DR. K CBD - Nano Emulsified Lavender Hand Cream

Everyone who has been busily washing their hands and applying alcohol-based gels, will no doubt, like us at The Amazing Blog, be suffering from the after-effects of dry skin and irritation. With this in mind, we’d like to suggest another one of our #amazingfinds for the week, with the CBD topical  Nano Emulsified Lavender Hand Cream  from DR.K CBD which brought us much needed skin relief.

DR.K CBD, is a British brand, recently launched by two long-time friends, Dr Ruchira Karunadasa and Manish Patel. They both became interested in the healing powers of CBD and together have developed a range of ‘self-care’ products that they felt were missing from this market place. They offer a range of CBD oils and topicals; where all their products have one thing in common, they contained broad-spectrum CBD – which is THC free and obtained by supercritical CO2 extraction. Despite not having any THC, with their extraction process, it still has 85% active CBD with the phytocannabinoids and terpenes from the hemp plant. All of the hemp is sourced from the USA and grown organically in bio soil without using any herbicides, pesticides, or nasties.  Dr. K CBD’s mission was to launch a range of transparent and trustworthy products that contained CBD to help aid issues like acne, eczema, pain, anxiety and lack of sleep. The brand's philosophy is to: "Help in managing day to day imbalances alongside a responsibility to advise on long term lifestyle changes to modify the root causes of that imbalance." What sets the brand apart is the nanotechnology in their topicals. They claim that their Nano Emulsions are 5 x times more effective than similar creams due to the particles being much smaller and thus absorbing more easily. This turns active cannabinoids into nano-sized droplets; which causes high bioavailability of the CBD in the balm or cream. This is where the brand are keen to flag up that this technology allows the users to get more out of their products. 

We had the opportunity to try their Nano Emulsified Lavender Hand Cream. As we explained earlier, this is one of their topicals with the unique nanotechnology.  Apart from the 100mg of broad-spectrum CBD, this Hand Cream contains plenty of natural oils, including sweet almond, avocado and coconut, all of which make for an excellent emollient. For further moisturising properties, there’s also shea butter, honey and cocoa butter. But let’s concentrate the cannabinoids here; when absorbed through the skin these interact with cannabinoid receptors present underneath the dermis. This is where this Hand Cream will offer anti-inflammatory, hydrating and antioxidant actions. It’s lightly fragrance with lavender and green tea extract, we found this Hand Cream quick to absorb and, yes, super-hydrating. It’s plastic-free and housed in a recyclable aluminium tube which is where the brand has thought about its eco-credentials. They say this is a ‘luxurious treat for dry, or chapped hands’ and we couldn’t agree more. It certainly came to the rescue, on more than one occasion, where we’ve been overzealously washing and sanitising hands. To sum up, we’d recommend keeping this to hand (sorry, terrible pun!) And we can absolutely vouch for its impressive hydrating qualities, but as for being an anti-inflammatory? I’m not sure. However, if it’s a pain relief for hands that you’re looking for (hello, fellow keyboard addicts), then we’d suggest looking at their Nano Emulsified Joint Relief Balm with 300mg of CBD – which we hope to try next... Back to the Hand Cream, with only a hint of lavender/green tea fragrance, it’s not hempy or intrusive, and with all the natural oils and butters, it offered the added bonus of feeding our nail beds too. You'll find the 75ml Nano Emulsified Lavender Hand Cream for £19.99 here. 

Tuesday 2 March: The 2021 Beauty Shortlist Awards

**BIG CONGRATULATIONS 🎉 🥳 TO ALL THE WINNERS **

Today we're celebrating NATURE.

There's been a special energy around the 2021 Beauty Shortlist Awards this year, which is so cheering when we've all been wading through a heavy, "abnormal" and often difficult year.

These awards are not particularly easy to win, it's quite a wait from 1 September to Tuesday 2 March to find out if you have won.

But fortune favours the brave, Awards Day is here at last, and it's time to share the 🧡.

2021 highlights and emerging trends include:

* inclusive beauty (a priority for the industry)
* plantable packaging (you can compost at home)
* CBD edibles & delicious treats like coffee, nut butters and 70% dark chocolate
* the "almost naked" soap + solid skincare bar heroes flying the flag for "plastic-free"
* crystal beauty... moonstone-infused serums and shungite cleansers
* nootropics, gut health solutions and mood enhancers (yes please)
* buy-a-product-plant-a-tree campaigns
* recycled ocean plastic, mushroom (mycelium) boxes and a lot less plastic overall...

I hope you enjoy the awards today. Big congratulations to all the ethical, beautiful 2021 AWARDS winners - including those who've won one of the first ever Beauty Shortlist ECO LIFESTYLE AWARDS (new for 2021).

