Five Among Friends

Welcome to a new feature, Five Among Friends, where myself & some of my closest blogging friends will be linking up for a a series of Q & A's once every month.

We'd love to see your answers to the questions too - Just post your Q & A on your blog and then put your link in the Linky below and we'll be sure to check them out! Don't forget to check out other peoples answers too!

This week's theme is Right now I'd rather be.....

This week's questions were written by Kerry at Lived With Love….

The Questions

1) Right now, I'd rather be sitting….. at the Blackjack table in Las Vegas with Steve, totally relaxed watching people play with fascination.

2) Right now, I'd rather be wearing….my PJ's and be having a duvet day at home watching Revenge, I have become a tad obsessed with that show

3) Right now, I'd rather be eating…. Fresh Lobster with chips by the seaside

4) Right now, I'd rather be listening too... Metallica live on Stage with Kiss as one of their acts

5) Right now, I'd rather be with…. my beloved hubby BeautykingUK at that Blackjack table in Vegas, watching him play (and win).

Don't forget to check out the other girls answers too....

Alex - Bump To Baby

Emily - London Mummy Of Two

Hayley - Sparkles & Stretchmarks

Jessica - Our Baby Blog

Lauren - Mrs Hippo & Me

Louise - Confessions Of A Secret Shopper

Rachel - BeautyQueen UK

An InLinkz Link-up

Insatiable skin? Go Naked with Naked's 24 Hour Body Butter!

Naked is a brand with which I associate hair care having tried some shampoos and conditioners from the range, so when I was asked if I would like to try the Coco De Mer Body Butter I jumped at the chance.  

The cream arrives in this huge 300ml tub and everything you need to know about the product can be found written somewhere on the tub, for example you are told it is 97% natural* and that it gives 24 hour moisture for skin with an insatiable appetite.

This is Coco De Mer body butter uses creamy coconut extract, Shea butter and passion flower oil and the scent is, as you can imagine, absolutely stunning, it is a happy mix of being quite floral but also a little bit tropical too when it comes to describing the scent.  I wasn't too sure whether to apply it onto my skin or drink it!

 Described as follows:

"Naked 24 Hour Coco de Mer Body Butter gives 24 hour moisture for skin with an insatiable appetite. Creamy coconut extract, enriching shea butter and passion flower veil your skin in an intoxicating scent, so you can be sure your skin feels caressed day and night.

Naked truth: There's so much care and thought in a naked product because we cram in naturally derived ingredients and leave out as much synthetic stuff as we can. This is goodness in a bottle".

It retails for around £5.45 in Boots and as a 300ml tub it is quite large and you only need the smallest amount at any one time because the cream is quite thick texture wise, so a little goes a long way. 

I use mine after showering in an evening, before going to bed and when I wake in the morning, the scent is still noticeable on my skin and it is really hydrating, it leaves me with soft, smooth skin which feels really moisturised and in this ever changing weather that we have right now, it is definitely something my body is in need of.

Have you tried any products from the Naked range? If so what do you recommend?

*Every Naked product is 97% natural and free from sulphates, parabens and petrochemicals so each one is packed full of natural goodness.

Monu Cleansing Balm

I am quite new to the world of cleansing balms having only ever used one in my entire life, so when the chance to try and test out the Monu Essential Care Cleansing Balm I jumped at the chance. Monu is a brand that I have come to really like and one I have mentioned on my blog a few times now.

So the cleansing balm is said to be "An indulgent melting balm that works to cleanse skin and remove make-up for an instant boost of radiance and vitality" and is suitable for all skin types. What you get inside this rather luxurious looking box is a 150g tub of the balm and a muslin cloth which is really soft and smooth and so white I didn't want to use it.

When it comes to use it, you are told to warm the balm in the palm of your hands before gently massaging it over your face and neck with your fingertips.  As you do this the balm is said to efficiently melt into the pores to dissolve all traces of make-up and any impurities. You then add water to emulsify the balm into a luxuriously rich and creamy milk that is said to leave your skin feeling vitalised, conditioned and utterly flawless from morning to night.

