I spend nearly all of my time watching some sort of media, be it YouTube, films or tv shows. One I have been loving recently and mentioned on my weekly roundup a few weeks ago was Daredevil, a Netflix original that I have fallen in love with in a big way. 

As an actor, the acting is one of the first things I notice in anything I watch. I want it to be believable, I want the subtle idiosyncrasies that real people have and the continuity of real life, and this delivered. Big time. The show stealer for me was Charlie Cox in the role of Matt Murdock. He really stepped up to the part and showed a complex character full of internal conflict and a want to do the right thing, but not knowing how to get there. He also really played with the Catholicism of the character and how it would influence his actions, and we as an audience can see this. 

We also see the strengths of the other actors, with the likes of Elden Henson as Foggy and Vincent D'Onofrio as Wilson Fisk, the main antagonist. Henson shows a complexity to the character of Foggy that I believe someone else may have missed. This really helps add to the friendship between Foggy and Matt and makes it incredibly believable. D'Onofrio also shines in this, with the audience ending up almost sympathising with the character we should hate. A highlight from the entire series is the "ill intent" monologue, as it truly shows his capabilities. There are many other scenes that come to mind, but in order to avoid spoilers, I will not mention them.

Another thing I really liked about the show was the continuity and style. Each episode started off exactly where the last one had finished, and so as a result felt like an extremely long film.  There was also a huge amount of detail .e.g. a healing bruise over a few episodes. This just helped add to the realism. Things such as lighting and cinematography also impressed me massively as despite it being a  TV show, they were incredibly thought out and clever, helping to set the scenes nicely. 

All in all, the only real fault I can find with it is that Season 2 isn't out sooner! Definitely recommend to anyone who is looking for a new TV show to watch.

Shannon

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This week in England has been ridiculously hot. As someone who burns through windows and passes out in 20 degrees heat, I have found it hard to function. A positive of this heat however is that I've dug back into my old stash of more waterproof/sweat resistant products as well as buying a few new ones! 

The first products I have found is the Maybelline 24 hour colour tattoos. I have talked about these before, both on my blog and on my youtube channel. I stopped using them in favour for my Stila Palette, but with the recent heat I didn't want to spend ages putting make up on just for it to fall off my face later on. The 24 hour tattoos stay on your lids until you choose to take them off with makeup remover and are practically heatproof. Thank God. They are also very pigmented and easy to blend, especially with each other as I have found. The two colours I have been loving are Metallic Pomegranate and On and On Bronze, and mixed together on the lid create a really nice rusty bronze finish that may not be too summer appropriate but still looks very flattering. 

The next favourite I have been loving this week is the Benefit Watts Up highlighter. I use a matte blush a lot of the time as I love the colours I have, so this adds a healthy glow to my skin and helps me feel more summery. It comes out a champagne colour and is very easy to blend into the skin. I apply onto the cheekbones and occasionally down the bridge of my nose if I feel I'm looking particularly dull and it really brightens my complexion. 

My final beauty favourite of the week is a new purchase, the MUA  velvet lip lacquer in Criminal. It goes on really well, and although slightly sticky to begin with, it mattifies quickly and you can barely feel it on your lips. I bought a few different shades, so expect a full review later this week! I feel this colour is extremely summery however and as I have very few bright pinks, it really adds to my collection. 

My last love of the week is Parks and Recreation. Pretty much everyone knows about this show, but if you are late to the party all I can say is watch it! I rarely laugh out loud at TV/film and this has me almost crying with laughter almost every episode. I have slightly fallen in love with Ben Wyatt and April Ludgate and truly love the show and the realism of the plot and the comedy. It is set in a fictional town of Pawnee and describes the journey of Leslie Knope, played by Amy Poehler, through her career in local government and personal life. A real must see!

So these have been my loves for this week, I hope you enjoyed and thank you for reading!

Shannon 

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June went far too fast, and we are now halfway through the year! Genuinely quite scared by that fact. I hope you had as good a June as I did, and here are my favourites;

Soap and Glory bodywashes; £6.50 each at Boots

I love these more than life itself. The two on the picture are the Sugar Crush with a sweet lime scent and the Rich and Foamous with an almond, oats and brown sugar scent. These are my go to body washes at the moment and have been for quite a while and that is simply because they smell so good. I use the lime scent for the morning as it really helps wake me up as it is quite a refreshing and citrus-y smell whereas the almonds, oats and brown sugar scent is definitely much more of a bed time scent as it is a relaxing smell and puts you in a "bed time" mood. The Sugar Crush also contains "CoolCapsuleX" which helps cool and refresh the body, making it perfect for summer as it is slowly getting much hotter in the UK, whereas the Rich and Foamous contains moisturising ingredients meaning that it is ideal for hot months where your skin is prone to getting dry. I also love Soap and Glory generally as they do not test on animals. 

