Eleni & Chris - KeraMin Strengthening Shampoo & Conditioner and BoostaMin Instant Hair Treatment

Regular readers of The Amazing Blog will know that we're fans of the Scandinavian brand Eleni and Chris. We have recently reviewed their skincare products, the Bio-Cellulose Age Renewal Face and Eye Mask, and had the chance to try their ColourPro Shampoo and Conditioner and ColourPro Leave-In Treatment Spray in 2017.  

So when we had the  opportunity to try latest lauch KeraMin Strengthening Shampoo and Conditioner as well as the BoostaMin Instant Hair Treatment. We grabbed at it with both hands! The shampoo and conditioner both have the brand’s signature ingredient: cloudberries. These small orange berries are native to cool temperate regions of the earth and have been called "Scandinavian gold" as they are high in magnesium, calcium, and vitamins A, B, C, E. These elements, coupled with proteins and moisture, help strengthen and rebuild hair from within. Keratin in the Strengthening Shampoo additionally repairs hair while carefully selected proteins in the Strengthening Conditioner add extra softness. After using this duo, your hair will look stronger and healthier.

Whereas The BoostaMin Instant Hair Treatment should be put in towel-dried hair after shampoo but before conditioner 1-2 times a week for the maximum effect of strong and radiant hair. This product is named rightly so because keratin, cloudberry, and other ingredients combine to create an immediate effect — leaving your hair smoother and shinier than it was minutes before. It works on all hair types and it’s paraben free. On top of that, it comes in individual 20ml packs  ready to throw in your bag and take on your travels. Afterall we all know how sun, sea and sand plays havoc with our crowning-glory!

Whether you need to repair your hair from heat damage or want to maintain your locks, these products are perfect additions to your shower. You can purchase the Shampoo here for €26 and the Conditioner here for €28 or buy both for €50. You can buy single packs of the hair treatment here for €8 or a pack of six for €44. All products are in Euros but they do ship to the UK. Also by the time this post goes live, it might well be included with the rest of the haircare products in £ on FeelUnique.com

The One Skin Range

If you are a skincare aficionado like us at The Amazing Blog , this newly launched skincare brand One Skin has a range of products that are just for you! One Skin prides itself on creating skincare made for specific lifestyles, focusing on long-term skin health rather than short-term results. If you live in a heavily polluted area or if you regularly exercise (yes, this can also affect your skin), then One Skin offers products to target all your specific concerns.

In 2005, British skin expert Noele Hammett, officially launched her exclusive skincare range One Skin to her salon clients. Moving forward to 2018, she finally unveiled her full collection of tried and tested, gentle but efficient, cosmeceutical skincare range to the public. What makes this range special is that contains only the finest results driven bioactive ingredients. All these products are free from sulphates, parabens, fragrances and colours, making the line perefect for everyday use.

I met Noele at a trade beauty event in London, where we engaged in conversation about my skincare needs and she very kindly gave me three of her products to try.

Let start with the cleanser PH Cleansing Wash. Like in any good skincare routine, the first step is always to prepare the skin in order for serums and moisturisers to perform their job correctly. One Skin’s sulphate-free pH Cleansing Wash removed grime, oil and make-up while still hydrating and soothing my skin in the process. One of the key ingredients is Lycopene, an antioxidant found in tomatoes, which helps to protect against any damage or build up, without irritating the skin. Other surfactants in the wash like the sunflower and coconut oils gently yet deeply cleanse while still leaving skin soft and not feeling uncomfortably tight. I noticed that this cleanser left my skin feeling soft, not taut as some other cleanser have done. I used a small amount of the wash mixed with water to lather and cleanse both in the morning and evening. The pH cleansing wash is available here for £17.60 for the 50ml bottle and £32.00 for the 100ml bottle.

The next step is to repair any damage which skin the has received from living a fast-pace, polluted life in the city (i.e. me in London!) One Skin’s City Repair Serum does just that by stimulating collagen synthesis, protecting your skin in the process. The serum ‘s key repair ingredients are built around a soothing seaweed extract containing minerals such as sulphur, iodine, calcium, magnesium and selenium to maintain collagen generation. Not forgetting the major ingredients like hyaluronic acid and glycerine, which further condition and protect the skin. After cleansing, I applied 1-2 pumps of the serum morning and night and allowed for a few minutes to get complete absorption. To purchase the 30ml serum for £60 click here. If you aren’t living the city life like me, don’t worry One Skin has five serums targeting different lifestyles like the Stress Repair Serum, Holiday Repair Serum and even a Party Repair Serum. Check the full Repair line here.

