Marina Miracle - Amaranth Face Oil & Night Serum

Skincare is an essential process in our daily regimen. Finding the perfect products that fight impurities, without irritating the skin, can be a challenge. The Amazing Blog noticed that the most coveted products are those created by people who understand our wants and needs from skincare. Marina Engervik, the founder of Marina Miracle, gets it. After being a victim of chemical-based skincare lines, Engervik found the solution with natural ingredients. Her formula treats all types of skin and is 100% natural. The Norwegian brand focuses its efforts on carefully selected ingredients, that are of high-quality, luxurious and safe. Marina Miracle products are both vegan and cruelty-free, and 90% certified organic.

We admired the company’s mission, which strives to be sustainable in all aspects of its business strategy – through the ingredients, packaging and supply chain. All packaging is made up of recycled paper and is compostable.  The company’s suppliers are chosen based on their respect for the environment, animals and people, by advocating to select fair-trade.  Additionally, when possible, products are shipped by sea.

The company’s drive to find natural alternatives, with healthier benefits, motivated us to try both the Amaranth Face Oil and Amaranth Night Serum. Both are anti-ageing and work to revitalise the skin. The face oil is hydrating and improves elasticity. After application, your skin is noticeably softer and left with a lasting glow. The all natural face oil has a soothing fragrance of ylang ylang and grapefruit and is made up of Scandinavian herbs, amaranth and Arctic cranberry extract.

The night serum’s aroma of oranges and flowers is soothing and refreshing. It contains amaranth, Argan, chia and natural fruit acids that rejuvenate and tone the skin. As you sleep, the serum soaks deep into the skin, moisturising and evening your complexion. After cleansing your face, shake the bottle well. Then, drip 4-6 drops onto the pads of your fingers, rub together and apply the product. Their Argan Night Serum recently won the 2018 Beauty Shortlist Awards Editor’s Choice. You can purchase the 28ml  Amaranth Face Oil here for £63 or the 28ml Amaranth Night Serum here for £87.

Winky Lux Coffee Collection

We always need new make-up,  even if our make-up drawer is overflowing. Collectively we've lost count of how many mascaras we own (what an admission!) We at The Amazing Blog know how hard it is to resist new and exciting products, and recently we've fallen for some new products from Winky Lux. You may well remember their adorable Lip Pill Kit that we wrote about here. Based in New York City, Winky Lux is always up-to-date with the latest make-up trends and best of all, they make them affordable. Their newest innovation: coffee-scented make-up!

Both the Coffee Bronzer and Coffee Palette products have a slight waft of a coffee fragrance when you open the palettes.  We have to say the scent on the Bronzer is much more subtle than that of the Eyeshadows, but they're still a fun gimmick. We also like the cute packaging,  with the toffee-coloured boxes,  illustrated with flowers, and cups of coffee. The Bronzer is in an elegant gold casing compact and comes in two shades Mocha and Latte. We tried the deeper Mocha colour, which doubled as a contour powder for us. It has a buttery consistency and because it is matte, it's easy to wear and gives a soft bronzed look. It also comes with a mirror, making it easy to apply on-the-go.  

The Coffee Eyeshadow Palette is covered in wonderful colourful floral illustrations, making it a decorative addition to your dressing table. We were impressed with how authentic and pleasant the coffee scent is in the eyeshadow, but more importantly, we like the strength and the lasting quality of pigments in the powders. All nine shades have a velvety texture and blend nicely on the lid. The Coffee Eyeshadow Palette is every neutral-lovers dream, with matte, satin and shimmer finishes. The colours range from light beige tones into latte browns and finally darker espresso greys. With this variety of coffee shades, we recommend keeping this versatile eye palette as a staple in your handbag, for either a subtle day or a more enhanced glamorous night-out look.

If you want a different kind of coffee fix, the Coffee Bronzer is available to purchase here for £20 and the Coffee Eyeshadow Palette is £25 here. Winky Lux is also available on ASOS, Harvey Nichols and FeelUnique.com.

VOYA - Softly Does It Hydrating Body Lotion

Summer is here, and The Amazing Blog team has taken all sorts of measures to ensure that our bodies have been pampered and taken care. In preparation for this season ahead, we received the Softly Does It Hydrating Body Lotion from VOYA to try. As our regular readers will know, we have a bit of a penchant for Voya, you will see here from the past review of their Bright Eyes Brightening Eye Cream. VOYA was founded in 2006 by husband and wife team, Mark & Kira Walton. They focused on the natural power of seaweed, VOYA is an Irish niche brand that has harnessed the incredible soothing skin properties of the 'seaweed baths.'

At the core of VOYA is the love for seaweed-based products. The Softly Does It Hydrating Body Lotion is richly infused with hand-harvested Fucus Serratus extract. This is a type of seaweed that filters ocean water for nutrients to survive, so it becomes dense with the anti-oxidants and minerals our skin loves. The next two key ingredients are Shea Butter and Prickly Pear Oil, helping to deeply nourish, moisturise, heal, and protect the skin—evidence that nature always has our back. Our favourite part was the uplifting scent of lime and mandarin. It left a subtle fresh aroma on our skin throughout the day. We couldn’t get enough of it.