Sleek Contour Pallets; £6.49 from Boots

This product does wonders with my face and I love it a lot. It is highly pigmented and so you do not need to use a lot which is great as this means it will last for longer. I love the matte pressed powder as it really does work wonders on the contours and really slims down my face. I am usually not a big fan of shimmer and try to avoid it where I can, but it works in the highlighter, especially in summer as it gives you much more of a glow and a summery look. I love the packaging as it looks sleek (no pun intended) and quite high end in my opinion without costing much at all, and also has a decent sized mirror without being huge, meaning I can put it in my bag if I need to top up at all and it will not take up much room .

Slanted Kabuki Brush; £16 from The Body Shop 

When paired with the Sleek contour powder I genuinely could not think of anything better for my face. This brush is ridiculously soft and when using it to put any sort of powder on my face it feels like my face is being stroked. Its shape means that contouring my face is easy as it follows the shape of my cheeks without any hassle at all, making blending very easy and quick. The handle is also easy to hold and makes controlling the brush easy. As the brush itself is quite fat, it means it covers more area on the face, making the process much quicker which is something I like a lot. My only drawback on this brush was the price as I found it quite expensive, and I managed to buy an entire Real Techniques kit for £1 cheaper, but I am happy I spent the money on it as I do feel it is worth it completely.

Collection Lasting Perfection Concealer; £4.19 from Boots

I feel like I'm late to the bandwagon on this one, but in all honesty I have been using it for a while. However, I didn't realise how much I loved it until I ran out of it in the airport on the way to Ireland and had to buy the Rimmel Hide the Blemish concealer and hated it, so when I re-purchased this when I got home it was like it had suddenly gotten 100000 times better. I love this a lot, mainly as it is one of the only skin products I've found so far to match my skin tone completely and not given me a hint of orange. Its coverage is brilliant and works on spots/redness and under the eyes, making my skin look much clearer and makes me look more awake. It claims it's waterproof which I'm not 100% on but it is very long lasting and usually lasts all day unlike my foundation. It is easy to blend and can be worn with or without foundation, meaning that on days where I want a really natural look or I just want to let my skin breathe, I can just put a bit of this on and some powder and I'm good to go. It is a very good quality product for the price which I like a lot as it gives great coverage and I don't have to fork out if I re-purchase. My only issue is the packaging does chip away very quickly as shown in the picture, meaning it has a tendency to look messy which I don't like.

Nandos Lemon and Herb Chicken Wrap

Until my trip to London I was a Nandos virgin, and now I've been twice! I have found a new favourite take out food I think, and it is definitely somewhere I'm going to be hitting up a lot more. I can also tick it off my 101 things!

The Fault In Our Stars movie

I'm not going to say anything about the plot as I know most people know it and if you don't I don't want to spoil it. I read the book probably over a year ago now and loved it, and so when a film was announced I was a stereotypical book person and went around saying "it's never going to be as good" "the casting's rubbish" etcetc. I am proud to say that I was proved wrong. I came away from this film an emotional wreck. It was true to the book, the casting was perfect and I found a love for the soundtrack and cinematography. It has rekindled my love and passion for films and made me want to go out with a camera and make something as beautiful. My boyfriend was just a big a wreck as I was, something that rarely happens, and I just have a special place in my heart for this now. Definitely a DVD I'll be buying when it comes out. 



Once Upon A Time

I am extremely late to the bandwagon with this one as it started in 2011 and I've only just gotten round to watching it. I am about a quarter of the way through series two and in love. I find the whole concept of "real life" fairytale characters genius and loved watching the flashbacks to storybook world and then real life back in real world. I think series 2 is going to be just as good as I think the idea is just as clever as the first series, but I won't spoil it for anyone. If you are into fantasy, slightly cheesy but clever tv shows, like Teen Wolf or Pretty Little Liars then this is definitely for you!

If you love any of these things, or have any favourites you wanna discuss then comment below so I can know about what you've been loving this month!