Finally, after the City Repair Serum, I then applied my last skincare step with Noele’s amazing Wonder Age Cream. This rich moisturiser helps to lock-in the serum’s skin protective properties. The Wonder Age Cream is just one of the five moisturisers offered in the range. The Wonder Age Cream is the anti-ageing cream in this range and I noticed that combining this with the City Repair Serum that it not only hydrated and nourished my skin, but also it brightened my complexion. The Wonder Cream is made with resveratrol, hyaluronic acid and a variety of muscle-relaxing peptides, these ingredients work together to improve the complexion and reduce the appearance of wrinkles and fine lines. For best results I applied two pumps morning and night, and then in the morning went ahead and applied my foundation and make up. To purchase the 30ml bottle of Wonder Age Cream for £74 click here.

All of these products and the rest of the One Skin line are available at their Skin Clinic located in Essex or online on their website here. Not sure where to start? There is a skin consultation questionnaire on their blog here that will help you to choice the right products for you and to understand your skin better. Finally to say, that we were THRILLED to see that our new discovery, One Skin, has won 3 x Editors Choice Awards in the prestigious 2019 Beauty Shortlist Awards for their Wonder Age Cream, Eye Repair Serum and The Cosmeceutical Apothecary Set. We say don’t miss out on trying this new result driven skincare!

Balipura's Pure Love Crystal-Infused Healing Mist

For some of us at The Amazing Blog crystals and crystal therapy have become a significant part of our lives. Therefore the discovery of Balipura's Crystal-Infused Healing Mist was a very welcome one. Promising to enhance love, compassion, understanding and harmony; it Inspires us to be more positive on days when we feel a little jaded or down. This aura style spray is certainly different from our regular ‘uplifting’ aromatherapy oils that we use (peppermint, lavender and lemon). It was a joy to discover a new natural product that adds to our wellbeing without being just another aromatherapy oil.

Balipura is an authentic Indonesian brand, bringing their healing expertise to us in the form of all-in-one healing auric spray products. This brand is an interesting one, their premise forms from knowledge of energetic, crystal and sound healing, with the belief in the transfer method. This refers to the understanding that within our cells, we are sound and vibration. When using Balipura's crystal products, we can pass crystal vibrations into our Aura, thus healing ourselves. More simply, the brand believes that we must exercise our defence systems as much as we do our bodies, using regular spray products to encourage a new state of body and mind.

With this newfound knowledge, we were keen to try their Pure Love Crystal Infused Healing Mist. Promising to open and harmonise the heart chakra, this mist is made with volcanic spring water, cleansed with energetic healing and infused with crystal energy from rose quartz, chrisoprase, jade, aventurine and amazonite. As with all products from Balipura, with direct infusion of Bali Temple flowers into the water, so it’s not just the oils but direct energy from ylang ylang and cempaka, all of which enhance love. All these ingredients are pure, and only certified organic essential oils are used. The sprays are also 100% handmade and straightforward to use; simply spray the mist above the head from 2-4 times per day and you'll feel euphoric in no time!

We think that this an uplifting handbag essential - especially for when you have those low mood days. Get spritzing to open your heart chakra, enhancing and harmonising your day with Pure Love from the Balipura website here for $25.

W=Hb²’s Power Duo Face Serum

Keeping our skin looking hydrated and healthy is a daily gripe of ours at The Amazing Blog. We’ve found that our skin has been suffering from the colder temperatures and given that the next few weeks will include a little indulgence (in the name of the festivities), we’ve been on the search for new skincare to help us look party ready. This is when we discovered W=Hb²’s Power Duo Face Serum - our new force to be reckoned with!

