Jonathan Ward – Roscuro Candle

We don’t know about you, but when we eventually flop down on our sofa after work, we think that there’s nothing better than relaxing, watching a flickering candle flame and surrounding ourselves with a gorgeous fragrance. And as regular readers will know, at The Amazing Blog we’re big fans of candles! As the nights draw in with this unpleasant dank autumnal weather, it’s speeded up our search to find exotic scented candles to uplift our flagging spirits. Today we wanted to share with you one of our latest #amazingfinds and candle discoveries with ‘Roscuro’ from Jonathan Ward.

Jonathan Ward is a British home fragrance producer, who makes hand-poured candles using organic coconut oil, bees and vegetable waxes. They are all about clean-burning. These candles are certified organic by the Soil Association and the brand has fast become something of a pioneer in the world of home fragrances. Jonathan Ward made his foray into fragrance back in 1979 developing his first-ever perfume. Fast forward into 2018, where together with his European partners in Greece and London he developed his first candle collection ‘Scent of Time’.

This collection is a combination of thirteen candles all inspired by historical figures and their legacies, but in a rather unique way represented through fragrance. We were very kindly sent ‘Roscuro’ to try. This is candle is inspired by the artist Caravaggio, where ‘chiaroscuro’ defines his painting technique of creating ‘light and shade’. For those not familiar with Caravaggio, let us explain, he is probably best known for his painting ‘The Calling of Saint Matthew’ where he uses a painting technique bringing people and objects from the shadows into the light. Talking of light, we lit this candle last night and can happily confirm that it gave a glorious aroma with a heart-warming fragrance blending base notes of Bailloni wood and amber; hints of iris, honey, and hay giving it a delicacy, and shots of prune and patchouli as top notes. Particularly now with the sun so low in the sky creating dramatic shadows as the days shorten, this candle’s fragrance takes us seamlessly through a journey from autumn to winter. Best of all, its hypnotic aroma fills the room without being overpowering.

This elegant candle is contained in a glamorous double old fashioned style whisky glass which is perfect for repurposing for a second life. We also love their use of the traditional GF Smith British papers used for the stylish boxes and labels. Not forgetting to mention their double cotton wick which allows the candle to burn cleanly for up to 45 hours. Jonathan describes this candle as ‘warm nostalgia’, and we couldn’t agree more. He has an excellent nose for an enticing fragrance and now we’ve experienced the mesmerising Roscuro - we’ll certainly be returning to try more. These candles are available exclusively online here for £40 (240 mg); or at one of their eight partner shops here in London, Los Angeles, Hove, Stockport or Fife.

Friday Favourites - Vegtoberfest

We notice at The Amazing Blog that the best thing about being a vegan in 2019 is not having to give up any of your old favourite foods. Almost every comfort food has a vegan counterpart and you don’t have to feel left behind while eating plant-based. Vegtoberfest, the UK’s first vegan Oktoberfest celebration proves that you don’t have to sacrifice your lifestyle choices to have a good time.

Started in 2018, Vegtoberfest aims to bring the Oktoberfest celebration (with all the beer and bratwursts as you can imagine) to the vegan market. Picture the classic Oktoberfest celebrations but with a modern, vegan twist! Oktoberfest is a celebration of beer – first and foremost, and Vegtoberfest did not forget that. With vegan-friendly Bavarian beers and local craft ales, the choices are endless. There will also be a selection of wines, cocktails and vegan Bailey’s for those non-beer drinkers in the bunch.

Now, we know you’re wondering “What kind of food will Vegtoberfest have?” Good question. It wouldn’t be an Oktoberfest celebration without Bratwurst. Rudy’s Dirty Vegan Dinner, Camden’s leading vegan street food specialist, will be serving Bratwursts with all the trimmings, German Potato Pancakes and their famous Dirty Burgers. Also served at Vegtoberfest will be pizzas, pretzels, loaded fries and ice cream. Did someone say yum?

There will also be live music and entertainment both weekends. With performances from the Old Dirty Brasstards, Brasstermind and many other live acoustic acts, we’re sure you’ll be entertained the whole time! Dee Riley, London’s leading cabaret stage magician will be hosting the entertainment both weekends.

Vegtoberfest will take place two weekends in a row – on October 12th and 19th at Fest Camden. The main room will be transformed into a festival themed beer hall. We definitely wouldn’t blame you if you wore your Dirndl dresses. Early Bird tickets are on sale now for £13.50 (including taxes and service charges) and you can buy them here. Once Early Bird sells out the tickets will be £16.50, so buy your tickets as soon as possible!

