MOIA ELIXIRS® : CBDerma-Repair® nano-fiber mask

We always try to bring something new and unique to you, our readers. So, today at The Amazing Blog it's time for another one of our #amazingfinds. This time it's with a face mask but not just ANY face mask.  This is the CBDerma-Repair® Nano-Fibers Mask from MOIA ELIXIRS® - the only CBD nano-fiber dry face mask in the world!

MOIA ELIXIRS® was founded in 2019 by Jakub Mohl. This is Czech CBD brand and manufacturer that has created a unique selection of natural skincare and oils, some of which also combine minerals from local springs at Karlovy Vary. They only use 100% crystalline pure (isolate) cannabidiol extract in their skincare and full-spectrum in their CBD oils and edibles. The brand does its own biomass processing to make the CBD extract with cannabis sativa plants obtained from local farms.  MOIA ELIXIRS® carefully monitors the whole process from beginning to end. This is with growing the plants from seeds to producing the extract in their licensed extraction and purification laboratory, approved by the Czech Ministry of Health. As a clean beauty brand, they believe in nature's wisdom combined with the latest science and technologies. They have created their own patented actives in their ingredients together with the highest concentration of organic botanicals and oils with ECOCERT COSMOS certification.  The brand positions itself mainly as premium skincare with a particular interest in addressing problematic skin issues such as acne or eczema. All products have the certification of the Czech Institute of Accreditations (ČIA), which guarantees the quality of the products and their origin. They currently have six ranges of CBD infused products with Beauty Age, BioActive, Nano Fiber, CBE Wellness, CBD Oils and Animalixir. With sustainability at the core of the brand’s values, they also have excellent eco-credentials with their packaging. These are zero-waste aluminium tubes and brown pharmaceutical glass bottles with minimal use of plastic except for screw and bottle tops. The Nano-Fiber Mask is 100% biodegradable and comes in recyclable plastic pouch. They also have a great giving-back policy where they donate part of their earnings to The Ocean Cleanup. 

As we consider ourselves face mask aficionados (see others that we’ve reviewed here), we couldn’t resist trying this MOIA ELIXIRS® CBDerma-Repair® Nano-Fiber Mask. This mask has taken up to seven years of research before being put into production. The hero ingredient here is the CBD isolate, which is accompanied by vitamin E, C, hyaluronic acid and PHA (gluconolactone);  all of which are infused into the nano-fibers. These only activate when the face mask is placed onto a wet or damp face; where the formula becomes fast and deep penetrating… Mohl commented, “A regular face mask is thought to have a 15 to 20% absorption rate, taking up to half an hour for application, compared to the supposed seven minutes for Moia Elixir’s.” Now, that’s impressive! As we’re all big CBD fans (see here ), this was one product that we were not about to miss out on. The mask is free from parabens, silicone, dimethicone, phenoxyethanol, paraffin and petrolatum. So, let’s do a quick run-down on the infused ingredients:  CBD isolate supports cell regeneration with its antioxidants and anti-inflammatory effects helping slow down skin ageing. Hyaluronic acid is another one of our favourite ingredients, as it hydrates and plumps up fine lines and wrinkles, albeit temporarily. Gluconolactone (PHA) removes the dead cells giving a smoother, brighter complexion whilst also helping to repair the skin barrier. Vitamin C and E are potent antioxidants that neutralise any free radicals.

Onto using the face mask; we followed the instructions to a T – first dampening our cleansed skin with water (or they suggest toner), then removed the green protective paper layer and placed the white Nano-Fiber Mask on the face.  We smoothed it out following the facial contours, wetting it again to stick it down further, and left it in place for up to 15 minutes. It clung to the face and gradually dried as the ingredients absorbed. This was when we peeled it back to reveal a glowing and more hydrated skin. Unlike other face masks, this is fragrance-free, and requires no further massaging in from excess liquid. The Nano-Fiber technology enables 97%  absorption from the active ingredients, which then go directly into the dermis. Our verdict? Skin looked fresher, softer and more plumped up. We couldn’t resist using up the whole 5 in a pack, on 5 consecutive days (although I think they’d be fine as a weekly treat); and as an extra bonus, we found these soothed and helped to calm our #lockdown eczema. However, be warned, once tried, these could become very addictive!  We think MOIA ELIXIRS® are a brand to watch - and we can’t wait to try more from them. To purchase the CBDerma-Repair® Nano-Fiber Mask pack of 5 at €51,90 or individually at €12,90 here.

