A sweatshirt is probably an item of clothing you’ll already own and not really give to much thought about, but they’re one of those staple items of menswear we all have. When the colder weather turns up that means a couple of things, turn to warmer clothing, and layering. A great choice for this season when putting together an outfit is a sweatshirt, and one of the best parts of this is that you can make it look as simple as you like.
Hey guys!
So I haven’t really been listening to much new music lately, I don’t think there’s been many stand out tracks which I’ve been playing which I can’t stop listening to. It is the Autumn, so there’s a bit of the Summer music still left over, but hopefully there’ll be some big new tracks coming in the not too distance future.
Here is my small playlist for this month.
I got a SNES Mini! 😀
I am so happy that I was able to get one, just like the NES Mini Classic which was released last year, Nintendo announced the Super Nintendo Classic Mini back in June, and I pre-ordered one, with the hopes of getting it, but as you know with things like this, something can go wrong.
If you got one then you already know how fun it is, but if you haven’t here’s everything you need to know about it, including the unboxing.
Have you noticed how much yellow is around right now!?
I love the yellow fashion trend for Autumn. It’s not a particular colour which is synonymous for Autumn, but it’s one which I have noticed over the past several weeks, and it’s one I really like. Now the colder weather is here it’s time to wrap up and layer up, and what better way than with sweatshirts!
There are so many different yellow shades and tones, from mustard to bright yellow and a more pastel, pale yellow, which is my favourite. I have spotted this trend, but there’s actually not a lot of choice out there. My preference to sweats these days is sweatshirts over hoodies, but there’s still a lot of hoodies which menswear brands are releasing. Sweatshirts have regained popularity in the past year or so, and you can check out my sweatshirt guide for everything you need to know about sweats and how to style them.
If you are in the market for a yellow sweatshirt, check out my top picks below
It was sadly announced yesterday that Freddy Shepherd, ex Newcastle chairman had passed away. If you don’t like football or are under 25, you probably don’t remember Newcastle United the way I do and so many Geordies do, because when I was growing up Newcastle were big title challengers for many years; Thanks to Sir John Hall and Freddy Shepherd.
In the early 90’s along with Sir John Hall, he brought us Kevin Keegan as manager, and that was really the start of the era when Newcastle were known as The Entertainers. In the 92-93 season Newcastle were promoted from Division 1 to the Premier League as champions, and in their first season went on to finish 3rd, something only equalled in the Premier League era by Nottingham Forrest who did the same the following year. The first season in the Premier League Andy Cole was the top goalscorer, who was later sold part way through the next season.
Then players who are now thought of as legends started to come. Phillipe Albert, “Sir” Les Ferdinand and David Ginola are still highly regarded in Newcastle and are heroes of the city. Then came the big one…
Newcastle United broke the World Record Transfer Fee! Yes, WORLD RECORD! Alan Shearer came home from Blackburn for £15M!
There were of course a few bad moments and bad times, but I think that my generation of Newcastle fans will remember the good far, far more than the bad.
Beating Barcelona 3-2 at home, with Tino Asprilla scoring a hattrick
That 5 – 0 win against Man Utd.
Two FA Cup finals
Two second place finishes in the Premier League, with genuine aspirations of playing well and doing well
Being excited to watch Newcastle
The expectations of winning every match, with losing and even drawing seeming terrible
Bobby Robson
And so much more!
Being a kid growing up watching Newcastle in those times were so good, largely down to Shepherd and Hall at the helm. Michael Owen was later brought in with Shepherd at the helm for a club record fee of £16M in 2005, a record which still stands. That kind of underlines how Newcastle United has never kicked on since then.
So thanks for the memories! It was a brilliant time to be a kid and watch Newcastle United!
R.I.P Freddy Shepherd
How stupid of me!!!
I was out shooting photos a few days ago for the blog, and I decided that “for safe keeping” I would keep one of my lenses next to my car, but behind the wheel. I was taking portrait type of shots, so I don’t know why I even bothered taking this lens, but I did. It was my expensive lens, one of my favourites which I’ve used for years and originally bought for Iceland, my Tokina 11-16mm lens.
So I was using my 24mm and 50mm lens, since they’re small I can keep one in my pocket while I am shooting with the other, and vice-versa. Everything was going well, I got all the pictures I wanted, and I was happy. I got back in my car and started to drive off, when I heard a noise, and instantly knew what it was….
