Soya Garden : Soy Mask

There's something rather magical about the way skincare can lift our spirits and motivate us to be our best! At The Amazing Blog, we're big fans of face masks, as they enhance one of our most cherished pastimes of slipping into our pajamas and chatting for hours with our friends. Today we are featuring Soya Garden, a natural skincare from New Zealand, with their Soy Mask, perfect for using on these dark autumn nights-in.

Soya Garden launched in 2020, inspired by nature's adaptability and endurance. They spent 18 months sourcing potent soy extracts and natural ingredients, harnessing their properties to develop a clean and balanced skincare line. Soya Garden's goal is to create formulas that don't change how you look but change the way you feel, helping you feel more healthy, vibrant, and comfortable in your skin. Their philosophy is about making you feel confident through their products because when we feel more confident, we have the power and motivation to lift up the world! Their formulations contain bioactive soy extracts, as well as naturally occurring vitamins, antioxidants, and nutrients. One of these natural ingredients is γ-pga®. Also known as Natto Gum, γ-pga® is an extract first discovered in Natto, a traditional Japanese food made from fermented soybeans. It promotes the natural moisturising factor's growth inside the cuticle cells, making skin softer and more moisturised. Another ingredient is Mang'in tense®, an organic active ingredient extracted from mango that promotes hyaluronic acid synthesis, replenishing water and locking in moisture. It also is high in antioxidants and phytochemicals that protect the skin from the free radicals that induce ageing. Soya Garden also has the Fernmark License, a trademark issued and endorsed by the New Zealand Government. When a New Zealand brand has the Fernmark License, it means that the brand is confirmed to be produced within New Zealand, compliant with all New Zealand laws and regulations. Also, with this Fernmark License, you can trust that the products are certified to be safe and reliable. 

Soya Garden sent us their award-winning Soy Mask, a multi-functional mask that dissolves away dryness and improves firmness and lustre. It has a light and creamy consistency, and we were pleasantly surprised by its slight floral fragrance - no smell of soy here! The mask offers many key benefits. It swiftly delivers potent nutrition into the skin, protects the skin from the damaging effects of dryness, reduces pigmentation, increases collagen production, and reduces roughness and fine lines. The mask contains three key ingredients, the first of which is lysofix. Lysofix is a natural lysophospholipid extracted from a non-GMO soybean source that reduces water loss, maintaining the skin's moisture and protecting the integrity of the skin's barrier. It's a mild, non-allergenic, and non-irritating ingredient that's suitable for delicate and sensitive skin. It also contains manuka honey, extracted from the nectar of the native New Zealand manuka flowers. It's rich in nutrients, vitamins, amino acids, and minerals that feed, protect, and renew the skin while offering antimicrobial and healing properties. Manuka honey is also a humectant, meaning that it draws in and retains moisture. The last key ingredient is tocopheryl, (most commonly known as vitamin E). It's a potent antioxidant that captures free oxygen radicals generated by exposure to light or pollution, helping to prevent further skin damage. It also can boost the protection against damaging UV rays, helping to prevent premature skin ageing too. To use the mask, apply it on cleansed skin, with an even layer, just thick enough to cover the skin’s surface, avoiding the eye and lips. Leave it on for about 10-15 minutes, and then rinse with water. They recommend following it up with a moisturiser (such as their Soya Garden Lotion). It is so light and fluffy; we almost forgot that we had it on! It left skin soft and hydrated and this 100ml pot gave us about five applications. To purchase the Soya Garden Soy Mask, visit here, where you can buy 100ml for $79.95NZD. 

HAVUKA: Spruce Resin Lip Balm, & A Piece of Spruce Resin Soap

Dry and flaky skin is something that no one wants, whether that's our lips, hands or even our scalp. So as we move into autumn, today at The Amazing Blog, we bring you two excellent Finnish skincare products by HAVUKA with their unique ingredient of spruce resin. 

