Lavera – Organic Lip Balm and Matt n Stay Lipstick

It’s not always easy to find an organic long-lasting matt lipstick or an organic lip balm with an SPF. That’s why we at The Amazing Blog have combined two lip products to review from one of our favourite organic beauty brands Lavera. As regular readers will know we’ve recently reviewed their Powerful Lashes and their SOS help lip balm so when we saw they had two new lip products Lip Balm and Mat’n Stay lipstick, we had to try them.

Lavera’s Organic Lip Balm range is composed of 3 different lip balms: The Protect and Repair made from organic pomegranate and argan oil, The Pearly Pink, Sun Care Lip Balm with an SPF of 10 and Basis Sensitive made of a green Hydro Protection Complex. We tried the Lavera Organic Lip Balm - Pearly Pink, which wowed us with its light pink shade that stays on the lips. The formula is very rich and will moisturise and nourish your dry lips. The lip balm is organic and free of mineral oil with active ingredients like almond oil and mallow to moisturise and help prevent irritation to sensitive lips. Their New Green Beauty Complex consists of active ingredients like coconut oil which prevents lips to cracked, cocoa butter which nourishes the lips and shea butter which moisturises and soothes dry lips. We like using this as it gave a subtle blush of colour and stopped our lips from feeling dry.

As for New the Lavera Matt'n Stay Lips is 2 in 1. Indeed, they all give a lovely colour to your lips and while at the same time, they soften and moisturise. The matte lipstick has only natural pigments all of which give them their pretty colours. It is made up of a flower butter composed of rose, mallow and linden all to aid moisture and nourish the lips. The range is composed of 6 colours: Plum, Pink, Berry, Rose, Peach and Red. We tried the Lavera Matt'n Stay in Rose and loved it. The application is effortless thanks to the pencil lipstick, we applied first at the centre on our lips then move outwards.

We highly recommend both these products and you can purchase the Lavera Organic Lip Balm - Pearly Pink in 4.5g for £4.95 here and New Lavera Matt'n Stay Lips - Matt'n Rose in 3.1g for £10.90 here .

Nailpad

I think you could say that we all love to paint our nails, not just to look pretty, but also to protect them from all the chores that we do. As we’re always in a rush, invariably it’s a bit of a balancing act with painting our nails on the go. You know the story, grab a magazine, hand down, open nail polish and then it slides …whoops it’s a full-on nail polish spillage alert!  That’s where the clever handbag-friendly Nailpad comes into play as it ideal with those awkward speedy manicure moments. And we at The Amazing Blog are always suckers for a new gadget!

The Nailpad concept was created by two time-poor twins Tori and Carrie, who both saw a niche in the market for a stable, portable, foldaway manicure base with a nifty holder for nail polish. The purpose of Nailpad is to make home manicures (or pedicures) easier, steadier and less stressful. Not only this but it can also be adapted for placing on knees, whether on the sofa or bed, on the floor (for toes) or flat on a table. We were pleasantly surprised by how light and comfortable the Nailpad was to use. It's also small and neat just perfect for your handbag, and yes we’ve even tested it out on the tube to work!

What we particularly like is the ease of using the Nailpad on the go. The Nailpad comes in two colours, bright pink (easy to find in a handbag) and shiny black (less obvious when on the go). You too can discover the NailPad for £12.95 each on the website here.

Pink by Undergreen

 

It's nice to think that tomorrow is officially the first day of Spring - frankly in my view,  not a moment too soon. I'm bored witless by the grey skies and the cold, damp weather.   So roll on spring with its gentle fragrances of tulips, daffodils and bluebells. Which brings me on to revealing my very particular seasonal habit. I am fastidious about changing my scent to suit the time of year.  So tomorrow it will be goodbye to the heavier amber notes in my current fragrance and hello to something a little more uplifting and floral.  In fact, by a rather happy coincidence a new fragrance by Undergreen  called Pink  arrived  for us to test this week at The Amazing Blog .

Pink has a flirtatious blend of fruity and floral notes that combine to make a elegant and fine fragrance. After spraying the Pink fragrance on my neck and inner wrist, I initially smelled a citrusy scent that mixed oranges and lemons together.  This then faded away, giving a new essence of mixed pears and strawberries together with a very subtle aroma of cloves too.  However, this is NOT a just fruity fragrance it is much more complex than that and after a while I noticed the warm base notes of caramel and vanilla appearing. My conclusion?  Pink is a sweet and balmy composition which leaves a rather delicous and seductive scent on the skin that lingers on and on... Making it the perfect choice for anyone are looking for something a bit 'different' for Spring i.e. fresh, clean and yet fun, sensual and playful.

Pink  definitely redefines the gap between natural, sweet, and fruity fragrance into a balanced classical scent. By the way Undergreen has also produced Black, White and Gold fragrances too. They are all made by an advanced environmentally-friendly extraction technique (Chimie Naturalle) where they also use only 100% natural ingredients in the fragrances. Pink is available to purchase from Harvey Nichols in stores and on-line for £120 for 100ml bottle and a little spritz goes a long way.

Colour for a Cause

Ok so we’ve all heard about naming a star after a loved one and adopting an endangered Panda, but if you fancy doing something a bit more original, with a worthy cause thrown in for good measure, you can now own a colour. UNICEF, the children’s charity, is the driving force that helps build a world where the rights of every child are realized, and they have teamed up with Dulux to raise as much money as possible to continue their life-changing work. Own A Colour is a fantastic movement started by a small group of individuals – passionate in their belief that small acts can combine collectively to save the lives of many children one child at a time.

In a world where the average computer, Blackberry and iPhone can display an incredible 16.7 million colours, there’s more than enough to go round and every colour sold will make a huge difference to a lot of children in need.  UNICEF is hoping that each and every colour will be named and they are asking for minimum donations starting at £1. All the money raised will go directly to help transform children’s lives and buying a colour makes a quirky alternative to your candy-cane stocking fillers.

Even donating as little as little as £1 can have a profound effect on those in need. UNICEF was founded in 1946 and has spent over six decades campaigning tirelessly to give children the best possible start in life. Their work includes promoting girls’ education, providing immunisation against childhood diseases and working to prevent the spread of HIV and Aids among young people. Such is their dedication to the cause that UNICEF is active in more than 190 countries is part of the Global Movement for Children.

So, whether you fancy yourself as a dusky pink, an opulent purple hue or an emerald green, dig deep and get colouring.