Board Games are getting a “Second Life” + Games Quest Giveaway

As we all know by now the gaming industry is growing bigger every day… more gaming consoles, more gaming tablets, phones handheld devices, more options to simply isolate ourselves from the outside world and just play…

One could easily start to think that this whole boom in computer gaming would “kill off” board games, but one would be wrong. Actually board games are having their own boom and were never as popular as they are right now.

According to Doctor Tomasz Sobierajski sociology Professor from Warsaw University “we miss the need to be with other people”. Computer gaming can be fun but most of the time we are isolated; it is just us stuck in the room staring at a screen whereas board games give us the opportunity to be interact with others and at the same time learn something new, have fun and relax.

Board games are extremely important part of growing up. They help with intellectual development, social rules as well as interpersonal relationships; they teach us how to win and more importantly… how to lose.

How to choose the perfect board game?

Well, I am not sure I have a perfect recipe for success when it comes to game choices but I have a few pointers which might help with this task.

Read information on the box

This would give you the general idea about the game and the ever so important age bracket the game is designed for.

Read the rules

Every game has its own rules. When picking something new we need to make sure that the rules are not too complicated and that the participants will be able to follow them.

Time frame

Some games can take a long time to finish. It is important to pick the right game that suits the time frame available to you to finish the game – too long and kids can get bored.

Number of players

Different games require different number of players. If there are only two of you most of the time then don’t get a party game…

Type of the game

Fantasy, simulation, adventures, logical… you know best what you like, you know best what your friends or kids are good at… take it into consideration when making your choice… If your players aren’t good readers don’t pick the game which requires a lot of reading in order to progress… games should be fun… this is their main role and everything else we learn during this time it is just a bonus!

We have a lot of board games in the house. We might not play them as often as we would like but there is nothing better than a friendly scrabble session 🙂

Games Quest was started by people who love games and love having fun. They stock over 30,000 of the world’s favourite board games, toys and books. If you are looking for it, I am sure they have it.

Games Quest have kindly offered £40 of site credit to one of my readers, so you can pick something you and your kids or friends can bond over and enjoy during these long winter evenings.

If you have a board game on your wish list and fancy winning £40 to spend at Games Quest please just follow the link to my rafflecopter giveaway.

Enter to win a £40 voucher to spend at Games Quest

 

Good luck!

Do you like board games?

Do you think their future is bright?

Do you play with your kids, partner or friends?

ThePrizeFinder – UK Competitions
Loquax – Home of The Lucky Duck
SuperLucky Blog Giveaways Linky

Thank you Secret Santa

Yes, you guessed right; this is a heartfelt thank you post to the blogger who was my Secret Santa 🙂

I totally love the idea of the Secret Santa – you get the name of the blogger and a budget and off you go… read, and then read some more and then go hunting for the perfect gift.

This year I took part in Twin Mummys Newbie Bloggers! Facebook group Secret Santa. We all were allocated one blogger each and given a budget of £10.

I think sometimes it is not so easy to find the right thing. I struggled a lot with the choice of my gift… I’ve read post after post… changed months… dug deep into the archives but I was still not an inch closer to finding something personal about my gift recipient that could guide me to a nice gift… Finally there was one post which gave me some insight into their likes and dislikes and this was all I had to go on… I hope I did well with my choice… or at least partially good…

I think my Secret Santa did a fantastic job… here are my gifts…

We use coasters a lot as we have wooden stained furniture and I even featured some on the blog and of course we love our pets so it works out perfectly.

The coasters are really well made and I am very pleased with them but my favourite part of the gift is by far the key ring…

I normally don’t use key rings as I have my keys on a lead around my neck just to make things easier but this one I will use for sure. It will be joined by my car keys.

I love this key ring and I totally love the quote on it.

Home is where your Dog is!

This is so true!

Secret Santa, you where spot on with this gift; it is just right for me and it put a huge grin on my face; Thank you!

Did you ever play Secret Santa to someone?

Merry Christmas

A gift guide for that person who appears to have it all

Men, women, teens, kids – there is always someone who seems to have it all and when asked what would they want or like the answer is always the same – nothing.

This is not necessarily the truth. I personally don’t believe they have it all but this type of person may just not have any immediate needs which need fulfilling, so… buying for them is kind of a nightmare.

