I was super excited to play this game, I mean, you’re controlling a monkey in a ball – what isn’t fun about that!! But I found it too difficult to control and I got really frustrated because I couldn’t get past level 2.. If you don’t mind paying, then this game is fun to try, the characters are cute. But I just didn’t have the patience…

There are so many apps out there for the iPhone and iPod Touch. We really are spoilt for choice.

Here are my favourite free and paid apps.

Super Monkey Ball – (CDN$3.99/£2.39 GBP)

I was super excited to play this game, I mean, you’re controlling a monkey in a ball – what isn’t fun about that!! But I found it too difficult to control and I got really frustrated because I couldn’t get past level 2.. If you don’t mind paying, then this game is fun to try and the characters are definitely very cute. But I just didn’t have the patience…

Sim City (CDN$4.99/£2.99 GBP)

What can I say. Obviously since the screen size on the iPod/iPhone is considerably smaller, the interface isn’t going to be the same as it is on a computer. But, saying that, it is a really good representation of the PC game. The controls are a little difficult at first, but quite easy to get used to. If you are a fan of the PC version, then you will probably like this game a lot. I’m definitely going to stick with it…

Tap Tap Revenge 2 / Tap Tap Revenge 3

Tap Tap Revenge 2 is Free – which is a huge selling point (ha), it has enough free songs to keep me occupied. I think for a free app, is it amazing and a must have. The graphics are super and there are always new songs for free – if you don’t want to pay for song bundles.

Tap Tap Revenge 3 is CDN$0.99/£0.59 GBP – it’s not expensive, so if you’re willing to pay, then go for it. Again, like Tap Tap 2, it has quite a wide range of free songs and a lot of song packs that you do have to pay for. But with this version you can use in-game coins, that you are awarded after completing each level, to get new songs or alternatively you can spend them on clothes for your avatar. Thankfully, these coins are free!!

I prefer Tap Tap 2, as Tap Tap 3 has too many things going on. Avatars, clothing, etc.

Bejewelled 2 (CDN$2.99/£1.79 GBP)

This is the amazing PC game on your iPod. The graphics are crisp, the sounds are clear, the controls are easy. It’s hours of fun and great value. If you liked playing this on a console or PC, you will love this version.

Monopoly World (CDN$4.99/£2.99 GBP)

This is a great spin on the classic family game. You can create your empire with famous world cities. The game operates on touch screen control and you shake your device to roll the dice. You can play against the computer, or with up to 4 other people with play and pass, or over WIFI. Another great thing is that you can listen to your itunes library if you don’t want to listen to the plinky game music!

Rat On The Run – FREE!!!

This is a FANTASTIC game! It’s so much fun. You have to collect the cheese for Ratty and dodge the obsticles that come in your way. Also included in this game is Rat On A Scooter which I’m addicted to. It’s hours of fun and it’s a FREE APP!!!!

The company that made Rat On The Run – Donut Games – is doing a Free Games Campaign and also has a few other games that are free.

Check out Spikey’s Bounce Around, Lucky Coins and Cows in Space. They are all free and very fun!

So I decided why not, and clicked on the link. I thought to myself, ‘I’ll just X the window when it requests my credit card information’ – but surprisingly, it never did. I signed up, and it asked me to upload a photograph. So my boyfriend took one of me – a pretty bad one at that… It had everything, raccoon bags, flat hair, un-sculpted eyebrows. This photograph really would put their Makeover Studio to the test!

After uploading this monstrous picture, the site asked me to map out various points on my face: around the eyes, lips, head and eyebrows. Which I did, growing more and more impatient with every click – I just wanted to play with the make-up!

And finally, I was done! It brought me to a page where I could try on thousands of beauty products and accessories, from concealers to lip-glosses, and contact lenses to hair styles. I was slightly put off at first because at first I only saw super high end products like Dior, YSL and Givenchy to name a few – and I even joked to my boyfriend that they should put the prices of the products so that you can see how many dollars worth of make-up you end up with on your face when your transformation is complete. But then I noticed they actually do have high-street brands like Victoria’s Secret, Maybelline, CoverGirl and Revlon.

The first point of attack was to apply concealer to my raccoon eyes, and foundation to even everything out. The makeover studio has every shade of concealer and foundation – from geisha white to fake’n'bake orange. I was pleasantly surprised at it’s effectiveness at removing my bags and blemishes – and making myself orange was fun!

Next I moved onto the eye makeup. The options and combinations were staggering! And because of the face mapping feature, I could choose exactly where I wanted the products to be applied. Also, since I have an asymmetrical face, I could map the areas around my eyes accordingly so I didn’t end up looking like a crazy person who let a 3 year old apply their makeup.

Another thing I found very cool was how you can change the style of the eye shadow (mono wash, two tone, three tone or smokey), liner (top, inner or outer bottom, water-line, etc) and mascara (top, bottom, etc). It also allows you to choose the amount and thickness of the product, which was great as I found the eyeliner had a very harsh line.

I think the best part of this site was the brow thinning tool. It was realistic and really completed the make-up part of the makeover.

Then the fun *really* began. HAIR! I think I spent around 2 hours clicking and trying on all manner of hairstyles – from the huge collection in the site’s gallery and also Celeb styles. They have Lady GaGa, Rihanna, Heidi Klum, as well as many ’10 Fashion Week styles. The fun thing about the hair styles is that you can flip them, rotate them and adjust the width and height to fit the shape of your head. There are also a whole array of accessories to try – glasses, sunglasses, contacts, necklaces, etc. They have elaborately embellished hair sticks which you can choose to place anywhere, and a huge selection of hats and berets.

If you don’t feel like clicking away through all the different products, you can try the 1-Click Looks, where the website offers a selection of pre-programmed looks that they will apply to your face. I found these made me look like a Vegas show girl, but it was still fun and gave my boyfriend and I a few laughs!

The only downside was the lag time, it was quite slow to load – but then again, when you take into consideration the amount of information it has flying back and forth with the colors and styles, this can be forgiven!

I strongly recommend trying this site out.

http://www.dailymakeover.com/makeover/virtualMakeover