Chic & Raw: Rose Quartz Heart Chakra Crystal Candle

Who doesn’t love to burn a beautifully fragranced candle in the evening? At The Amazing Blog, we love how with its flickering ambient light it helps make a house feel like a home. This is another of our #amazingfinds, more than just a candle; this  Rose Quartz Heart Chakra Crystal Candle from Chic & Raw  combines the positive energies of crystal healing, natural soy wax and a relaxing spa-like fragrance.

Binanti Cuzner and her husband Darren created Chic & Raw in 2019. The brand started as a creative outlet to help them get away from their busy and stressful work lives. With Binanti’s love of yoga, meditation and chakra healing (focal points in ancient meditative practices), she wanted to share her knowledge and beliefs to help others through her brand. Chic & Raw dedicates itself to providing holistic and luxury products beneficial for the mind, body and soul. These are mainly candles, "I wanted to create a sense of joy and harmony with these candles," said Binanti. She studied chakras and crystal healing, matching them for an optimum release in her candles for healing crystal vibration.  She wants to combine beauty with harmony to make every home beautiful by releasing uplifting scents and integrating this with the unique crystals. Binanti believes that a harmonised home, relates to peace of mind. Chic & Raw is committed to working with a few trusted suppliers, and wherever possible, sources local ingredients from UK businesses. The cotton wicks are organic, the soy wax is natural and the fragrances are a mix of essential oils or luxury fragrances from the French perfume house, Drom. We applaud the brand their giving-back policy where they recently partnered with Ecologi to plant a tree for every product sold on Earth Day. Their current candles are themed as Crystal, Tinned and Colour Therapy. Plus, they have other lifestyle products and a new skincare Honeyzen, which for now, has only one face oil. 

As mentioned, we tried was the Rose Quartz Heart Chakra Crystal Candle, presented in a solid luxury cardboard rose gold foiled box. The candle itself comes in an elegant electroplated rose gold and etched glass container (which we later repurposed for storage). Incorporated in this candle are two rose quartz crystals positioned at opposite edges; these are ethically sourced from Madagascar. Rose quartz is known to enhance the heart chakra, boosting feelings of peace, calm and love. It is often used during meditation to help open the mind and heal the heart. It’s also possible to remove these crystals as the wax melts, placing them in your hands, or on the heart chakra to activate the rose quartz while meditating. The candle is made with natural soy wax, a non-toxic alternative to paraffin. Indeed, soy wax is biodegradable, releases less soot while burning, more sustainable and burns 50% longer than paraffin. The organic cotton wick makes it easier to continuously relight the candle, where it can last up to approximately 40 hours. The soy wax contains white tea essential oil, which is known to promote a general sense of wellbeing and helps to alleviate symptoms of anxiety, insomnia and depression. This is a light and clean scent with subtle notes of citrus, basil, peony and amber. This mingles sensuously with the warm and spicy ginger oil, known for its stimulating and warming qualities. We lit this candle during those bleak February #lockdown days, using it to enhance our affirmations and offer thanks for keeping our loved ones safe. It's a candle we'd recommend lighting during meditation to uplift spirits and to help deal with any emotional pain. There are three other Crystal Candles in the range with Ruby, Amethyst and Aventurine, each one offering a different purpose. They also provide a fascinating insight on how to ‘active’ or ‘recharge’ your crystals here. As Binanti says: “Burning Chic & Raw Crystal Chakra Candles releases both the energy of the crystal and the soothing fragrances that relieves stress and helps to balance your mind and body.” Something we could all benefit from at this time. This luxurious Rose Quartz Heart Chakra Candle is available for £36 here.

Spruce: Multi-Purpose Starter Kit

The world of cleaning products is at last changing, and thankfully there is now a choice of natural cleaners with plant-based ingredients to make our homes sparkle.  For too long, products with harsh chemicals, leaving toxic residue on our counters, floors and even on our hands, has dominated. Although these natural products aren’t cheap, at The Amazing Blog we think that when it comes to buying safe, eco-friendly and non-toxic household cleaning items, these are a wise investment. Today we take a look at a Multi-Purpose Start Kit from Spruce.