To see the gorgeous green winners go to thebeautyshortlist.com or click the bio link above. HAPPY MARCH 🐇🌷!

“We need the tonic of wildness…we can never have enough of nature”
Henry David Thoreau

Happy Carrot Skincare – Incredible Carrot Hero Balm

Today at The Amazing Blog we’re looking at a simple and effective vegan skincare – well after all it’s still ‘Veganuary’. Today the humble carrot is the key ingredient with the  Incredible Carrot Hero Balm which is full of plant-based goodness, award winning and a great multi-tasking product from Happy Carrot Skincare.

Victoria Carpenter, founder of  Happy Carrot Skincare decided to name the company Happy Carrot because she believes in the benefits and power of the plant-based ingredients -  mainly the carrot! Launched in 2019, the Happy Carrot Skincare is committed to creating plant-based skincare - that works. This Vegan Society registered brand, wants to bring a positive change to our skin and the planet. Carpenter commented: “We focus on ingredients that are amazing for combination skin which are also great for the planet. Our skincare superheroes are extremely nourishing and calming for even troubled skin, and deliberately fragrance-free.” All pots are made from recyclable plastic with compostable labels, and they use cold-pressed oils from Europe with up-cycled fruit seeds and kernels, which are excess and have been discarded from food production. They consider themselves to be a zero-waste and low carbon footprint brand. Happy Carrot Skincare keeps their ingredients to a minimum, where all their ‘superhero’ products contain less than ten in total. The brand has won by numerous awards such as The Beauty Shortlist Awards, Global Green Beauty Awards,  Free From Skincare Awards and VegFest UK Awards. Their four products range from Terrific Tomato Facial Oil, Awesome Apricot Lip Balm, Reusable Cleansing Pads to the (below) featured Incredible Carrot Hero Balm.

The Incredible Carrot Hero Balm comes in two sizes a 15g or 40g pot with recyclable plastic. This Balm helps cleanse, calm, and moisturise your skin. This one of their superhero products which only contains eight plant-based ingredients. The hero here is the carrot extract because of the number of antioxidants it has, and it also gives the skin a golden glow. Carrots contain two types of vitamin A, carotenoids and retinoids (which the liver converts into the magical ‘retinol’). These are key in producing new skin cells, being high in antioxidants reduce skin inflammation and sun damage – reducing age spots and pigmentation. The murumuru butter mixed with vegan waxes such as myrica and candelilla wax, give the Balm a smooth texture making it easy to apply and leaving the skin soft.  The other fruit seeds oils used are watermelon, tomato and raspberry which are light and fast-absorbing; they’re clarifying for those with oily skin but also nourishing for dry.  Combined they protect and moisturise with antioxidants, minerals and unsaturated fatty acids. The Balm can be used in numerous ways; we used it as a cleanser, mask, moisturiser and lip balm. However, we see that many others like it as a nail and cuticle balm. We recommend scooping a little into your hands and massaging onto the face or neck, leaving it overnight to give skin an extra vitamin A and retinol boost, then removing any excess with a gentle toner in the morning. With a whole host of vitamins and nutrients, it left our faces feeling moisturised but not greasy. This is a one-pot-wonder; we think a good investment and ideal for using when travelling light. To purchase The Incredible Carrot Hero Balm see here  40g for £25.00.

Manicure You London - Nail Polishes

We can never get enough of manicured nails, here at The Amazing Blog whether it’s to coordinate with our latest outfit or to pack into our travel bags for holidays. With Christmas fast approaching we couldn’t resist adding a trio of new sparkly colours from Manicure You to our collection.

Like many of us, Nicola Soremekun, the founder of Manicure You had damaged nails after years nail-biting and acrylics. Finally, she decided that it was time take care of her natural nails which took her on a nail journey creating an Instagram page ‘Nikki & Nails’ where she photographed and detailed her manicures, nail growth and colours of the week.  As a nail polish convert, she decided to launch her own brand in 2018 with a range of luxury nail products offered at affordable prices. Also, a black-owned business, being inclusive for all skin tones was a must for her, Nicola said: “I wanted to create a product that is inclusive of all skin tones, toxin-free and would allow my nails to breathe, be nurtured and grow whilst still rocking the latest shades.” All the Manicure You nail polishes are free from ingredients such as toluene, dibutyl phthalate, formaldehyde, formaldehyde resin, camphor, ethyl tosylamide, and xylene. For those of you new to nail lacquer formulations, here is why they are not included in the Manicure You formulations: Toluene is a neurotoxin that can cause neurological damage when inhaled. Although Dibutyl Phthalate helps improve nail durability but it is also associated with damage to the liver and kidneys. Formaldehyde and it’s by-product Formaldehyde Resin can cause allergic reactions, asthma, nausea, and dermatitis. Camphor can also trigger allergic reactions, headaches and nausea. Low doses of Xylene can cause headaches, and high doses can affect the respiratory system. Ethyl Tosylamide is banned in Europe due to it causing mild to severe allergic reactions; it also can disrupt hormones. With cuticle oil, top and base coat, as well as an array of over 23 vibrant colours in the range, there is something for everyone here. This collection of chic and environmentally friendly products, give results with a long-lasting gel-like finish, without the use of a UV lamp or soaking your nails in toxic acetone. 

