Christmas Special: Great Beauty Gifts for Her

Here at The Amazing Blog we know how time consuming or difficult it can be buying last minute presents, from the tricky family member or even a friend who seems to have everything. Don’t worry we have got the present ideas sorted! Today we’ve got the first instalment of our Christmas present list for her; with Thursday post focusing on fashion and accessories, today is all about beauty.

Firstly, from Accessorize we have a simple gift set, perfect for younger girls, comprised of 4 items: hand cream, lip balm, nail buffer block and tin. The travel-sized products are from Citrus Twist, a bold Aztec patterned and sweetly scented range. The hand cream comes in a 30ml size and the lip balm comes in 20g size, both perfect to carry around in a handbag. The nail buffer features 4 sides each with their own use; a file, a smoother, a buffer and polish to shape nails pre-painting. The tin is also great to be reused for storing items like nails varnishes or makeup. 

Overall these handbag essentials are a great little treat for a younger family member for only £10 available here.

For something more sophisticated try Orla Kiely’s mini fragrance gift set. Fig Tree, Earl Grey and Geranium are the scents within, a mix of strong scents great to mix up the everyday perfume. The miniature 5 ml bottles can easily fit into the smallest of bags for a midday or midnight touch up. Our office favourite is the fig tree scent, fresher and lighter than the other two scents but still a sharp scent. The perfumes come in an orange sliding box which can be re-used by simply taking the label off.

This trio of perfumes makes a perfect gift for any female adult and can be purchased here for £ 12.

For the woman who doesn’t seem to stop, whether it be working, looking after children, cleaning or going to events, the bathing flowers from Heathcote & Ivory’s Atlas Silk collection is a great idea. The pretty packaging is colourful yet polished showcasing the cute flowers inside. Formed of roses of all different sizes and colours, the hexagonal box looks pretty even before you put them in the water. All you need to do is place them in warm running water where they float on top before dissolving to form a creamy sweet smelling bath, perfect after a long day or you can even leave them on the counter top looking pretty.

You can purchase the box here for £10.

Using only the finest, 100% natural ingredients, The Balm Boutique have got the gift set suitable for everyone covered. The Berry Bliss Body Spa gift set consists of Berry Body Polish, Berry Butter Bar and Strawberry lip tint; and all three products have the distinctive berry scent. The Berry body polish is a thick brown liquid, with exfoliating properties from Strawberry, Raspberry and Vanilla seeds. The Berry Butter bar looks and smells good enough to eat. It melts when massaged into the skin, with moisturising properties from Cocoa butter, Shea butter and Coconut oil. Lastly, the Strawberry Lip Tint only uses natural tinting properties donated from the Beetroot and Alkanet Root to colour the lips.

You can purchase this sensationally sweet and deliciously silky gift set here for £28.

Christmas Special: Great Grooming Gifts for Him

Here at The Amazing Blog we’re big believers in taking care of yourself, from daily routine essentials like cleansing to the finishing touches like the aftershave you choose. So it was almost mandatory for us to do a Christmas grooming gift guide to ensure you knew what presents to purchase to make sure your friends and family look preened to perfection this festive season. Keep watching this space for our beauty for her Christmas special too.

Firstly for the man with a beard- Fit For Vikings have you covered with their great gift boxes, these can be personalised by choosing which of the four products you want to include. The box we received is actually named after the highest peak in Iceland; Hvannadalshnjúkur and though maybe not the catchiest name for us brits, the contents inside are as high quality as the name suggests. The beard oil, moustache wax and beard balm all have the same delicious sweet scent which comes from the Sweet Orange and Lemongrass within the formula. The handy beard balm and moustache wax tins are a good size and the droplet tip for the beard oil makes for easy application. These beard care kits come in 9 different scents to choose from and we received a sample of the beard oil of each. The variety of scents are great; mainly based around woody, natural smells but with hints of recognisable influences from liquorice to lemon, so we’re sure there’s a perfect one for your receiver.

You can purchase these here for £40.41. 