Spruce, is a British cleaning brand recently founded by Mahira Kalim. They have launched with two products made from non-toxic ingredients and without any single-use plastics. After suffering from health issues, possibly due of the toxins in household products, Mahira realised that the market was filled with cleaning products that use single-use plastic bottles with 90% water, toxic chemicals, artificial dyes and fragrances. So, she decided to create a brand that offered safe, natural, and eco-friendly choices for consumers; “without compromising on convenience, effectiveness or aesthetics”. Having launched Spruce in the midst of the pandemic, Mahira has “put people and the planet over profit”. Therefore, she has developed her products to be entirely cruelty-free, vegan, and safe for pregnant women, children, and pets. Their product packaging, including the reusable aluminium bottles and the refill sachets, are all plastic-free, recyclable, FSC-certified, and printed with biodegradable ink.  Sustainability is at the heart of the brand. With the one-time buy of the aluminium bottle, it’s the world's most recycled material with 80% of the aluminium in use today which is recycled.  Their lightweight refill sachets have a concentrated powder and only weighs 4 grams, which is 140 times less than a typical cleaning bottle that weighs 560 grams, plus these are completely biodegradable!  Refills fit through a letterbox and get delivered with a significantly low carbon footprint. They also offer a flexible subscription which can be changed or cancel anytime.

The Multi-Purpose Starter Kit  is one of Spruce’s best-seller. The brand has already gained consumer recognition having been shortlisted by Dezeen Awards for their Sustainable Design and an Eco Lifestyle Winner at 2021 Beauty Shortlist Awards. We initially found Spruce at its inception on Instagram and have been itching to try their cleaners ever since. The Kit comes with a lightweight aluminium Spruce bottle and a plastic-free Multi-Purpose cleaner refill sachet. The refill sachet is made of plant-based or food-grade powder ingredients highly rated for their environmental and human safety on Environmental Working Group (EWG) and by the  European Chemical Agency (ECHA). The plant-based ingredients include sodium coco-sulfate (a surfactant derived from coconut) and alkyl polyglycosides (sugars). Whereas the food-grade ingredients include citric acid, potassium sorbate, sodium benzoate and sodium bicarbonate. Plus, there are locally sourced essential oils which contain antimicrobial properties. They are quick to point out that their surfactants work differently from toxic antibacterial agents (pesticides) that kill the bacteria. Also, a point to remember is that antibacterials are effective against bacteria, not viruses. Anyway, we couldn’t find any nasties here! We found it is gentle on the nose, where it left only the slightest residue of a mild spa-like geranium fragrance. Happily it also made swift work of removing lingering food stains and greasy marks from kitchen and bathroom worktops. To turn this Kit into a cleaning solution, you simply add the refill sachet into the bottle and fill it slowly with tap water- easy! This Multi-Purpose Kit has won us over as being not only good for the planet, but also great for our pocket; it lasted over a month, with regular use, which for us makes economic sense when this one product can replace at least three of our current others. You can purchase the multi-purpose starter kit here for £12.00 and refills at £9.99 each.

Pura Vida Organic: CBD Deodorant (Stick)

Whether you’re back working out in the gym, taking a jog around town, or having fun at home with friends and loved ones, it’s true to say that sometimes we struggle to keep our body odour in check. As the weather is warming up, at The Amazing Blog we’d like to recommend a natural and effective deodorant that kept us dry and fresh all day long. We’ve already introduced Pura Vida Organic with some of their CBD hair and skincare products here, and today we’re back featuring their CBD Deodorant (stick).

Based in Croatia, Pura Vida Organic is an organic certified CBD skincare and cosmetic brand founded by Jennifer Deegan are in 2015. This brand only uses the purest organic ingredients and has a wide range of product, especially for problematic and sensitive skins. A graduate from Formula Botanica, Deegan suffered from skin problems herself, and is a firm believer of the brand philosophy ‘pure life’: "I couldn’t find 100% natural and organic products that met my standards – so I made them myself. Once I discovered what really worked for my skin, I wanted to share it with everyone else.” During this process, she discovered the amazing benefit of CBD, which is why Pura Vida Organics have developed a wide range of CBD infused products, including: Anti-ageing serums, balms, elixirs, massage oils, shaving gels and many more; all of which use broad-spectrum or isolate CBD (THC-free) as the primary ingredient. In 2018, Pura Vida Organic passed the Current Good Manufacturing Practice  regulations enforced by the FDA (CGMP) and the international standard for quality management systems (ISO9001). In 2019, they were the first CBD skincare production facility to obtain the COSMOS Organic and Natural Certification . Recent winners of Best Face CBD Product and Best Body Butter at The Organic Clean Awards, they are also Bronze winners for their entire body care range in Cosmetique Magazine. In addition to their high-quality CBD products, Pura Vida Organic cares deeply about sustainability. All plastics are recyclable, and boxes are made of 25% grass pulp, recycled paper and cardboard. All labels use vegetable dyes and vegan-friendly glue, and all products are 90% handmade, which decreases energy consumption from mechanical production. 

