Michael 84

Just Got Myself An iPad Mini 2!

Tech Blog
Monday, 2nd November, 2015

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I’ve only gone and got myself an iPad Mini 2!! :mrgreen: So this is a strange time to buy this, but I can explain all! 😉

I have an iPad 2, and had it for a hell of a long time, over 4 years in fact which is a lifetime in technology terms. It’s been a great thing to have, but it’s getting a bit old, slow and tired, and although it’s been useable, it has seen better days. Even before I bought that I wanted a bigger iPad, but there was no such thing at the time. Last year the iPad Mini 3 was released, and the Mini 2 came down in price, I think it was £279 for a 32GB which was so tempting! There were rumours of a larger iPad in the works, so I held off.

iPad Pro Announced

Several months ago I got what I (thought I) wanted, a larger iPad was announced to be released in November. I was excited, and planned on getting one when they were released. But Apple just stated “November” with no actual date, and not even a price for the UK. The speculated price for a 128GB model is £799, and I was happy to pay that, until I got thinking (also with help from watching the Microsoft Surface keynote).

Hello iPad 2 Mini!

The iPad Mini 4 is now available, and they’ve kept the mini 2 going, with an even better price of £259 for a 32GB. This was now far too tempting, and after a few weeks of contemplating I have finally upgraded and got myself this brand new iPad Mini 2 and couldn’t be happier.

So Why The Change Of Mind?

It’s simple, the iPad Mini 2 fits my lifestyle. I wanted a big pro, but when I thought more and more about it, and what I would actually use it for myself (rather than what it can do for other people) I figured out that it would be a bit of a waste. What do I use my iPad for? Reading web pages, a few apps, and that’s about it. I love my iPhone, and use that a lot, and rarely use my iPad if I’m honest. I wanted a pro for the large screen and big space to put lots of films, but really, I watch films on my far larger and better TV via blu ray, so I don’t think I would watch many at all, even though it seems like a really good idea. The iPad Pro is also untried, and doesn’t have a few things that other new Apple products have such as 3D touch, so it’s almost old before it’s even been released!

It seems a bit odd to go from a regular size iPad, want a bigger one, and in fact buy a small one, but that’s how it’s happened! 😛 I’ve been using it for a little while and love it, it feels so much faster and all round better than my iPad 2, which has been good to me. Why not the Mini 4? I don’t think the higher price justifies it, other than the fact that you can get it in gold and it has slight performance benefits.

I will be using this as a reader, probably a few apps and that’s about it. It’ll be good for reading blogs and doing social media, and should last a couple of years, and for £259 you can’t really see better than that. I don’t think I took full advantage of my iPad 2, and used it sparingly, but I think with this one being smaller it fits perfectly as a coffee table device, and can live on a bedside table too.

As for the Pro? I’ll put the idea of getting one on the back burner for now. I may get one sometime in the future, it just won’t be now, or I may not get one at all, and get an ultrabook like a Dell XPS or a Surface Pro, or Surface Book which are proper computers for just a bit more money.

Gruhme No.14 For Him Eau De Toilette Review

Men's Grooming
Thursday, 29th October, 2015

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As you already know by reading my many fragrance reviews, I love a good scent. I have tried so many, so when Gruhme got in touch for me to review one of their offerings I had to give it a go. If you’ve not heard of Gruhme it’s a privately owned, independent British fragrance house owned by former lawyer, Rob Hallmark.

The ethos behind the brand was to create truly independent British made fragrances and products designed and marketed solely towards the male market.

This is the Number 14 scent. It contains the same blend of fine ingredients as the original, but in a higher, 14% concentration, rather than the original 10%. This gives it that little bit of extra punch as well as better longevity.

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Newcastle Saturday Night – Ouseburn, Quayside, Town

Lifestyle, OOTD, Street Style
Monday, 26th October, 2015

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Bad hair day! 😛 | Red !Solid Jeans, Black DNKY Shirt, Grey Alfred Brown/M&S Jacket

Hey guys!

I hope you had a good weekend. Mine was good and bad, Saturday night was good, but the derby…Newcastle lost 3-0, largely due to a penalty and a player getting wrongly sent off! Anyway, I would have wrote this yesterday but I was so tired! I guess that’s the sign of a good night out.

