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September Linkables

Source. 

Well, what do we have here? A Linkables? If you've been with my blog pre-2016 you'll know that I would post a round-up of my favourite links every Friday (and without blowing my own trumpet it was always a generously big round-up). I changed these posts to monthly at the start of the year due to changes in blogging schedules and life priorities and then, well, I actually just kind of forgot to do one ever again. 

Life and stuff has changed in 2016 (in a good way, but blogging is not as high up my priority list as it once had been - but again, in a good way) so some schedules just got thrown to the side. What I'm trying to say is that Linkables is not necessarily 'back' - I just found myself with some downtime (and some energy) to wind one up. Because I'm still reading just as many articles as I have before. 

So here we go...

Sex & Relationships

I've never really 'came out' as non-monogamous on the internet (until, erm, now for anyone who never picked up on my passive comments) so I've never received criticism on my personal choice. But here's a personal essay from someone who did a coming out article. It's not 100% pretty. 

Keeping to the theme of polyamory, here are 5 mistakes not to make. 

If you've recently been through a break-up 1) I send you my love and 2) here are some helpful reminders you deserve to hear (but might not hear enough).

One reason I don't think parenthood for me is that I'm introverted and relish alone time. If however you are an introverted parent, here are some tips on staying sane.  

As someone who has been officially single for almost six years I can assure you, you can move on without finding someone new. 

"Imagine if your best friend moved in with you, trashed your place, refused to get a job or pay rent, demanded you cook dinner for them, and got angry and yelled at you any time you complained. That friendship would be over faster than Paris Hilton’s acting career." - If you wouldn't tolerate this kind of behaviour in a friendship, why tolerate it in a relationship? 

Geek & Pop Culture

Looking for a new table top dice? Try some of these funky ones. 

Despite not being from Christchurch or holding the title of housewive, this was so much more relatable than most of the Real Housewives of spin-offs. 

I was avid reader of Bliss Magazine during my early teens and I still can't put into words how much it meant to my teenage self. A former feature writers pens her thoughts after it closes its doors. 


I spent a bit too long laughing at Alanis Morisette and James Corden's Ironic duet updated to reflect modern times. 

Social Media, Marketing & Blogging

Green Match has named their top Vegan Bloggers of 2016, with a mention for yours truly. 


One for marketer's trying to reach the millennial market: it's more complicated than you think. 

I've always been able to take or leave Fashion Week, but I'm well up for a Transatlantic Fashion Week on board a Cunard cruise ship.  

Misc. 

I've used AirBnB once, thankfully none of this happened to me. 


This is a dinner party theme I can get behind: the 'crappy' dinner party (aka making it about the company and not whatever fancy something you slaved away for). 

I find it difficult to tolerate whiny people, so should probably print this article out and keep it in my handbag. 

Some advice for shopping smart at vintage fairs from the ever stylish Kimberley of Wardrobe Conversations. 

A public reminder that men get breast cancer too. 


CRUELTY-FREE CLEANING: Humble Stuff




Welcome to another episode of "Morag doesn't stay on top of her reviews and has been meaning to write this for years". I'm not exaggerating when I say years. Somewhere in 2015 I attended one of the many Vegan Fetes at The Flying Duck and came across the cleaning brand Humble Stuff. This was back when I began switching up my cleaning cupboard to eco and animal friendly products, so this was a no-brainer purchase for me. 

I'm not going to lie, even now, I'm still not sold on the whole 'natural' cleaning thing (I'm not even sold on it for beauty products either tbh). Like, this is the hygiene of my house we are talking about here - not some lipstick that I'm unlikely to get E.coli off of. I want something that kills bacteria. So I'm a lot more fussy about what I purchase and I'm a bit sceptical of cleaning my work surfaces with something grown in a garden somewhere (or paying money for something I could probably make myself).

Humble Stuff has three products in its range: Soft Cleaning Paste, Toilet Freshener, and a Multi-Surface Spray. All three come in simple packaging and are all made using a small list of ingredients (and I can pronounce every single one). There products are all cruelty-free and vegan, plus the packaging is recyclable. The products are also handmade and made-to-order so you know they're fresh. 



I'll start with my favourite: the soft cleaning paste. At the fete I was told I could use this as an oven cleaner, work-surface cleaner or drop some in my hand basin and use as a soap for my dishes. It's only the third I use it for and it is excellent for cleaning dishes. I still use regular washing up liquid, but this is great to add in with when you're cleaning something stubborn like a burnt pan. I used it for my work surface once, but white marks were left when it dried up. And it's just not strong enough for hobs and ovens. 

The next product is one that I like, but it's not amazing, and that's the Multi-Surface Spray. As I reiterated above, I don't like to put the hygiene of my house in the hands of natural products so this isn't the only cleaning spray I use (once hospitals start using natural cleaning products, I'll become sold). What I use this for is a quick spritz after I've been making my dinner to get rid of the worst of it. But for my weekly deep-clean I prefer something a bit stronger. Saying that major plus is that it smells gorgeous (I have spritzed it around my living room in place of an actual air freshener a couple of times!). 