We can always pick the easy way out and go with a pre-boxed gift from our favourite store or we could try to find something which will actually suit them and they might actually need or even want, even if they don’t know it yet.

I was wondering about some gift ideas for “those” type of people. So I created a list, in spending order, which might give you some ideas.

Experience Days

There are a lot of options for picking something suitable from experience days. I’ve looked at Virgin Experience Days and prices start from just £5 and go up and up and up all the way to space soon… so I am putting it on top of my list. Driving, flying, days out, spa days, photo shoots… there are literally 100s of different options to suit any budget and of course to suit any person we are buying for. Last year I won a driving experience and gifted it to Mark; he totally loved it even though they wouldn’t let him keep the car despite Hollywood levels of pleading.

Dyson Hot + Cool

Unless the person you are buying for has an air-conditioned house they will love the new Dyson Hot + Cool. I personally don’t have one (I wish we had) but I’ve seen it in action and it is amazing. It looks amazing and it performs just as described. It isn’t cheap though as prices starts from £359.99 but if you have that amount of “spare” money I can guarantee a smile on the recipient face.

Redmond Multicooker

Reading different blogs I see that a lot of people are using a multicooker. These smart appliances can fry, steam, cook, stew, bake… they can reheat food or keep it warm until you get home… pretty clever. It is like all your cooking requirements in one piece of kit. The price does vary depending on which model you opt for – the basic 6 program multicooker will set you back £69 going up to an amazing 55 programs in one model for £184.90.

Personalised Gifts

With personalised gifts the choice also is almost endless – bags, mugs, frames, chocolates, clothing… whatever you want I am sure someone will personalise it for you. ToxicFox have a huge selection of personalised gifts. I particularly like their wine or champagne selection – personalised of course – as they might just be the perfect gift for a fussy adult.

They also offer a full ClaireaBella collection – cushions, stationery, suitcases, bags to name a few things plus a lot of clothing including PJs, hoodies, zoodies, t-shirt, onesies. With ClaireaBella you can not only personalise with your name but the whole Mr or Mrs ClaireaBella 😉 Prices starts from £4.99 for a personal bar of chocolate going up to £134 for a suitcase.

Water Pillow

Yeah, I know, it sounds awesome, doesn’t it? £39.99 will give you a Mediflow Waterbase Fibrefill Pillow; clinically proven to improve quality of sleep and reduction of neck pain. They can be adjusts to fit the shape of any person and continuously responds to changes in the sleeping position. I actually have one and it is a pleasure to sleep on. People might have a lot of things but I bet most of them haven’t thought about getting themselves a water pillow 🙂

“Posh” Candle Collection

Candles aren’t only for the older women. They have a practical use of course but they might also be used as a decoration, a mood enhancement or just a nice reminder of something or someone special. The Country Candle Company offers the most beautiful range of British, highly scented candle collections to suit any preferences. Prices start from £6.50 and go up to £22.50 for a lovely gift pack.

So, what do you think?

Are any of my ideas useable for you?

What would you add to the list?

RockFace taking care of your man – Review and Giveaway

If you like to look good and smell great with a minimum of effort and fuss leaving you more time to work hard and play hard, then Rockface is the range for you.

RockFace is a brand designed for a real man. All their products have the same citrusy woody fragrance so you can streamline your grooming and fragrance regime in one easy step.

Currently there are 8 products in the range:

• Shave gel – priced: £3.95 for 200ml
• Shave butter – priced £4.99 for 75ml
• Post shave balm – priced £4.95 for 100ml
• Moisturiser – priced £5.49 for 100ml
• Shower wash – priced £3.95 for 100ml
• Face and body scrub – priced £4.99 for 150ml
• Deodorant spray – priced £3.45 for 150ml
• Active body spray – priced £3.49 for 150ml

Recently Mark was kindly sent a range to try out. I must admit I was a little surprised by his reaction to this giant gift packet.

Normally he is a quite fussy “client” when it comes to skin care – he has a few products he likes and it is not easy to even get him to try something new. I think it is all about the fragrance – yet he liked RockFace and he was more than happy to give them a try, including the face and body scrub… which I tried to make him use for years with no positive outcome.