I technically got back in after 3AM, and since the clocks went back at 2 it was really 4AM, and went out earlier than I usually do, so I guess I must of drank a fair bit, although I didn’t really feel any drunker than usual. We started off at the Ouseburn for a change and went to a few places around there like The Tyne Bar, The Cluny and Nancy’s Bordello, then a couple of places on the Quayside like The Akenside, Popolo, The Redhouse, Eye of The Tyne and Tiger Hornsby, then finished the night in Perdu.

I wore my red !Solid jeans with a black shirt and grey jacket; I wanted to add some colour to my outfit and think that this works well for Autumn. I love the red bottoms with the grey jacket, I think the two colours work well together, the grey calms down the red which could have otherwise looked really loud. As for shirts I could of gone for a white shirt or striped top which would of worked well, but I wanted to try a black shirt with this.

Here are a couple of pics from the night, mainly of the Quayside…I love my city! :mrgreen: (They were taken with my phone)

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Wellman Men’s Grooming Range From Vitabiotics

Men's Grooming
Thursday, 15th October, 2015

Vitabiotics Wellman Male Grooming Review

So recently Vitabiotics got in touch to let me know about their latest male grooming range of products, which is a wonderful collection of seven skincare products ranging from the bare essentials including body wash and shampoo, to quality products for your everyday regime including daily moisturiser, eye serum and face wash. The products have been scientifically developed and include nutrient active ingredients to keep the skin smooth, invigorated and revitalised. Here’s a closer look at all products, and a brief introduction to what they are:

Body Wash – Formulated with Arginine Niacinamide, the body wash is designed to cleanse the skin and keep it hydrated.
Face Wash – A daily wash with Vitamin B3 and Aloe Vera to keep the face feeling cool, refreshed and revitalised.
Face Scrub – With Aloe Vera and Menthol, it gently exfoliates the skin leaving it smoother, with Zinc PCA present to help combat oily skin.
Anti-Aging Moisturiser – Helping to reduce the appearance of wrinkles, it has Arginine and natural Betaine help control moisture balance in the skin cells to keep skin supple and youthful.
Under-Eye Serum – Nourishing and hydrating anti-fatigue formula includes Caffeine, Horse Chestnut extract and Haloxylâ„¢ to help reduce the appearance of under-eye puffiness, dark circles and fine lines.
Daily Moisturiser – A 12 hour moisturiser which contains vitamins A, C and E to nourish and protect the skin, and Arginine and Niacinamide smooth and strengthen the skin.
Shampoo – Cleanses and invigorates the hair and scalp leaving it healthy-looking. Niacinamide helps to increase circulation in the scalp, combined with Zinc for anti-dandruff protection.

I will be putting all of these to the test in the coming weeks and trying them all out. I am most looking forward to trying out the under-eye serum. Since we live in a world with not much sleep and looking at screens for most of it, my eyes do feel tired and I can get dark circles, so it will be good to see if this can help, or even eliminate them 🙂

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Autumn Style Check – White Jeans & Light Knits

OOTD, Street Style
Wednesday, 14th October, 2015

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I do love my white jeans, and they are primarily a summer thing, but just because Autumn is here it doesn’t mean you have to put away the white jeans until next year. I decided to give my white jeans some extra time in Autumn and they work really well with the right sweater or knit, and a jacket.

White jeans are one of those fashion pieces that you have to be brave enough to wear, because in mainstream menswear there’s not a lot of guys walking around in them, especially in Autumn. But you can pull of this style with a good complimenting upper half.

I really love this knit. The colour is amazing and it’s a colour I don’t have in my wardrobe. It’s also a super soft top, and is from the Cashmere H&M collection last winter. I don’t know what happened to it since last year, but it appears to have got a lot longer, I don’t recall it being so long! 😉

Along with the aquamarine knit I have gone for my Selected Homme leather jacket. I really love this, and it’s a light jacket, so wearing it with layers will not leave me overheating, and is a good weight for Autumn. I also have a pair of aqua Converse, which are perfect for this and a great reason to wear them 😉

What do you think of this look? Check out some more of my >men’s fashion ideas on how to style white jeans this season.

