DVD Review and Giveaway: A Monster in Paris

Congratulations to @olivia280177.  You are the lucky winner.  Please DM or email me your name and address so I can pass this on to the PR agency.  Thanks, Mich x

Last Thursday I disappeared off to my parents for the whole day leaving the kids with dh, as a little sweetener I left them a new DVD to watch and review. A Monster in Paris is released on 4th June 2012 in the UK.

What's the storyline?
It is the slightly off the wall tale of a common flea who gets caught up when two potions are mixed together and split and he ends up monster sized.  Franc the flea has a heart of gold though and a talent for music, when he teams up with pretty Lucille (voiced by Vanessa Paradis) as part of her nightclub act he takes Paris by storm.That is until the nasty politician Victor decides to try and get rid of Franc once and for all.  You'll have to watch the film to see what actually happens.

Our opinions
When I saw the kids Friday morning I asked them about the film and they all said it was good, JJ even gave it an 'awesome' so I thought I better sit down and watch it too.  I have to be honest I would not go as far as awesome, whilst the film is totally watchable by the whole family it will be enjoyed far more by the kids in my opinion. It is an endearing tale and at times it really reminded me of King Kong with the gentle giant being misunderstood and chased and the songs are quite catchy too!

If you like the look of A Monster in Paris you can pre-order it from Amazon for just £9.00 for the DVD or £11.00 on Blu-ray as a family pack which consists a 3D Blu-ray, standard Blu-ray and DVD, what great value is that?

How do we rate it?
Kids overall enjoyment of the film   4/5
Adults overall enjoyment of the film   2/5
Animation   5/5
Value for money  4/5

Run Time: 1 hour 29 minutes  
Certificate: U
Release Date:  4 June 2012

Would you like to win 1 of 2 copies of A Monster in Paris?

To enter-

• Mandatory - Leave a comment and let me know how to contact you if you are the lucky winner.
• Optional - Tweet 'I'm in to #win 1 of 2 A Monster in Paris DVD's with @MichelleTwinMum  http://tinyurl.com/cpxa76q #giveaway' and leave me a comment to say you have done so.

Terms and Conditions

• The winner will be chosen at random
• Open to UK and Ireland residents only
• Giveaway closes at 12 noon on Tuesday 5th June 2012
• The winner will be contacted within 5 working days of the competition closing
• The winner needs to contact me within a week of my announcing the winner or I will draw again
• The prize is not transferable and there is no cash alternative
• The DVD will be sent direct from the PR agency.

I'll leave you with a little sneaky peek at one of the songs from the film - La Seine



Disclaimer:  I was provided with this DVD free of charge for the purposes of this review.  I have not been instructed what to write and I remain honest.  Thanks you to Entertainment One.

Review and Giveaway: Ben and Holly DVD, The Elf Games

Big congratulations to @joanna_kow, @WeeWillieWilkie and @Him_me_three you are the lucky winners of a Ben and Holly DVD each.  Please email or DM me your postal details and I'll pass these on to the PR.  Cheers Mich x

I have to confess that we all like Ben and Holly's Little Kingdom in this house, JJ might try and pretend that at age 8 he is too old but when it comes on Nick Jnr. you will find he plonks himself down and sits there quietly. Of course my girls are both still mesmerised by it at nearly 5 years, they both consider themselves to be Princesses like Holly after all.

As Miss M is such a live wire we have developed a routine where the girls sit on the sofa either side of me for a half hour cuddle before bed and Ben and Holly's Little Kingdom features most days in our slow-down time.

There are some kids TV programs that I really can not deal with but I have to confess that I do enjoy this and that is probably down to Nanny Plum, her humour is decidedly adult and whilst this sometimes gets me into trouble, like when Miss M called an old male driver a 'silly old fool' as that is what Nanny Plum calls the Wise Old Elf I do enjoy it. I always find the programes to be well written and engaging and I happen to prefer them to Peppa Pig which is by the same writers.

As my girls are such fans I have probably seen every episode made and could even perhaps act them out, so I was a little surprised to find that I had already seen all the episodes on this new DVD, which is due to be released on 14th May.  I mistakenly thought it would be new material rather than the episodes that had been shown on TV.  Don't get me wrong they are all good episodes and fully worth watching but this was just a disappointment to me.  Luckily it did not phase my girls as they are happy to watch the same thing more than once, repetition is good for learning after all.

This DVD contains the following episodes -
The Elf Games
Dinner Party
Cows
The Toy Robot
Big Bad Barry
King Thistle's Birthday
The Wand Factory
Daisy and Poppey's Pet
The Elf Rocket
Picnic on the Moon

You can pre-order a copy of this DVD on Amazon for £7.49 with free delivery.

Certificate - Universal

Would you like to win 1 of 3 copies?

To enter-

• Mandatory - Leave a comment and let me know how to contact you if you are the lucky winner.
• Optional - Tweet 'I'm in to #win 1 of 3 Ben and Holly DVD's with @MichelleTwinMum http://bit.ly/JV1TCk #giveaway #comp' and leave me a comment to say you have done so.

Terms and Conditions -

• The winner will be chosen at random
• Open to UK and Ireland residents only
• Giveaway closes at 12 noon on Thursday 24th May 2012
• The winner will be contacted within 5 working days of the competition closing
• The winner needs to contact me within a week of my announcing the winner or I will draw again
• The prize is not transferable and there is no cash alternative
• The DVD will be sent direct from the PR agency.

Disclaimer:  We received a review copy of this DVD for the purposes of the review. I was not instructed what to write and I remain honest.

Vosene's New Shampoo Range

Last year I worked with Vosene on the launch of their new lice prevention children's range and I can honestly say that my family still uses these products over a year later, we are strong fans of the nit free range now and the detangler is a godsend.

I had a nice surprise in the post the other day when 3 full-size bottles of Vosene shampoo arrived with me. We were sent a bottle of the original anti-dandruff protection shampoo, frequent use anti-dandruff shampoo and silver care shampoo.  I got a bit worried at first as to why I was being sent a silver care shampoo and then I saw it was for blond hair too to help avoid brassy locks - fabulous.

I have used the silver care one so far and really like it, the actual shampoo is a gorgeous purple colour (yes I know, I am so shallow), it has a pleasing smell and lathers up well but not so much that it get everywhere.  My hair felt really clean afterwards and was manageable. I also like the new styling to the bottles, very cute.

I have not tried the frequent use one yet but dh has and I have to say it smells divine, so that is next on my hit list. The Vosene products are available to buy in all good supermarkets and chemists and the RRP is £1.89 for 250ml, that represents great value I believe.

Disclaimer:  I received these products as an unexpected gift and there was no obligation on me to write about them, I just have as I do love them!