PHOERA - The Body Luminizer

As the glimmering snow is beginning to fall (wishful thinking!) And we’re the smell of eggnog and gingerbread are overtaking our senses,  Santa’s coming to town very soon! Every nook and corner of London is shimmering with festive decorations highlighted by the twinkle in everyone’s eyes and hearts. Here at The Amazing Blog, we love to part take in Christmas holiday fun and thus with all the festivities just around the corner, we thought when everything around town is embellished with glitter and gold, why shouldn't you do the same? We bring to you a little shimmer by our new #amazingfinds beauty brand PHOERA with their glistening Body Luminizer. Say goodbye to your old self and hello to the new dewy, shimmery and angelic person you will soon see in your mirror.

The Body Luminizer is a gel-based formula with light-reflecting pearl pigments that give you unfathomably smooth and glossy skin. Key ingredients are rose water, glycerine, distilled, water, witch hazel, and mica. The formula melts like butter on toast into the skin ensuring a streak-free finish that's perfect for buffing into any area of the body in order to glow like a goddess. Additionally, it also has priceless moisturising qualities so that it not only leaves your skin shiny but also healthy and hydrated. Especially with all this winter weather, the gel-based formula promises soft, supple and smooth skin that feels drenched in a sunny, radiant luminous finish making you look as though you just vacationed in the Bahamas. However, this post-holiday look is now yours to keep all year round, after all, who said you needed a tan to look golden?

The formula is available in three different shades. Rose gold for fair and light tones, Metallic gold for medium and tan tones and finally, glistening bronze for deeper skin tones. Whichever of the three you chose according to your skin tone is up to you however, the end result will surely be the same, glowing and dewy complexion blessed by the heavens above! Consider this recommendation from us our little Christmas present to you for your New Year’s Eve celebrations. You can easily purchase the 30ml bottle online from their official website for as little as £5.95 here.

Lavera - Sweet Moments Body Lotion & Body Wash

We’re well aware of how difficult the quest can be to find effective, organic and sustainable skincare products. That’s why, at The Amazing Blog we’d like to reacquaint you with one of our favourite brands Lavera, which is an organic, vegan and 100% certified natural skincare.  Regular readers will know how much we love this brand, with many of their products featured here. Their mission is a simple one, and we particularly like that they practice what they preach.

The founder of Lavera, Thomas Haase dedicated his life to achieving his vision of producing organic and natural beauty. Over forty years on, it is still a family run business with their production in Germany. The range now has over 300 plant-based products, with organic ingredients sourced from all around the globe. Lavera is a multi-award-winning brand, which serves as a testament to their hard work and success.

We were very kindly sent their latest collection of Sweet Moments Body Lotion & Body Wash which we tried, tested and loved by all. The elegant duo pack comprises of a refreshing Body Wash as well as a nourishing Body Lotion. As we’re into the winter months, they couldn’t be more perfect to help nurture and protect the skin from the cold weather. Enriched with organic plum and vanilla, our skin felt pampered and healthy - the warm, inviting and subtle fragrance is an absolute treat for the senses. Both products nourish the skin, the Body Wash gently cleanses, while the Body Lotion quickly absorbs giving the skin suppleness. Also to quickly to mention with both these products, a little goes a very long way. Why not treat yourself or your loved ones to this body care duo this Christmas, at a very affordable £15.95 see here to purchase.

La Sultane de Saba - The Rose Facial Set & Pouch

La Sultane de Saba walks you through the timeless beauty secrets of women who have passed these down through generations of mothers and daughters. This French spa brand has been created around ancient and proven beauty rituals, thus creating the perfect alchemy between beauty, wellness and authenticity. Here at The Amazing Blog, we discovered the enchanting properties of this brand when we reviewed their popular trio of products in their  Hammam Ritual Kit last year. With their range of products, La Sultane de Saba takes you on a ‘journey’ harnessing rare and precious ingredients that are sourced from all over the world.

The founder, Vanessa Sitbon inherited these beauty secrets from the Hammam that belonged to her family at Fes, in Morocco. She has carefully curated her brand, where each of the ingredients used is based on its unique and magical authenticity. We love that this natural skincare brand delivers products with a multitude of scents, colours and ingredients. And that it has been a recipient of a number of awards including the reputed CosmetiqueMag Award, The Beauty Shortlist Awards and the H. Pierantoni Innovation Award. 

