Tuesday, June 29, 2021

Cosmic Encounter Board Game Review!

 

Ever since our children were toddlers we've always enjoyed taking some time to disconnect from watching TV/movies, or playing on electronics and sit down to enjoy some fun board games together. Not only are board games fun, but they can help teach your kids a number of useful skills. Since the days of my children being toddlers we have moved onto more advanced games since they are eight and twelve now. I want to share a few of our favorites with you starting off with a great game called Cosmic Encounter. There is a lot to cover so I will go over a large portion of the game, but won't go into every little detail.

You may or may not have heard of this game, I hadn't heard about it until last year, however this game isn't new. Cosmic Encounter actually has a long history and has gone through a number of changes since it first came out, the first edition came out in 1977, I wasn't even a thought to my parents at that point in time! The first edition was made for up to six players and had six aliens you could play as, the newer addition which we own (shown above) is suited to five players and has 51 different aliens to play as. Various changes have made the game better and better over the years to what we have today, if you want to read more on it's history you can check that out here.

Cosmic Encounter is a great game for a variety of ages and gaming levels, there are several different ways to play this ranging from easy to hard depending on your level of comfort with all of the pieces and rules. The out come of every game will be completely different depending on the players, a single person can win the encounter or multiple people can win at once if they decide to work together.

To start off the game you'll select which color you'd like to play as and collect your player pieces which include; 5 player planets, 20 plastic ships and one marker. How do you decide which alien you'd like to be? You have one of three options, look through all of them and pick one, randomly select a card without looking or shuffle the 51 flare cards (one for every alien) and pass two out to every player who will then select one of the two to play as. We've done all three of the options and have played the game at least two dozen times in the three months we've owned it and there are still tons of aliens that haven't been played yet, so there is still plenty of fun to be had. 

When we set up our game we usually lay our planets out in a almost oval shape, however you can place your planets out however you'd like. Every plant will receive four ships which are your moving and attacking pieces you'll need to try and win the game along with encounter cards (you'll start off with seven cards). The goal of the game is to conquer five planets that are not your own, you do so by drawing a destiny card from the destiny deck to see who you'll be attacking. The destiny deck helps prevent players from ganging up onto one person. 

Once you draw a destiny card to see who you'll attack, you will select one of their plants and place a Hyperspace gate pointed towards the planet (it is the piece above that kind of looks like the bridge from Thor). You are allowed to attack with up to four ships from any of your planets, to send them into the "attack" you'll place them onto the hyperspace gate. Once that is done you will both look at the number of ships you have in the battle and select a encounter card from your hand to place face down until both players are ready and you'll reveal them to each other. The number on the encounter card will be added to the number of ships you have in the battle and whom ever has the highest number wins, that is of course unless you have an alien that has a power to stop or chance the outcome of the battle. 


The loser of the encounter has to place all of the ships they had in that battle into the "Warp" which is the circle in the middle of the table. These ships are considered lost, however there are a number of ways to get your ships back and add them back into your fleet. The winner will then place the ships they had in the encounter onto the now vacated planet taking it over and moving their player marker up one slot on the track, once you hit five you are the winner of the game.


Each alien card has it's own ability, some are fairly easier to use while others can prove a challenge to use. As an example one of the characters has the ability to flip the outcome of the encounter, instead of the higher number being the winner whom ever has the lowest number wins and is why the alien is appropriately named "Loser". Another example of an alien power is one that has to try and self sabotage by losing and sending all of their ships to the warp, if they lose all of their ships, they win. Some of the aliens are monk like and are able to help out other players and some are down right evil and will drive you a little crazy by the end of the game. 

What is the play time? That all depends on the players, and the fate of the game. If you get the right alien and play it smoothly you can win in just a few rounds or if there is a number of sneakier characters the game can be prolonged so I would say a game can last anywhere from twenty minutes to over an hour. Price wise it might be a little much for some people at $50 (amazon), however the game is completely worth it if you play board games a lot because it has a hours and hours of fun to offer. There are several different editions and versions of this game, the older versions are slightly harder to play because they don't have the newest addition of the bottom half of the card which helps tell you how the rounds are played and when you are allowed to use your powers so I would suggest looking into the same edition we have. 

This has quickly become one of our favorite games because we can play a quick easy game or add in extra components to make it a harder game. It is easy to set up and easy to put away when we are done playing with it which is a big bonus, and it all goes back into the box smoothly 👍 unlike other games we have that never seem to go back into their box properly no matter how the pieces are placed back in.

