germs. The Amazing Blog team has been lucky enough to find such a handwash:  IVAR's Ho Wood Handwash. IVAR London, "Home of Modern Man," is a furniture, home-ware, and design brand. They have launched a line of hand soaps, creams, and body wash that are sleekly designed, to provide caring skin treatment while stylising your bathroom.

IVAR is primarily a furniture, homeware, and design brand created by Patrick Dougherty. They specialise in uniquely beautiful interior design looks and furniture. When we learned about their line of soaps and creams, we had to give them a try. Each bottle of IVAR handwash comes in a long, sleek black & white bottle, and the label is comprised of strong, simple lines.

Made in the UK, IVAR's Ho Wood Handwash contains ho wood oil, citrus lemon peel oil, clary sage oil,  and citric acid. The essential oils refresh your hands and leave them with a zingy lemon scent with a dampening of sage, loved by the men and women in our team. This handwash also contains plant-derived glycerine, which naturally provides hands with moisture, wonderful for those of you with sensitive skin.

You can purchase your own Ho Wood Handwash 300ml by IVAR here for £17.00. Plus, there's free shipping within the UK.

Ruskha's Travel Try-Me Kit

We are always on the go at The Amazing Blog, so when we find 100% natural and vegan products that are also travel-sized our eyes light up.  Ruskha’s Travel Try-Me Kit contains two products; the Skin Awakening Cleanser and the Concentrated Youth Elixir. Ruskha is Bulgarian cosmetics brand founded by Rossy Antonova. They pride themselves on creating products with 100% natural plant ingredients, without using any fillers or synthetic/toxic substances. They also hand make their products in small quantities so that you always receive the highest quality.

First, the travel kit includes The Skin Awakening Cleanser, which works to remove dead skin cells and clean pores. We like this product because it gets the tough job done without drying out our skin. The cleanser contains French pink clay, thermal muds, white willow bark, liquorice, sandalwood, cinnamon, cardamom, clove, and soapnut. These all-star ingredients have a variety of benefits, including extracting toxins from the skin and soothing + cleansing. This cleanser comes as a powder, but all it takes to activate it is a couple drops of water. This cleanser has taken our skincare routine to the next level.

Secondly, we have The Concentrated Youth Elixir, a Pure Beauty Awards 2018 Finalist. It is wonderful for reducing the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles. This powerful elixir has the skin looking rejuvenated and radiant. This product contains 18 powerful ingredients some of which include: French lavender extract, Salicornia extract, mastic gum extract, Argan oil, and frankincense oil. This mixture gives the skin a healthy glow, as well as making the skin look younger and more hydrated. All it takes is 1-4 pumps of the elixir applied to a clean face in the morning and evening.  

You can purchase Ruskha’s Travel Try-Me Kit that includes a 10ml bottle of Concentrated Youth Elixir and a 100ml bottle of Skin Awakening Cleanser, here for €59.

Belinda Clark Gourmet S’mores Kit

We all know that the best memory from camping in our younger days was when we got to sit around the campfire roasting marshmallows. These irresistible treats always make us reminisce here at The Amazing Blog, so when we received the Belinda Clark Gourmet S’mores Kit, we were instantly transported to sweet summer days.

The reason we adore this kit is that it has everything you could need to make s’mores wherever and whenever you need to indulge just a little bit. Of course, these aren’t the s’mores you would remember from your childhood because Belinda Clark specialises in unique gourmet marshmallow flavours. This kit combines 12 of her scrumptiously hand-crafted salted caramel marshmallows that would make your mouth water on its own, but when combined with slightly melted Belgian dark chocolate thins on gourmet almond biscuits, you will never want to go back to your basic s’mores again. The kit is also equipped with 6 sticks to toast the marshmallows as well your own odourless gel burner that lasts two hours so that you can toast your marshmallows at any moment you desire. Go ahead and enjoy a bit of summer year round. The Belinda Clark S’mores Kit is available for purchase here for £18.50.    