Adding some twinkle to fingers and toes, and creating fun nail art always gets us in the celebratory mood. This is where the Christmas trio of shimmer shades from Manicure You with Moonlight, Ruby Queen and Trophy complement, adding some serious festive pizzazz to our home manicure. Best of all, we found that the recommended application of two thin coats gives a gloop-free and long-lasting colour. Ruby Queen is a ‘lipstick red’ with the tiniest flecks of gold which glistens in the light, we think this shade is great for a girly night out or for the on-trend fashionistas. Whereas Trophy is the perfect in-between metallic shade of silver/gold making it the most versatile colour of the trio to rock for Christmas parties. Moonlight is a midnight blue giving a prism effect with light-reflecting rich cobalt shades, all of which add a little drama - this was our favourite shade from the trio. You can use these colours alone, or there are numerous nail art designs you can create. We suggest starting with Trophy as the base followed by a line of Ruby Queen and Midnight on the tips, like a reverse French. Or perhaps having Ruby Queen as the base and then taking Trophy to paint diagonal lines creating a candy cane effect. However, if you’re nail art novices, like us, then go for a more straightforward look by painting eight fingers in Midnight and both ring fingers in Trophy to give a festive accent. Why not follow this by painting all toes in the glorious Ruby Queen, the perfect colour for getting your feet party-ready. You can purchase all the Manicure You nail polishes here for £8.50 each.

L'Atelier Green Paris - SOS Damaged Nails

We don’t know about you, but at The Amazing Blog we find that this cold weather isn’t very kind to our hands, not only with cracked skin but split nails too. Helping to keep our nails healthy we found this SOS Damaged Nails nourishing base coat and treatment from L’Atelier Green which works as a wonderful nail hardener, helping to make brittle nails healthy and strong again.

Sisters Hamida and Yasmine Smatti founded L’Atelier Green when they identified a gap in the market where they were unable to find any natural or nourishing nail products that also had a range of coloured nail lacquers. Their first beauty business venture was in 2017, with Rouge Fast Beauty Bar; it was the first London mobile beauty service to offer natural hair and makeup products for clients. During this period, they soon learned how many of their clients’ natural nails had sustained damage from acrylics or gels; soon they found that they were helping with more and more repairs to fragile and damaged nails. Three years on, they launched L’Atelier Green formulated in France, with a range of all-natural coloured nail varnishes and treatments. These products are low in chemical formulas, breathable, water permeable, vegan (and cruelty-free), with bio-sourced organic oils, superfood enriched and certified halal. They are also all free-from the 13 common and harmful ingredients found in commercial nail lacquers such as: DBP, toluene, formaldehyde, formaldehyde resin, xylene, camphor, nickel, ethyl tosylamide, triphenyl phosphate, parabens, benzophenone 1&2, styrene and animal derivatives.

The SOS Damaged Nails is a clear base coat that offers protection for the natural nail and works with natural ingredients and oils as a nail treatment. These include organic actives such as avocado and sweet almond oils, acerola, ginseng, zinc and silicium extracts. Plus, this formula is infused with cocoa butter, bamboo, biotin (vitamin B), which work together to moisturise, give nutrition and strengthen any frangible nails. The silicium, in particular, improves collagen production which in turn promotes nail growth. The SOS Damaged Nails is ideal to use as a base coat, and being air and water permeable (wudu-friendly), it ensures that nails are kept in tiptop condition while repairing. As recommended, we used this alone as an intense treatment with two coats twice a week, with good results. However, we also applied one coat under our regular nail lacquer, and are delighted to report back that when we did our weekly home mani-pedi, our nails were a good healthy pink underneath, without any colour stain. We think this is a keeper! And is yet again another one of our #amazingfinds. If your nails need a rest from having gels or acrylics or are just in need of some good old fashioned TLC, this is the product use. To purchase The SOS Damaged Nails at £19.99 see here.