Michael 84

Michael 84 Christmas: Men’s Fragrances & Style Products

Saturday, 3rd January, 2015

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As always I got a lot of men’s fragrances and other beauty and style type products, perfect for a style blogger or someone that reviews fragrances…That would be me! 😉 I pretty much have every scent which I want now, yeah, I do have 80+ at last count, but I got some key aftershaves which so many people like, classics which are coveted by many.

I had been looking at getting BOSS Bottled by Hugo Boss for a while, but Christmas was coming up so I held off and asked to get it for the festive season. I was lucky and they were doing a collectors edition so I ended up getting that. I can claim to be a collector, since I have Unlimited, Bottled Sport and Bottled night as well as this, the original albeit in the collection black bottle.

I’m on to my third variation of Issey Miyake too; This time Pour Homme. I do really like it, and I know it’s highly thought of by many. It is really nice, and is as clean as the bottle looks.

I got Noir by Tom Ford last year and I love it, this time round I went for Grey Vetiver and it’s so nice! To round it out I got a new scent, MAN by Jimmy Choo, but just a small bottle. All the scents I got apart from the Jimmy Choo I would describe as lighter day wear scents rather than the musky woody evening ones. I have so many of them I wanted a more rounded collection, so went for these. But make no mistake about it, these are so good, and I will be wearing them often, on nights out, and you can expect a more in depth look at each one in my fragrance reviews which will be coming 🙂

One of my favourite hair products is hair way by Sacha Juan. It’s expensive at £20 a tub, but will last me a while. I don’t use the same one each day, I like to vary it and usually use this one sparingly. It has a slightly buttery/neutral smell to it, non-greasy and works well in short hair.

It wouldn’t be Christmas without a little bit of Dermalogica, and the usual smelly stuff like deodorants and the Soap And Glory Men’s Kit.

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Take Me Out 2015 Series 7 Girls

Wednesday, 31st December, 2014

Take Me Out 2015 - Series 7 Girls

It’s back! Everyone’s favourite dating TV show, Take Me Out is making a return for 2015 and is set to be on your screens this Saturday at 20:30. Paddy McGuiness returns with his flirty 30 and you can see all of the girls in their photos below 🙂

Not only that, but after a brief absence Take Me Out: The Gossip returns with Mark Wright and new presenter Laura Jackson, to dish the dirt on what’s been happening at the isle of Fernandos, this time round they’ll be bringing all the gossip direct from Fernandos!

UPDATE: Check out Take Me Out 2019 for Series 11.

You can find the 2018 girls on the Take Me Out Series 10 page here

Take Me Out 2016

Check out Take Me Out Series 9 photos for 2017 here!

Meet series 7 Take Me Out Girls below…

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Film Night – Sin City: A Dame To Kill For

Tuesday, 23rd December, 2014

For film night I watched one of my new blu rays, and it’s something I’ve been wanting to watch for a while. Sin City: A Dame To Kill For is the follow up to the first Sin City film, which first came out 9 years ago. The first film was brilliant, and so the follow up had a lot to live up to. I heard that this had some mixed reviews, so I did not really know what to expect. Thankfully it is a good film, maybe not as good as the first, but it did have a lot to live up to.

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Newcastle Night Out – Last Weekend Before Christmas

Sunday, 21st December, 2014

Cookie Monster At Jalou

It’s the last weekend before Christmas! We went out in Newcastle on Friday, so called “Black Eye Friday”, it’s traditionally the day/night that there’s lots of office parties and work nights out. Apparently the town was really busy early on, but when I was out at around 9PM it was no busier than you’d usually expect. It was a fun night, and we went to places like Union Rooms, Jalou, Mushroom, Science Bar and The Head Of Steam. The Head Of Steam sells Rekorderlig on tap, how cool!? 😀 However I noticed they were doing bottles of the premium Winter cider, so I had to get a bottle to try. The label says apple cider with cinnamon-vanilla flavours. It does not sound too good since I am not a lover of cinnamon, but I have to say it is really nice, another hit from Rekorderlig 🙂

A trip to Jalou means a Cookie Monster cocktail, and I noticed they’ve put the prices up of all their cocktails, these are now £7.50 with some other cocktails coming in at £8.50.

Christmas Gift Guide 2014 – Technology

Wednesday, 17th December, 2014

Christmas is only a week away, so time is ticking away for getting presents! The last date for UK Christmas post is Friday 19th December for 1st Class, some online shops are still offering next day delivery until Monday 22nd December, and of course there’s always good old traditional shops if you wanna go in store and grab a last minute pressie! 😉

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Tom Carter Watch Collection Review

Saturday, 13th December, 2014

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Recently Tom Carter showcased their latest collection of luxury but affordable timepieces, with an emphasis in big watches in steel.

