NAILENE FULL COVER NAILS

I absolutely love these Nailene nails, they are just amazing. I have used these for a good few months now and today I came to put together my junes favourites with these included and then realised I hadn't actually done a formal 'review' on them - I'm not even sure if I've ever mentioned them?! I'll be honest, I wear fake nails every day and have done for pretty much the whole of this year. My actual nails are in terrible condition - not helped by constantly wearing fakes - and I just hate how weak, discoloured and misshaped they are. 

For my everyday nails I use Nailene 200 full cover nails in active square. I think - don't quote me on this - that these are the standard size nails and then they do petite and....large; although I've only ever seen in store the active squares. I really like how these nails aren't too long which makes them look so natural and basically like they are your own nail;s which is really want I wanted to achieve. False nails are great, but when they look really false I'm not a fan - sorry! These are very comfortable and are so easy to apply as they bend to fit your nails and they come with a lot of different sizes too so theres a nail for everyone. 

I would highly recommend these nails if you're looking for a natural look that looks really good and doesn't involve any messing around at nail salons. They take no time at all to apply and for me they last up to 2 weeks - I repaint them too - but I've read that for most people they only last up to 5 days at a stretch which is odd...am I doing something wrong; or right?

Nailene 200 nails are available in lots of other styles and can be found cheapest at most Savers, and then at Asda and Boots for about £8-£9. 

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MAYBELLINE COLOUR TATTOO 24HR CREAM GEL EYESHADOW

Maybelline by Eye Studio Color Tattoo 24HR Cream Gel Eyeshadow available at boots and super drug - £4.99

I'm a bit late with this one but honestly, I wasn't planning on buying any of the Maybelline Colour Tattoo's because I thought they were just another overrated product...oh how I was wrong! I picked up On and On Bronze (a copper, brown shade with some shimmer) because it was the most neutral colour they had at the time; I'm definitely not daring enough to try some of the brights like the blue and purples shades! 


I swatched On and On Bronze when I got home and immediately thought it'd be way too dark to wear all over the lid but much to my surprise, it is the perfect all-over shade which is super super pigmented and very blend-able. This little pot of greatest is super easy to apply, I just use my ring finger as I found it works just as well as a brush, if not better. I then added a subtle corner highlight and a light shade over the top to soften and give a gradient effect. 

The question you may all be wondering, do they really last 24hours? Well, can I just say, who wears make-up for 24hours?! If anyone out there does then please let me know. This did however last me a good 7-8 hours without smudging or creasing and trust me, trying to remove a swatch of this is definitely a challenge!

I think these Mabelline Colour Tattoo's are really worth the £4.99 price because they will most definitely last a long time and the staying power is just beyond, especially from a high street brand. I would quite like to try out Eternal Gold also which is a much lighter, gold colour (doh, the name kind of explains it haha) that would look great as a corner highlight. 

Have you tried out any of these? Which is your favourite shade?

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THOR

Okay so i realise my blog has been very Marvel related lately, what with Captan America, The Avengers and now Thor, but honestly, the reason is simply because I've found myself becoming a fan of the movies.

So Thor, some of you are probably sat there shaking your heads wondering why I have only just gotten round to watching it and after watching I am thinking the exact same thing. What a brilliant movie! In typical Marvel fashion, there is a lot of action, a lot of villains and a lot of complex characters all rolled into one feature length movie. 

For those of you unfamiliar with the story of Thor; it is set realm of Asgard where Thor (Chris Hemsworth) is set to be the new king taking over from his father Odem (Anthony Hopkins), but after proving to be too arrogant he is banished to Earth without power or his trusty hammer. Following this, Loki (Tom Hiddleston), Thor's brother, is the only remaining ere to the throne and so does everything in his power to keep Thor on earth, including sending dark forces to kill his father and his brother. 

Whilst on Earth, Thor meets Jane Foster (Natalie Portman) and a relationship sparks between them that completely changes Thor as a character turning him from arrogant to a defender of Earth. This was the most predictable part of the movie, I knew from the second Jane was introduced that she would be a love interest for Thor, however they did have great on-screen chemistry.

One thing I need to mention are the graphics and visuals which are quite something. One scene in particular shows you and entire view of Asgard and that scene is just spectacular, as well as others, mainly away from the Earth scenes. 

