What I got for Christmas 2014

Well 2014 was a pretty crappy year so I had been looking forward to Christmas and opening some presents that would bring some festive cheer to this miserable old goat. Let's just say I over indulged with the Christmas spirit on Christmas Eve (no, surely not everyone who knows me cries out) so presents weren't opened until after lunch (every mouthful was torture - not the fault of the chef).

Anyone who follows the blog may have seen that I'm in the process of a full sleeve tattoo - given the significant outlay so far I wasn't expecting anything ground breaking in present form. The last two sections of my tattoo formed part of my Christmas presents. Some pictures of where the full sleeve is up to at the moment are below. The two faces on my forearm are this years present.

But what else did Santa bring me this year?

Aftershave, yes, I know, a shocker. This time however, there were aftershaves I hadn't tried, enter stage left Bleu de Chanel, Ralph Lauren Polo Red and one that I had tried, enter stage right Aqva by Bvlgari.

Like Acqua Di Parma, a cologne I reviewed recently I had wanted to try Polo Red since someone asked for my opinion of it on Reddit. It was an aftershave that had passed me by. Being a massive fan of Polo Green, Black and Blue I'm not sure how it has taken so long for me to even smell it!

Pinterst is to blame for some of my other presents. I had seen three t-shirts with rather tasty designs and really wanted them. I had asked my mum to buy two but she opted to go safe and buy the Bvlgari aftershave (shakes head and mutters 'lazy.....lazy.....').

Some of the t-shirts that I unwrapped are below - I really do like them and there are more on the, the one I'm really waiting for says "Whiskey made me do it".

Other gifts included a joke snoring prevention device which is basically a padded boxing glove on a stick, a man stuff kit, and two books including the Breaking Bad Cookbook. 

My in laws came up with something I really wanted - fishing tackle. It has been years since I had let fishing de-stress me and after days spent fishing on holiday in the river at the side of our hotel I was if you will pardon the pun hooked again. They put together lots of tackle including rods, a reel, rod bag and nets.

The final gift was a leather band. Doesn't sound that interesting does it but it has a twist, well more of a hook - instead of having a clasp or being slightly elastic it uses a fish hook. Fashion statement or deadly weapon? Either way it appeals to my warped nature!

So there you go, that's what I got this Christmas.

Did you get anything interesting for Christmas last year (god that sounds weird)?

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365 days of blogging

Well, this counts as my anniversary post, after one whole year I’m still here (what where the odds on that happening?). 

First of all thank you to everyone who has encouraged me over the last twelve months and thank you for taking the time to read my little corner of the web. I honestly never thought I would still be writing or that people would actually come and take a look. 

Taken after one or two drinks in Amsterdam

Stranger still was the reaction of the people who knew me. I made a few subtle hints about the blog before just coming out and telling both my friends and people I worked closely with - there was a little ribbing but that stopped almost immediately. Bizarrely the worst reaction came from my family who teased about being doing something constructive with my time (me being constructive is completely and utterly out of character).

So, what changes have I experienced after blogging for a year?

STEP AWAY FROM THE PHONE
This is something that I used to find irritating as hell before I started blogging. Rachel (BeautyqueenUK) would sit on her phone for hours, would take random photographs and would never touch a plate of food in a restaurant without taking pictures from three angles (using three different filters).

This is what awaited me when I attended my first bloggers event - gorgeous ilumi food

Dirty Burger in Kentish Town, Camden - the best burger ever

Honest Burger in Camden Market

I confess I now do this, I take random photographs of aftershaves when out and about, take pictures of my food (usually burgers that are making me drool - you‘re welcome for that lovely mental image) and have now even started taking pictures of my hair after styling it in the morning so that I can do a #HOTD hashtag! 

PETS WIN PRIZES
Your pets suddenly become a marketing opportunity and a way of attracting people to your social media feeds. I’m guilty of this, mainly because I have three of the best cats ever, Dude, ASBO and Dexter. 

Cats rule #thatisall

Dude shows off his climbing skills

What? More aftershave?

Dexter stands guard over the aftershave

They frequently pop up in my posts (usually when trying to take pictures they photobomb me or the product) or on my Instagram.

Weirdly, whenever they appear in posts they tend to overshadow everything else. Cute cats, they are the future.

In the words of Mr Tinkles from the film Cats and Dogs….'Cats Rule'.

DON’T TOUCH THAT YET

I was never allowed to open or use anything until it had been photographed more times than a dead body at a crime scene. 

