london beauty

Friday Favourites - Anti-Ageing Skincare

The skincare market is so saturated with up-and-coming luxurious products, that it never hurts to have a little help to navigate the choices. We at The Amazing Blog have narrowed down three high-end products that are guaranteed to help your face feel fresh and radiant.

Ageing and its effects on the body is something we should never be ashamed of. However, we believe it’s possible to age with grace while maintaining healthy, fresh, and glowing skin. There are countless anti-ageing products on the market, so it can be overwhelming when faced with the decision of which one to buy. We’ve found that Elizabeth Grant carries a light face cream worth your attention.

Elizabeth Grant International Inc., a sixty-year-old Canadian company, focuses on advancing their luxurious skincare products, highlighting their powerful patented anti-ageing ingredient. Elizabeth Grant started her beauty empire in the UK in the 1950’s, at a time when women owning businesses was extremely unusual (go Elizabeth!) Now, the company is run by Elizabeth, her daughter-in-law, and granddaughter. This company is truly meant for women, by women.

The Torricelumn Age Interception Face Cream, when applied, is light to the touch, non-greasy, and has a lovely cooling effect. Another point we can check off on our list is how quickly it absorbs. The wait time is minimal, plus it has a faint floral scent. This fantastic face cream uses Elizabeth Grant Skin Care’s exclusive BioLumaEssence Technology, meaning that it assists the skin in its repair and helps it to recover from harmful effects caused by day-to-day aggressors.

Our skin goes through a lot. Gently massage the Torricelumn Age Interception Face Cream into your face, to fight its tired, and sometimes lacklustre appearance. This cream benefits all skin types and addresses signs of ageing (lines, wrinkles), dryness, uneven skin tone, dullness, and sagging skin.

Elizabeth Grant Torricelumn Age Interception Face Cream 50ml is available here for £39.99.

 

Everyone’s goal is to have clear skin. We will admit that our secret weapon to a glowing complexion, is that of a trusty exfoliant. Even after we’ve removed our make-up, there are often traces of foundation, dirt, and gunk that get stuck in our pores. Most of the time, make-up wipes and the average face wash don’t suffice. This is why we include an exfoliant, like the Krisana Vigus Gentle Exfoliant, into our routine; it also ensures our skin is soft, clean and ready for the day.

Founder Krisana Vigus has built a name for herself in the fashion world with D&K Fashion LLC, which she launched in 2014. However, she didn’t want to stop there; she began her own skincare line with the philosophy of “…emphasising our honest natural belief policy.”

The Gentle Exfoliant mildly foams to cleanse the skin. The exfoliation power comes from the use of jojoba beads, which are natural exfoliants that unlike other exfoliants, do not leave microscopic tears in the skin. They are gentle, yet effective and natural. Three words we always like to hear. This helps to decongest the skin and minimise those pesky pores.

Of course, the list of skin-loving ingredients doesn’t stop there. This bottle is chock-full of naturally beneficial ingredients like Mukurossi: a natural cleanser that has anti-microbial properties to help reduce inflammation and provides oil control. It is also important to replace moisture in the skin to maintain a healthy balance. The use of Natural Betain does the trick. This raw material is derived from sugar beet molasses, and conditions the skin wonderfully.

The blend of aromatherapy oils makes it perfect for morning or night use. The lovely infusion of lavender, tea tree, lemongrass, and sweet orange are incredibly calming and are known to reduce stress, both mentally and on the skin.

The Kirsana Vigus Gentle Exfoliant 150ml is available for purchase here for $42.

 

 

We are back to discuss another product by Babor, a brand we have previously written about. Babor is an outstanding German skincare brand that has been established since 1956. We at The Amazing Blog are huge fans of natural products, so Babor is the perfect skincare brand for us. They’ve also been cruelty-free since the company was founded – yet another reason to love them!

Babor does their scientific research in their headquarters in Germany, where renowned scientists work to find new, innovative and active ingredients to incorporate into skincare products. Babor’s Dual Face Lift Serum is part of their Lifting Cellular range, which comprises of highly concentrated products, working against the signs of ageing. These products reduce signs of wrinkles and provide the skin with elasticity and strength.

The Dual Face Lift Serum is split into two tubes, each containing a serum to tackle specific areas of the face. Apply the V-Shape Serum to your neck, chin and jawline to help firm your skin, and lift your facial contours. The Re-Fill Serum was designed to be used on the forehead and high cheek areas to improve skin density. Babor’s Dual Face Lift Serum is the perfect product if you are looking to keep a youthful V-shape to your face.

So if you want to enjoy your own mini-facelift without any injections, buy the Dual Face Lift Serum here for £139.

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.

 

AQ Skin Solutions

Here at The Amazing Blog, we know how over time our skin can suffer, so we are always looking for new products that help bring back that youthful glow. So when we received the  Eye Serum and Active Serum from the award-winning Californian skincare brand AQ Skin Solutionswe couldn’t wait to try them out. AQ Skin Solutions was created by Dr Ahmed Al-Qahtani who formulated this range by using cutting-edge technology (detailed here). He was inspired to start AQ Skin Solutions from conducting extensive work in medical applications of Growth Factors (GF) for healing wounded tissue and creating artificial skin grafts.

We first tried out the Eye Serum, the benefits of this product include smoothing the appearance of wrinkles and fine lines, brighten the appearance of dark circles and reduce signs of puffiness around the eye area. What we particularly like about this moisturising formula, is that it feels gentle on the skin, they say that it also won't irritate even the most sensitive eyes. The concentrated GF technology blend stimulates collagen production for increased firmness, while several smoothing peptides help tighten and lift the skin. Through activation of the skin’s own damage repair processes, fine lines and wrinkles are smoothed. It increases micro-circulation and lightens the under-eye area and helps to clear up eye bags and dark circles. The product is non-greasy, which means it won't clog the pores. We also like the handy 15ml bottle and the sleek packaging.


We were also lucky enough to receive the Active Serum. The serum also contains stem-cell derived growth factors to renew and accelerate skin cell regeneration. This helps erase the signs of ageing and environmental damage for a firmer, smoother complexion. Daily use of the serum helps minimise the look of fine lines and wrinkles. We used it not only on our face but also on the neck and decolletage areas too. The GF technology contained in both of these products is also being used successfully for encouraging healthy hair growth, reducing the appearance of scars and shortening the healing time of burn wounds. They say about using this serum: "Optimal improvement to your skin is generally not reached until six weeks of daily use." We only managed three weeks, but were pleased with the results.

We're happy to say, that by using both these products our skin felt softer, eyes looked brighter and it helped to give us back a more glowing complexion. All AQ Skin Solutions products are paraben, sulfate and phthalate free as well as cruelty free. You can purchase the Eye Serum here for £99 and the Active Serum here for £157.