HAVUKA is a family-owned, Finnish natural and artisan skincare. Their unique products utilise the natural resources from the Finnish landscape and Elias Lönnrot's recipes. Elias Lönnrot was a Finnish physician, philologist, and collector of traditional Finnish poetry. A well-known traveller, Lönnrot collected poems and folk stories from across Finland, which resulted in the creation of the Kalevala, one of the most significant works in Finnish literature. During his journeys, Elias discovered the healing powers of the golden and gooey resin from spruce trees, this is not to be confused with the thin, watery spruce sap. Spruce resin has been used in Nordic countries for many centuries to treat skin infections, insect bites, chapped hands, cuts, scrapes, eczema, burns and rashes, to name but a few. HAVUKA continues the path of Elias Lönnrot, and brings natural skincare products all made according to his original recipes, into the modern-day. Havuka wishes to preserve the knowledge that Lönnrot gathered and the recipes he created, so each product tells its origin and story through the eyes of Lönnrot. As a family-owned company HAVUKA has passed on the tradition of producing these natural products for three generations, and Timo Tynys follows in his family's footsteps as the current CEO. Even today, these sustainable spruce resin products are made from mainly locally-sourced botanicals, and are all collected by hand.

The Spruce Resin Lip Balm tells the story of how Elias was able to use spruce resin to create a natural lip balm. By mixing the resin from the spruce tree with fat, he created a 100% natural lip cream to soothe dry and cracked lips. Today each lip balm is hand made in Finland, with 100% natural ingredients. For many years, this natural resin has been used in Nordic folk medicine and therapy. Tree resin, like spruce, is not only helpful in treating dry, cracked skin, it has been proven to heal cuts, rashes, and burns. The spruce resin, in particular, has always been a source of fascination to us, as we love how it contains ‘various antioxidants and flavonoids’ which all work together to create a fantastic antiseptic-like substance. Spruce produces a resin as a natural defence mechanism to protect and heal itself from a wound, or bacteria, fungi, and other harmful microbes. These natural defence principles, can also be applied to skincare, in this case by Havuka, who use it as a key ingredient to help heal and protect the skin. The conditions of the Nordic forests and nature, together with the seasonal variations, northern light and the darkness of autumn and winter, grants spruce resin its healing powers, making it one of nature's potent healing forces. The long and storied history of spruce resin, has led to medical research for wound care here and has further proved itself as an effective natural remedy. This lip balm is made up of four simple ingredients: Finnish spruce picea abies resin, organic beeswax, sodium cocoa butyrate and jojoba oil. The beeswax contains myricin and serine which have antibacterial substances to heal and softens dry and chapped skin. The sodium cocoa butterate is the fatty acid derived from cocoa butter and provides relief to damaged skin; and the jojoba oil is used to hydrate the skin – the perfect ingredient for a lip balm. This Spruce Resin Lip Balm is smooth and creamy to apply with a mild cocoa butter-y taste. As cold weather approaches, we think that with all these simple yet effective ingredients, it’s one to keep handy when you go outside - not only does it taste good, it’s also very shielding. The Spruce Lip Balm was first nominated for Best Lip Cream for the Nordic Natural Beauty Awards in 2020. You can purchase this hydrating natural Spruce Resin Lip Balm at 4g  here for € 12.90.

