The Inspiration Post #9

I spent most of September this year travelling around 3 cities in America (more of which will be documented in the next few weeks!), and towards the end of the month I have been obsessed with London Fashion Week.  London has to be my favourite, I love to see what the amazingly talented designers and design houses can produce while maintaining a British fashion edge.  

Everything from the looks, to the show production and the front rows have been inspiring me recently, wouldn't it be great to go to a show one day?! The dream.  

Classically British brand Burberry presented a stunning show (with a Snapchat story to show it off!), Holly Fulton and Mary Katrantzou ensured shine and shimmer were included in their show with silver panels and hand beaded dresses respectively.  

Anya Hindmarch made tribute to our British high street which is very appropriate considering that is where her designs could filter to, and Christopher Kane brightened up the city with his colourful collection of inspiration from artists across the UK.  

Finally, I was also inspired by the craziness and fun injected into London fashion week from Sophia Webster - the most amazing shoes and presentation! A mermaid laundrette - what's not to love?!

You'll find my inspiration in the images below, it's quite a mixture..!

Burberry / Classic jacket with gold detailing (Vogue.co.uk)

Holly Fulton / Classic shape with the addition of sparkle and shine (Vogue.co.uk)

Anya Hindmarch / An ode to John Lewis (Vogue.co.uk)

Mary Katrantzou / Detail, detail, detail! (Indigital)

Christopher Kane / Plastic fantastic! (Vogue.co.uk)

Sophia Webster / Mermaid laundrette & bright coloured shoes (Vogue.co.uk)

Topshop Unique / Front Row (Topshop Blog)

Alison Moyet & Orchestra at Burberry SS16 (Telegraph.co.uk)

Sophia Webster / Mermaids at show (Vogue.co.uk)

What were your favourite shows from LFW?

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Lip Loves: MAC Creme Cup

Lipstick is a great way to enhance or dress up your make up look, it's the perfect make up product to transform you from day to night super quickly.
As every other beauty blogger will know, MAC has one of the greatest ranges of lipsticks to choose from - various textures and so many gorgeous shades to choose from.

My go-to lipstick for any occasion - and new obsession - has to be MAC Creme Cup.  It's such a gorgeous pastel pink shade with pink blue tones that go great with my skin tone (NW15-20).  My sister had bought this and raved about it, as soon as I tried it I was hooked!  It's a subtle and very buildable lipstick with a great texture.  I love the MAC Cremesheen lipsticks as they are very moisturising and creamy, but because they are so creamy they need topped up every few hours.

This is a MAC shade I will definitely repurchase when this one is used up (which could be pretty soon!).  

Have you tried MAC's Creme Cup?  

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My Favourite Granola Recipe

Breakfast is my favourite meal of the day, there are so many options to set you up for the day ahead.
One recipe I came across in the Honestly Healthy cookbook is Nutty Granola.
Porridge is a firm favourite of mine but I was looking for another healthy alternative to mix things up a bit and I'm obsessed with this granola recipe!  It's full of oats, nuts and seeds so it's not filled with any nasty sugars that are bad for you first thing in the morning.

This recipe tends to last me all week or longer, I love to have it as breakfast with greek yogurt, sprinkled on top of my porridge or as a snack throughout the day to keep me going - so it will make about 4 servings.

To make this Nutty Granola you'll need the following ingredients:

• 50g dates (remember to remove the stones!)
• 100g jumbo rolled oats
• 85g mixed raw cashews and pecans
• 15g pumpkin seeds
• 2 tbsp honey (I currently use agave nectar)
• 3 tbsp olive oil

Preheat your oven to 160ºC/325ºF/gas mark 3.
Prepare the measurements of your ingredients above so you're good to go.

Simmer the dates in 1cm of water (no more or the mixture will become too wet) until they are soft, I then turn off the heat and blend with a hand mixer until the mixture becomes a smooth consistency.

Add your remaining ingredients to the dates and mix well, gradually add in half of each ingredient and mix, then add the other half.  This will make it easier to combine the ingredients without too much mess!

Spread out your granola mixture onto a baking tray and bake for 15 minutes in the oven.  Once the 15 minutes are up, shake the tray slightly so the mixture spreads out a little, then reduce your temperature to 100ºC/225ºF/gas mark 1/4 and bake for another 30 minutes or until your mixture becomes golden and crisp.

Leave the granola to cool and then store in a container - as simple as that!

Do you have a healthy alternative to granola which you love?  The great thing about this recipe is you can add different nuts or seeds if you have other preferences.

Let me know how you get on with the recipe!

♥︎

Marc Jacobs Daisy Dream Forever

Recently I was lucky enough to receive the lovely Marc Jacobs Daisy Dream Forever as a gift, and I was so excited to try out Marc's newest scent.  It's similar to Daisy Dream - from the scent to the bottle and packaging.
The bottle is in the similar Daisy Dream shape however has silver and blue daisies rather than gold and white across the bottle.

Marc Jacobs Daisy Dream Forever is a gorgeous fresh scent and an extension or, a 'deeper interpretation', of the already well loved Marc Jacobs Daisy Dream scent.  It has similar key notes of blackberry, grapefruit and pear; heart notes of jasmine, lychee and blue wisteria and base notes of white woods, musks and coconut water.

This fragrance is a deeper scent to the original, it's still fresh and invigorating due to the slightly stronger, fruiter scents pulling through, yet leaves a lingering of the base notes a few minutes after you've sprayed the fragrance; because of this you wouldn't need to use much for it to give off a strong, lasting finish.

I love to wear this as a day and evening scent, fresh for during the day yet deep enough to pull off for evening occasions.

Have you got Daisy Dream Forever?  Let me know what you think of the scent.

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