The brand name itself is worth exploring: W=Wellness, H=health and b²=beauty squared, a formula that speaks volumes for the intended benefits of the products. We tried LA FORMULE SECRÈTE, a Power Due Face Serum, which thanks to founder Yilin Wang, is not a secret to us anymore. Produced in one of the best skincare laboratories in Switzerland, leading Biochemist Yilin Wang researched and developed this double skin serum to provide a product that genuinely cares for you, and your skin. Harmonizing the Chinese Yin Yang philosophy, using two complementary forces, she created a dynamic system in the form of a two-phase and vegan skincare treatment. This delivers skin protection and health benefits, while combining anti-ageing (Phase 1) and anti-pollution actions (Phase 2).

Presented in a white box with rose gold and dark grey lettering, this serum is delivered simply, yet chicly. The matte 2-in-1 bottle is easy to use, and creates a great skin-loving experience. When trying it, we were more than positively surprised. Even though the modern and elegant appearance set our expectations pretty high, the pleasant feeling on the skin created pure relaxation beyond our expectations. Best applied both mornings and evenings onto cleansed skin, this treatment delivers long-lasting and visible results.

To apply the product, you start with Phase 1, the stage focused on Beauty. It revives, refines and rebalances your skin. The Tri-Active Age Corrector Complex combines versatile ingredients such as phytocelltec alpine rose stem cel and probiotic bacterium, helping to boost collagen production, encourage skin stem cell vitality, strengthen skin barriers, and hydrate. Aiming to encourage better skin elasticity, step 1 makes wrinkles less visible and creates a more radiant skin complexion within just 16 days (YES, just 16 days!). Equally important, Phase 2 focuses on Health. The Tri-Active Brightening & Anti-Pollution Complex brightens your skin while repairing UV and blue light damage. It also purifies pollutants and helps your skin to handle environmental stress and pollution, while sodium hyaluronate adds hydration.

To try the Power Duo Face Serum for yourself, click here, available exclusively for £110.00. This product delivers a 360° wellness experience, so what are you waiting for?

Celtic Herbal - Balms and Candles

We at The Amazing Blog tend to opt for peaceful scents that lift our mood, and Celtic Herbal certainly does just the trick. Celtic Herbal is a Welsh artisan company, who incorporate both their love for natural ingredients, and the surrounding Welsh landscape, the one in which they source some of their key ingredients. What makes each product all the more special, is the fact that they are handmade, and not tested on animals.

We tried four products from their range: two balms and two candles. The handy-sized balms offer a simple solution for dry and cracked skin and fit perfectly into our handbags to use on the go. Celtic Herbal’s Peppermint Lip Balm is made from 100% natural beeswax and has a cooling effect. It’s made up of lovely ingredients, like peppermint oil, sweet almond oil, castor seed oil, sunflower seed oil, and calendula officinalis flower extract. We loved the piquant of the mint which gave a teeny bit of a tingle, and we found that this balm kept our lips moist and supple throughout the day.

With the Celtic Herbal Sleep Balm with Mandarin & Ylang Ylang, we found that when applied to the pulse points it helped to relax our mind. This Sleep Balm is made with warming mandarin oil to ease pressure and Ylang Ylang for calmness. It’s 100% natural and contains mandarin orange peel oil, beeswax, sweet almond oil, castor seed oil, and cananga odorata flower oil. Good to apply at the end of a busy day to bring peace and harmony.

Aromatherapy harnesses the power of botanicals and essential oils, and there are so many different ways to utilise it. Celtic Herbal has created candles from ethically sourced soy wax which are made in small batches to ensure the highest quality. Their Natural Rose Geranium & Grapefruit Travel Soy Candle comes from the Refresh range, emitting a sweet and floral scent that is connected to the balance of the nervous system. It’s said to help lift depression and relieve anxiety - we found it very mood enhancing.

The final product that we tried was their Natural Mandarin, Lime & Basil Travel Soy Candle. This comes from the Purify range. Its warm and uplifting scent intends to bring clarity and fresh perspectives. Perfect to help you unwind after a long journey. The 30g travel candles have a clean burning time of four hours, and the 105g candles can last up to twenty-five hours. Time to breathe in and relax! Purchase the Celtic Herbal Peppermint Lip Balm 15g here for £4.00; Sleep Balm with Mandarin & Ylang Ylang 25g here for £5.50; Natural Rose Geranium & Grapefruit Travel Soy Candle 30g here for £5.50; Natural Mandarin, Lime & Basil Travel Soy Candle 30g here for £5.50.