This time, we want to try their CBD Deodorant (Stick), which comes in a compact twist-up tube. Like other products in their range, this CBD Deodorant is infused with 300mg of CBD. Here the cannabidiol is effective at killing odour-causing bacteria on the skin. It also balances, soothes and moisturises the armpit – ideal if you have just epilated or shaved. Plus, being used near the sweat glands helps to regulate both the sweat/sebum production. What we love about Pura Vida Organic's CBD Deodorant, is that it also uses zinc oxide and coconut oil, two other super-effective anti-bacterial and anti-fungal ingredients, to maximise the control of bad-smelling odours. Along with the lavender and sage extracts here, it leaves a fresh, not over-powering, floral scent. With the addition of arrowroot powder, shea butter, and myrica fruit wax (AKA bayberry wax, it’s a vegan emollient), these leave the underarm skin soft and silky smooth. To our joy, we found absolutely no stinging when we applied this direct after epilation. In fact, this actually soothed the armpit. It’s long-lasting and kind to the skin and one of our #amazingfinds for this week. As it’s 100% natural, organic, vegan and cruelty-free, if you’re looking for an effective and natural deodorant with no paraben, preservatives and zero irritation, then this is the one for you! You can buy this 30ml CBD Deodorant (stick) here for €9.50. 

DR. K CBD - Nano Emulsified Lavender Hand Cream

Everyone who has been busily washing their hands and applying alcohol-based gels, will no doubt, like us at The Amazing Blog, be suffering from the after-effects of dry skin and irritation. With this in mind, we’d like to suggest another one of our #amazingfinds for the week, with the CBD topical  Nano Emulsified Lavender Hand Cream  from DR.K CBD which brought us much needed skin relief.

DR.K CBD, is a British brand, recently launched by two long-time friends, Dr Ruchira Karunadasa and Manish Patel. They both became interested in the healing powers of CBD and together have developed a range of ‘self-care’ products that they felt were missing from this market place. They offer a range of CBD oils and topicals; where all their products have one thing in common, they contained broad-spectrum CBD – which is THC free and obtained by supercritical CO2 extraction. Despite not having any THC, with their extraction process, it still has 85% active CBD with the phytocannabinoids and terpenes from the hemp plant. All of the hemp is sourced from the USA and grown organically in bio soil without using any herbicides, pesticides, or nasties.  Dr. K CBD’s mission was to launch a range of transparent and trustworthy products that contained CBD to help aid issues like acne, eczema, pain, anxiety and lack of sleep. The brand's philosophy is to: "Help in managing day to day imbalances alongside a responsibility to advise on long term lifestyle changes to modify the root causes of that imbalance." What sets the brand apart is the nanotechnology in their topicals. They claim that their Nano Emulsions are 5 x times more effective than similar creams due to the particles being much smaller and thus absorbing more easily. This turns active cannabinoids into nano-sized droplets; which causes high bioavailability of the CBD in the balm or cream. This is where the brand are keen to flag up that this technology allows the users to get more out of their products. 

We had the opportunity to try their Nano Emulsified Lavender Hand Cream. As we explained earlier, this is one of their topicals with the unique nanotechnology.  Apart from the 100mg of broad-spectrum CBD, this Hand Cream contains plenty of natural oils, including sweet almond, avocado and coconut, all of which make for an excellent emollient. For further moisturising properties, there’s also shea butter, honey and cocoa butter. But let’s concentrate the cannabinoids here; when absorbed through the skin these interact with cannabinoid receptors present underneath the dermis. This is where this Hand Cream will offer anti-inflammatory, hydrating and antioxidant actions. It’s lightly fragrance with lavender and green tea extract, we found this Hand Cream quick to absorb and, yes, super-hydrating. It’s plastic-free and housed in a recyclable aluminium tube which is where the brand has thought about its eco-credentials. They say this is a ‘luxurious treat for dry, or chapped hands’ and we couldn’t agree more. It certainly came to the rescue, on more than one occasion, where we’ve been overzealously washing and sanitising hands. To sum up, we’d recommend keeping this to hand (sorry, terrible pun!) And we can absolutely vouch for its impressive hydrating qualities, but as for being an anti-inflammatory? I’m not sure. However, if it’s a pain relief for hands that you’re looking for (hello, fellow keyboard addicts), then we’d suggest looking at their Nano Emulsified Joint Relief Balm with 300mg of CBD – which we hope to try next... Back to the Hand Cream, with only a hint of lavender/green tea fragrance, it’s not hempy or intrusive, and with all the natural oils and butters, it offered the added bonus of feeding our nail beds too. You'll find the 75ml Nano Emulsified Lavender Hand Cream for £19.99 here.