Tom Carter is a lifestyle brand with over ten years experience in the international watch industry, and they have a commitment to quality, accuracy and superior craftsmanship.

The collection consists of 17 watches in different styles, including the Tio Ellinas Edition watches, named after one of the brand ambassadors, Formula 3000 racing driver Tio Ellinas.

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Boss Orange Watch – The Look & WIN Your Own Watch

Monday, 8th December, 2014

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I have been working with Boss Orange Watches in the past few months, and as you will have seen I’ve previewed the collection of watches from the range, as well as showing you the New York watch which I have. One question remains, what do you wear with a watch like this?

In keeping with the urban style of the design of the watch I have created a casual and laid back look to team with the watch. This includes a charcoal quilted padded bomber jacket, which keeps you warm enough in this mild Winter we’re currently having and keeps an urban chic style. I have combined this with my Nena & Pasadena baseball tee, which adds a bit of sporty fair to the look. As you’ll know indigo coloured jeans are something I love, and I’ve included a pair of my Nudie Jeans here for the look.

Win Your Own Boss Orange Watch With Me!

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I am giving away a Boss Orange Watch to one of you, so you can create your very own look. It’s a similar watch to the one I’ve showcase. A classic black Boss Orange watch with a silicone strap and trademark orange detailing on the pointers and markers.

Want this? It could not be easier to win. All you need to do is to retweet the below tweet and you’re all set! 🙂

https://twitter.com/Michael84Blog/status/542274704313450496

You can shop for this and the rest of the Boss Orange watch collection by visiting their site.

This post is written in collaboration with Boss Oranges Watches, with the competition in conjunction with Boss Orange Watches.

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Men’s Fragrance Buying Guide For Christmas

Monday, 8th December, 2014

Introduction

I have seen a few fragrance buying guides, and they all have something in common; They separate the scents by the type. Most people I know who are casual scent wearers or looking for a gift for someone would not look for fragrances this way, they may not know if an oud would be good for their dad or if something citrus would be suitable for their grandad.

So to make it easier for you, I am going to recommend what scent is best for the type of person you’re buying for 🙂

If you want an in depth look at some of my fragrances, you can check my men’s fragrance reviews. There’s a lot of fragrance tips out there, but something I hate about them is people advise on buying scents which they don’t own or haven’t even tried! ALL of the scents in this guide I either own or have sampled, so these are truly my personal recommendations 🙂

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Fragrances For Dads – Cool, Laid Back Style

He doesn’t like something really heavy and musky, but likes to smell nice. Something not too sophisticated or expensive, not in your face or offensive. For this kind of dad then you want something which touches on some of the notes and is not particularly heavy especially in woody, musky or dark types of notes. What’s good for this?

YSL Libre – It’s a fresh and soft spicy style, and has quite a green smell to it, light enough to wear through the day. £42.50 @ Debenhams

D&G Anthology No.1 Le Bateleur – It has very slight woody notes, but is mostly aquatic and light. £34.52 Direct from Amazon (not a 3rd party seller!)

Lacoste L.12.12 Blanc – Floral but masculine, light and inviting. It’s clean, fresh and unobtrusive. Buy a little gift set from Debenhams for only £25

Dolce & Gabbana Light Blue – Aquatic and slightly spicy but fresh. John Lewis has it for £38.20

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The Zip-Fit Shirt From Teddy Stratford

Thursday, 4th December, 2014

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A really good fitting shirt can be quite hard to come by. If you’re buying a standard shirt these days there are a few different styles of cut to buy from to get different types of fit; The usual standard types of fit could leave your shirt feeling a bit too baggy, which is not a great look for a smart shirt.

Another other option is a fitted shirt, even these occasionally don’t fit as you’d like, and some feel like you’re ready to burst out of your shirt. The other option is getting tailor fitted shirts custom made for you, but this can be really expensive to buy and find a tailor to suit your needs.

Teddy Stratford have created a solution to this problem, and they’re calling it “The best fitting shirt on the Planet“.

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Men’s Fragrance Buying Online – Fake Or Genuine?

Thursday, 27th November, 2014

Fragrances can be quite expensive, and depending on your taste and favourite designer, they can be get very expensive indeed.

The few big name retailers on the high street are usually quite expensive, but fortunately we have this little known invention called the Internet which we can use to buy fragrances, aftershaves and the like for ourselves and others.

The biggest problem is the fakes, counterfeits and non-genuine products which are now being sold; Unfortunately we cannot tell from a picture whether or not you’ll end up receiving the real deal or a cheap knock off. So, where is the best place to get cheap fragrances? My top pick is Amazon, but it comes with a big warning!

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