Our next gift is the great all-rounder, for men who want simple but effective skincare products; Skinauthority has the answer. Their Signature Clean Skin Care box offers four products which every man needs in his grooming routine; Daily wash, Shave serum, Hydrating Sunscreen and Reviving eye brightener. The gel formula of the daily wash works to remove dirt and oil from the skin to leave soft, smooth skin. Only a thin layer of the Anti-aging shave serum is needed for a close shave, this formula is good for sensitive skin as it doesn’t irritate skin, but leaves is moisturised. The hydrating sunscreen can be used liberally all over the body and is a strong SPF30 to protect skin from any burns and the eye cream can be used daily to erase crows feet whilst reducing puffiness. The bottle designs reflect Skin authority's philosophy of simple but effective, with simple monochrome packaging. 

This little high-performance collection is £ 114.50 here.

For a natural skincare brand we have Nuxe Paris. This brand focuses on harnessing power from trees and uses plant-derived bases for its products. The collection we received included their Shower gel, Shaving Gel, After shave balm and the luxury product Anti-aging Fluid. The range is for all skin types including sensitive skin and all of the products have a very subtle woody scent. The shaving gel is dense and creamy to improve the precision of the shaving, the multi-purpose after shave balm should be used directly after shaving to increase the softness of the skin. The shower gel creates a lather and is great for use on the face, body and hair. Lastly, the Nuxellence cream boosts the energy in the skin and when used daily can make the skin appear more youthful and firmer. The brown bottle packaging looks modern and are simple to use.

You can find the Luxury Collection Gift set here for £ 20.

This year Ted Baker have released Ted’s essentials, a 4 piece box of their most classic fragrances. The mix of M, Skinwear, XO and X2O makes an exceptional present. We love how varied the smells are and in classic Ted Baker style the packaging is sleek and simple, the 4 bottles are held in a black box embossed with copper letters. The fragrances are cased in matt black bottles with copper lids and the small size mean they are ideal for travelling or on-the-go men. The top notes of all the scents are different, with M having a woody base, Skinwear is a fresh aromatic scent, XO is fresh, green and woody and X2O is spicy and intense.

These elegant miniatures are available here for £ 22.

Christmas decorations - Friday Favourites

It’s that time of year where the competition of who puts on the best Christmas show starts to really heat up, so to keep you at the top of the game we at The Amazing Blog have rounded up our favourite alternative Christmas decorations.

Nkuku’s 2016 Christmas collection definitely has the wow factor, the extensive collection can be used to decorate the whole house, with delicate draping jewels to baby baubles; we love the classic yet cool feel of the collection. The items in the range all ooze glamour and sophistication, and we love that you don't need to worry about going to all different shops to find what you need. Our favourites from Nkuku's collections are the Talini geometric decorations, with a basic gold wire creating diamonds, stars and squares shapes, they give a young modern twist to your tree. We also love the Hani wreaths, a twist on the usual green leafed ring, these versions are made from a ring of baubles and add a glamourous touch to your door decorations. 
The whole collection can be found here and starts at £9.95 for a set of 3 or 4.

You can't really argue that the staple decoration is always the Christmas tree, whether you have only a small space for a miniature or a large gap for a giant, Twilight Trees are an elegant alternative to a real Fir. Without the hassle of finding the best of the bunch, clearing up the leaves or throwing it away when needed, these LED trees bring the glam needed to match the presents underneath.  The trees are hand crafted to a high standard and are simple and alluring. A range of sizes for any type of room are available and being battery operated means they are easy to fit. For a stylish tree to last more than just one Christmas we recommend Twilight trees.

They start at £72 for the ‘Mini LED Cherry Tree’ which is perfect for a small decoration or as a gift and are available here.

No Christmas dinner is complete without two things; Brussel Sprouts and Christmas crackers! If you’re looking for an eco-friendly alternative or if you’re tired of the usual Christmas jokes and mini presents of main stream crackers then the re-useable cracker from Keep This Cracker is perfect. The crackers are square shaped and larger than most shop-bought crackers, meaning you can choose the perfect present to place inside. The crackers come flat packed and ready made to pop into shape, attach the snap and fill with custom gifts. The crackers come in a variety of colourful designs to suit any table theme and the shape is halved so when pulled it doesn’t tear to be easily be made up again and again. All you need to do is choose the perfect offering for your dinner guests and fill the cracker, good example are theatre tickets, jewellery or nail varnishes. 