I ran over my lens!
I can’t believe I forgot it was there! I jumped out the car and found the lens with pieces smashed off, the lens hood smashed and it being in a general battered condition. Amazingly, the glass was still in tact, however the surround and lens end was a little warped, and pieces was smashed off or cracked.
I got it home and it has these really tiny screws, most of which were lost, probably at the road, and the rest of them were like tiny bits of scrap metal, only 2 of the screws were in any kind of reasonable condition.
I have tried to put it back together, and to my amazement, it still works! You can hear the motor struggling a little bit when it comes to focusing, and it’s now really hard to move between manually focusing and automatic (The Tokina has a mechanism where you pull or push part of the casing of the lens), but it’s still working and takes photos.
When I bought the lens I remember reading reviews about it and people saying that “It’s built like a tank”, and I guess they’re right! I can confirm it can (almost) take being run over by a car! Although I wouldn’t recommend it. I think if it had of been a cheaper plastic lens I would definitely have a smashed lens.
When I am taking photos out and about and take more than one lens, my biggest fear is always putting one down and forgetting about it, then leaving it wherever I am. I almost did exactly that, so now I guess I should be happy that I actually ran over it, because if I didn’t I would definitely have forgotten it and someone will have probably stole it.
Lesson learned – I must be more careful!
I hope you’re well!
So I thought I would share my grooming essentials, the products I’ve been using daily (or more or less daily) this month. I am quite loyal when it comes to some products, I know what I like and usually stick to those. However I do like to change it up sometimes, and try out other products, especially new ones. Here’s what I’ve been using in September as part of my daily routine.
For the general daily wash I have been using No.7 MEN energising hair and body wash. It’s pretty decent, I can’t complain and have a nice scent. For a face wash I have been using L’Oreal Men Expert which I think is pretty good. For deodorant I use an antiperspirant spray, and have been using Dove MenCare for a long time. The Clean Comfort is one of my favourites, not much of a scent other than a “clean” smell. This is perfect for my as I use aftershave as a daily scent.
I don’t use my moisturiser as much as I should, and I have so many. The one I’ve been using lately is the Hydra energetic anti-fatigue moisturiser from L’Oreal MEN Expert.
I use an electric toothbrush, Listerine mouthwash and for toothpaste I always use Blanx. I’ve been using this for years, I occasionally try others, but for the most part I always use Blanx. I really like it, although it’s pretty expensive.
For washing my hair I use Head & Shoulders. Again, I am fairly loyal to this, I really like it, I think it works well, and leaves your hair fairly free of flakes you can get from using hair products. Speaking of hair products, my favourite is 3D texture clay from Schwartzkopf, which I use when I go out or really want to make sure my hair is right. I have so many hair products which I use in some kind of rotation, but my texture clay is the go to product, it’s so reliable.
King of Shaves gel really is the king. I don’t like foam, or other gels which foam up. The gel works really well, I’ve lost count of how many years I’ve used this for. Not only a good product, but at a good price too. My aftershave balms have been getting a good run out, I’ve been using lots of different ones. Since I ran out of my usual balms I’ve been using some I’ve got from various aftershave sets, The latest I’m using is my Acqua di GIO from Armani. It good and has that nice scent too.
I wear a lot of different scents as you know if you read my fragrance reviews. I could have put so many here, but for my Autumn fragrances I’ve gone for Tom Ford Noir. This is one of my favourites, I really like it, and it works well for Autumn, and pretty much any other season too. It’s dark and sensual, so best for evenings. Others which I could have easily featured are Molton Brown Absolute Tobacco, Viktor & Rolf Spice Bomb, MR Burberry, and so many more.
That’s the products I’ve been using this month. I may change up some products for next time round.
What are your favourite products? Do you have any recommendations?Â
Hey guys!
I hope you’ve had a great weekend so far. Last time I watched Now You See Me 2, and this weekend I watched The Take, aka Bastille Day which stars Idris Elba.
