Patent Pending @ The Academy 3 | Manchester

On Thursday, 20/04/2017, my boyfriend and I went to see Patent Pending at the Academy 3 in Manchester. I realise the majority of you will probably have no idea who this band are so I'll give some background. They are an American rock (I'd consider them more pop punk) band formed in Mount Sinai, New York in 2001.My boyfriend introduced them to me and we've been to see them each year ever since. Up to now I think I've seen them 5 times which is quite a lot! They're sort of "our band".

The Academy venues are part of the University of Manchester's student union, there are four in total and as of now I have been in three of them (I am yet to venture into the academy 2!) Normally Patent Pending are in the Club Academy which is in the basement but this time we were in the Academy 3 which was a little strange at first. I personally prefer the Club Academy as it has different zones whereas the Academy 3 is literally one big room. Also in this venue the merch was outside which was a little weird, I picked up a t-shirt like I always do, I'm a bit of a tour tee hoarder. We also picked up their new album 'Other People's Greatest Hits' which doesn't officially come out until next month! When we got inside Joe (vocalist) was stood near at the door signing tickets and taking selfies with fans which was really lovely, I haven't come across any other artists which do this!

First support was a band called Sweet Little Machine who are from Sheffield. I really quite enjoyed them! It's always nice when support acts interact with the crowd and aren't awkward. They dedicated one of their songs to someone in the crowd's boss which was quite funny. They were also giving away their newest ep for free at the merch stand and selling possibly the cheapest t-shirts I've seen at £5! The second support were Eternal Boy, previously The Spacepimps, an American Pop Punk band from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. These guys were absolutely hilarious. They made a lot of inappropriate jokes which I wont repeat but trust me, they're funny. Most of their songs were inspired by the lead's ex-girlfriends, one of which they dedicated to a girl named Katie in the audience.

As always, the atmosphere at this Patent Pending gig was amazing, you really do feel like you're part of a little family when you're there. Their tours always have a 'theme' and this years theme was stranger things which I think is my favourite to date, they came on strange to the stranger things theme song which was was pretty cool. They gave their usual inspirational speech in the middle of the set which always manages to make me tear up a little bit! They also performed their cover of Spice Up Your Life for the first time on this tour which is great live! The infamous annual Crowd Swimming tournament was won again by Joe, next year he promised to convince Anthony to compete so I'm looking forward to that!

Due to popular demand they performed a medley of three old songs (Los Angeles / The Way You Make Me Shake / Cut Copy Paste) which was lovely. Followed by one of my personal favourite songs which my boyfriend and I sang along to quite badly, I was a little tipsy by this point! I think that this was possibly my favourite tour I've been too, I mean I enjoy them all but there was something special about this one for me.

Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoyed this post! This band means an awful lot to me so I really enjoyed writing this, if you're remotely interested in pop punk music I would recommend you give them a listen, their gigs are by far the most fun! You can really tell that they enjoy performing and it's really nice to be part of it all!

-Chloe

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Mask of Magnaminty | LUSH Review

Some of my favourite things to talk about and spend money on are skincare products. If you've read a few of my other posts you will know that I have suffered with acne prone skin for a few years now, I am constantly on the hunt for new products that might be able to help with my troublesome skin.

Don't mask those spots - Mask of Magnaminty them!

I picked up the Mask of Magnaminty from LUSH following a recommendation from a good friend of mine. I have the 125g pot which is available for £6.50, they also have a 315g and a 600g pot. This particular mask is also available in a self-preserving formula as well as the original formula for the same price. I personally prefer the self preserving masks, simply because when I'm at uni I don't want to fill the communal fridge with facemasks, I can just keep them in my room. Also I believe that the self-preserving masks have a longer life, this one in particular can be stored for 4 months which is perfect for me as I only really have a pamper session once a month. The original formula dries more thoroughly when applied, while the self preserved version has a higher honey content so is thicker and remains wet. Although this is not too much of an issue it is quite wet when on the skin, personally I prefer masks to be a little drier than this one.