Another thing, make sure you watch the end credits to Iron Man, The Hulk, Iron Man 2, Thor and Captain America because they all build a story of what you can expect in The Avengers. I didn't even realise there were end credits (I won't make that mistake again) and having just watched them now, I wish I had known about them before I went to watch it. For those of you who also didn't realise there were end credits, here's a video with the scenes from each of the movies:

Back to Thor, I would totally recommend this movie to anyone, even if you aren't a Marvel fan, because it's a really easy watch with brilliantly shot scenes and a great cast including the above mentioned and Stellan Skarsgard, Clark Gregg, Idris Elba and Colm Feore. The story isn't overly complex and it definitely isn't out of this world, but I thoroughly enjoyed watching it all the same.

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THE AVENGERS (2012)

HE AVEMGE

Iron Man? The Hulk? Captain America? Thor? You guessed it (if not already by the title) this is about The Avengers! 

The movie begins with Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) and the members of S.H.I.E.L.D trying to harness the powers of the Tesseract. A small cube of energy, brought over from the Captain America movie, which can unleash never-ending energy and provide a way between universes and planets. The Tesseract appears to be malfunctioning but that is only the release of the 'god' figure Loki (Tom Hiddleston) who plans to take over the planet and unleash his lands with the help of Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner) and Selvig (Stellan Skarsgard) who are manipulated to come over to his side. They then steal the Tesseract in an impressive and thrilling scene. 

As you can probably predict, it's then the jobs of The Avengers to get back the ever-powerful Tesseract. We first meet Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) after she is contacted with news that Hawkeye has been compromised and S.H.I.E.L.D needs her help to take down Loki. Next Nick Fury asks Captain America (Chris Evans) whilst Agent Coulsen - Fury's right-hand man - asks Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.) and Black Widow finds Bruce Banner aka the Hulk (Mark Ruffalo) hiding away in Cambodia.

Finally, after the capture of Loki by Iron Man, Captain America and Black Widow, Thor (Chris Hemsworth) literally flies into the scene and takes his half-brother Loki from their possession which ultimately leads to a brilliantly staged and quite intense battle between Iron Man and Thor that comes to a strong halt when Captain America steps in. 

This movie is in every way a huge production with an A-list cast that cannot be ignored. However, some of the most promising and enjoyable scenes of the movie come from the relationships between the characters, especially that of those shared with Tony Stark (Iron Man). Robert Downey Jr. gave a stellar performance (I didn't really expect anything less) with some brilliant one liners and fantastic acting. What I liked about this movie was that each of the Avenger characters were given their own moments to shine and each took on this opportunity so so well. I particularly enjoyed the scenes between Thor and Loki which showed an obvious strain in brother relationship that was held up well by Tom Hiddleston's bad-guy performance. 

I honestly cannot say enough good things about The Avengers. It was definitely worth the wait, and even for novice Marvel fans like myself (I am yet to watch Thor!), it is still an enjoyable spectacle of a film that I'm positive could be enjoyed by everyone and even turn you into a Marvel fan; I suddenly have an urge to watch all the movies back-to-back! 

Have you seen the Avengers? Are you a fan of the Marvel series? Who is your favourite character? 

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SALMON FISHING IN THE YEMEN

I feel like I sort of asked for this to be a terrible movie with a name like 'Salmon Fishing in the Yemen'. I want to first start by saying, never watch a movie with 'salmon' in the name if you have no interest in fish, or at least that's what I think!  I went into this movie with the expectations that it would be a very predictable, romantic comedy with very little to do with fish and fishing; oh how I was wrong! From the moment I realised it was a BBC-made British comedy, I knew it would not be my cup of tea.

There were aspects of a romantic comedy with the predictable ending and the jokes throughout but the main theme of the entire thing was very different. The story is about a fisheries expert, Dr Alfred Jones (Ewan McGregor), who is approached by a consultant, Harriet Chetwode-Talbot (Emily Blunt), on behalf of a Sheik Muhammad (Amr Waked) to realise a dream of bringing Salmon fly-fishing to the desert of Yemen at whatever cost. To start with, Dr Jones believes the task to be impossible but after the Prime Minister comes on board he is forced to make it a reality with the help of the press secretary (Kristin Scott Thomas) who provides most of the comedy throughout with her persistent manner and internet chats to the Prime Minister about matter of if he can fish or not. 