Friday Favourites – Healing Face Mists

Don’t you love it when you wake up, spray your face with a natural, delicate and fresh face mist, both invigorating and uplifting, all to start your day off right. At The Amazing Blog, we’ve always been keen on facial mists, but in our recent search we’ve found that too many high street facial mists are ineffective, watery or filled with chemicals. Today we’re happy to say that we’ve discovered some new and natural healing mist solutions to share with you.  We hope you enjoy them as much as we have.

The first #Amazingfind healing mist we have is from Max and Me, a company dedicated to making you look better but also feeling better.

The brand was founded by Max and Tanja Gruber, who set out to create skincare that they quote that it “Goes beyond mere product performance. Skincare that suffuses you with a most beautiful, vibrant flow of energy.” Max is the entrepreneurial spirit of the pair, and designed the company’s structure so it is as fully ethical as possible particularly regarding ingredient sourcing and sustainability. His partner, Tanja trained in Energetic Healing, Kinesiology, and Aromatherapy for three years at the Austrian Academy of Kinesiology. The couple’s respective backgrounds fused into a line of unique skin care products with an energy-healing basis.

The Intuitive is a botanical facial mist that has a blend of ingredients to ‘elevate skin, soul, and spirit’. One of the main ingredients, palo santo, is an Ecuadorian-sourced plant that heals and increases positive energy around you, which uplifts your mood. On top of this, wild agonis essential oil regulates your circadian rhythm for better sleeping at night, and blue tansy relaxes and calms your mind. These natural ingredients work to balance the flow of energy around you and reduce any negative ions while smelling like the woods after it rains. They are also gentle yet effective for inflamed, dry, or acne-prone skin.

Besides providing much-needed relief to our dry summer skin, what drew us to this product was its healing effects. When we sprayed it, we instantly felt tranquil - and it’s something that we’ve carried with us throughout the day even as we walked through the busy London streets. You can use this facial mist for many purposes, such as a room and pillow spray or mixed with a balm for a face mask, but we preferred using it on freshly cleansed skin to let our moisturiser soak in better. The spray has very fine particles, which evenly distribute the mist onto your face, and is hand-blended into a sturdy glass bottle. You can purchase The Intuitive (100ml) here for 70 €.

The next product we have for you is made specifically for skin hydration by Alexandra Soveral. As regular readers will know, we recently featured her Sweet Orange & Rosemary Shampoo. Soveral founded the brand with her business partner Jori Aleem to form natural products developed using cutting edge science. Before starting her beauty and perfume line, Soveral spent time understanding skin as an aromatherapist and facialist. She also learned how to curate products organically as a cosmetic designer. The company is also dedicated to sustainability and given the Positive Luxury Butterfly Mark, which ‘identifies the luxury brands that meet the highest standards of verified innovation, social, and environmental performance’. It uses pure and natural ingredients found in its Floral Rain Hydrating Face Mist.

This face mist combines vitamins and antioxidants with essential oils that hydrate and even your skin, making it optimal to use as a toner to prep your face for oils, serums, or moisturiser. Aloe vera nourishes your skin but doesn’t make the product watery so that you can use it over make up for a midday skin pick-me-up. The orange blossom and rose scent is also refreshing to use on your neck and décolletage. We found that it smells good when sprayed around your surroundings as with just a single spritz of the mist, the fragrance holds its aroma. It is hand-blended in London and packaged in a recyclable plastic bottle. You can buy the Hydrating Face Mist (250ml) here for £45.

Finally, to complete this week’s Friday Favourite’s trio of healing mists, we have the Universal Soul Company’s, 3-in-1 Soul Mist in their signature fragrance STILL. The luxury lifestyle brand was founded by well-known British actress Sara Griffiths to value all five of your senses amid all the media and technology that surrounds us and empower others through positive well-being. The company focuses on the idea of ‘profit for purpose’ and donates a portion of its revenue to different causes as another way to enable others. The Universal Soul Company also has the Positive Luxury Butterfly Mark of approval for sustainability.

The name of the Soul Mist comes from its three intended uses: room spray, meditation, and pillow mist. Instead of needing three separate products, only this mist is necessary throughout your day from morning until night. Patchouli and vetiver base notes combine to create a strong musky scent while lavender oil and may chang layered on top of it create a sweet floral fragrance that appears a few moments after spraying the mist. May chang has been proven to relieve fatigue and lethargy, leaving you in a better mood and lavender helps you sleep and relieves body aches. The mist is made with 100 per cent natural essential oils and mineral waters, which break up air molecules and generate negative ions of well-being like being near a waterfall or the ocean. It is alcohol-free, vegan, cruelty-free, and has no artificial fragrances, so it is safe for use on your face and around children, animals, and furniture.

The 3-in-1 Soul Mist is Universal’s first brand product, and it does not disappoint. The smell made us feel instantly relaxed and lasted. We found it was particularly helpful in making us feel less stressed when waking up and getting going in the morning. You can purchase the hand-blended product (100ml) here for £37.