 I hope you enjoyed this short review of Cosmic Encounter and I hope you'll consider looking into getting one of your own, it is a game not to be missed. I will share some more great board games with you soon. 

What are some of your favorite board games? Drop me a comment below and tell me what you enjoy playing.

Monday, June 28, 2021

Soothing aches with CBD Daily + a Giveaway!

 


Like most adults I have aches and pains in various parts of my body, generally my neck and back hurt a little (I could use a new bed and a trip to the chiropractor) so sometimes I need a little help with relief. I like using hot and cold packs but creams and patches can be helpful as well, I was recently sent the CBD Daily Intensive Cream in the scent Lavender to test out. It contains 60mg of CBD designed to help provide relief faster and more intense than other creams without it. The product is THC-free, 100% vegan and cruelty free plus it is made in California. 


This particular scent might be a little strong for some so I would suggest looking into their original scent, I however really love this scent. I didn't used to like the scent of lavender, but I am beginning to enjoy it more and I like that this product smells like a mixture of Lavender and mint (it has menthol). Even before applying this it helps you feel relaxed and calm due to the small, I would 100% love a candle of this. 

They sell a 1.7oz for $39.99 and a 8oz for $139.99 along with several other products in the CBD Daily line. When I have had a long work week and my neck starts feeling a little tense I like using this on the back of my neck and tops of my shoulders, it provides me a little bit of a peppermint tingly feeling and starts to help my muscles relax. I think this would also be helpful after in intense workout for the spots that are extra sore. The cream is pretty thick and silky smooth, a little goes a long way and it absorbs into your skin quickly. Some creams and lotions can leave behind a oily feeling on your hands, which is something that normally turns me away from which ever brand it is, so I am happy this doesn't do that. 

It is crazy how fast it works, when I started writing this post I had rubbed a bit of it into my neck and it is already making my neck feel better. I tend to hold stress in my neck so this is a great product to have on hand. 


You can get 25% Off any purchase of Marrakesh or the other Earthly Body products (including CBD drops) by using code Luna25 during check out. You can shop their wide range of products on the Earthly Body website.

Prize Alert:   Two winners will win either one 1.7oz lavender cream OR the mini gift set shown above, winners choice. Fill out the rafflecopter form below to enter. 

This is open to US Residents! Please remember if you DO NOT leave a comment on this blog post as your mandatory entry into the giveaway then all of your entries will be void. Doing the Daily entries will increase your chance of winning. Winners have 72 hours to respond to the notification email! 

This giveaway ends on 07/09/2021


Giveaway entry question: Leave a comment telling another product from their CBD Daily line that you'd want to try out.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Disclaimer-  Earthly Body/CBD Daily provided the products mentioned above for the review & giveaway free of charge no other compensation was provided. However, no product compensation will influence the outcome of any review. My honest opinions are used in all reviews, they are solely my own & they may vary from others. My reviews are posted for readers in order to provide an informed decision before purchase. 

Tuesday, June 15, 2021

Get hands on with the critters at the Rooster Cogburn Ostrich Ranch!

 

School is out for summer, which means it is time for summer trips, swimming and more! If you are going to be near the Tucson, Arizona area there is a fantastic destination that offers fun for the whole family. What place am I talking about? I am talking about the Rooster Cogburn Ostrich Ranch (Located at 17599 E Peak Ln. Piacho, AZ 85141. My family and I stopped to visit it on our way home from a trip to the Kartchner Caverns State Park. We enjoyed it so much that I wanted to tell all of you about it. 

I've driven past it before on my way to Tucson, but never stopped so while we were down in the area I looked into everything they offered. Once I saw you were able to hand feed and interact with a number of different animals, I knew it was something we needed to stop and do with the kids. At the door they have two different options, option #1 is $12 which comes with food for all of the animals except for the stingrays and option #2 is $15 which includes food for everything. We went with options #2, they provide you all of the food at once expect for the stingray food as it is pieces of what looks like squid that needs to be kept cold so they give you a coin to trade in at the end when you reach the stingrays. You can purchase additional food if you'd like.

There are several different areas where you can feed a number of animals, and many of them will let you pet them as well! Our kids have a blast and so did we, we all had different areas we loved so we ended up hanging around some of the areas a little longer than others. They have deer, rainbow lorikeets, goats, a ton of ostrich and more. 