Throughout the journey to making this a reality, there is a sub-story between Harriet and her 3-week boyfriend  Robert, who is sent to Afghanistan by the British Army and then becomes 'missing in action'. This is over-turned by the romance blossoming between Harriet and Dr Jones, however, this romance never really goes anywhere as the movie seems to really have it's main focus sturdily on the fish. Although the main story is that of getting salmon to the Yemen, there are a few sub-stories which almost make an attempt to turn this slow-paced, British comedy into an war action including an attempted assassination on the Sheik and a near-sabotage to the project by extremists of the country who don't believe this is the right way to be spending the countries money. 

These 'action' scenes, though seemingly out of place, really did provide the only form of entertainment for me throughout the entire movie. That is, aside with Ewan McGregor's character who was a very well-spoken Scottish man, passionate about all things fishing and very involved with the entire thing. After initially having no idea who is was (I'm sorry!) I found myself to really enjoying watching him and his character develop, even with the limited storyline to work with. I just wish his and Emily Blunt's character had more on-screen chemistry because I found it difficult to really believe their shared 'romance' among the other romances they shared in their current relationships. 

This is definitely an easy watch, typical British movie that based it's self on the faith of the characters. The main plot was given extra padding by the sub-stories which without would have been little more than a fishing trip to the Yemen. I can honestly say now that that was two hours of my life I will never get back, and without the comedy and action parts I don't think I could have got through it. This is definitely much like fishing, you are either going to find it thrilling and entertaining or utterly dull. I was the latter I'm afraid. 

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CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE FIRST AVENGER

Okay so before anyone says anything, I get that I'm a bit late with this one (a lot late), but I only today got around to watching Captain America: The First Avenger and it was so so good! 

The story is basically about a small and thin guy called Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) who repeatedly tries to sign up for the army to fight in the second world war, but each time gets turned away because of his size and his medical conditions. That is until Dr Abraham Erskine (Stanley Tucci) sees how determined he is and how willing he is to protect his country, and so gets him into an experimental program to which he will be injected with muscle generators and 'Vita Rays'. 

Steve is then transformed into a large muscular figure who has strength and speed on his side (the opposite to his previous self). He is transformed into the 'Captain America' figure performing day after day to recruit and make people aware of the war but in doing so finds himself fighting to save his friend and the country. 

I think this movie really does capture a sense of the war but should be taken with a pinch of salt in parts as it is very out of this world and sometimes impossible. I like how we get to see the transformation of Steve Rogers and also how he and the other characters interact is just genius. Tommy Lee Jones plays the army general and is a very outspoken and almost witty character coming out with some of the best lines in the entire movie - I found myself laughing frequently! Hayley Atwell's character seems none other than a role to fall at the feet of Captain America and act as his romantic interest which she does well but to some extent she does come access as rather needy. Stanley Tucci's role is far too short which is a shame, and Dominic Cooper's role is played out to be all important however, he doesn't really get all that much screen time with his bad American accent and terrible moustache. Hugo Weaving plays the Red Skull well and of course his part is somewhat of a main role so it is to be expected. 

Overall a great movie with a great and surprising cast. I found it easy to watch and didn't get confused (much!). I wasn't sure if it would be my type of thing but after watching I'm so glad I gave it a go because I really did thoroughly enjoy it. I'm excited to see The Avengers when that comes out!

Have you watched Captain America: The First Avenger? Are you a fan of Marvel movies? 

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WANDERLUST

Last night myself and some friends decided on a whim to go to the cinema to see Wanderlust. All we knew  was that it starred Jennifer Aniston and it was a comedy (good start eh?). Anyway, we went on our merry way,  ought our tickets and sat in our seats and awaited to ever tiresome trailers....

Now, baring in mind we went to watch a COMEDY, they began by showing us the trailers for The Devil Inside and The Cabin in the Woods which are both horror/thrillers. Me and my friend were literally hiding behind our hands and covering our ears in fear. Horror movies are like my worst nightmare, I do not do well even watching trailers for them! We both found ourselves left scared and unhappy which is not really how you want to feel when you go out to the cinema. Anyway, those horrible trailers aside, the movie itself was actually good; good in a 'that movie was so bad it was good' kind of way.