Zglow Blueberry Antioxidant Mask

Today, The Amazing Blog has quite the treat for you all. This intensely hydrating Blueberry Antioxidant Mask from zglow is so deliciously scented that we’re almost tempted to take a taste! Instead, we let our skin drink up this treat made of 100% organic ingredients. Zglow is a US skincare brand that cares about what ingredients are absorbed into the skin, the environment, and our animal friends. This is something that always sparks our interest, particularly since they proudly boast to be organic, paraben, chemical and BPA free, vegan, non-toxic, and never tested on animals.

This creamy face mask is filled to the brim with ripened blueberries and white tea, which do wonders for cell rejuvenation and the removal of dead skin cells. Blueberries are little antioxidant powerhouses and this face mask is full of all of their skin-loving vitamins. It is highly recommended for dry to normal, sensitive or mature skin types. Our favourite way to use it is as a base for our makeup, especially those of us who struggle with pesky dry patches that can cause your makeup to appear flaky. We simply apply a pea size amount all over the skin, let it soak in for a few minutes, and continue on with our make-up routine.

This mask glides on and over dry patches to make our skin brighter, while helping to reduce redness. When we really need to pack in a punch of serious hydration, we exfoliate the skin in the shower and then apply a generous amount over the face and neck.  Relax for 10-15 minutes, as the mask works its magic. Then simply rinse and follow with your regular moisturiser. We also used the Blueberry Antioxidant Mask overnight. Just remember to always wipe away any excess before hitting the pillow. Of course, our favourite part is the fact that it smells just like blueberry pie. The Blueberry Antioxidant Mask is available for purchase here on the US website for $27 plus international postal shipping charges of $14.

Friday Favourites: Perfume boxes

The scent of a perfume often reveals a person’s personality. Finding the right fragrance that embodies who we are is a struggle. With so many fragrances out there, it can feel impossible to narrow it down. The Amazing Blog has rounded up some fantastic fragrances that we are sure you will love. Whether you prefer a sensual, floral or bold scent, there is something that will suit you. These Discovery and Sample sets are also the perfect gift!

JO LOVES FRANGRANCE DISCOVERY GIFT EXPERIENCE

The famous Jo Malone rules the fragrance market, and for good reason! Jo started her fast-growing company, Jo Malone London, in her London kitchen. This scent mixologist gained huge recognition for her accomplishments, leading to her selling the company to Estée Lauder Companies in 1999 where she worked as the Creative Director until 2006.

Jo Malone is back with her new company Jo Loves, inspired by her beloved memories. We are so excited to see new beautiful and high-quality fragrances from her! The Jo Loves Fragrance Discovery Gift Experience is a wonderful way to explore some of Jo Malone’s long-lasting incredible scents to find one that best suits you. The Fragrance Discovery Gift Experience consists of ten 2ml vials. The best part? Jo Loves will send you your favourite fragrance in the form of a 50ml bottle of Eau de Toilette. The fragrances include Pomelo, White Rose & Lemon Leaves, Mandarin, Smoked Plum & Leather, Red Truffle 21, Shards of Cedar & Red Thyme, No. 42 The Flower Shop, Gardenia, Pink Vetiver, and Green Orange & Coriander. With this wide array of aromas to test and choose from, you are sure to fall in love with at least one!

Our go-to of the bunch has to be the Smoked Plum & Leather, but you can purchase the set here for £105 to see which one you fancy.

SANA JARDIN DISCOVERY SET

Next up, we’ve got the Sana Jardin Discovery Set. Sana Jardin is the first socially-conscious luxury fragrance brand. They strive to create social change through commerce called The Beyond Sustainability Movement. This movement aims to make female entrepreneurs agents of change in their communities while preserving that commnicity's skills. This set comes with seven vials of 2ml Eau de Parfums. The first fragrance is Berber Blonde No. 1, which has a slightly musky aroma with beautiful notes of Moroccan orange blossom and North African neroli. Tiger By Her Side No. 2 is just as seductive as the name suggests. It has notes of amber, Moroccan rose, patchouli and Somalian Incense. It is the perfect scent for those who want to get in touch with their wild side. Savage Jasime No. 3 is a rather heady, musky scent as well, but with a floral twist from the infusion of Moroccan jasmine.