Finally, we have the product I have no intention of re-purchasing: the Toilet Freshener. This isn't a bleach or one of those gel things you put in the cistern that turns the water blue. The best way to describe this is 'a bath bomb for your loo'. Except this bath bomb doesn't have glitter or leaves a beautiful smell that swirls round your bathroom for days. Nope. It's white in colour and you pop it in your loo and watch it fizz. There's also no strong smell. So your guests aren't going to lift the lid of your toilet and promptly compliment you on your great smelling toilet. I don't like slating brands but this is honestly one of the pointless things I've reviewed. I've fused them up because I hate waste, but that's all else I have to say. 

Toilet bath bombs aside, I would seriously consider re-purchasing the spray and the paste. But only for helping my cleaning routine - none of the products clean thoroughly enough to become a holy grail product. 

Obviously, this is only my own opinion. The lovely Mica wrote a glowing review of the Multi-Use Spray and the fabulous Sarah rates the paste and spray highly. 

Have you ever tried Humble Stuff cleaning?

Brand Focus: DECIEM aka The Abnormal Beauty Company


One of the reason I love working about brands is the opportunity to discover new ones. One of these brands is DECIEM - an umbrella company for some exciting new products hailing from the stunning Canada. 

Marketing itself as 'The Abnormal Beauty Company' this is a not a company who do things by half measures. Already they have launched 10 stand alone brands but also have another three on the way. And not just content with beauty, these brands are also players in the health and fitness markets. Not bad for a company that only started in 2013. 

As quite a lot of the blogosphere will already know, the lovely PR team from DECIEM UK were in Glasgow recently meeting up with bloggers to give them chance to hand try the products before deciding what products in particular they would like to review. 

I've never actually had a brand sit down with me before and run over everything, and this was the perfect opportunity for me to find out more. Their big flagship brand is Hylamide, and it's no surprise that four products from this range were carted out to Glasgow. An extensive skin-care range that splits its products into three categories: Core, Booster and Finisher. The core range focuses on everyday skincare and covers anti-ageing as well as normal skin categories. The Booster is a range of serums designed for when you skin needs an extra, well, boost. Then finally there is the finisher range which includes primers and their Photography Foundation.



One of their other flagship brands is Hand Chemistry. As the name implies this is the hand cream section of their company - but they also produce body creams. More excitingly this brand is also award-winning and available on the UK high street. 

And we can't talk about beauty without mentioning hair. Hair is Fabric is their dedicated hair care range, who's tagline asks the important question: you wouldn't put couture clothing in the washer, so why is your hair any less important?

Their range has a whopping 15 products (this is probably the largest collection) covering all hair concerns. Need something to brighten up blonde locks? Yup. Black, red, silver or brunette hair? Got a top up for that too. Looking for some anti-ageing hair care? Sorted. Need an intensive detox? Yep, yep, yep.

Finally, there was a nutritional product from their Fountain range. There are 11 liquid supplements to choose from, each with their own unique purpose. Deciem call them molecules, and they range from supplements designed to improve your hair, through to supplements designed to give you more energy.

The products I've been trying 

After our first meeting, Laura kindly agreed to send me three of their products to try: Hand Chemistry Anti-Ageing Hand Cream, Hylamide HA Blur and Hylamide Low-Molecular HA. After finding out so much about the brand I was very excited to try the products for mysel.

I'm going to kick off with my favourite product: the Hylamide Low-Molecular HA. Weirdly, this was the product I was most unsure of when I opened it. It's a skincare product that comes with a 'dropper' and is designed to hydrate the skincare. Packaging choices aside, what I love about this product was its ability to add moisture to my skin without overdoing it. Other owners of oily/combination skin will know how fickle face creams can be and the struggle of buying one that is just right. Thankfully this isn't a cream (its almost an oil, but not quite either - I can't explain it) and it hits just the correct balance. I've been using this daily and will consider a re-purchase.

Also in the Hylamide range is the HA Blur, a primer with moisturising properties. As the previous paragraph suggests it's not moisture I look for in a primer. Therefore this primer was probably not the correct choice - and I'm probably not the best person to review it. On one plus note however I can report that it was a velvety soft formula. There is a matte primer aimed at oily skin which I will definitely consider trying at a later date.

Finally, I was lucky enough to try a product from Hand Chemistry. this is an award-winning product that can be found in Boots. I'll be honest, I find hand creams difficult to review as I've never been disappointed by a hand cream to date (how difficult is it to get hand cream right?). I also have naturally soft skin on my body so this may also be a factor.

Vegan Products

Obviously I'm not going to meet up with a brand rep without asking about animal testing and veganism. I've been assured that Deciem is cruelty-free and only one of their products is non-vegan (it's the FOUNTAIN's Phyto-Collagen Molecule). Everything else is bunny friendly!