While I find myself doing this more and more I still get shouted at for throwing the wrong bath bomb into the bath, taking the packaging off the wrong product or eating the wrong thing. Ooops!

This Clarins Eye Revive sat in it's box for months until pictures could be taken!

While I struggle to take a photograph (I work on the basis that if I take a hundred a few might be usable!) I find that more and more, I can be walking in the park and thinking ’this would make a great spot to take some photographs of x or y product‘. 

Domain and Hosting Site

Before blogging you might as well have spoken to be in riddles about hastags, alt-tagging, domain names, web hosting, SEO, labels and keywords.  Now, while I am not as up to scratch as I possible should be, I know what each of these things mean and do my best, but definitely an area upon which I can improve!

CAN I BLOG ABOUT THIS?
Yes, that’s right, you start to make purchasing decisions based upon whether you think something would be of interest to your readers, you search out products you haven’t tried before so that you can write about them and in my case buy, buy, buy.

I have found myself doing this more and more, particularly when looking at aftershaves or beauty products. Where once I had two or three of a product, now I have nine or ten.

So, one year down - what next? It looks like my addiction to aftershave is going to continue, as will my love of trying new hair styling products but it is more likely that I’ll post more about fashion (my fashion sense so expect dark), places to eat out and maybe a regular spot for my friend to write about cocktail and dive bars.

Thank you for reading, the support and encouragement.


Stephen


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Flintoff By Jacamo Double Breasted Coat

“Jacamo, don’t they sell clothes for fat people?”. That's the response I’ve had from every person when I’ve pointed out that Jacamo had kindly asked me if I would like to pick, receive and review a coat from their website. 

I took them up on the offer, and today you lucky campers you get not only my thoughts on the coat I chose, but you also get to see the arty outside photographs of me trying not to look stupid styling it.

Back in October I wrote about my winter coat wish list, on which there was a lovely blue buckle neck donkey jacket from John Lewis - I loved it, but didn’t fancy shelling out £140 when I already had a very nice long cashmere trench coat. 

Looking around the website when trying to choose a coat was a nightmare for me, there were so many things that I wanted from the coats section. The Bear Grylls Polar Jacket stood out as did lots of t-shirts and jeans. I chose the Flintoff by Jacamo Double Breasted Coat, currently available for £80 here. 

So what did I get from Jacamo? Well, the coat arrived sharpish and was well packaged. I couldn’t wait to try it on as it was blowing a gale outside and I wanted to see if when just wearing a t-shirt and the coat would keep me warm. The coat feels quite thin and is light but it stops wind dead and I didn’t feel the chill factor at all. For me that is a massive result for a coat.

Made from a 50/50 blend of wool and polyester the coat is really well made, looks stylish and more importantly, keeps you warm. 

This is the perfect coat for the man who craves something that will look good when worn with a suit or effortlessly casual in jeans and jumper. The dark Navy colour is spot on and as it is just a touch longer than a lounge suit jacket you won't look like your mum has dressed you with your suit jacket poking out of the bottom of the coat. I shudder when I see grown men dressed like this on London Underground!

Since the age of eighteen I have worn long cashmere trench coats. Fact! In the intervening eighteen years I have been nervous about making the leap to a new style and anyone who knows me will be aware that I tend to stick to clothes I like rather than trying new things. I wouldn't say I was being brave, but to someone who obsesses over whether I look a tool in new types of clothes it was a big thing.

The coat has received compliments from those who originally questioned whether Jacamo catered for me (I’m no shrinking violet, but I’m also not a 5XL).

So, with extra silky lining, deep pockets on either side and three internal pockets with enough depth to store two phones, a wallet and an ipod with room to spare this is the bees knees. I even like the epaulettes (I love that word - I'm strange I know) on the shoulders. 

With sizes from medium to 5XL Jacamo seems to have been unfairly pigeon-holed due to the brand ambassadors they used years ago (something is niggling in my head that Johnny Vegas fronted up an ad campaign - I am not calling Andrew Flintoff a bloater) as being only for those on the larger side. This couldn‘t be further from the truth. 

As you can see from my pictures I‘m not Johnny Vegas sized, in fact I‘m going to just come out and say it - Jacamo is not just for larger folk, it’s a site and store that has a range of stylish and trendy clothes at reasonable prices and in sizes to fit normal people! 