Next, we have the Piece of Spruce Resin Soap, this was also nominated at the Nordic Natural Beauty Awards in 2020, and we can see why. With its gentle antiseptic qualities, this soap can be used on both the skin and scalp, and is ideal for dry, flaky and sensitive skin. The spruce resin will also soothe the scalp while supporting the ‘normal function of the skin’. This handmade, 100% natural soap contains minimal ingredients and follows Elias' recipe, making it both an eco-friendly and sustainable product, with its plastic- free packaging so there is no need to worry about the impact on the planet. There are only five ingredients here with Finnish spruce picea abies resin (which we have discussed), organic rapeseed oil that has antioxidant properties for the skin and is a rich source of omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids. These antioxidants help protect the skin from free-radicals and potential environmental factors, like pollution. Sodium olivate is the sodium salt of the fatty acid of olive oil and is commonly used in soaps and as a detergent substance. Along with these, there are also coconut oil and sodium palmate, which are a gentler alternative to harsh cleansers that are typically found in other soaps. The advantage of these is that they have a high content of the monounsaturated fatty acid oleic acid. It is very easy to use, we were sent the 40g soap, which has lasted well. We used it in the shower on the body and scalp, and found that it lathers up but has no fragrance. In regard to using it on hair, we would say that it’s more for treating the scalp and not the hair, as it left our hair a bit tangly and in need of conditioner. We think it would be ideal to use when cold water swimming (as suggested with Saltvattentvalen No:1 ) and with all these natural ingredients you want to use it to be at one with nature following in the steps of Elias Lönnrot. The Piece of Spruce Resin Soap is offered in two different sizes, 40g at € 5.90 or 100g at € 12.90 here; all products are available through HAVUKA's website or if ordering from UK you might want to go to The Artic Pure here. Also look out for our review on their Spruce Resin Balms soon.

2022 Beauty Shortlist & Wellbeing Awards - Are Now Open for Entry!

Good to grow: 2022 Beauty Shortlist & Wellbeing Awards open for entries with new blue beauty and plantable beauty categories and fresh faces on the judging panel.

Entries have opened for the upcoming Beauty Shortlist Awards which will celebrate the highest-scoring brands and products that celebrate NATURE on Wednesday 2 March 2022.

Honouring the most-loved earth-safe and ocean-safe beauty and wellness products – all tested by experts – the ethical, natural and organic showcase returns with over 40 new categories embracing blue and green beauty, more age-specific skincare and self-care categories, eco-packaging, holistic health, eco innovation, nutrition, aromatherapy, CBD and more.

2022 BEAUTY SHORTLIST & WELLBEING AWARDS ENTRY FORM (ENTRIES CLOSE 29 OCTOBER)

ENTRY FORM

If you had to pick the most stellar month of the year for beauty and the planet, September would be up there: Organic September, a new season with lots of new launches, the Great British Beach Clean, World Car Free Day - and it’s FSC week soon, celebrating & raising awareness of responsible forestry 🌳

Never have we lived through a time when comforts and joys have been more important to our wellbeing - and it’s exactly those that are celebrated every year at the Beauty Shortlist Awards:

You are warmly invited to celebrate the top-scoring beauty, grooming and wellness of the year with the 2022 Beauty Shortlist Awards on Wednesday 2 March.

These independent and 100% sponsor-free global Awards celebrate the highest-scoring ethical brands and products of the year, evaluated by beauty and wellness industry experts:

• natural + organic beauty, personal care

• nutrition, wellness, health supplements, CBD & eco cleaning

• men’s hair, skincare, self-care, body & shower products

Happy September!

Lebarde: Natural Eye Cream Gold Bee

At The Amazing Blog, we think that bees are some of the most important living beings on Earth. After all, 70% of the world's agriculture depends exclusively on bees. We appreciate what they do and, in particular, the benefits that bee's nectar can give to our skin. Today we'd like to share Lebarde, a natural raw skincare made with bee nectar from Caucasian honey bees. It piqued our interest when they won an award in the 2021 The Beauty Shortlist Awards. They very kindly sent us their recent award-winning Natural Eye Cream Gold Bee to try.