Today we are reviewing The Rose Facial Care Pouch it harnesses the subtle yet mesmerising essence of rose, with a collection of skincare that helps to plump, repair and intensely moisturise the complexion. It includes three beautiful products, the BB Rose Bride’s Day Cream, Rose Night Balm and Bride’s Elixir. The BB Rose Bride’s Day Cream works as both a beautifier and a concealer for all imperfections and promotes an all-day healthy glow. With ingredients such as shea butter to nourish and heal, the sweet almond oil feeds and softens the skin with the vitamins A, B & E, while the rose offers calming, soothing and toning. The Rose Night Balm blesses the skin with a comforting and rich yet silky texture with sunflower oil, sugar and Damas rose essential oil all revitalising and nourishing. This product penetrates through the skin easily leaving it feeling reinvigorated until the next morning. Last but not the least, the Bride Elixir is a spritz to promotes a clear and glowing complexion courtesy of its natural ingredients which include rose geranium for balancing, calming and acts as gentle astringent, while the orange blossom is refreshing, hydrating, toning, anti-inflammatory. The combination simultaneously leaves an enriching rose fragrance on the skin and can be sprayed directly onto the skin or on cotton wool then applied.

This is an artisan brand with natural and certified organic products, they assemble each product by hand, and wherever possible they are packaged in glass.  All products are free from parabens, silicones or microbeads and are cruelty-free.  La Sultane de Saba also prides itself on working primarily with fair trade co-operatives. We think that The Rose Facial Care Pouch is the perfect gift for this Christmas to give to a loved one, or even to yourself! Its magnificent effects will leave you feeling pampered and looking your very best this festive season. This is one of our favourite gift sets and can be purchased for £79 here or each of the products can be purchased singularly.

Aroma Spray Tea Tree Ravintsara

The Amazing Blog team are always up for a history lesson, and this week we get to mix that with our favourite duty to our readers of sourcing the latest and greatest #amazingfinds. So, first off let us introduce you to the Tea Tree Ravintsara Aroma Spray from Saint Côme Laboratoire which has to be unashamedly inhaled to be believed! Formulated in particular to keep the winter bugs at bay, it’s a best seller in France. The key ingredient oils of tea tree known for its anti-bacterial properties and ravintsara for treating infections, wounds and cuts – make this an unbeatable combo if you are working in a busy office with lots of coughs and sneezes. This spray is a concentrated formula of 100% pure, natural and premium grade essential oils. A big plus is that its vegan-friendly, with no sulphates, parabens or silicones and you’ll soon be everyone’s best friend when you release the delicious fragrance emanating from this bottle. Note to the wise though, because of this purity and concentration, a little goes a long way and therefore this 100ml bottle will thankfully last and last!

Laboratoire Saint Côme is a family run business based in Dijon, France, owned by Christian and Claude Richard, who come from a long line of pharmacists, and who have always been inspired by the very first doctors of medicine who went on to become saints - Cosmas and Damian. A philanthropic duo who didn’t believe in charging their patients, but pursued a life of healing and discovery of the best natural healthcare possible, whilst avoiding chemical drugs at all costs. Similarly, Christian and Claude have pushed the apothecary herbal side of their business, enjoying far-reaching success with each product. With Christian focusing on the natural remedies side, Claude has concentrated on the cosmetic range, bringing together a formidable business formula.

The award-winning Tea Tree Ravintsara spray is by no means the only concoction on offer, but it is certainly a corker and a great introduction to this fabulous range. A single squirt will transform any room, and certainly eliminates any nasty germs or disagreeable odours you may want to get rid of - peppermint may be the initial hit of fragrance you get, but it is closely followed by sweet orange and oregano giving you layers of the flavour depths. Truly one to have to hand where a tone of scented ambience is required, and at £11.99, it is a bottle of luxury which will last and last. See here or for the complete series of seven here which are also available to enjoy.

Urban Cordial

As the temperature rises, our taste buds are craving something refreshing to cool us down, and the array of choice in the soft drinks sector is greater than ever before. However, with our awareness primed these days to know exactly what we are drinking, the challenge now is to source the perfect taste, but without all those sugary additives which are going to send our glucose levels rocketing. Fortunately, we at  The Amazing Blog only have to look as far as  Urban Cordial who have brought their delicious concoctions to market with a mouth-watering array of pairings. How do Strawberry & Sage , Pear & Ginger, Blackberry & Lavender or Apple, Lemon & Fennel  sound as an introduction to the range? Pretty impressive, when further investigation revealed that these tantalising flavours are just the tip of the iceberg - or should that be ice cube?

Now, a cordial may conjure up images of Grandma’s pantry, but these colourful offerings pack quite a punch in the zing department - both in each bottle’s contents, and also outside on each brightly illustrated label. All of course are alcohol free, and made from the best ingredients, although Urban Cordial are justly proud of bringing these to us with a laudable mission of sourcing their fruit on quality of taste and nutrients, rather than how they may be shaped! In a bid to incorporate a solution to the serious global problem of food surplus, Urban Cordial do not discriminate on appearance and is to be congratulated on saving over 30 tonnes of fruit from landfill.

Each bottle costs £5.50 plus £4.99 p&p, and the complete range is available for the bargain bulk price of £44.00 and with p&p free on orders over £40 here everyone’s a winner! However, some small independent grocery stores and also one or two of the larger high street names are taking up the option to supply, so getting our hands on these wonderful libations, is thankfully, becoming easier for all of us.