Sandalwood Temple No. 4 is a blend of East Indian Sandalwood, cedarwood, Madagascan vanilla, neroli, and Haitian vetiver. It all comes together to create a wonderfully seductive scent that is sure to turn heads once others get a whiff. Celestial Patchouli No. 5 has an intense and rich aroma with notes of patchouli, leather, sandalwood. Not only that, there are floral hints of rose and jasmine with a touch of cinnamon bark for an invigorating experience. Nubian Musk No. 6 is another musky scent that is amplified by a bit of vanilla, jasmine, rose, and grapefruit flower. Revolution De La Fleur No. 7 is a tropical and floral fragrance comprised of Moroccan ylang-ylang and frangipani.

If these fragrances have caught your interest, you can purchase the 7 x 2ml vials of Eau de Parfum from Sana Jardin Discovery Set here for £30.

APRIL AROMATICS

One of our newest discoveries is the Deluxe Sample Set from April Aromatics. Founded by perfumer Tanja Bochnig in New York, April Aromatics perfumes are free from animal ingredients (besides beeswax), certified organic or wild-crafted, and contain 100% natural ingredients. In addition, the packaging is recyclable! The April Aromatics 7 Chakra Oil Set was a winner of the 2018 Beauty Shortlist Editors' Choice Award. 

With this set, you receive 10 out of the range of 15 fragrances that they offer. Each Eau de Parfum vial contains 2.5ml of the fragrance, which they say equates to about 28 spritzes. These scents are deliciously intense and super long-lasting. To make the choice a bit easier on you, for the summer evenings, we recommend adding Ray of Light and Rosenlust to your list. These two have unique and evocative aromas that we don’t want to ever run out! Ray of Light has notes of lemon, lime, pink grapefruit, and bergamot. A citrus infusion! Rosenlust contains a soft floral mix of tonka, ambrette, and sandalwood.

You can purchase the Deluxe Sample Set of 10 x 2.5ml vials of Eau de Parfum from April Aromatics here for €111.

EDEN PERFUMES SAMPLE GIFT BOX

If you are looking for an environmentally-conscious scent, then we recommend Eden Perfumes. Eden Perfumes is a family-run vegan company from beautiful Brighton. They say: "Botanical cruelty-free perfumes consciously crafted with respect to the planet and all beings." Their products are 100% vegan and not tested on animals. They have similar, not identical, scents to popular ones on the market with over 200 fragrances to choose from, all of the fragrances come in Eau de Parfum strength, not Eau de Toilette! Unlike many others, Eden Perfumes doesn't contain animal notes, such as musk, milk, and honey.

We tried a Sample Gift Box where you can choose your own three combinations. The one that Eden Perfumes sent us contained these three scents: No. 309 Daisy (a floral, woody musk), No. 420 Ispahan Oud (oriental floral; unisex), and No. 475 Neroli (subtly sweet and citrus aromatic; unisex). While those three scents are wildly different and luxurious, we were drawn to Daisy and felt that with its versatility, it could to be worn day through to night. Eden Perfumes has dozens of scents, all of which are very reasonably priced. We deeply encourage you to see the full range for a little spoiling fragrance spree.

Purchase an Eden Perfumes Gift Box of 3  x 10ml bottles of your choice for £21.60 here. Curious about the scents we highlighted? Then you too can purchase a 30ml bottle of No. 309 Daisy, No. 420 Ispahan Oud, and No. 475 Neroli for £18.00 each.

We'd like to give a special thank you to April Aromatics for sending us a 30ml bottle of Rose L’Orange, which we will be reviewing in August. We hope that we have inspired you with our choices. Now get spritzing!