So I was browsing around Amazon Video and I’ve seen this film pop up a couple of times, and wanted to watch an action film since I haven’t seen one in such a long time. I saw it was Idris Elba but had not heard of the film, “The Take”. Then I realised that this was originally called Bastille Day, and I had seen some previews of that and it looked like a good film, so I watched it. Something I don’t like about action films is that some can seem far fetched, or just predictable, but I guess that you have to just go with it, afterall it’s not real, it’s just a film! 😀
The film starts on the eve of Bastille Day, an American called Michael Mason who’s lost most of his purpose in life is living in Paris, and is a pick pocket. He sees an opportunity to steal a women’s handbag, and does, then goes through it. There’s nothing much in there apart from a phone and a teddy bear, so he takes the phone and tosses the bag. Unknown to him there’s a bomb inside the teddy, which was supposed to be placed in an office for the French Nationalist party, but the women changed her mind when she saw people in the building and was told it would be empty. After he’s thrown the bag it goes off, killing people, and so it appears he’s a terrorist and killed those people. He’s now a wanted man by the police and RAPID, French special forces. He’s captured by CIA agent Briar, who’s played by Idris Elba, who questions Mason and tells Briar what happened and that he’s not a terrorist, Briar has reservations and believes him as the story unfolds of corruption and dodgy dealings happen play out; The film goes from there.
I thought that this was a really good action film with a good plot and plenty of action which you obviously expect to see. If you’re looking for an action film then I can recommend giving this one a watch.
I’ve seen a few people talk about their EDC, which (apparently) is an acronym for Every Day Carry, i.e. the essentials that men walk around with in their daily life. What do you usually carry around? What can’t you leave the house without? I’ve done a few posts like this before, but I’ll have a bit of a refresh and show you what I carry, and it’s not really a lot! 😀
For some people they use this as a photo opportunity to show off all the crap they have, and try to wedge it into the photo so it looks good. For the usual lifestyle stuff, I don’t think you really need to carry a lot, not in Newcastle at least. I’ve seen a few people who talk about penknives and other things, I guess they’re American or live out in the country, because there’s no chance you need something like that in your actual every day life.
Today I am looking back at one of my older fragrances, and it’s BANG! from Marc Jacobs. I got this scent back in 2011, and it was a blind buy, so I didn’t really know what to expect from it. I can honestly say that after all this time I have hardly worn it, and it’s never been one of my favourites, in fact it’s a one which is probably one of my worst purchases, I’ve never really liked this scent at all. But now, years later, how do I feel?
First of all let’s talk about the bottle. It’s a really distinctive and nice shape, and it was used in the next scent, Marc Jacobs BANG BANG which is a blue bottle and nicer than this one. It’s a jagged edgy bottle shape, covered in chrome plastic, and has the Marc Jacobs BANG logo to the middle.
The scent itself is an incredibly masculine fragrance. I really like this style of scent, I usually call it a night fragrance because they’re usually too musky to wear through the day, and this is certainly that. But I think it goes too far, and it’s really peppery. I have Gucci by Gucci which is quite a spicy and pepper style of scent, it’s also one I really like, however that seems more refined and toned down to this. BANG! has always seemed too sharp to me, just that bit too much musky.
But now years later and letting it breathe, I have slightly, only slightly, changed my mind. Yes, it’s still very strong, but if you leave it for a while and let it calm down, don’t use too much and it’s not so bad. I think think it’s too much for my personal style, and so I won’t be using it much, if ever again.
I have to say, if you’re looking for something which is sharp, spicy and punches of pepper, this is worth a look. In the colder weather it will work on an evening, if you can handle all the woody notes.
Best season to wear – Autumn/Winter
Scent type – Spicy/Woody/Aromatic
Age Recommendation – 25+
Best Worn – Evening, Date Night, Out With Friends, Casual
Top Notes – Pink Pepper, Pepper
Middle Notes – Woody Notes
Base Notes – Elemi Resin, Benzoin, Vetiver, Patchouli, Oak Moss
Do you have Bang! What do you think of this? As always you can find more of my fragrance reviews and check out some scents which I prefer to this one.
Michael Adams, Newcastle, UK
Michael 84 is a Men’s fashion and lifestyle blog where you can read style advice and tips, menswear trends and get the very latest in lifestyle. Voted as one of the best men’s fashion blogs in the UK, you’ll also find me blogging about grooming, travel, tech, music and everything a man needs in modern day life.
Please let me know if you have featured me in your blog, magazine or publication and I will add your button. Check out my Press Page here