This balm smells absolutely amazing, it combimes the aromatic secent of Rose and Geranium essential oils which awaked your senses and work to stimulate their skin.  There is also Evening Primrose, Blackcurrent and Rosehip Seed Oil, all of which work together to help 

"maintain a youthful suppleness and elasticity to the skins appearance, helping you to look and feel refined all day long. The added effects of comforting Wheat Germ, Apricot and Almond oils will help calm and clean the skin".

As soon as I began to massage this into my skin I loved it. Not quite as solid as I was expecting it to be considering it is called a balm, it is quite runny so you don't need to use very much at all, it is definitely a case of a little goes a long way, the scent is simply divine, more so than I can describe to you, but think spa-like scent and you are almost there. What it does do is everything it claims to do and that is dissolve every ounce of make-up on your face including any bits of dirt and grime that you didn't think was there! Trust me, it finds it and dissolves it and that includes the quite stubborn to remove They're Real from Benefit, literally nothing gets in its way.

Then when it does come into contact with water, it emulsifies quickly and completely and washes away without leaving any residue on my face, my hands or in sink, which I am thankful for, infact the only dirt that is left behind is on poor old Mr Muslin cloth which you can put in the washing machine anyway.  As for my skin afterwards, my face is so soft and smooth I don't feel the need to run for my moisturising cream and cover myself in it, but old habits are hard to stop and as i always would do, I apply my moisturiser, safe in the knowledge that there are no nasties on my skin stopping it from doing its job.

So, if you are on the look out for a cleansing balm that will do exactly what it tells you it will do, is paraben free, not tested on animals, has no animal derivatives and consists of a 100% natural fragrance then you are reading about it right here, right now and it costs £38 for this huge tub and I cannot recommend it highly enough.

Pineapple Express from Bomb Cosmetics

A few months ago I was lucky enough to win a package from Bomb Cosmetics which you can see HERE and within that package was a Bomb Blaster called Pineapple Express and tonight I got round to using it for the very first time.

With the following description:

"Everybody's laughing on the Pineapple Expressed! Juicy fun and freedom with pure bergamot and grapefruit essential oils to pick you up and post you happy!Sweet & zesty pineapple with hints of Lemon & Orange. Creamy Vanilla comes through the base notes to close"

All I can tell you is that it smells exactly like that and if like me you love fruity scented products for your bath, then this would be perfect and it is only £2.09 - worth every penny.

When it comes to using this Bath Blaster, all you need to do is ensure there are a good few inches of water within the bath and then drop your Bath Blaster in to a bath of warm water and watch as it fizzes, releasing its perfume and essential oils, while the Bicarbonate of Soda softens the water.  Once you do place it into your bath, this is what happen:

This Bath Creamer is full of lovely ingredients and I always like to look at what is something before I use it, it fascinated me for years and this particular product includes: 

• Cocoa Butter and Shea Butter - both know for their ability to moisturise the skin,
• Bergamot Oil - has an uplifting effect on the mood and can also help deal with stress, tension and that fed up feeling,
• Grapefruit Peel Oil - has an uplifting effect on the mood and helps with stress and depression. It is used with great success to combat muscle fatigue and stiffness while stimulating the lymphatic system and thereby clearing the body of toxins. It helps to clear congested oily skin and also assists with acne, while toning the skin and tissues.

There are other ingredients included within this Bath Blaster which are listed on the Bomb Cosmetics website.

The water that you immerse yourself into feels really soft on the skin, that is the best way for me to describe it, the Cocoa Butter and Shea Butter are incedibly moisutirsing and I almost felt no need to add anything else to my skin because it is all there in the water. However with this cold weather, my skin is quite dry on my legs, so I did exfoliate, but then rather than use anything else, I used what was in my water and once out of the bath, my skin was soft and smooth to the touch and it smelt totally amazing.

It is worth nothing that within this products the little stars, silver balls and the fruit pieces all float about your bath, mainly to add some decoration and fun, but there is a warning to always rinse them away from the bath after use to avoid and prevent any staining.

All of the products from Bomb Cosmetics are formulated to be free from Parabens, or Paraben based preservatives.

Have you tried anything from Bomb Cosmetics? Do you have a favourite product?