While many of the animals were fun to feed my absolute favorite was feeing the Rainbow Lorikeets, you are able to go inside of the enclosure with them. Once inside you just hold the food in your hand and they will come over to sit on your arm/hand and will open the container themselves and start eating. I loved it so much, we ended up buying extra food cups and staying in there a bit. Feeding the stingrays is also an exciting and memorable experience, it feels so funny having them come up and eat out of the palm of your hands. They have no teeth so it is just a light suction that sucks up the bit of food from in between your fingers. 

My kids really enjoyed feeding and petting all of the bunnies, there are so many of them and they are completely unafraid of humans. I was impressed that not one of them tried to bite or get aggressive with us while we were feeding them. All of the animals were fun to feed in their own way and the ranch spices things up by giving you different ways to feed them such as a delivery system for the goats, a goat kissing wall and more. It was fun hand feeding all of the animals - aside from the Ostrich, they have a special cup you pour it in. Although I am not going to lie, it freaked me out feeding the ducks, they have a sign showing how to feed them next to their swimming area. You make an open fist  leaving a round opening between your thumb and pointer with the food inside of your palm, so they can put their break into the opening and eat. I was worried they would nip on the soft skin near my thumb on accident or that their hard beaks would hurt, my husband actually had to help hold me hand because I was nervous hahaha. Everything turned out just fine, didn't hurt at all.


They also have a gift shop, and a shooting gallery where the kids can have some fun. You can also use their pressing machine to make a souvenir pressed penny to take home, it was open during the time we were there but they also have monster truck tours. We thankfully went on a day when there were not a bunch of people so we were able to take our time and really enjoy the experience. In total we were there for about two hours altogether and we can't wait to go back again, it was well worth the money spent to feed the animals. 

I will be sharing some photos and videos from the ranch including showing how some of the animals are fed over on my blog Instagram page and Photography Instagram page, so stop by and check them out! I will be putting different photos and videos on each through the next week.

Sunday, June 13, 2021

Keep your dyed hair looking its best with Marrakesh!

If I had to name one of my favorite hair care brands, the first one that would come to mind is Marrakesh and for good reason. I have tried out a few of their products in the past (visit the post here.) and recently had the chance to try out more of their fantastic products. 


 

I would consider the Marrakesh Miracle Masque my "holy grail" hair care product. I have never really had the best hair possible, it is thin, can get oily and I recently started dyeing it again after many years of not doing so. I use this masque once a week and it makes a huge difference for my hair, not to mention the product smells amazing. So much in fact that I actually brought the container with my to work because my work friends wanted to smell it after I had been talking about it. 

My hair feels silky smooth and light weight after using this, and it will leave your hair smelling lovely for the next few days along with helping it not get so oily/look oily. While I still retain my natural fluffiness when it comes to my hair, it feels moisturized and healthier. The jar might seem a little pricey to some at $25.99 for a 8oz bottle, but you'd be surprised how long the container actually lasts. I usually use half a handful and it will cover my scalp and hair nicely, and if you need a little more just add a little water to lather it better. I use this at the start of my shower to allow it time to sit and work its magic, then I rinse it out prior to getting out of the shower. I've used this about six or seven times in the last month and a half and you can see how much is still left in the container above, I would say there is at least another four applications with this.      

For my those with  semi-permanent unnatural hair colors (such as myself), this product should not make a bunch of your color wash out. Granted this depends on the brand of hair dye you used as some naturally wash out significantly faster than others, for the brand I use this actually helps my color look its best.

Speaking of dyed hair Marrakesh has a color care line which consists of a shampoo, conditioner and leave-in treatment/detangler that is specifically made for customers that color their hair. First I will go over the detangler, the instructions say you should use it on clean, towel dried hair, however you can also use it on the go or when you are in a rush. 

Sometimes I use this to help tamp my hair back down if I was just driving with my windows down and my hair got a bit messy. The formula is a little thick so from time to time it might not spray properly, to fix it you'll just need to wipe the hole of the nozzle off and it will spray properly again. The spray is lightly scented but it dissipates quickly. One of the things that I like about this is that it dries quickly and doesn't make your hair look greasy or unwashed like some products can do even when only using a small amount. You can pick up a bottle of this for $15.99 over on their website.  