For a cracking addition to your dinner decorations you can purchase your Christmas crackers from here for £15.95. 

To finish off the table decorations or to make your house that bit cosier we love Lime Lace’s Christmas candles. This year Lime Lace offers a beautiful, minimal trio of Bronze trees, a candle plate and copper pipe candle holder. The metallic colour theme mirrors this years’ fashion trends; the bronze Christmas tree candles are sophisticated show stoppers, yet are small enough to have them scattered around the table and the rest of the room. For a table centre piece, the mirrored circular piece has a Rose Gold edge, simple yet great to place candles or your own Christmas decoration. If you’re looking for a unique candle display the copper candle holder adds a modern twist to the table centre; add your own coloured candles to match how you’ve decorated the rest of the room to bring the whole look together.

These candles are a perfect compromise if your space is small, or to add the final Christmas touches to your festive home, you can purchase here from £23.00 to £46.00.

Raw Garden eyeshadow and Serene Light skin perfector - Rouge Bunny Rouge

Here at the Amazing Blog it isn’t a surprise to anyone who reads our blog how much we love cosmetics here in the office. We are constantly searching for new products to sample and we have found a new brand we all are keeping an eye on which is the Rouge Bunny Rouge.

First impressions we loved the products that were sent to us - we received the Raw Garden eyeshadow palette and the Serene Light which is a skin perfector.  The eye-shadow palette arrived in a sleek and sophisticated circular shape box with all black packaging that looked luxurious and high end.  There are four rich colours in the eye-shadow palette, a pink highlighting colour, a grey colour, rosewood and an aubergine colour. The shadows in the palette are stunning colours, they are highly pigmented and once applying to the eyelid because they are silky and creamy formula it is very easy to blend the product which makes it easier to work with. We also loved the fact that each shadow is enriched with argan oil, and the texture is light and seamless, not feeling heavy on the eye.

If you are looking for a product that will instantly refresh your complexion you need to try the skin perfector. It is suitable for all skin tones and you apply before you put on your foundation and use it as a primer or apply and wear this only. The perfector is a light creamy formula, and for an effortless look you can apply to the skin using your fingertips, foundation brush or a beauty blender to apply to your face evenly. Not only will it brighten your tone it will provide a flattering finish and diminish any fine lines.  There is a key ingredient that provides your skin with an illuminating effect which is the Diamond core powder; overall it will provide you with a natural glow and healthy skin tone.

 You can grab both products, the Raw Garden eye-shadow you can get here for £45 and the Serene Light skin perfector is available here for £44. 

Hydrogel Mask - Gold Collagen

At The Amazing Blog, we understand skin can easily feel dehydrated and tired-looking. There is nothing better than a good mask to give your skin a second life. Gold Collagen's Hydrogel Mask is perfect to refresh your skin and keep its youthfulness.

Gold Collagen offers a wide variety of different products but the product we were lucky to try is their Hydrogel Mask. The mask contains Hyaluronic Acid which gives a better texture and radiance to your skin, as it’s been developed through scientific studies and clinically tested to ensure the highest efficiency and performance. In fact, Hyaluronic Acid is an active ingredients which helps hydrating the skin.

When using the mask you can notice an immediate cooling effect, leave on 20 to 40 minutes so the skin gets all the benefits of the mask. The mask is made of botanical antioxidants such as tea tree and red algae, Pearl extract and Glycerine. Together, with Hyaluronic Acid, these ingredients have a youthful and healthy effect on the skin. Once the mask is at a good temperature, it melts, moisturises and regenerate the ingredients into the skin. This technology reflects the skin natural renewal process. All Gold Collagen’s product are the result of innovation for better skincare, so you may want to use other Gold Collagen products to complete your skincare routine.

Treat your skin with Gold Collagen and buy Hydrogel Masks here for £ 19.99 a pack of 4 masks.