I will be shopping at Jacamo again and will do so with a smile on my face. Thank you for the coat, and thank you for opening my eyes to a new place to pick up brands like French Connection, Mish Mash, Firetrap and Peter Werth at incredibly reasonable prices.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

Rather randomly, Dude, my eldest cat decided he wanted to be in the pictures today and showed of his climbing skills to photobomb me.

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Clarins Eye Revive Beauty Flash

It is hardly news that most of us rarely get the sleep that we need. I’m no different, in fact I struggle to get a few hours each night and have various relaxation routines I follow to try and drift me off to the land of nod. However, when these don’t work I look like I have been punched in the face by Mike Tyson, yes, two black eyes - I believe women refer to this look as Panda eyes, but I may be wrong. Step forward Clarins Eye Revive Beauty Flash.

I have never thought about how I look around the eyes in the past, the only reason I’ve taken an interest recently is the fact that I look a bit old around that area and the bags under my eyes are to be frank horrific. The years of abusing my body have caught up with me - smoking and drinking are not friends with your skin (in addition to your heart, lungs, liver etc).

As my manly credibility died on the day that I posted a review of Lip Scrub I am standing tall and not admitting in the slightest that I bought this. It was given to me as a sample in a perfume shop in Mallorca in August. A nice 3ml tester that has finally seen the light of day.

If you want to buy some of this you can from here. A 20ml bottle costs an eye watering (pun intended) £29.

This is what the marketing blurb on the website says about the product:

‘Clarins’ quick ‘lift” for tired eyes — with refreshing Rose Petals, Lily and White Tea extracts—releases toxins to minimise dark circles, tighten eye contours, decongest and de-puff. Hydrates and protects the delicate skin around eyes, while chasing-away fine lines. Keep it in your emergency kit.’

And just to remind you, they mention that this was Winner of Best Eye Mask - Harper's Bazaar Hot 100 2011.

So, after three days of rubbish sleep I looked a bit rough around the eyes. The before and after shots are below so you can check out the results yourself. 

The rough look before application

30 minutes after applying

Personally, I noticed a difference within about ten minutes of dabbing a minute amount under each eye. First of all the colour took on a much more natural skin tone rather than looking like a bruise. Within half an hour the bags had visibly shrunk and within an hour they had gone completely. Nothing short of a hallelujah moment. 

This my readers is the fountain of youth, within minutes of applying this under my eyes my black bags had gone, the eye area returned to a natural colour and my eyes looked radiant. It’s a miracle - a miracle I tell you. After using for a few days I’ve used very little of the actual product, so a little goes a long way, which is a good thing when it sells at the same price as liquid gold!  

I am so pleased with the results - no longer do I rival Death in the eye department, in fact, in the right light, with the wind blowing in the right direction and the stars aligned I think it has knocked years off me, a mini-face lift so to speak.

FORGET THE REST, TRY THE BEST

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Acqua Di Parma Eau De Cologne

Another trip to Manchester, another funeral but it wasn't all doom and gloom, a lovely evening out with my Aunt really put me in the Italian mood (Puccini's in Swinton opposite the Town Hall is amazing). A brief shopping trip on the Sunday meant shopping in Harvey Nicols and in turn, me making a beeline for the aftershave section.

Acqua Di Parma was an aftershave I had wanted to try since February of last year after someone on Reddit mentioned in passing that it was their favourite and gave me a run down on the notes.

Fast forward ten months and as soon as I saw a bottle I knew I had to give it a whirl. The fact that I spent ten minutes talking notes with the gentleman with the tester says a lot about my obsession with all things fragrant. Needless to say, one whiff and I was hooked. £53 was parted with for a 50ml bottle.

Marketed as a timeless, refined Eau De Cologne, which is still created in the same traditional method and with the same original composition since it's creation in 1916. The smooth notes of Silician citrus reveal a rich heart of blooming rose and refreshing lavender, the precious woods offer warm base notes to this harmony of more than ten natural ingredients.

A delicate, fresh and elegant Eau de Cologne that embodies the Acqua De Parma brand.

Now my personal favourites in the cologne and aftershave stakes tend to err on the citrus side, with a few exceptions where they have rich and light top notes that dry down to a warm and earthy aroma. Given the patter coming from the salesman I thought to myself that this would be a perfect fit for me and my skin type.

First impressions in Harvey Nicols were that this baby comprised simply all of the citrus zest top notes on earth and they were very strong, really strong, yes it may initially come across as it leaves the bottle that you have just paid £53 for a bottle of orange rinds blended with lemon zest but almost instantaneously it hits the heart notes and within minutes the entire blend has dried down

As it dries down for around thirty minutes you can pull out incredibly subtle hints of the citrus and lavender and it does get a little warmer on the nose as the dry down woody notes come through, but then nothing, nothing I tells ya.

