Bringing The Joy Out In January | McArthur Glen York Designer Outlet

Hey everyone!

Welcome to a brand new blog post! I went to York Designer Outlet last week and I thought that I would talk to you all about it.

York Designer Outlet is owned by McArthur Glen. McArthur Glen is known for their designer outlet shopping centres where you can snag an amazing product for a discount of the price that you would find on the high street. They have quite a few stores including York, Nottingham and many more. The stores in the York Outlet include Nike Factory Store, Levi Jeans, M&S Outlet and many more.

A square store with a black bar at the top with Vans in bold white writing with rectangular glass windows with a red rectangular poster saying Up To 50% Off in bold white font on a bright background. 

We entered the beautiful building, and slolwy strolled towards the first store on our list, which was Lindt. Lindt are a luxurious swiss Chocolate brand who are famous for items such as the Gold Bunny and the Lindt Lindor. Myself and Luke entered the store due to seeing on the window of the store, that there was a sale going on, so we thought that it would be worth a wonder in. We perused the stands and decided to purchase a Gold Reindeer a piece due to them being only 99p. We then decided that we would treat ourselves and get a Lindor Pick and Mix bag. If you haven't heard of this before, then the concept of it is, that you grab a bag and choose the amount that you want which equals to so many Lindor truffles, then fill with varied flavours of Lindor truffles to your hears content. These include Irish Cream, Strawberries and Cream, Hazelnut, Cappuccino and many more. We paid and swent on to wonder at more stores.

A black square store with a blue front with Lindt in bright gold cursive font with an array of bright gold packaged chocolate reindeers on a black rectangular shelf on a bright background. 

After Lindt, we wandered on over to Cadburys to carry on the chocolate fix. We had a look around and ended up coming out with some stuff for Luke. I did nearly get something but I wasn't really sure on what I wanted. I did like the fact that they had Cadbury printed cushions on sale.

Carrying on from the shopping front, I had to pop into the Vans store, as that it always a must when myself and Luke come to the Outlet. I had a browse, and after a while, I decided to buy a light blue Snapback, as I have slowly being digging these more and more at the moment. I'm probably far too late to the trend, but ah well.

A square store with a black bar at the top with Vans in bold white writing with rectangular glass windows with a red rectangular poster saying Up To 50% Off in bold white font on a bright background.

We then wandered on through to Levi's, Molton Brown and Gap Outlet to have a look, but we didn't find much, and honestly myself and Luke needed food. We made our way up to the lavish food court, which is filled with restaurants such as, Wagamama, Patisserie Valerie, Pizza Express, Ed's Easy Diner and much more. We decided to go for a McDonalds just due to it being quick and easy to order and eat.

Once the food was demolished, we made our way back down to the plethora of shops. The next two places on our list were Whittards and Yankee Candle. I was looking for the new Blueberry Cheesecake Hot Chocolate that's available at the moment, as I love Blueberries and I love Cheesecake, so I wanted to see what it was like in Hot Chocolate form. Luke loves Yankee Candle, but sadly the main store was closed due to refurbishment, but luckily there was a pop up Yankee store, so we had a look and sniffed a few of the candles. Sadly, none of the candles were screaming out to Luke but we had a good time sniffing and looking.

Next was Dr Martens, Penhaligon and Clarks, We popped into these three to mainly have a look. I nearly bought something from Dr Martens, but I think that with the Docs Outlet store, you have to know exactly what you want. I think the next time that I'm in, I'll make sure I know what I'm looking for. We popped into Penhaligon mainly to check it out as its a cute luxurious beauty business. I think that again, I needed more time to check it out, instead of worrying about other shops and the train home. Clarks was a visit due to them having a sale but sadly neither of us found anything that we wanted.

A black rectangular store with a black headboard saying Dr Martens in bold white font with an array of different coloured boots and shoes at the front of the store on a bright background. 

Last on our list was Sunglasses Hut. This is the main reason that Luke comes to the Outlet due to them having designer sunglasses at a discounted price. We browsed the store, and after trying on a few pairs of sunglasses, Luke decided on a nice pair of sunglasses. Whilst that was happening, I decided to try on a few, including a beautiful pair of aviators from Polo Ralph Lauren. One day, maybe.