A minty, multi-purpose mask with a mixture of gentle yet effective ingredients, including honey and kaolin, to help you maintain your magnificent skin.  You can also use this mask on both face and body!

Easily smoothed over the skin, this mask is made with peppermint oil to stimulate, marigold oil and chlorophyllin to treat the skin; evening primrose seeds and aduki beans to gently exfoliate as you wash it away. The mask is green in colour, it also contains particles that exfoliate the skin when you rinse the mask off.

The directions are relatively simple. Apply a generous layer over the face, avoiding the eyes. Leave on for five to ten minutes, then gently scrub off with warm water. I have used this mask a few times over the past couple of months. I tested it out again with my boyfriend earlier this week to get his opinion on it. Now... I can't confirm this myself but according to him the product also has a minty taste. I wouldn't advise anyone else to go around eating face masks but I assume they are safe to eat as they are made from all natural ingredients.

In his words; "it's like having a packet of Wrigley's Extra strapped to your face." Personally, I think that's a bit of an exaggeration but it is quite a strong scent. If you get the product to close to your eyes it can make them water due to the strong peppermint scent

This peppermint mask does everything it can to fight eruptions and outbreaks and return your skin to tip top condition. Tingles on problem areas which is encouraging as it shows that the product is actually working. Does feel a little bit itchy towards the end of the ten minutes. My skin genuinely did look a bit brighter after I used it and did feel smoother. It is rare that I am able to use any product containing peppermint as I find that they can irritate my sensitive skin but so far I have had no trouble with this one. Although there are some immediate effects I can't really comment on the long-term effects of using the mask as I change my skincare routine too often to put any changes down to one product alone. That being said it is one of my favourite face masks that LUSH do. I am quite keen to try the Cosmetic Warrior mask over summer when I have access to a bigger fridge!

Thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed this post.

-Chloe

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My Blogging Goals For 2017

I would like to begin this post by apologising for my inactivity over the last week and a half. If you're following me on Twitter you may have seen that my laptop decided to break. Timing wasn't ideal as I have been in and out of the library trying to finish assignments but thanks to my uncle my laptop is back and fully functional... hooray!

I had a lot of time to think about my blog and where I want to go with it. This has inspired me to write this weeks blog post. I know most people write these kind of posts at the beginning of the year but better late than never!

1. More lifestyle posts.
Don't get me wrong, I really enjoy writing about skincare and makeup bits that I've been enjoying but I feel that I've lost touch with what I originally set out for this blog to be. I wanted to write this blog like a journal and I think I have been to nervous to do that up to now. I hope to write more personal posts with the aim of this blog becoming more based around lifestyle. I would like to start writing 'life update' style posts at least once a month and writing more 'review' style posts of places I visit and things that I do.

2. Blog re-design.
I have a bit of a complex with my current blog theme. I can't make much progress on this goal until my assignments are all handed in but by the end of the summer (at least) I hope to have completely re-designed my blog. I'm planning to do some research into which platform is best suited to me, I started this blog with absolutely no knowledge of platforms and I think it will be beneficial to have a look at some of my options. Following this I hope to find a new theme that I am happy with and then finally get to a point where I'm content with how my blog looks.

These next two goals aren't directly related to the blog itself but more related to me.

3. Be more active on Twitter.
Although I do try to tweet at least once a day I still feel that I am slacking a little bit. I hope to encourage myself to participate in at least one of the 'Twitter chats' per week, I always seem to miss the beginning of them! I'm going to make it my mission to know when one is about to begin and be prepared to participate. I also want to be more interactive with other bloggers rather than just reading through.

4. Be more consistent on Instagram.
I just can't seem to get the knack of Instagram! I just never feel like I have anything worth posting. I'm hoping to force myself to post at least once a week by the end of the summer, even if it is just a nice quote that I've found on Pinterest. I also want to start being more interactive on Instagram. I want to put in more time to comment on other bloggers posts as I feel that just leaving a like is a little lacklustre.

Thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed this post and I would just like to apologise again for not posting last week, I really missed writing!

-Chloe

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