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Rugby World Cup In Newcastle

Lifestyle
Thursday, 8th October, 2015

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I love my city! 😛

I’m sure if you live in the UK or rugby crazy parts of the world, then it’s hard to miss that the rugby World Cup is on at the moment. England have just been knocked out, and they’re the first host nation to get knocked out the group stage. I am not a rugby fan, but it’s really cool that Newcastle was chosen as a host city, and has 3 games at St. James’ Park. One has just taken place last weekend, and we have two more to go.

Not only is there people in the stadium, we have a fan park which was full, and apparently has been the busiest fan park in the entire country! I was out on Saturday night and they had the England game on the big screen at the Monument too…The fan park was full!

I was out and about a few days ago so I took a few photos of the city, including the fan park which has a big wheel and a real carnival kind of atmosphere 🙂

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All Black And White Men’s Styling With Nudie Jeans, Prada & Air Max

Lifestyle, OOTD, Street Style
Wednesday, 7th October, 2015

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I have been writing this blog for years now, and I rarely shoot photos on locations, which I should really start doing a lot more. I live in Newcastle, it’s an amazing city, it has so many great buildings and cityscapes, there’s plenty of cool backdrops for creating some amazing images, not to mention it’s close by to a couple of beaches too!

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Michael 84 Featured In Men’s Fitness Magazine

Lifestyle
Tuesday, 6th October, 2015

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Hey guys!

I hope you’ve all had an amazing weekend. If you follow me on Twitter and Instagram you’ll already know this, but I have been so busy with features on the blog I forgot to post this…

I was featured in Men’s Fitness Magazine in their October issue to give some advice on my men’s grooming tips. I recommended Dover MEN+Care post shave balm, something I really like and have featured on the blog before, such as in my men’s grooming day post as well as the Dove MEN+Care review.

If you are looking for a Sunday read then you can get the magazine, if you don’t like paper you can get it on the app I believe 😉

Out In Newcastle At The Weekend – 3rd October

Lifestyle, Newcastle Nightlife
Monday, 5th October, 2015

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We went out in Newcastle on Saturday night, and it was good. The rugby World Cup is on, and even though I don’t like rugby there’s a good atmosphere in Newcastle when there’s a game on. Newcastle is hosting a few games in the rugby World Cup, the first was on Saturday afternoon with South Africa and Scotland, not only that, England were playing in the evening too. So I decided to pick a bar to meet which I knew didn’t have a TV, so we went to Browns. Then discovered that they do have a TV, but the place was not too busy :mrgreen: It was a good atmosphere in the town, with plenty of South African fans, probably more than Scottish actually, but there were a few in kilts.

We have a fan park near St. James’ Park, but I noticed signs up that said ‘at capacity’ so I imagine there were a lot of people there. We have big screen at the Monument to watch the games too, it was quite busy, the security were not letting people access Grey Street so I had to walk around.

We went to a few places, a mix from Fitzgeralds, Grey Street No.1, Alvino, The Monkey Bar, The Old George and then tried Filthy McNasty’s for the first time. It’s a late style bar which has been open a few months and took over the space which was previously Blu Bambu. It’s a fairly decent bar which has 2 guys playing guitars singing random pop rock songs live which is something different from the pop/house music which gets played at most late bars. If you’ve ever been to Blu Bambu when it was open you’ll know that all the action was downstairs, they don’t have that open and there’s only the upstairs, but maybe they will in the future.

A good night out all in all 🙂

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90’s Fashion Trends: How To Wear The Best 90s Trend Today

Fashion, Mens Fashion Trends
Sunday, 4th October, 2015

90's Fashion Trends - A 90's Style Guide For Men

When it comes to fashion trends, I have always loved 90’s style. It’s the decade which I grew up in, so the clothing from the decade always has fond memories for myself.

It was in the past, and was a bit retro, but then several years ago came the re-emergence of the 90’s trends, with the biggest menswear labels of the day making a comeback.

Are you looking to get some 90’s style, or create the perfect outfit? Read the guide below to know the best brands, key pieces of clothing and must have items for any 90’s style outfit.

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