A selfie of a white young male with medium brown hair with a beard and a silver lip ring wearing a pair of dark metal aviators with Polo Ralph Lauren in small white font wbilst wearing a khaki trenchcoat on a bright background. 

Have you ever been to any of the McArthur Glen Designer Outlets before? Let me know down below! 

Check out York Designer Outlet.

I hope that you've enjoyed this shopping based blog post and I hope to see you next time for another blog post!

Thanks for reading! 
Jamie x 

Glowing In Perfection | Men & Makeup

Hey! 

Makeup has stereotybrpically been manufactured and marketed towards women within the modern society that we live in today due to the stereotypes of women only being able to wear and use makeup that is portrayed and reinforced by the media but I believe that we're slowly becoming a society that strives for equality within the cosmetics world.

Men were only known for using makeup to hide flaws and to ensure that their skin looked perfect and matte for the camera via film and TV productions as they wanted to ensure that the audience would respect them and look up to them as an role model.

The only other time that the world saw men using makeup was in the form of teenagers due to being in a 'phase' of being alternative or men who have been/are in alternative bands. They have normally been mocked for wearing said makeup in a homophobic manner which in fact what we should be doing is acknowledging that they wear makeup and letting them get on with their lives.

I'm glad that makeup brands accept all sexes and genders into their target audiences and campaigns.

Illamasqua are a British company who believe in letting their customers be whoever they want to be no matter what which is amazing within this day and age. I also love how they sgare any of the looks that are created with their products and that they create amazing collaborations with people such as Michelle Visage to further ensure that everyone knows that it's fine to wear makeup no matter who you are.

Urban Decay used stars of RuPaul's Drag Race within a campaign about their new products where the stars put the products on and went out to perform for the night. Once they had done this, the stars then reviewed the products. Even though some might say that Drag Race getting commercial success may be negative, a postivie outcome like this is great for the modern society that we live in today.

To further that men in makeup are getting commercial success is Manny MUA (a well known YouTuber) who was in a mascara advertisement for the globa makeup brand Maybelline. This shows that anyone can work their way to the top and get what they want but also that mainstream brands are working towards ensuring that everyone has an equal chance of appearing in their advertisements.

Basically, no matter what gender, everyone should be able to wear makeup and I think that ourselves as a world are slowly embracing this more and more.

I've dabbled in makeup before and I hope to develop my interest more and get into makeup.

What's your favourite makeup product? Let me know down below! 

I hope that you've enjoyed this beauty based post and I hope that you come back next time for another blog post!

Thanks for reading! 
Jamie x 

Can You Keep A Secret When It Comes To Smelling Good | Secret Scent Box March Edition

Hi!

Welcome to another blog post! Today, I'm talking about colognes. The wonderful guys over at Secret Scent Box sent me their March box to try out so I thought that I would tell you guys all about it.

Secret Scent Box is a 30 day supply of 3 designer and brand name colognes that are delivered through your letterbox every month for just £15. SSB do a male and female box so everyone can be pleased.

Each monthly box contains things such as 3 x 3ml travel friendly fragrance sprays (9ml in total which might sound like such a scant amount but they do last you a month in total.) 3 x accompanying fragrance note cards which give you descriptions of each cologne such as base, mid and top notes. Designer and brand name fragrances therefore you learn about both ends of the cologne industry. They are also delivered in letterbox friendly packaging so if you're like me and you're not at home a lot due to being busy then you'll be fine as there is no need to be home to receive the boxes.

Now it's time to talk about the scents that I received.

Lacoste Eau de Lacoste L.12.12 Noir Eau de Toilette

A fragrance for every mood. This fragrance offers the feeling of a warm summer evening, underlining your elegant but casual appearance.

Top Notes: Watermelon
Mid Notes: French Lavender, Egyptian Basil
Base Notes: Dark Chocolate, Patchouli

This did remind me of a warm summers evening but I think it was due to the mixture of Egyptian Basil and Watermelon. The Watermelon wasn't as full on in my opinion and just added a cool sort of scent to it all. I was wondering about the Dark Chocolate and to this day I think that it just made the Patchouli a bit deeper when smelling it straight away. Something different but very Summery. I don't think I would have tried it due to the Dark Chocolate. 8/10. On offer for £25 for 50ml.

