Korres - Party Survival Kit

Here at The Amazing Blog, we love a good night out as much as the next person. Sadly, our skin tends to disagree, and often looks tired after a night on the tiles. Thankfully, Korres understands our dilemma, and they have put together a Party Survival Kit, containing everything you need to pamper your skin after a few too many drinks and not quite enough sleep.

Inside the colourful kit you'll find a range of wonderful Korres products, including their Wild Rose Cream, White Tea Facial Gel Cleanser, Aloe and Dittany Shampoo, Guava Shower Gel and Basil Lemon Body Milk. The party perfect products are designed to delicately cleanse and moisturise your body, skin and hair so you look great despite the toll that an active nightlife may have on your appearance. All of the products in the set are travel-sized but deliver big results, so they’re ideal for mini-breaks as well as party-hopping evenings. 

Favourites in the office include the Facial Gel Cleanser, which helped to clear away all of the grime and impurities that our skin had picked up during the evening. The Basil Lemon Body Milk is also a wonderful way to soothe tired skin and give it a boost of energy after a long night.

Perfectly designed for party people, avid travellers and skincare junkies, get your hands on this set here for £19 and help your skin to survive the night.

The Great Gift Company - Smartphone Projector

Ever wish your life was like a movie? Well, we here at The Amazing Blog discovered a way to make this dream come true! Say hello to the Smartphone Projector from The Great Gift Company.

Nowadays, everyone takes pictures on their phones and they cannot wait to share them with family and friends through social media. But what if we told you there was a cooler way to share your memories? The Smartphone Projector is a light and easily portable box that allows you to project images onto a blank wall or background. With a magnification of 8x, you can now share your memories on-the-go or in the comfort of your own home. There are no wires or batteries to worry about. You simply invite your friends and family to gather around, indulge in some popcorn, and watch your life on the big screen.

The Smartphone Projector can be used with iOS and Android compatible smartphones. For the best results, the phone brightness needs to be turned up to 100% and you need to be in a dark room with a blank, white surface.

You can purchase this incredible gift here for £15.50. You will need to assemble the projector yourself, but don’t worry, full instructions will be included; however, you will need to purchase your own superglue. Get ready for your 15 minutes of fame on the big screen!

ARK Skincare - Derriere Facial

Although beach season in London is quickly coming to an end, there is still plenty of sun abroad for us to soak up. Here at The Amazing Blog we are seriously looking at all of those resort towns in Bulgaria, Greece, and the south of France to continue to live out our summer dreams. In order to properly enjoy that fun in the sun time, we need to have our beach bodies in tip top shape. Now, thanks to ARK we can start from the bottom up, literally! ARK skincare has a whole Derrière "Facial" that starts with a body brushing to boost circulation and diminish cellulite, followed by cleanser, and an invigorating body scrub. The scrub contains fruit acids and menthol to lift dead skin and unblock pores followed by a steaming and serums to lift, firm, and purify the skin. The last step is an application of nourishing body lotion to leave your bum plump soft and radiant. This innovative treatment will leave you confident and ready to strut down the beach! Perfect to boost your confidence and give you the courage to wear a barely there Brazilian thong bikini on some exotic beach.

Once your bum is in order for the beach, be sure to check out ARK's cleavage treatment and you will be good to go for a wonderful holiday full of envious looks and cocktail filled nights. . The ARK Derriere Facial, £49 for 45 minutes is available from July 1st at the ARK Flagship Salon in Putney. 

Friday Favourites - Yummy Cookbooks

With SO many cookbooks out there, it sometimes becomes hard to choose which one to use when craving something delicious to eat. We happen to be quite indecisive here at The Amazing Blog when we’re looking for a recipe to whip up, however, a few cookbooks tend to always stand out from the crowd. These books include everything from Mediterranean to whole foods recipes, and have been supplying us with much needed inspiration in our kitchens!

‘One’ by Florence Knight is an exciting and unique book. Florence made her name as the head chef at London’s Polpetto, and has now brought out her first book. She turns her attention to the kitchen cupboard to create imaginative, honest food from her favourite ingredients. Each of the 10 chapters in ‘One’ focuses on recipes built around one particular ingredient, such as olive oil, flour, mustard, vinegar, salt, ketchup, nuts, eggs, honey, and chocolate. The result is a host of modern European dishes that have appeal, longevity and a touch of elegance. Florence proves just how much can be achieved with just a bottle of ketchup and some imagination. These simple yet delicious recipes are easily achievable and embody her motto of ‘less is more’. So if at the end of the month you are left with only a few choice staples, pick this book up and see what you can create! ‘One’ can be purchased here for £22.88.

