Don’t know your Turkey’s from your Iceland’s? I have made this Euro 2016 kit guide if you aren’t too familiar with football!
I love international football competitions, I always have done since I was a kid. Whether it’s the Euros, World Cup and even Confederations Cup or Copa America in it’s hay day, there’s just something that little bit more special when it comes to International tournaments.
I have not tried anything from LAB Series for quite some time, so when House Of Fraser said they wanted my thoughts on a couple of products I had to say yes. The two products in question were the Multi Action Face Wash and PR LS All In One Face Treatment.
LAB Series has a really easy system for their products; They’re labelled for the job which they do. These two carry the CLEAN and TREAT statements, which make it really easy for an guy to understand if you’re not too familiar with products, which can get overwhelming since there’s so many.
The face wash is really good, it’s fairly unscented and works well. You don’t need a whole lot of this for your face, so it should last a fair while. When I first used this I used too much, you will too, as you really only need a small amount for full face coverage.
It’s a scrub, and so exfoliates, cleanses and conditions the skin. For a scrub, I would usually only use this 3-4 times a week, I’ve always thought that a scrub type of wash shouldn’t be used everyday, however this is not too abrasive so could be fine for light daily use.
Next up is the PR LS All In One Face Treatment. This is like a daily moisturiser, however LAB Series say this is an all in one face treatment. It soothes, moisturises, repairs and mattifying for your skin.
This can be used daily, and should be used after shaving, since I already use an aftershave balm, I will use this well after I have used the aftershave balm, or possibly even miss shave days.
The Pro LS All-In-One Face Treatment costs £28 for a 100ml tube, with the face wash coming in a 100ml size too for £18.50.
This is a great product, and if you’re looking to try for your grooming routine, this is worth considering.
Thanks to House Of Fraser for sending over these products
I’ve now had myself a fair few weekends away, from staycations in London to long weekends in Barcelona, Reykjavik and super fast weekend getaways to places like Copenhagen.
Packing for these short journeys can sometimes be a bit of a head scratching issue…What do you take, and in terms of clothing, what do you pack?
It comes down to a couple of things, where and when you’re going, your general lifestyle and your budget.
Hey guys!
OK first of all, I have a new hair colour…It’s darker brown! 😀 I love this colour, and haven’t dyed my hair in ages, but I’ve finally got round to it, a bit too late, it needs to be cut so I’ll end up having to dye it again. I used to buy Excell 10 which I really liked, number 4 “Natural dark brown” which was dark, but then they stopped selling it, so I had to switch to Nice n Easy, I tried their same colour but it didn’t seem to be as dark, so I’ve went darker to 3.5 and I love this colour, so I’ll be keeping it 🙂
A while back you’ll know I got a few things from ASOS, these jeans and some nautical tops. We’ve finally had some good weather, and will hopefully get some more going forward, so I was able to style these items this week and took a couple of shots.
As I’ve already mentioned, I misread these jeans and thought they were just regular skinny fit, which I quite like, but then when they arrived I realised that they were actually super skinny. What’s the difference? Well the name tells no lies, they really are super skinny, they’re skin tight! 😀 The legs really are like drainpipes, clinging to your legs, but the waist is quite regular and the denim has some stretch in it, making them comfortable. The leg opening is tight too, luckily they are made from soft denim, so are comfortable to wear.
The jeans are ecru in colour which I really like for the Spring/Summer, and have really cool distressed patches which I really like. If you’re looking for advice on light colour or white denim, check out my what to wear with white jeans guide.
I wore these jeans with another ASOS item, the navy nautical T Shirt. This came in a two pack with the other being a colour reverse of this one, a white base and navy stripes. I think colour blocking this darker top with the ecru jeans looks really nice. It’s finished off with my Ugg suede shoes in blue, these are the most comfortable shoes I’ve ever owned, I can’t quite believe they count as shoes and not the more comfortable trainers. I also wore my Ray Ban Aviators along with my D&G Watch.
Hopefully we’ll get lots of sun this year so we can all wear lots of summer fashion 😉
Michael
Regular readers of my blog will know my love of Dermalogica products, so when they got in touch about their latest masque, I had to give it a try. Dermalogica were running a special masterclass in Fenwick with a face mapping skin analysis, sadly I could not make it down but they were happy to send over the brand new Charcoal Rescue Masque for me to try.
Since I shaved my beard off I have been using facial products more and more to get my skin back to being used to not having a beard, including scrubs and moisturiser. I always profess the use of an aftershave balm, it really helps a guys skin stay smooth and free from irritation.
Masques are something which I use less, but I have used them in the past with good results, so it was great to try this one from Dermalogica. Masques are used to detoxify and brighten the skin, and are good if your skin is looking or feeling a bit tired. They say it has Activated Binchotan Charcoal that powerfully absorbs impurities while Sulphur promotes cellturner for dramatically brighter skin.