So what were Marks findings: “Good selection of useful products though I still haven’t figured out the need for an active body spray. The fragrance is indeed very attractive and I like the green colour of some products; not sure why but using them makes me happy”.

From my point of view I wanted to check if a “male” version of a face and body scrub is any different to the girly ones I know, so I tried it. To my giant surprise it was an amazing experience. This is one of the best scrubs I’ve used. It is quite gentle yet does its job perfectly well and it leaves your skin unbelievable smooth… no wonder Mark’s forehead doesn’t feel like a sheet of a sand pepper any more.

Mark likes it, I liked it, therefore with some confidence I can say I am sure you would like it too.

Now there is only one question left: when is the after shave or a perfume with the same scent coming out to complete the routine?

Now Rockface whose generosity has no bounds has very kindly offered 3 products to one of my lucky readers. The winner will be able to pick what they fancy to try out and if they are fast, it should arrive just before Christmas, so you will have one gift less to worry about.

To be in chance of winning the three RockFace products of your choice please follow me and RockFace on Twitter and RT the following tweet:

Follow me and @Rockface4Men to #win 3 products of your choice from http://t.co/tOnmhypGTa Full T&C on: http://t.co/DbEwR2fXhg #RockFaceXmas

— Agata @ BarkTime (@AgataPokutycka) December 9, 2014

Good Luck!

T&C:
1. Open to UK readers only.
2. One obligatory entry per reader – follow me and RockFace on Twitter and RT the tweet as stated above. Any extra RT will be counted as an additional entry.
3. There will be 1 winner in total.
4. The winner will receive a bundle of 3 RockFace products of their choice. The prize will be provided by RockFace.
5. Winner will be picked at random and informed within 7 working days via Twitter.
6. Winner will have 7 working days to claim the prize, after this time, a new winner will be selected.
7. Closing date is Wednesday 17-12-2014 at 23:59pm, any entry made after this time will not be counted.

ThePrizeFinder – UK Competitions
Loquax – Home of The Lucky Duck
SuperLucky Blog Giveaways Linky

***

20/12 WINNER UPDATE

Well done Laura ‏@LAFhusky

MyPure Choice – Natural Being Manuka Honey Rich Day and Night Cream

Natural Being is a new range of affordable natural skin care from New Zealand. Natural Being uses only natural ingredients and each product in the range has been certified natural by BDIH. There are 9 natural skin care products to choose from, these include cleansers, face cream, eye cream & body cream. They feature some great active natural ingredients including manuka oil & manuka honey. As with all the brands they stock at MypPure Natural Being is not tested on animals.

This is the brand description from the MyPure website.

I liked it, so I decided to give Natural Being Manuka Honey Rich Day and Night Cream a go.

Both creams are:

• A natural product
• A vegetarian product
• Not tested on animals

Natural Being Manuka Honey Rich Day Cream – Normal to dry skin

What to expect: Natural Being Manuka Honey Rich Day Cream is a nourishing cream which prevents dehydration and roughness, while enhancing suppleness and clarity. A highly effective blend of botanical oils and Vit E gently enriches the skin and fights free radical damage to keep the first signs of ageing at bay.

Ingredients: Aqua (water), Cetearyl olivate, Sorbitan olivate, Cetyl palmitate, Sorbitan palmitate, Glycerin (vegetable glycerin), Simmondsia chinensis (jojoba) seed oil**, Vitis vinifera (grape) seed oil, Butyrospermum parkii (shea) butter**, Squalane, Glucose, Mel (manuka honey), fragrance (natural essential oils), Xanthan gum, Glucose oxidase, Lactoperoxidase, Tocopherol (vitamin E), Leptospermum scoparium (manuka) oil, Citronellol*, Eugenol*, Limonene*, Linalool

Packaging: The cream comes in a tube like container with a security seal on the opening, so you can be sure it is new and never opened before. It is packed in the box containing all the relevant information including: name and description of the product, instructions on how to use it, full ingredients list, manufacturer details and use by date.

In use: The day cream is very light, despite being called rich. It spreads with ease and leaves my skin smooth and well moisturised. It doesn’t leave me with that “heavy” feeling some “rich” creams do. It is white in colour and has quite a light and runny texture. The fragrance was a nice surprise. Most of the natural products I have tried do not have the best of fragrance out there; however Natural Being Manuka Honey Rich Day Cream actually smells very nice. It is very gentle and almost none existent but it is there. I was wondering if after some time the fragrance would change, but it didn’t.

