Laura Pearson-Smith: Supporting local

I’VE got to admit that I’ve never been an active champion of home-grown talent, but I’ve been reminded on so many occasions over the past couple of weeks about just how important it is to support local Scottish businesses and designers.

Glasgow Merchant City Festival. Picture: Naomi Baxter

From fashion and beauty to lifestyle, we have so many companies here that are flying the flag for Scotland in their respective fields.

Stylish happenings

Tomorrow is the final weekend of this year’s Merchant City Festival in Glasgow and there are lots of events still happening. The theme is Fashion Cultures, and it has been a real celebration of creative talent. I attended the outdoor Alan Edwards Hairdressing Fashion Show, which showcased fashion designs from the graduate students at West College Scotland as well as makeup from The Academy of Make-up Scotland.

Wagamama Glasgow Fort. Picture: Adam Jacobs & Laura Pearson-Smith

If the clothing on show was anything to go by, Scottish fashion design has a bright future.

Over at Glasgow Fort shopping complex, I got the chance to have my first good look at its expansion and try out their new branch of Japanese restaurant Wagamama. It’s a great addition to the place and the food is delicious. I really recommend their Teriyaki Lamb Soba Noodles (£14.95) with a side of Chilli Squid (£5.80).

Princes Square in Glasgow’s city centre was lucky enough to have had a week-long pop-up shop from online luxury retail destination Wear Eponymous. This Scottish company sells and promotes small, independent and ethical British fashion and lifestyle brands, and there are a lot of amazing Scottish designers on their roster - I adore the Harris Tweed fabric dresses from Elizabeth Martin and the beautiful textile prints from interiors designer Amy McGregor.

What to buy on a shopping spree

Wear Eponymous pop-up. Picture: Elaine Burns

New Scottish fashion designer on the block, Aymee Charlton, has just launched her website, complete with online store. Her simplistic designs all utilise natural organic fabrics. Aymee’s Herringbone Backpack (£35) would make the perfect Summer holiday bag for all those beach and tourist essentials.

If you are a scented candle fan and you’ve never tried one from Glasgow company Shearer Candles, you are seriously missing out. Even George Michael is a fan - he apparently adores their Persian Lime collection. You can pick them up in the likes of Tesco and Waitrose, and they are excellent value for products that contain such high-quality and carefully sourced ingredients.

Arran Aromatics is a beauty company that I have been guilty of overlooking. However, I’ve remedied that now and have been loving their Green Tea Eye Cooler Gel (£3.50). Made on the Isle of Arran, this green tea and witch hazel gel is a very effective cooling and de-puffing treat for your eyes. It has made a great addition to my regular skincare routine whenever my eyes are hot or tired.

Instagram of the week (@LPearsonSmith)

What to buy. Picture: Laura Pearson-Smith

I always like my eyebrows to be groomed, so this week I headed to PURE Spa & Beauty to try out their new Eyebrow Threading service (£19). They have multiple branches across Glasgow, Edinburgh and Aberdeen, and throughout August, they are offering 25 per cent off of threading appointments since it’s a new offering from them. It’s the perfect excuse to visit their new spa at Edinburgh’s Ocean Terminal too.

• Laura Pearson-Smith is a fashion, beauty and lifestyle blogger at A Life With Frills. You can tweet her at @LPearsonSmith.