Ever since a young age Maia Gigiberia, founder of Lebarde, has always lived a natural and healthy lifestyle, and being part of a family of pharmacists, growing up in Colchis, Georgia, it’s always made her curious about science and the natural world. Interestingly enough, Maia's ancestor was the daughter of King Colchis, who invented the first natural medicines and cosmetics. So, health and beauty come naturally to Maia. After struggling with sensitive skin and being unable to find skincare products that were natural and calming for her skin, Maia started researching local botanicals, florae and bees to create an all-natural, raw skincare range. And with that, she founded Lebarde in 2019. Lebarde has now has three skincare products in the range, made with 100% natural sourced ingredients from Colchis, Georgia's Alps Mountains and nectar of the Caucasian honey bees from the local plants. The Georgian mountains have vibrant flora and fauna which thrive in the non-polluted areas, creating a natural and clean environment where Lebarde sources to make their ingredients. In addition to these botanicals, Georgia is home to the Caucasian honey bee, where they've lived for around 5,500 years. What makes these bees so unique is that they have received 3 Gold medals at international events, where the Georgian Gold Bee has the most extended proboscis -7.3 mm, which is the longest among any the honey-bees; this means that they can extract nectar from the deepest nectar tissues where no other species can. Lebarde's skincare was recently selected as the Best Special Innovation finalist at Pure Beauty London awards 2020 and the Best Eye Cream Bronze Winner in the UK Global Makeup Awards 2021. 

Lebarde's Natural Eye Cream Gold Bee is natural and free from any artificial chemicals, synthetics, and preservatives and made with only eight simple and clean ingredients: water, olive oil, pin leaf oil, pine needle oil, beeswax, Royal jelly, damascene rose oil and jojoba oil,  The key ingredients here are the bee nectar (Royal jelly) and beeswax from the bees and endemic botanicals found in the Alp mountains of ancient Georgia, Colchis, making it rich in natural retinol, vitamin E, A, and C, antioxidants and natural fatty compounds.  Royal jelly has been found to speed up skin cell renewal, boosting collagen production and helping to protect against UV damage. Beeswax, apart from forming a protective layer that won't clog the pores, it's also full of vitamin A. This vitamin A is a natural retinol that helps to boost collagen around the eyes, reducing dark circles, fine lines, and wrinkles. There is also olive oil full of vitamins A, D, E, and K, which is not only moisturising but is like beeswax and Royal jelly and has strong antibacterial qualities. The pine leaf and pine needle oils here are antimicrobial and soothe skin stopping any inflammation or dryness. The jojoba oil is rich in vitamin E and mimics the skin's sebum, making it ideal for both dry and oily skin. The damascene rose oil is a volatile oil obtained from the fresh flower petals of Damask rose, which has a mild emollient action that helps retain moisture in the skin. Rich in vitamin A and C, the citral here promotes the formation of vitamin A, which helps regenerate the skin's epidermal cells. Combine these eight ingredients, and you have a potent and yet gentle, effective eye cream; which we found to be extremely hydrating and nourishing when applied both day and night. . With no artificial ingredients or fragrance in this Natural Eye Cream, you can almost feel the magic of honey bees, with its powerful anti-inflammatory properties that immediately help to calm any redness or irritation. We think this gentle and luxurious eye cream is perfect for all-natural and raw skincare lovers, and yes, it is another of our #amazingfinds.  To purchase 15ml Lebarde Natural Eye Cream, see here for £79.00. 

Bescher: Sea Cucumber Collagen Regeneration Serum & Sea Cucumber Collagen Anti-Ageing Cream

At The Amazing Blog  we know how important skincare is!  And as we like to support smaller and more natural brands today, we’re featuring the Australian skincare Bescher which has a very unique key ingredient of sea cucumber collagen in their range of three products.  