Paco Rabanne 1 Million Prive 

1 Million Prive becomes more intimate and insolently powerful. Its woody oriental trail is the reflection of serial seducers. More irresistible than ever.

Top Notes: Mandarin, Cinnamon
Mid Notes: Myrrh, Tobacco, Narguile Accord
Base Notes: Patchouli, Tonka Bean

I am already a little bit biased as I love anything by Paco Rabanne as I think they create scents that you don't really expect to be anywhere within the perfume/cologne industry. I love the mix of Patchouli and Tonka Bean as it creates a sort of sweet and spice combo that is to die for. Personally, I get mainly Tobacco when it comes to the mid but I think that the skin reacts different and so does the nose so you might get a completely different thing when you smell it. I also loved the little whiffs of Mandarin and Cinnamon, I love Cinnamon so when I could smell Cinnamon with an acidic kick on myself I was just loving it, 9.5/10. £41.95 for 50ml.

Ted Baker M

An understated fresh fragrance with a spicy blend of Black Pepper, Amber, Vetiver and Musk.

Top Notes: Tonka Bean, Musk, Vetiver
Mid Notes: Coriander, Amber
Base Notes: Fir Resin, Guaiac Wood

After the last few weeks, I have found out what Musk is made from so I'm already unsure with this one on the ethical side of things but that's just me but as I am reviewing it then I might as well as use it otherwise I can't tell you guys about it. I think with this one you instantly get the freshness from the Fir Resin. I think that the Coriander, Amber and Tonka Bean make up most of the scent for me to create that slightly sweet but fresh scent that this fragrance is evoking. I think that this fragrance would be best for between Spring and Summer as it fits both quite well via the Fir Resin and Vetiver. 9/10. £12 on offer from £19 for 30ml.

All in all I think the Secret Scent Box is an amazing concept as you get three completely different scents to try each month and it makes you try and maybe want to buy scents that you might have never done before such as the Lacoste and Ted Baker fragrances. I might have just walked past them when looking for a new fragrance but now that I know about them my scent palate has widen slightly and I'll now look at a few more fresh or different fragrances.

Have you tried any of the above scents? Do you have a favourite fragrance? Would you keep it a secret if someone asked you how you smelt so good if you were using the SSB? Let me know down below!

If you want to save 15% off your first box then enter JAMIESOWDEN15 at the checkout.

Thanks to the wonderful guys over at Secret Scent Box for sending me their March Box, I hope that you have liked this scent based post and I hope you come back on Wednesday for another blog post.

Thanks for reading! 
Jamie x

The products mentioned in this post were sent in exchange of a post. All opinions and ramblings are my own. 

Grindr, Trains & Tunnels And More | Questions About Gay Sex

Meow!

Okay so I know that this isn't my normal sort of topic to write about and I'm a bit scared about doing this but screw it! Stuff like this needs to be talked about a lot more. If you're not a big fan of the same sex on same sex stuff or you don't have a penis then go and check out Zusterchap. They're a blog that talk about periods, sex and all things nice!

(I got this from Google as I couldn't find anything that was suitable on the site that bloggers use for photos. The link for this also just came up with a search on Tumblr when I found this on Google Images so sadly I can't link this back as I don't know which account it came from.)

There is always that person who asks the awkward questions when they found out or you reveal your sexuality. I thought that I would answer a few questions that I normally get asked about sex.

1: Does It Hurt?

Okay, so the myth is that it hurts the first time and honesrly it might for some people. Might being the word. If you don't use enough lube and ask if it's comfortable for the other person/if they don't ask and things then it might hurt. If you do things in the correct and right way then theres a good chance that it won't hurt.

2: Are You A Train Or A Tunnel?

First of all, a what or a what? Don't make a train an euphemism for a penis... Trains get you places, penises don't do that in any form whatsoever. Second of all, I'm guessing you're wanting to know if I'm a top or a bottom when it comes to sex and honestly I don't think that's any of your business unless you're going to be doing the sex thing... The funny thing is that some people are versatile which means they're up for being both... Just stop asking people it, it would save a lot of people the energy of not wanting to murder you when you ask personal stuff like that.

3: Oh, you must love anal sex?!