An old favourite of Cary Grant and Ava Gardner (the salesman had every fact in his arsenal) this is indeed a timeless classic with a wonderful fragrance. Yes, I’m in love with the actual fragrance but this is wear it all goes a little bit pear shaped - the staying power. It has none to be blunt and that is a massive disappointment. Within thirty minutes of applying I asked for a second opinion while out and about to be greeted with “are you wearing any aftershave?”. Not good, not good at all.

Still the same some 98 years on the mantra 'if it ain't broke, don't fix it' really doesn’t work here. It needs tweaking so that it simply lasts longer on the skin and is more noticeable ten minutes after applying it. At £53 for a 50ml bottle I expect it to still be wafting around hours after application.

Putting all of my cards on the table I love the fragrance for the first half an hour but then boom, a reapplication is needed and taking the price into comparison this just doesn’t represent good value for money. Six to seven sprays and still no signs of the cologne after an hour. This is not good.

If you can afford to work through a bottle quickly then you probably won’t mind this but for me I expect some form of quality to go with the amazing fragrance and this is sadly lacking and therefore it is the first aftershave where I love the smell but can’t in all honesty recommend it. 

NOT RECOMMENDED

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BYOC Camden - A 1920s speakeasy without the hangovers...

Back in October my trusty drinking sidekick and I ventured out one wet Thursday evening to try a new cocktail bar. I have been meaning to write this up for some time, but as she has a better knowledge of dive bars and drinking establishments on the sound side (that will be you America) of the Atlantic she beat me to the punch and has written up her thoughts already.

For this guest post, I say thank you Bailey, I'm just staggered she could remember enough of the night! What is weird is that she has also written with the voices in her head in brackets - I worry for her sanity at times....

Bailey's thoughts on BYOC Camden

Calling itself 'an escape from the modern world' BYOC (Bring Your Own Cocktail) Camden is a basement cocktail bar in Camden High Street with a 1920s theme. What makes it different from other cocktail bars is its concept that you book a two hour slot, pay £25 and bring along a bottle of your favourite spirit and the expert bartenders create unlimited cocktails with said bottle of spirits.

So should you bother booking ahead and going to the trouble of taking a bottle of spirits out with you? On the evidence of our visit in October, not long after their opening, the answer is a definite yes. Clearly styled on a Prohibition era USA illegal drinking den, it pretty much nails that seedy but sexy vibe without venturing into theme park territory.

Following a trend originating in New York for speakeasy style bars that are deliberately hard to find, we failed at first, ringing the doorbell of a clearly annoyed flat resident nearby but eventually locating the unmarked entrance door.  So not exactly on the scale of a phone box in a fast food joint (hello PDT, New York, still attracting Japanese tourists 10 years after it was fashionable), but still adding to the exclusive feel.

Money and training has obviously gone on getting together a crew of bartenders who are knowledgeable but without the pretension that can sometimes come with the job at certain fashionable bars where the wealthy hang out.  The staff are friendly and take the time to ask about your preferences so that they can craft the drinks to suit individual tastes.  The only problem comes that after a couple of the delicious but strong drinks it can be a challenge to stay on your stool, let alone remember the name of your cocktail and its ingredients.

A vast array of fresh herbs, syrups, mixers and unusual ingredients are visible and on offer, we were most impressed by a home made pepper marmalade stuff that came in a jar which the barman was happy to give us a taste of. These are drinks that don't compare with ones that you could ever make at home, although you can pick up tips and advice. What they did promise at the start of the night was no hangovers and hey presto, the morning after, and even after a considerable amount we both felt fit as fiddle - Stephen did however look better!

Dive bars are great but usually the darkness is to hide the dirty toilets and sell by date on the crisps; at BYOC the low-level lighting makes the customers look more attractive and the cocktails less lethal.  And that can only be a great thing. The bars themselves are poker and blackjack tables, adding to the feeling that you're in Vegas not Camden.

So not the place to drop in for a quick drink on a whim, but if you want great cocktails and a great time this place can't be beaten.  If you can find it that is!   

9-11, Basement Camden High Street North London

Website: www.byoc.co.uk/camden

Beautykinguk's recommended spirits to take to BYoC Camden are:

• Hendricks Gin
• Grey Goose Vodka
• Johnny Walker Black Label

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

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