Argan & Orange Blossom Elixir by SoapNSkin

At The Amazing Blog, we think that everyone needs a go-to product. For us, our number one go-to beauty product is the handmade Argan and Orange Blossom Elixir from SoapNSkin, which is as versatile as it is effective. We cannot live without this product, it is 100% natural, effective on all skin types and can be used on your face, body and hair. Before we discuss the many ways you can use this product and the reasons behind its versatility, we have to tell you a little about SoapNSkin, which is one of our favourite brands. Founded by two mothers, SoapNSkin aims to empower women in any way they can, so not only is their Argan Oil Soil Association Certified, but it is also sourced from a supplier that is dedicated to looking after 600 Berber women that it has employed at its mill. This supplier only employs women and pays them a fair wage as they are often the sole supporters of their families, as well as providing free crèche facilities and education programmes.

Made with ethically sourced organic Argan Oil and Orange Blossom Oil, this beautifully fragranced elixir has a multitude of uses. This is because the Argan Oil moisturises, heals and renews lost vitality in skin and hair, while the Orange Blossom Oil helps to create an enviable glow. The ingredients are packed full of Vitamins A and E, Omega Fatty Acids and anti-oxidants which mean that your skin doesn’t just look better but is actually healthier on a cellular level.

To use this on your face, we would recommend gently massaging a few drops into freshly cleansed skin. The Argan oil is non-comedogenic which means it won’t clog up pores but will leave skin looking more radiant than ever. If you want to heal dry or damaged skin on your body – which can especially occur in the winter months – then we suggest applying the elixir directly to areas of concern and watch skin heal within days. Otherwise merely apply after showering for softer skin. Our favourite use for the elixir has to be when it’s used on hair.  If applied like a serum it will help to control frizz and leave hair glossy, but it also will soften hair and treat an unruly scalp if used as a leave-in conditioning treatment before showering.

We love this product and brand and hope you do too. The product only costs £42.00 and can be purchased here. All profits made from selling the elixir are given back to the communities who help mill the Argan Oil. 
 

Organic and Fair Trade Wholefood Snack Bars by Geobar.

The Amazing Blog are big believers in supporting fair trade farmers and we all jump at any opportunity to try a new fair trade snack whenever we can. So discovering Geobars fair trade wholefood snack bars has made our week. Their bars are filled with organic ingredients farmed from all over the world including Cocoa from Ghana, Raisins from South Africa, Cashews from India and Walnuts from Pakistan. The Amazing Blog tried the Carrot and Ginger, Apple and Kale and Cocoa and Beetroot bars.

These delicious fruit, oat and nut bars use ingredients from trusted suppliers to ensure they stay fair trade, they're also high in fibre and contain no added sugar. The Carrot and Ginger bar is made mainly from oats, raisins and dates, with the flavours of carrot and ginger to add a hint of spice. The Apple and Kale bar contains dried apple, dates and cashew nuts, with the kale balancing out the zesty apple flavour. The Cocoa and Beetroot bar is made with a similar combination of oats, raisins and dates, but includes both cocoa powder and nibs. We think these bars make for a delicious snack choice while maintaining a healthy diet and supporting fair trade. All the bars are suitable for vegan diets.

They are available to purchase from Ethicalsuperstore.com and Traidcraft for £1.40 per bar (40g) or £26 for a pack of 20.

Waliwa Amazonian Natural Skincare

You will already know that here at The Amazing Blog, we are passionate about beauty products that are made from natural ingredients, as they are kinder to our skin and have wonderful benefits without any nasty chemicals. So when we heard about Waliwa, a brand whose products are made using natural ingredients straight from the Amazon Rainforest, we needed to know more, and we just had to get our hands on their products.

Waliwa was founded by Martha and Myriam who met when they travelled to the Amazon as students. They were stunned by the abundance of wonderful natural ingredients, so after they graduated, they knew they wanted to go back. They established a relationship with the Uitoto tribe, who are indigenous to the region they visited, and they partnered with a Professor of Indigenous Pharmacy, to help them to create a range of natural skincare products, and thus Waliwa was formed. We are also happy to tell you that not only are the products natural, but due to this relationship with the Uitoto tribe, the ingredients are ethically sourced and fairly traded too.