Bescher is a natural skincare brand founded in 2019 by Renee Alyce. Before developing Bescher, Renee had many skin issues, including fair and sensitive skin, pigmentation, redness, and pimples. Renee lived on a secluded island in the Pacific for six years, and this is where she discovered all of the benefits of the sea cucumber. On the island, she noticed villagers applying sea cucumber collagen to minor wounds, infections, and other skin conditions. This is when Renee researched sea cucumbers and found that they possess extraordinary regenerative and healing properties and even help to regenerate themselves. This was enough to convince her to try sea cucumber collagen extract on her face, and after a week of application, she felt like her skin was ‘reborn’. Renee recently said in an interview, “Sea cucumber collagen changed my skin and the way I felt about myself, and I just knew from that moment if it had the power to make me feel better and to help heal my skin, maybe other people could feel the benefits too.” When Renee returned to Australia, she worked with a leading laboratory to help her formulate the skincare line. Using her products has made Renee feel empowered and confident in fact, so much so, with the improvement in her complexion she’s stop wearing foundation. The base of every Bescher product is sea cucumber collagen, which contains benefits that far outweigh terrestrial mammalian. For a long time, people have eaten sea cucumbers to gain health benefits, and Bescher is the first skincare brand to put sea cucumber collagen into a skincare. The sea cucumbers are sustainably sourced from a specialist in research and development for marine biotechnology. These are harvested from unaltered marine ecosystems, where they are all about preserving the marine environment and working with local communities to return young sea cucumbers to their habitat for further growth. Bescher, a natural skincare, promises its products are clean and free from all nasties. They are fragrance-free and suitable for sensitive skin, contain sustainable ingredients and come from small-batch production. They are completely recyclable, with two products in glass jars, and the plastic serum bottle with pouch can both be disposed of safely, each in its proper recycling chain.

Bescher’s Sea Cucumber Collagen Regeneration Serum is an ultra-concentrated serum that rapidly influences collagen production and boosts skin cell turnover. This serum helps delay visible signs of ageing, gives the skin radiance and luminosity, and reduces scarring, redness, and ageing. The main ingredients in the serum include sea cucumber collagen, orange stem cells, matrixyl 3000 TM, and hyaluronic acid. Sea cucumber collagen is the star ingredient — it repairs skin collagen and elastin protein fibres, generates a protective layer on the outer skin surface, and enhances the homogeneous distribution of collagen fibres. Orange stem cells protect the protein and nucleic acids in our skin from oxidants, enabling cells to excrete free radicals to avoid UV oxidisation, genetic mutation, pigmentation, and wrinkles. Matrixyl 3000 TM transforms your skin through increased collagen production, rapid skin cell turnover and renewal, anti-inflammation, skin pigmentation reduction, UV protection, and increased blood flow to the skin. Hyaluronic acid encourages skin cell growth and renewal, provides anti-inflammatory benefits and free radical protection. We used it morning and night to clean, dry skin. It’s a clear, viscous liquid that’s fragrance-free and absorbs quickly and gives a feeling of slightly tightening the skin. We then followed this with the Sea Cucumber Collagen Cream (which we’ll discuss below). Our favourite area of use this was around the eye area, where we found that the serum worked well to brighten and soothe dry, tired eyes and reduce fine lines and under-eye circles. You can find the Sea Cucumber Collagen Anti-Ageing Cream herefor £63.75.

The  Sea Cucumber Collagen Anti-Ageing Cream regenerates the skin’s tone, texture, and luminosity and reveals younger, brighter, and they claim it will revitalise skin from the first application. This cream leaves the skin looking and feeling renewed and minimises lines, wrinkles, and signs of sun damage. The main ingredients in the cream include sea cucumber collagen, munapsys, squalane, kakadu plum, and hyaluronic acid. Sea cucumber collagen is again the star ingredient — it repairs skin collagen and elastin protein fibres, generates a protective layer on the outer skin surface, and enhances the homogeneous distribution of collagen fibres. Munapsys is a ground-breaking anti-age ingredient that flattens wrinkles, elasticises tired skin, and dramatically improves the appearance of skin texture. Squalane hydrates and moisturises skin and is a detoxifier, natural booster of collagen, and anti-bacterial. Kakadu plum brightens dull skin, antioxidises to prevent free-radical damage, protects from carcinogens, banishes fine lines and wrinkles, soothes inflammation, and heals hyperpigmentation and busting acne. Hyaluronic acid encourages skin cell growth and renewal, provides anti-inflammatory and supports collagen production. This was our favourite out of the two. Again fragrance-free, in an almost opaque gel x cream consistency - we found that a little goes a long way, making it perfect for our dry and sensitive skins. It was a joy to use as it hydrated and plumped up the skin creating the perfect canvas for foundation or makeup. Yes, another one of our #amazingfinds! You can purchase the Sea Cucumber Collagen Regeneration Serum here for £68.67.