Next up is the color care shampoo & conditioner. I am going to be honest, I am not a big fan of shampoo I usually only buy conditioner but tried it out as the combo. The color care line has been a great way to keep my hair looking and smelling clean, and looking its best while still retaining the blue/purple color I have in it. With some shampoo/conditioner it will really strip away the dye and some end up making your hair feel either dry or look oily and who wants their shampoo/conditioner to do that? I haven't experienced any of that with this brand. 

My hair always smells great, feels soft and is ready for the day after I wash it with the Marrakesh line! Along with these fantastic products Marrakesh has a TON of other awesome products worth buying, and they have several sister companies that sell worth while products as well. You can get 25% Off any purchase of Marrakesh or the other Earthly Body products (including CBD drops) by using code Luna25 during check out. You can shop their wide range of products on the Earthly Body website.

Disclaimer-  Earthly Body/Marrakesh provided the products mentioned above for the review  free of charge no other compensation was provided. However, no product compensation will influence the outcome of any review. My honest opinions are used in all reviews, they are solely my own & they may vary from others. My reviews are posted for readers in order to provide an informed decision before purchase. 

Saturday, June 12, 2021

June Beauty & The Book Giveaway!

 


For this month's Beauty & The Book Giveaway I wanted to go with another fun eyeshadow palette. This palette caught my eye recently when I was looking on makeup on amazon, I love the matte and glitter shades so I ordered one for this giveaway. 

What is new around here? Summer is officially here, once we hit a week with temps over a hundred degrees in Arizona means the high temps are here until the end of the year. This week we have a few excessive heat warnings, but thankfully my moms house has a pool so it will help us stay cool, that and hiding in our house. I have been working extra at work, which is why there was a lack of posts last month. Even with the heat, we are looking forward to going on a trip or two this summer to explore more of our home state.

I am currently working on new reviews, some travel highlight posts and of course new giveaways for all of you. Thank you to everyone who helps support my blog by liking photos, leaving comments and entering my giveaways! You are appreciated. 

For this months giveaway the book is "Freeks" I am a copy of this as well, and although I haven't gotten around to reading it, the book seems intriguing and interesting. Here is everything else that is included:

❤ 42 shade eye shadow Palette
❤ NYX Lipstick + Matching Lip Liner
❤ ELF Cosmetics Highlighter Brush
❤ Ponds Charcoal face mask
❤ Neutogena Peel-off face mask
❤ Wet N Wild Mascara 


This is open World Wide! Please remember if you DO NOT leave a comment on this blog post as your mandatory entry into the giveaway then all of your entries will be void. Doing the Daily entries will increase your chance of winning. Winners have 72 hours to respond to the notification email! This giveaway is hosted by ME.


This giveaway ends on 06/30/2020

Giveaway entry question: Leave a comment telling me one thing you are looking forward to doing this summer. 

Monday, June 7, 2021

Paint Your Own Llama with Horizon Group USA - Giveaway!


Horizon Group USA is one of my favorite brands to find activity kits for my kids, and it isn't just because I am a giveaway guru with them as I bought their products even before working on collaborations with them. The reason I love their products so much is because they offer a wide range of crafts and fun gift ideas for all ages. Four times a year I receive a surprise box with one or two items to test out for a review and they also send a second set for giveaways. I recently shared a fun rock painting kit with you and now I am sharing their Creative Roots Paint Your Own Llama.

The Llama is made from ceramic and measures six inches high. It has little details like a blanket, and flowers which are fun to paint vs just a plain llama. It has a little weight to it which makes it stand up by itself without any worry of it falling off the shelf. The kit itself comes with a paint brush and a five paint colors, however Horizon Group also send me a set of Primary Acrylic paints that has twelve different colors and an extra paint brush that my daughter decided to use on it instead of the paint it comes with. 

           

The llama was easy to paint, my daughter didn't have any issues with the paint not taking or applying too thickly to the statue. She had a lot of fun trying to add a little more texture to the llamas fur which you can see in the finished product below. I think the llama turned out quite well and it looks great up  Funko pop figures. If you are looking for a fun paint project for your child that will keep them entertained for ten to fifteen minutes then this kit is perfect for you! If your child isn't a big fan of llamas they also have other shapes like a fox, a unicorn, a cactus and more so there is something for all interests. Horizon Group USA sells their products on Amazon and also in select stores such as Walmart, you can pick up this llama for $9.96 over on Amazon.


Prize Alert: One lucky winner is going to win their own Llama painting kit!

This is open to US Residents! Please remember if you DO NOT leave a comment on this blog post as your mandatory entry into the giveaway then all of your entries will be void. Doing the Daily entries will increase your chance of winning. Winners have 72 hours to respond to the notification email! 