Final thoughts: Fantastic day cream which will not break your bank balance. With a RRP of £12 it is a great buy. It leaves my skin soft and it doesn’t cause any irritations. It absorbs well without being greasy or leaving oily patches. Well worth it and I have no objection in recommending it.

Natural Being Manuka Honey Rich Night Cream – Normal to dry skin

What to expect: Natural Being Manuka Honey Rich Night Cream is a deeply nourishing cream formulated to replenish moisture lost during the day. Enriched with Active Manuka Honey, anti-microbial Manuka Oil and botanical emollients, it works while you sleep to improve suppleness and help the skin repair and renew itself.

Ingredients: Aqua (water), Cetearyl olivate, Sorbitan olivate, Persea gratissima (avocado) oil, Vitis Vinifera (grape) seed oil, Cetyl palmitate, Sorbitan palmitate, Glycerin (vegetable glycerin), Squalane, Cetearyl alcohol, Butyrospermum parkii (shea) butter, Daucus carota (carrot) extract, Glucose, Mel (manuka honey), fragrance (natural essential oils), Sclerotium gum, Glucose oxidase, Lactoperoxidase, Tocopherol (vitamin E), Liptospermum scoparium (manuka) oil, Citronellol*, Eugenol*, Limonene*, Linalool*

Packaging: Same as the day cream, the night version comes in a tube like container with a security seal on the opening, so you can be sure it is new and never been opened before. It is packed in the box containing all the relevant information including: name and description of the product, instructions on how to use it, full ingredients list, manufacturer details and use by date.

In use: The night cream is a bit thicker than the day cream version. It is also a bit more yellowy in colour. These are the only two differences I can spot really. Again, it absorbs well and it nourishes my skin during the night. After a week or so, I’ve notice that the dry flaky skin on my forehead going away – I am not sure if it was the night cream that did it or the day cream or a combination of the two. It also has the same gentle fragrance as the day cream.

Final thoughts: I am not able to fault it in any way. With an RRP of £14 it is still a great buy and I would be happy to purchase it again.

There are more products in the Natural Being range. I think that an eye cream would be a perfect addition to my current routine… and a cleanser and a tonic gel… oh well… it looks like I will have to buy them all 🙂

Have you ever used any of the Natural Being products or any other manuka honey based skin care?

*From natural essential oils
**Certified organic

Products featured in this post were provided for free by MyPure for review purpose.

My Personal Beauty Wish List

As a blogger from time to time I get to try something nice… and all is good in the world but then comes the time when I want to try a bit more… or maybe try them all… or even try a slightly different variation…

Last week as it was Black Friday I was browsing various websites in search of the perfect “something” for myself and thus I bookmarked a few things that I would really love to try.

So with no further delay, in no particular order, this is my very own Personal Beauty Wish List!

This might be considered a little bit greedy but I would as I said really love them all! I was lucky once enough to try some Botanicals Balm and I totally loved it… now I am hooked and want them all. So lucky for me, they have a special Christmas gift selection, which I think actually represents good value for money; especially with their current special offer of “Purchase any two gift collections and get a facial collection for free”.

To make the offer complete there is also the Footcare Trio and Handcare Essentials set 🙂

Next on my list is a Madara set. In the past I’ve tried a few face cleansers from this brand and I was very pleased with them. I would really like to try the whole dry skin range; I wonder if I used all the products together if it will make a major difference.

Natural perfumes? I’ve never tried any, so I am intrigued and would love to give them a go. I like the patchouli scent so Pure Patchouli from Acorelle seems to me like a good starting point for a journey into natural perfumes.

Lately I have been having some problems with my sleep pattern… again… I have had some Deep Sleep Dream Cream before and I really liked it, so the whole collection of therapeutic products, designed to enhance a peaceful sleep sounds perfect to me right now.

Finally…I need something for my hair. They are still dry and I am still looking for the perfect “something”. Until last Friday I didn’t even know that a company like Rahua existed, but I really liked the description and now would love to try it. 100%, free from gluten, synthetics, parabens and sulphates – sounds perfect on paper.

Have you tried any of these products?

What’s on your beauty wish list?