Wanderlust is basically about a New York Couple; Linda (Jennifer Aniston) and George (Paul Rudd), who find themselves unemployed and unable to afford their newly bought studio apartment. They leave New York to go and visit George's brother and on their way find themselves staying in a bed and breakfast run by a 'hippy' commune. After some consideration they chose to stay and take on the life these people live which comes which many sacrifices; becoming a vegan, free love rules and no privacy!

I thought the storyline was okay, but it lacked any real depth, and some of the scenes were just terrible! If you want to see a movie filled with embarrassing moments, crude scenes and laughable moments then this will definitely be your type of thing. I just thought some scenes were a tad over the top and unnecessary but I still laughed a lot...

The other cast includes Justin Theroux, Malin Akerman, Michaela Watkins and Ken Marino and many others.

Here's the trailer!

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The Christmas Bunny

This poster doesn't have any relation to the movie :S it's the only one I could find though!
That isn't even what the bunny looks like!

This morning me and my mum were looking for a god Christmas movie to watch and low and behold we found The Christmas Bunny. It's the story of a lonely foster child called Julia (Sophie Bolen) who befriends an inured bunny on Christmas Eve. She then seeks the help of Betsy Ross (Florence Henderson); a farm woman who looks after injured and abandoned rabbits, to help nurse her bunny back to health. This unlikely friendship helps build on the little girls confidence and she begins to speak to her foster family.

This movie I will honestly say made me cry several times! The little girl just looked so sad and you couldn't help but feel for her and then as for 'Betsy Ross', well, her tough exterior was just a shield to her soft and lonely interior. It actually broke my heart at a few points in the story. 

This could quite possibly be one of my favourite Christmas movies of all time and although it doesn't really focus on the holiday that much, it's still called The Christmas Bunny! I'd totally recommend everyone watches this, especially if you fancy a heart-warming and touching family movie.

In case you wanted to know, this is the actual rabbit in the movie, Rumple:

Everybody needs some bunny to love...


(source: IMDB)

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Twilight: Breaking Dawn

(source)

Yesterday I went to see Breaking Dawn Part 1 and I'll admit I wasn't overly excited because I'm not really a Twihard fan but I felt I should go and see it seeing as I've seen all the others.

Breaking Dawn Part 1 covers the first half (ish) or the forth book in the series and begins with the lavish wedding of Bella Swan and Edward Cullen. The decor was very over the top and the lead up to the couples vows was very touching. However, I was disappointed in Bella's dress. I won't go into great detail but it just didn't do it for me; it was too simple. From all the hype I really did expect something wow and I thought it fell flat.

We then move to the couples honeymoon on an island near Rio where they spend hours playing chess - yes I did say chess! - and making love destructively! Bella then remarkably gets pregnant and they head back to the Cullens -  I really get the feeling the writers are confused by the whole baby story here because originally it is said that to make a new vampire they have to be bitten but at this point the baby is made the human way. 

Without even realising, two weeks pass and we then see Bella after going through the speediest pregnancy ever! Time passes and Bella becomes weak and goes through an alarming physical change and then we go onto the gruesome part, the childbirth. I knew the story beforehand but the way they showed the birth of the baby was revolting, I mean we didn't really need to see it like that did we? I thought this movie was for younger children too, well after seeing it I think they will completely be put off child birth for life!

Don't know if you'll have noticed yet but there's really very little action. Unlike the other movies which combined the lives and precious moments between characters with the conflicts between feuding enemies, this movie just didn't.  The only major action came from a badly staged battle right near the end that lasted all of five minutes, in which Jacob had to choose between his wolf pack and the Cullens. 

*SPOILER ALERT!* 

The penultimate ending to the movie was centred around Jacob and idea that a werewolf can imprint on even a baby. He saw Renesme (Bella's daughter) and immediately imprinted, forming a bond between them and thus meaning the wolf pack cannot harm her. Their 'relationship' will surely be the starting point to Breaking Dawn Part 2, along with Bella and her transition to vampire.

**SPOILER OVER**

Overall I did enjoy the movie but I just wish it was less mushy and all about Bella's pregnancy and more about rivalries or exploring the option of Bella transformation more. Also I wished they had more parts with Charlie showing his perspective. I know obviously they couldn't tell him what was going on but maybe show some scenes of him trying to contact Bella or the Cullens and them having to hide Bella? I don't know, they are just my ideas.

I will be going to watch Part 2 just because I feel like I may swell, but this Saga is just going down hill each movie so what should I really expect of the last one?

