Rimmel - Sky High

                        

Cherries in the snow!!

                                       

London Fashion Weekend

Over the weekend myself and some of my lovely friends headed down to London Fashion Weekend at Somerset House in London for an afternoon of fun, fashion and of course shopping!! This was my fourth London Fashion Weekend event and the second time I've been to the catwalk show which I have to say is one of my favourite parts. This time unlike before I was quite restrained and didn't spend a lot of money all. I of course picked up a copy of Elle magazine and some Label M shampoo and conditioner which I was really keen to get my hands on and I'll be doing a review on that soon.

One of my other highlights of Fashion Weekend was discovering a simple but beautiful hair up of which just requires an Alice band which you tuck your hair into and within in a few minutes you have beautiful results. I'm definitely going to be experimenting with this look.

I really enjoyed the Trend catwalk show as it was really fun to see the highlights of the up and coming trends, such as Pink, Back to Nature which featured a lot of khaki and feathers and Victoriana which was my favourite of the trends.

I did enjoy Fashion Weekend but because it was such a popular event it was difficult to have a proper look at all the stalls and there was just not enough space to manoeuvre as the rooms in Somerset House are quite small, but it was still a fun day.

Mary Katrantzou - Fashion in Conversation

I ❤ stationary

There is one thing I have always had a love for since as long as I can remember and that is stationary! I loved the excitement as a kid of a new pencil case, filled with new colouring pencils, felt pens and bright gel pens and also the joy of writing on the fresh first page of a new notebook. I still love all those things now and despite having amazing gadgets such as my iPhone and MacBook Pro, I am never without a notebook and pen in which to jot things down in especially lately ideas for my blog.....I'm definitely a list maker.

Paperchase and Muji are my favourite go-to stores for stationary. I absolutely love the array of colourful pens and minimalist notebooks in Muji and the host of colourful and funky notebooks in Paperchase. In fact I can spend ages browsing around both stores.

The whole going back to school feeling in September brings back memories of the excitement of new stationary and I thought I would show some of my favourite stationary items at the moment.

What's on my desk

My new blogging notebook from Paperchase

The coloured pens, plain lined notebook and colourful notebook are from Muji. The bird design writing paper ad rose notebooks are from Paperchase. The cute sticky notes are from Selfridges' stationary section.

Extra bits in photos are my I ❤ NYC mug from NYC. The Zebra pen and my Damien Hurst paperweight where gifts.

Anyone else share my love of stationary?

An evening with James McAvoy

Last night I went with my friend Ade to the 'Meet The Filmmakers - James McAvoy and Jon S Baird' event at the Apple Store on Regent Street in London and it was such a fun and interesting evening!

Edith Bowman from Radio 1 spoke to both James McAvoy and Jon S Baird about their new film 'Filth' which is based on the book by Irvin Welsh. It was really interesting to hear about the making of the film, the process of writing a script from the book and moving it to the big screen.

'Filth" is set in Edinburgh in Scotland and James McAvoy plays Bruce; a corrupt policeman with a drug addiction who is intent on climbing the ranks. It was really insightful to hear how James approached the role and how he has tried to make the audience empathise with the character without excusing or condoning his actions. Prior to attending the event last night I wasn't sure that this would be my kind of film as I don't enjoy violence in films and I know there are a number of violent and difficult scenes in the film. However after getting an insight into the film and characters I am quite intrigued to watch it and see how the characters and narrative have been explored.

I got to meet James McAvoy very briefly at the end of the interview and he even signed my blogging notebook so I was very happy indeed!!

I didn't realise until very recently that such free events were hosted at Apple Stores but now I've signed up to a few more and I'm really looking forward to them.

'Filth' is out nationwide on 4 October.

Origins GinZing.....This is love!

Origins GinZing face cream available in Boots for £23

While I've been away....

So I know I have been a bit absent from the blogging world of late which sadly in part was due to having not been very well for a while and some life changes which took up a lot of my time and energy but in and amongst all that there were also a fair few fun times too.....

Delicious homemade cherry scones with jam and clotted cream in Arran | Me meeting the lovely Rachel Khoo at Big Feastival | Breathtaking Isle of Cumbrae | Pony trekking with friends on Arran | Home grown strawberries | Beautiful sunflowers | My view of London on the way home | My birthday cake

My crane family from my colleague | Me with a new pepper plant addition to the garden | The beautiful gardens of Brodick Castle on Arran | Fresh cut flowers from my garden | New Zara purchases | Amazing presents for my birthday | Birthday Raspberry Pavlova....yum!! | Jay Z and Justin Timberlake at Wireless

Budget beauty tip.....head to Liberty!

Liberty beauty hall

I know some of you will be thinking the luxurious beauty hall at the Liberty store is an interesting place to head to for budget beauty but allow me to explain. I love the Liberty beauty hall and I have spent many a happy moment and pound there. I love the way the hall is arranged and the staff are friendly & helpful. I find it a really good location for buying foundation as there are plenty of large windows so you can check how the foundation looks in natural light. 

Hmm...I'm getting a little distracted so back to the budget beauty tip; on one of my trips to the beauty hall I was told about the Liberty loyalty card. Like many store loyalty cards it's free to sign up to and you receive points for each pound you spend in store but I have to say it's much more than that as there are also has some amazing benefits.

If you use the card in the beauty hall you receive beauty points for every pound you spend. Once you have 150 points you'll be eligible for a £5 voucher & twice a year you'll be sent the vouchers you've earned which you can use online or in store. My favourite perk is the rush to counter offers. Each month you'll receive a Liberty beauty email with a rush to counter offer which offers a certain beauty product for free, all you have to do is present the email at the relevant beauty counter while stocks last. I've managed to bag myself a full size Bumble and Bumble Surf Spray and the Hourglass Script eyeliner for free through the rush to counter offer. You'll also receive Liberty's seasonal beauty magazine & get invites to special loyalty card holder shopping events which often provide cardholders with discounts not to mention free drinks and nibbles. In the summer I was sent a £10 voucher to spend in store just for being a loyalty card holder and I happily used the voucher to purchase my Hourglass Ambient Lighting powder.

Liberty beauty are currently running a special offer for loyalty card holders where you get the most amazing goodie bag if you spend £150 in store (the goodie bag has sold out online) on beauty, so if you have beauty shopping to do why not check out the Liberty beauty hall.

*This is not a sponsored post- just purely based on my own experiences

DSTRKT London

Last night I was out celebrating one of my lovely friend's birthday at DSTRKT in Piccadilly in London and we had one of the most amazing food and dining experiences!!

Wild Trout and Red Quinoa