These three healing mists prove that creating a relaxed state of mind is not just reserved for a retreat or an exclusive yoga studio. In fact, they teach you how you can build a tranquil zone of your own with just one spray. Using each of these healing mists helped us to feel like we could conquer the day with both an uplifted mood and more radiant looking skin!

Skin Euphoria - C20 Booster Serum

Most have us have a regular skincare routine which involves numerous steps and products. At The Amazing Blog we believe that having too many products to apply can sometimes be just too much of a faff! For us it’s all about applying a good revitalising serum, moisturiser, SPF and we’re ready to go! So, we’re always on the hunt for an effective serum that will start our day off right. That’s when we discovered Skin Euphoria’s C20 Booster Serum .

Skin Euphoria London was founded by Emma Osman who is perhaps best known as a leading permanent makeup artist and successful beauty entrepreneur. Emma was obsessed with creating a skincare brand that had clinically proven ingredients. She said: “This new formula provides a powerful counter to the harmful effects of our daily lives by actively promoting the regeneration of healthy skin cells and by targeting the harmful causes of ageing and acting as a first line of defence.” She also believes it is all down to the blend of ingredients which encourage the production of collagen elastin for an even, smooth and bright complexion.  

Skin Euphoria has recently launched a new C20 Booster Serum with vitamin B, C, E and ferulic acid. This is no ordinary serum, it’s equipped with revolutionary ingredients to fight UV damage, promote collagen synthesis and optimise the skin’s natural protection against pollution and sun damage.  The C20 booster serum with the vitamin C, (aka l-ascorbic acid) is the essential ingredient to help brightening, getting rid of hyper-pigmentation, firms the skin reducing fine lines and defends the skin from oxidative stress. Vitamin B3 Niacinamide helps to improves the appearance of large pores, brightens and fights against environmental toxins. Vitamin B5 Panthenol is a water absorbing humectant and conditioner that works to pull in and blind moisture. Hyaluronic acid is also a hydrating agent that replenishes moisture leaving skin feeling softer and plumper. Lastly, Ferulic acid is found in the cell wall of grains and is an antioxidant which effectively neutralizes free radicals which could cause premature ageing. It further stabilizes vitamin C and enhances the properties of vitamin E.

The booster serum easily penetrates the dermis, without leaving your skin feeling oily or greasy. Put 3-4 drops into the palm of your hands and gently apply on your face, neck and décolletage. During the day, we suggest using before a moisturiser and SPF. Also, it’s gentle enough to be applied under the eye. All the products are fully vegan, not tested on animals, have no parabens, sulphates or artificial fragrance. Skin Euphoria C20 Booster Serum is 30ml for £24.99. Buy here and fight off your UV damage skin with this new fabulous super-charged serum.

L’Erbolario - Albero di Giada, Jade Plant Perfume Mignon

Fragrance is definitely our thing at The Amazing Blog. We always try to find new scents that excite! We were thrilled to try a perfume from a new discovery brand for us L’Erbolario, which is intriguingly made from the jade plant blossom.

L’Erbolario was started in 1978 in Lodi in Italy and  was founded by Franco Bergamaschi and his wife Daniela Vila. Over the years, L’Erbolario has not lost its unique and original philosophy of respect, and nod towards nature combined with the latest technology and knowledge. L’Erbolario has also implemented its zero impact project with energy savings, short production chains and vegan recipes.

They have recently launched a new face and body collection: Albero di Giada, which is made from jade plant flowers and this Jade Plant Perfume Mignon is among them. The Jade Plant Perfume comes in an elegantly designed, slender jade green packaging. The perfume is a feminine fragrance with a floral and citrus scent.  It is made up of jade plant flowers with notes of bergamot, yellow rose, white tea, exotic verbena and amber.

It is a super fresh fragrance and smells like a mix of wild flowers, and different green plants with a hint of zest and sweetness combined with well-brewed green-tea. Neither of the scents overpower each other giving a really refreshing green fragrance.  We recommend spritzing and then waiting for a few minutes, for that subtle and unique floral scent to sweep over you. This is an all-year-round fragrance with its intoxicating botanical mix.

L’Erbolario Jade plant perfume has no animal ingredients or animal testing. It has been tested for seven metals, (nickel, lead, arsenic, cadmium, mercury, antimony and chromium) ensuring that it suitable for use even on the most sensitive skin. It is GMO free with recyclable paper packaging. We also like the 15ml bottle because of its versatility and can fit in any bag. The Jade Plant perfume 15ml is £18.50 or 30ml for £33.50. Purchase your Jade Plant Perfume Mignon here.