I tried the masque which is really easy to use. You use apply it on your face, leave it for 7 – 10 minutes and then wash it off with warm hands. After 7 or 8 minutes you can really feel the masque on your skin, and once I removed it off it certainly does feel different, it feels more refreshed.
I have only used this once so far I cannot write about the long term looks of my skin yet, but it is definitely off to a good start. I’ll probably use this once or twice a week maximum, so I will update this post then. I’ll combine it with my Dermalogica face scrub which I have, as well as a moisturiser.
When it comes to shoes, I really love the derby style. It’s the one style of shoe I will busy time and again, and really love. Derby shoes are a smart shoe, and can be worn for almost any occasion; From a summer wedding to a night out, they’re pretty versatile when it comes to pairing them with your fashion.
I already own a pair of Kurt Geiger derby shoes, and in fact they’re my second pair, after getting those last year as my go-to smart footwear choice.
You have been warned. Don’t go to The Botanist on a Saturday night for a drink. We were out at the Weekend and met up with some friends who were already in The Botanist, so went to the bar for a drink.
The Botanist is a bar-restaurant which is fairly new in Newcastle. They take space in the old Monument Mall building, with the entrance a small side door next to Jamie’s Italian. Once you’re in, there’s stairs to climb (they also have a lift), and you’ll have to walk up a couple of flights of stairs to get to the bar. They’re numbered, I think there were 53 if I remember. Once inside the place looks really nice, and the ceiling and rest of the décor is a bit of a feature. The layout is cool, with tables and the bar in the centre, and it has a nice upstairs. They had a live band when I was there on Saturday night, who sounded pretty decent. The drinks are mostly cocktails, with a couple of other options, but this is seen as a place to grab a cocktail, so everyone in the place is ordering and drinking cocktails.
The service…What service? Calling it slow would be so much of an understatement it’s untrue.
Saturday night is of course a busy night, that’s to be said in most bars in Newcastle. This was a reasonably busy Saturday night, but it was not extraordinarily busy, just your average Saturday night bar busy. We were there for around 20 minutes, did not get served, and then left. When you say a bar is busy you’re probably thinking that the bar is packed and it’s 6 or 7 deep of people, with lots of movement. This is not what busy means at The Botanist. I was at the front of the bar, with a person either side of me, and saw the guy next to me who was there before me get served. I stood for around 15 minutes and still did not get served. That’s not too unusual, but what’s unusual is that in that time the guy standing next to me STILL had not got his drinks! The barman who was in front of me was making cocktails, but I have no idea where they were actually going, because nobody at the bar seemed to be moving!
This was the most bizarre experience at a bar I have seen. The bar staff seemed to be making drinks (3 or 4 serving), they looked like they were busy working, but looking around nobody seemed to be moving away from the bar and nobody was drinking. I actually have no idea what to make of it. I go to so many places which do cocktails; Jalou, Revolution, Alvinos, Browns…They all take a little time, but it’s nothing like The Botanist! It’s genuinely the longest I have been at a bar and nobody at the bar actually got a drink! I let my mate stand where I was for 5 or 10 minutes, we still didn’t get served, the guy who I was standing next to STILL didn’t have his drinks, so we left.
If you want to go to the Botanist because of the cool décor my advice would be go, take a couple of pictures, then leave and go somewhere else for a drink. Since I didn’t get a drink I can’t tell you what they were like, other than expensive, which is not a surprise for a place like this, and would not be so appalling if you were able to actually get one of their expensive drinks.
You can pay a visit to their website here, it’s much better than wasting your time visiting it in person. Maybe you can order drinks a few weeks in advance, or B.Y.O.M (Bring Your Own Mojito). Needless to say I’ll not be hurrying back.
On a positive note I now have a new found respect for the other bars which I thought took their sweet time, but they’re actually quite rapid. Check out my other Newcastle Bar Reviews here.
Michael
I really like Floris scents, and if you’re a regular reader of my blog you’ll know the love I have for Floris Santal, which is definitely one of my favourite fragrances which I currently own. If you aren’t familiar with Floris, they are a British perfume house, founded in 1730 in London and have a range of men’s and women’s perfumes, as well as scents for the home.
They also offer fragrance customisation, along with a bespoke perfume design service, where you can design your own scent from the ground up. So when my friends over at Floris told me about this fragrance, I had to check it out.
The friend zone, what a place to be. What can I say about the friend zone?
It’s not a place you want to visit too often that’s for sure, but if you happen to not be a douche and you’re actually a nice guy, it’s a place which you can find yourself in a fair bit.
I recently got the GANT Pour Homme Eau De Toilette scent from GANT, and is the first scent I have had from the brand. The first thing you notice about this is the bottle, which is a very dark blue colour, with the glass having a thatched style of pattern throughout the bottle.
It has minimal GANT branding to the front of the bottle, with the top and atomiser being a smooth matte black colour.
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