Eleanor Ozich’s ‘My Petite Kitchen Cookbook’ is a complete menu of more than 100 simple, nourishing, wholefood recipes that Eleanor designed herself. Each recipe is written and photographed by Eleanor, and she has annotated each one indicating whether it is gluten free, dairy free, suitable for vegetarians and vegans or a combination of these. When a recipe is not gluten or dairy free, Eleanor has suggested an alternative ingredient to make it that way. Each recipe has thoughtful tips, and the ingredients have conveniently been listed in cups, grams, and ounces. Almost all of the recipes in the book are new, however, she has included a handful of her old favourites. The book includes everything from breakfasts and light meals to warming drinks and a fantastic basics section with a handful of simple recipes. ‘My Petite Kitchen Cookbook’ comes in handy when we need to cook for our friends with different eating habits and likes, or dare we say it - picky eaters. ‘My Petite Kitchen Cookbook’ can be purchased here for £45.00.

Nina Parker has a passion for food. Her cookbook, ‘Nina St. Tropez,’ includes recipes from the south of France, as Nina is dedicated to bringing a taste of her childhood to the heart of London and beyond. She explores the real St. Tropez, and the surrounding area through its secret, scenic walks, markets, vineyards and communities of artists and fishermen. The book is filled with classic French recipes for gourmet breakfasts, picnics, lunchtime snacks and dinner parties to impress. This book represents family cooking from across the south of France and is perfect for unique meals, like our favourite ‘Le Mistral Stuffed Vegetables.’ Le Mistral can be served as a starter or side, and the recipe is so versatile that you can use all types of vegetables. Purchase ‘Nina St. Tropez’ here for £13.44.

After our trip to France with Nina we are whisked away to Greece with Maria Elia. Greek cuisine has a long long history of delicious recpies, and now you too can enjoy these thanks to Maria Elia bringing the traditional flavours and ingredients of Greece into the 21st century with her thoroughly modern take on classic dishes. Smashing Plates, as the name suggests is an adventurous book, in which Elia explores exciting new flavour combinations and showcases what Greek cuisine has to offer. The 120 recipes are a product of a summer spent cooking and experimenting at her father's tavern in the picturesque Troodos mountains of Cyprus. We loved the Marinated Lamb here at the office, but the collection also contains delicious vegetarian dishes such as Carrot Keftedes and Tomato and Runner Bean Baklava for our meat-free friends! With something for everyone, Maria's inventive recipes will open your eyes to a whole new world of Greek cooking! Transport yourself to Greece with Smashing Plates by Maria Elia available here for £13.59 

Last but not least we come to our yummy dessert book. ‘Ice Cream Sandwiches’ excited us very much because just like us, everyone loves ice cream; anyone who says differently is lying to you. Donna Egan shows us how to make gorgeous ice cream delights in the form of Ice cream sandwiches, which are the scrumptious new hit with foodie lovers everywhere. Inside this prettily packaged book are 50 easy-to-make recipes for ice cream fillings and simple cookies in a variety of tempting flavours with instructions for preparing and assembling them into delicious, unique sandwiches. When we gave it a go, we loved the Peanut Butter Dreams and fresh 'n' fruity Rose Meringues. They were so easy to whip up and were a hit with everyone here in the office. Fully illustrated with colour photography throughout, this cutesy book keeps you on task so your treats come out correctly and looking amazing. Not only for summer, this is the perfect gift to scoop up and use even in the winter months. For desserts or special creations, it’s the ultimate icy indulgence, for all year round.

Ice Cream Sandwiches by Donna Egan can be bought here for £ 16.99

Effitan - Insect Repellent

I'm sure we are all familiar with insect bitesand how annoying they are - particularly at this time of year. We at The Amazing Blog are always on the look out for good quality and natural insect repellents, to keep the bugs at bay! So when we stumbled on Effitan Insect Repellent we were intrigued to see if it was the one for us. Effitan is just that - a spray that helps prevent bites from mosquitoes, ticks, and horse flies.

 Effitan Insect Repellent protects effectively against mosquitoes for up to 8 hours, and against ticks for up to 6 hours. This is 2 hours longer than the best selling market competitor, and being DEET free, it is suitable for use when pregnant or on infants and children. It is ideal for any climate and it delivers natural, but highly effective protection. We were also pleased to note that Effitan did not leave a sticky or uncomfortable feeling our skin, which is rare in insect repellent. The citrus fragrance it has was fresh, pleasant, and light enough to not clash with cologne or your chosen fragrance. Now that we have found a great insect repellent we can start planning our next holiday to warmer climes!

 You can get a 100 ml bottle of Effitan Insect Repellent for just £10.75 from their UK distributor here.