This body lotion naturally helps to prevent signs of ageing and cellulite and improves the skin’s tone and elasticity. We have noticed instantly hydrated and smooth skin, even on those days where our skin has seen some dryness. This unique blend of 80% organic ingredients has our skin craving more. They are also Halal certified, free from mineral oils, synthetic colours, preservatives, and are cruelty-free. The Softly Does It Hydrating Body Lotion from VOYA is available for purchase here for £28.

Mark. Epic Lipstick by AVON

We love to wear brightly coloured lipsticks in the summer and find that just a pop of colour to the lips can not only make us feel good but really makes us stand out amongst the crowd. At The Amazing Blog we have very high standards when it comes to finding lipsticks that we trust. Lipstick must be long-lasting, moisturising, easy to apply and have a smooth airbrushed finish. On that note, we are happy to share that mark. Epic Lipstick by AVON has certainly fulfilled some of our requirements!

Besides their bold colours, these mark. Epic lipsticks stand out to us for a variety of reasons. The first being that they have a built-in primer. This built-in primer offers three main benefits: Long-lasting colour, an airbrushed finish, and moisturised lips. In fact, with just one quick application these lipsticks lock in 36% more moisturise than by having bare lips. Instead of leaving lips feeling cakey, these lipsticks left our lips with a soft and balm-like feel. Their ‘precision tip bullet’ gave a simple clean application to the lips, and the  SPF 15 protection is for us a real bonus.

We were sent six different shades to try, although these mark. Epic Lipsticks are also available in 22 different shades. So no matter what kind of look you are going for, be it casual or for a night out, there is a shade for every occasion. All the classic reds and pinks are available but there are also some more unique colours such as blue, turquoise, grey and purple.  We fell for the shade ‘blue suede’ which is this bold slate blue shade (not for the faint-hearted) perfect with denim or just for taking selfies on Instagram. You can check out the 22 different shades of mark. Epic Lipstick by AVON online, including their two online exclusive lipsticks; ‘Wave Runner’ and ‘Grey Matters’ here each selling for £8.00.

Utopia Skincare

As our readers of The Amazing Blog will know we're always striving for perfection - well, perhaps only in our dreams! So when we heard about ‘Utopia Skincare’ we wanted to see if the products really lived up to their name... Made in the UK, Utopia Skincare was created by Chris Smith, an award-winning skincare formulation scientist who invented the patented anti-ageing antioxidant complex used in the renowned Boots’ No7 Protect and Perfect Serum. It has been specifically designed for women with mature skin, to help prevent signs of premature ageing before, during and after menopause. What make this range unique is cutting edge 'Adaptive Skincare Technology' which uses ingredients that literally adapt to the skin’s particular needs. The range also contain a pollution defence formula which claims to protect the skin from 'harmful environmental aggressors' that speed up the ageing process.  What makes Utopia’s product line stand out for us, is their Derma Complex which is a combination of eight ingredients that work together to create a more youthful looking complexion. This complex is able to penetrate down to the lower levels of the dermis and restore collagen and elastin fibres, thus reducing and preventing the appearance of wrinkles. All of Utopia’s products are collagen boosting, pore refining, paraben free, and silicone free. They are also suitable for vegans and vegetarians. 

The first of the three products that we were sent was their Hydrating Day Cream. This advanced formula  contains retinol, SPF 30 and UVA protection to help prevent sun damage and other pollutants. Our skin definitely felt more hydrated throughout the day, but what really appealed to us was that it contains a lot of ceramides, sterols and other skin lipids; also the SPF in the cream which gives extra protection under make-up. It is easy to use, simply apply a pea-sized amount to your face and neck each morning. It also works well as a primer and lets the foundation just glide smoothly on.

The second product was their Nourishing Night Cream; this cream works to restore the skin to its optimum hydration level overnight and also removes dead skin cells. When applied to the face, the cream is instantly soothing, giving improve firmness and elasticity, we also liked the texture and smell. It works deep down at the dermal-epidermal and has three star ingredients; these are exopolysaccharide, vitamin E and ceramide-rich oat oil. Exopolysaccharide helps to rebuild skin, vitamin E absorbs toxic free radicals, and ceramide-rich oil brings hydrates the skin.

The final one of our trio is the Instant Firming Eye Serum it treats the under eye area, which is probably one of the most challenging areas of the face to repair. Utopia Skincare has formulated this Serum to help reduce dark circles, crows feet and puffiness. It contains pepha-tight to immediately reduce under eye bags, neodermyl which combined offers the best of the latest anti-ageing technologies. Utopia claims that when used over the course of two weeks, it has the same wrinkle reducing effect as that of a collagen injection! We can't vouch for this, but it did leave the eye area of our Exec Ed's plumped up and smoother.

You can purchase a 50ml tub of Utopia’s Hydrating Day Cream here for £34. A 50 ml tub of Utopia’s Nourishing Night Cream here for £34, and a 15 ml tube of Utopi­­­a’s Inst­­­­ant Firming Eye Serum here for £27.