If you've seen the movie what did you think?

If you haven't, are you going to go and see it?

For those who haven't seen Breaking Dawn here's the trailers!

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Burlesque

(source: Burlesque Trailer)

When I heard back in 2010 that Cher was going to be in a movie I immediately got excited. I have loved her music now for some time, her voice is just so unique and powerful! Then when I heard she was going to be starring alongside Christina Aguilera I knew we were in for a show. Now although I'm not a big fan of Christina, I know she is talented when it comes to singing so I thought I'd give the movie a chance. 

I actually only got round to watching it a few weeks ago because I like to wait until DVDs go down in price before I buy them - minus a few that I just cannot wait for. When I eventually watched Burlesque for the first time I was pleasantly surprised. I could kind of predict the story before I even watched it, but for some reason I thought it would be exactly like Nine which to be honest was dry and uninspiring; I mean what a waste of all those talented actors! Anyway, back onto Burlesque; it really did surprise me and I have to say I thoroughly enjoyed it. It was quite predictable but then again what film isn't nowadays.

So the story basically follows a girl, Ali (Aguilera), who moves to LA looking for her big break. She finds the club 'Burlesque' but is dismissed by the owner Tess (Cher) and her assistant Shaun played by Stanley Tucci. She decides to try her hand at waitressing instead, after being hired by one of the bar staff Jack (Cam Gigandet). Ali eventually gets her break at the club and takes over from the previous lead in the show Nicki, played by Kristen Bell.

The club then finds itself in a downward spiral and is on the brink of being repossessed when a retail mogul Marcus (Eric Dane) offers to buy the club - with the intentions of building homes and corporate buildings. Cher's character and her ex-husband (Peter Gallagher) argue but eventually decline the offer and find themselves with 48 hours before the club is taken away. To end, a solution is found to save the club and business continues to improve (I told you it was quite predictable!).

Burlesque has a brilliant cast in my opinion with others including Julianne Hough, Dianna Agron, Alan Cumming and James Brolin.
____________________________________________________________________________

This morning I watched Burlesque again for the second time and all I can say is I could quite happily watch it a million more times. It didn't get dull at all, I found myself engaged in it all the way through and I even noticed some things I didn't the first time around. For starters, I didn't even notice that Dianna Agron was in the movie; her role was very very minor but I still cannot believe I didn't realise it was her.

Also I decided this time to watch some of the special features and deleted scenes and couldn't believe it when I saw that a number performed by Alan Cumming was deleted - when it was in fact really good in my opinion - and instead they kept in a number by him which quite frankly wasn't great to say the least.

This is 'That's Life' which they cut:

And this is 'Jungle Berlin' which they didn't cut:



Some may disagree with me and say his 'Jungle Berlin' number was better and deserved to be left in, but for me it just didn't work at all. I preferred 'That's Life' which really showcased him as an actor and gave his minor part a slight boost.

Another thing that really disappointed me was that I noticed a part of the movie where Cher missed her point in a song. Now I understand that most songs are pre-recorded to sound better and usually the actors' mime, but for someone like Cher to miss her part just really annoyed me, and for the crew to miss it as well. I mean it wasn't really that noticeable and most people wouldn't have even seen it (sorry if you didn't, you'll now be looking out for it I'm sure!). Here's a video of 'Welcome To Burlesque', see if you notice it;

It really isn't noticeable at this size, but watching on a television screen it really is, honestly! Despite the mishap with the miming, this song still remains in my top two songs from the movie with the other being 'You Haven't Seen The Last Of Me' - also sung by Cher.

The way Cher performed this song was with so much conviction and the words came with such a powerful blow.

Christina Aguilera being the star of the movie obviously had some great moments with songs like, 'Express' which really showcased her range, and 'Bound To You' which stepped away from the theme of the other songs and showed a new side to her character. 

Overall I would say this is a film that has taken two talented and world-renowned singers and turned them into actresses. The mix of Cher's timeless voice and Christina's powerful pop voice has worked wondered in making this a film of epic proportions. Although the main character was Ali (Aguilera), I do think Cher was wasted slightly and should have had more scenes that showcased her voice, rather than just her acting skills! The whole cast excelled themselves and made this a film not your average musical drama. 

(all videos taken from YouTube, click through to go to each channel)

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