The Waliwa products contain extracts of fruit from the Amazon like Guava, Mango, Peach Palm fruit juice, and Cupuacu Butter. Their facial scrub is absolutely lovely and is made with passion fruit, tea tree oil, and Jojoba Esters. It feels wonderful on the skin, and is great to use as a weekly treatment to rid of one's dead skin cells. The range includes a number of face and body products that will easily fit into anyone’s daily skincare routine. Not only are Waliwa’s products wonderful, but their social commitment to people in the Uitoto community is highly commendable. They have arranged a fair trade agreement with them that will help the community as a whole, but will not interfere with their way of life. They took note that the Uitoto people exchange goods as payment not money and so for a harvest of their fruits; Waliwa supplied the wood that the community needed to build their communal houses. They also work in a sustainable manner to ensure that they are not doing any environmental harm to this area which is so rich with natural resources that many companies have chosen to exploit it and destroy large parts of the rainforest.

With a company whose practices are so ethical, socially responsible and with products so lovely, you will be sure to want to give their skincare range a try. To learn more about Waliwa skincare and the company’s ethical efforts, visit their website. You can also purchase their products there where they retail between £12 and £40.50.

Wild Skincare

Whether your skin is dry from cold weather or air conditioning  (you never know in this British 'summer!') you'll be needing a nice moisturiser to keep your skin looking and feeling luscious. There are so many lotions and potions us girls use on our skin, in the office here at The Amazing Blog we always have a variety of them on hand, and one that has become a staple in our beauty stash is Wild Skincare's body butters. Wild body butters are made using the purest plant and tree ingredients from Africa which are also Fair Trade. This natural skincare brand has a range of products that are good for your skin and the planet. They have 5 unique body butters, Warm Sensual with Shea and Baobab, Romantic with Shea and Marula, Zingy with Grapefruit and Kalahari Watermelon, Extra Hydrating with Shea and Cape Chestnut and my favourite, Sensitive with Aloe and Avocado. I found the body butters really moisturising and quick to absorb - a lot of times body butters will just sit on your skin but the Wild ones sink into your skin and get to work on any dry skin you have. The packaging is really fun and bright, and sure to become a must-have in your beauty cabinet. Instead of relying on the typical Shea Butter and Argan oil to moisturise, Wild body butters also use ingredients like Baobab and Marula oils which have unique benefits to create their products.

So treat your skin to a nourishing all natural boost with one of Wild Skincare's body butters. Wild's body butters and soaps are available on their website.

Eightpointnine

As a self confessed caffeine addict I am rarely without a cup of coffee at my side. Making a cup is the first thing I do when I wake up and I depend on several more cups to get me through the work day. Although I am no coffee aficionado – the stronger the better is usually my preference – I’m often disappointed by the coffee I purchase and wish I could tweak it to my own personal taste. While the coffee available in the supermarkets may claim to be ‘hand-roasted’ and ‘artisan’ it is still mass produced and designed for a long shelf life meaning that it will often be months old before it reaches your cup. That’s why I was extremely intrigued when a colleague of mine introduced me to the newest addition to the UK coffee scene - London based personalised coffee service Eight Point Nine.

Eight Point Nine believe that fresh coffee tastes better and wanted to provide a service where people could design a coffee made specially for them and have it delivered fresh and straight to their door every week. At the click of a mouse they offer tailor-made, hand-blended, freshly ground coffee delivered weekly to your door. All their coffee is fair trade and small-batch roasted in the UK by roast-masters with over 20 years experience and long-term relationships with coffee growing communities around the world. They offer two subscription options: You can either subscribe to the grandCRU service to receive a surprise coffee delivered to your door every week (Eightpointnine will select and hand-blend a world-class roast every week to showcase the best coffees from around the world) or for a truely personal recipe you can design your very own blend. Simply use the online flavour profiling tool on the website to create your own unique blend which can be given a name of your choice and is then sent to you in a postbox-friendly parcel. Whether you like your coffee fresh, sweet, spicy, light, mellow or rich use the flavour mapping tool to describe your perfect cup. Once you’ve chosen the flavour and body you can then choose your preferred grind (espresso, filter, cafetiere or just beans) and how many deliveries you need a week (to give you an idea each bag contains over 16 cups). You can then tweak your personal blend whenever you like to suit your mood or preference.

Order your Eightpointnine coffee blend from their website here.