This giveaway ends on 06/16/2021


Giveaway entry question: Leave a comment telling another animal your child would enjoy painting. 


Disclaimer-  Horizon Group USA provided me with the products mentioned above for the review + giveaway free of charge no other compensation was provided. However, no product compensation will influence the outcome of any review. My honest opinions are used in all reviews, they are solely my own & they may vary from others. My reviews are posted for readers in order to provide an informed decision before purchase. 

Friday, June 4, 2021

May Boxycharm Review!

My birthday was last month so as a birthday present to myself I decided to test out a month of Boxycharm to see what their makeup boxes were like. I thought I would share my thoughts on it with all of you who have thought about getting a month (or longer) but aren't sure if you'd like it or not. 

Overall I am going to give this box a 3.5/5 Stars. Unlike other makeup mystery boxes you aren't able to fill out a personalized profile with things like your skin type, preferences, etc so the products you get might end up not working for your skin type, there was also a small issue with one of the products which will be noted below.



Eloise Beauty "The Queen" eye shadow palette:  The retail value of this palette varies, they have it listed on their website for $54 but you can often find it on sale for $29 or less. This palette was the new member gift for signing up for Boxycharm and is actually one of the reasons why I decided to test out the box because I love the bright colors of this palette. I've only used a few of the shades so far, but the colors I've tried have a lot of pigment and very little fall out both on the palette on application. 

KAB Cosmetics "Day+Night eye shadow palette":  This palette has a retail value of $52. The colors inside look gorgeous in person, there are a lot of great shimmery shades. However this palette has a horrible chemical smell to it, I popped by the Boxycharm subreddit and read that many subscribers experienced the same issue, some having a harsher smell than what the palette I received smelled like. Airing the palette out for a day or two helped a little but it still smells off so I won't be using this palette. I am happy I received the bonus queen palette since this one was a flop.

Mellow Cosmetics Lip gloss in "St Tropez": The retail value of this is $18. I really like the color of this, it is a good nude that still helps add a little extra color to your makeup look. The lip gloss applies evenly and smoothly, it feels slightly sticky at first but it gets a little better after rubbing your lips together a bit. I will end up using this from time to time, but I have a lot of similar shades that all look almost exactly alike, although it couldn't hurt to have an extra!

Skin Inc "My Daily Dose of Uplift": Retail value $65. Just the look of this product alone looks so neat! This is a clear serum that has little green, orange and purple bubbles floating around the inside. It is fun to turn and see all the bubbles moving around inside, it kind of made me feel like a bit looking at one of those multicolor oil toys. I have not opened this yet, simply because I already have a several skincare products open that I need to use first, though I am looking forward to trying this out.


Murad "City Skin Overnight Detox Moisturizer": Retail value $74. As with the product above this hasn't been opened yet, until I use some of the other skincare and moisturizer products I already have open. One of the products I already have in rotation is a Murad moisturizer that is also a sunscreen, I like how it makes my skin feel and it seems to work well so I am looking forward to testing this out as well because I am sure it is just as great. 


Ciate London "Shadow Flip": Retail Value $20. This is a multi-chromatic shifting liquid eye shadow, when applies with the wand it comes with or with a regular brush it is a little chunky. I found it was best to apply one layer and blend it out a little then add a second coat to build the color while getting rid of any little clumps it may leave behind. It looks likely when applied it doesn't really have the same color shift as it does in the bottle, it looks more gold/grey depending on the lighting. The bottle is a nice size and I like the applicator wand it comes with.

So in total the retail value of this box was $283 which is a steal for the $25 it cost for the subscription box. Can you get these items for cheaper than their retail price? Yes, you just have to look for sales and stores like TJ Maxx that often have beauty products for a fraction of the price. However if you don't want to go searching for sales and want to find some new products you might not have thought about trying this is a worth while subscription. I was happy about four out of the five base products which is pretty good since I've received subscription boxes in the past where only one or two items work for me. 

Some subscription boxes can make it a real pain in the butt if you want to cancel your subscription and make you jump through hoops to cancel it, this isn't one of those companies. I had only wanted to test out one month for now so after I received my May box I canceled my subscription and it took less than three minutes to do.  

Want to see other subscription boxes that range from plants to makeup and even horror themed items? Use the search bar on my blog to search for "Subscription boxes" to see some other pretty awesome boxes.