I understand why you would think this because well the main stereotype of gay sex that it's all about the anal... This is not true. Some guys don't like anal and honestly that's fine... It's their sex life so it's their preferences that matter and guess what some straight people like anal and that's their preference too!

4: What Is Grindr?

Well its a magical app on your phone where we all talk about unicorns and hope to make cakes with rainbows and smiles and talk about things to do with gay icons... Okay, I'm joking. Grindr is an app that you can get from the App Store and Google Play (I think...), its a gay 'dating' website that uses your location to find the nearest people who use the app. It is most commonly known as the hook up app which is quite true but guess what you don't have to use it to hook up as no means no within the world but you can use it for things such as finding friends and just talking to guys when you want to talk about things that some of your friends might not understand...

5: Oh, you must find every person of the same sex attractive?

Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha. No. This is definitely not the case. I definitely have a preference and type and everyone else does. Just because we like the same sex doesn't mean that we like everyone that is the same sex of us. There will always be a percentage of people of the same sex that we don't like. We normally like them to be into men for a starter... Y'know what else pisses me off though? When the same sex know your sexuality via word of mouth or something like that and automatically think that you find them attractive... No, 'mate' I just now think that you're a massive prick for thinking that.

Sorry if I have used the wrong word and prefer a different term such as queer etc I don't mean to offend. I am just talking from my perspective and I hope that you guys don't mind that. Don't forget to comment with your opinions of this and if you think that we need to talk and write more things about sex because I definitely think that we do! I hope that you have enjoyed this little question based post and I hope to see you for another post sometime soon!

Meow!
Jamie x

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Diary Of A Meowing Lushie | Prince Charming Shower Cream Review

Meow!

Welcome to another DOAML post. Today is a review about one of the new Valentines Day products.

This is also a first for me as I am writing about a product when its actually in stores instead of writing about it three weeks after it has been discontinued for the year from stores... 

Prince Charming is a product from the Valentines Day range that has been out in previous years. This year, Lush have decided to change the formula of the product which means that it is no longer a shower gel. Prince Charming is now a Shower Cream which means that it has more nourishing ingredients within the product and has a thicker consistency compared to a shower gel. Lush have released a lot of Shower Creams within the last year therefore I would expect them to bring any shower product within the future to be either a shower cream or a jelly. 

It contains Fresh Pomegranate Juice and Grapefruit Oil. It also contains Marshmallow Root and Vanilla Pod Infusion as the other ingredients. These ingredients together create a Jaffa Cake-esque scent which sounds weird as it contains no Orange Oil in whatsoever. Yuzu and Cocoa is meant to smell of Chocolate Orange but I think that this smells of it a lot more than Yuzu and Cocoa does. I think that it shares its scent with Lovers Lamp quite a bit. 

When you use it, it takes a while for the product to come out of the bottle as the Cocoa Butter within the cream makes it quite thick. It is one of those products that you have to squeeze the hell out of to get any of it. When you lather the product up it becomes quite foamy which is what I love about Lush's shower range. I always like to massage the cream in when it has lathered up which gets the scent into the skin a little bit more. It takes a bit longer for it to work but it's the best way for the scent to work. The scent on the skin is a bit weaker compared to the scent within the bottle. It does last quite a long while on the body though after you have used it. 

The nourishing properties work more after you have used it. It nourishes your body as well as Butterball does but has a slightly better scent than Butterball. If you're looking for a new shower product that actually nourishes you instead of cleansing you then I recommend you to purchase Prince Charming.

The price of Prince Charmiing is £4.95 for 100g which is an alright price for people who want to try it but not to commit to say a 500g bottle as they're not sure if they will get through it all. The prices go up from £9.75, £16.50 and £27.95 for a 1kg bottle which you can onlu buy from the website or Oxford Street I think so if you fall in love with it then you have the option to buy a massive bottle of it. 

I would give this an 8.5 out of 10. There is nothing wrong with it per se and I love the scent and the texture but I would like to know where the Orange scent is coming from which would bump it up to a good 9 at least. The creamy texture is for certain people as well so unless you like quite thick shower products then you might not like the texture of this product.

I hope that you have enjoyed this DOAML post, Click on Prince Charming if you want to find out more or purchase this product. Have you bought anything from the Valentines Day range at Lush then let me know down below in the comments section below. I hope to see you next time for another blog post!

Meow!
Jamie x