What I might try next

I have my eye on a few more of the products in the range, which might just make it into my shopping basket in the near future. As mentioned I'm keen on trying the Finisher Matte 12, but I'm also looking at the Booster Pore Control, several products from the Hair is Fabric range, and the Photography Foundation.

Have you tried anything from the DECIEM range? 


The best vegan pizza: NovaPizza, Edinburgh



You know how I've been saying for the past few months that I'm ridiculously behind on restaurant reviews? If you thought I was exaggerating, this is the post where you discover I wasn't. Because I'm finally sitting down to review an Edinburgh restaurant I visited...in February. 

And you know what makes this length of time ridiculous? That night I demolished what was the best vegan pizza I have possibly ever tasted. If you haven't yet been to Novapizza Vegetarian Kitchen then you're not living life properly. 

Located on Howe Street (a little bit away from the centre, but still within walking distance) this small Italian is just the place if you're wanting a quiet catch-up with a friend. 100% vegetarian the menu is actually very expansive, given how niche - and tiny - the restaurant is. 

If you look on their website the menu isn't that impressive, but the one you're handed inside is (and I'm not just out-of-date, I have checked with an Edinburgh based friend who has been by recently and assures me they just need to update their website). Their Deliveroo page is actually the best place to familiarise yourself with their menu. 

I honestly cannot remember what pizza I ordered that night. But I can assure you I was left stunned and wanting more. And the vegan cheese that was on my pizza? No idea what the brand was, but if you fed that to a non-vegan - they would never guess. *cackles*

We all know I'm a savoury gal and there's not much that can take me away from pizza. However, if you're not all that much of a pizza person - Nova Pizza has plenty more on offer. They have a 'cheesecake of the day', pasta dishes and a range of starters including bruschetta, focaccia and minestrone.

They only slightly negative comment I have is that it is quite small so I'd recommend booking a table. 

So seriously, get down. If you live in Edinburgh you have no excuse. And if you live elsewhere? Honestly, you don't have much excuse either. 

6 of my memorable childhood dreams


While I was visiting my parents in Aberdeenshire, it gave me a good opportunity to hunt though the relics of my childhood room. I've already blogged about rediscovering my Amy Studt album, but another gem I found was my Dictionary of Dreams book. I can remember having some pretty out there dreams as a teenager and it began to fascinate my younger self.

However, I don't actually dream that much as I an adult, which makes looking back on some of these dreams peculiar. I'm unsure if kids and teenagers just have more active brains as they sleep? But one potential theory I have is that of food. I noted that I would dream more if I ate before bed (and, my dream obsessed teenage self would purposefully eat late so I would dream), but my diet was quite different back then. I went vegetarian when I was 20 and vegan at 23 and I'm not sure if maybe this could have had an effect on the activity of my sleeping brain.

I don't have a solid answer to that question - or what the meanings of my dreams were. But the recent #DreamsExplained campaign launched by Ajustamatic and dream expert Ian Wallace aims to answer some of those questions. In the new video Ian explains why it is kids dream and what they tend to dream about, depending on their age. The video is also embedded at the end of my post so you can have a nosey.

But first I thought I would share a selection of some my own childhood dreams that have stood out. 

1. Dinosaur invasion

As a child I had a recurring dream that a dinosaur came back to life. Just one. The news would follow the creature and warn certain parts of the country that it was coming near them so they had time to hide. I remember the map of the UK from one dream and it was identical to the TV weather map.

Potential Meaning: I was one of the kids who loved dinosaurs and wanted to be a paleontologist (Ross Geller, I hear ya). Which is probably the only reasonable explanation for this. 

2. A visit from a deceased pet

Not long before my thirteenth birthday, my childhood dog was put to sleep. This was the first time I had to deal with the feelings that accompany death, and a recurring dream occurred for the next year. My beloved Maggie would stop by and pay us a visit. I was aware in the dream that it was nothing more than a visit and that she would be gone again soon. And even though it was just a dream it was nice to hold her again (or have her try and steal my food).

Potential Meaning: grief, especially because it was the first loss I ever went through. 

3. Virgin pregnancy

This was a one off dream and a bizarre one. When I was, say, 14 (?) I had a dream I was pregnant but had never had sex. Most of the dream was spent convincing people it was a legitimate virgin pregnancy.

Potential Meaning: I've always attributed this to teenage pressures to have sex

4. Teeth falling out (or returning to pre-braces smile)

I had braces for three years between the ages of 16 and 19. Ever since then I am still occasionally plagued by a dream where my now-straight teeth fall out or move back to where they were. To make something clear: my teeth were horrid. My baby teeth were relentlessly stubborn about falling out and it caused all sorts of problems (I even had two rows of incisors for a bit).

Potential Meaning: Teeth falling out is a common dream, but for me it was likely due to the insecurities my teeth caused during my teenage years. 

5. Hunger Games participant

I was late to the party with The Hunger Games but became hooked. So much that I dreamt I was a participant in the games. And won. Not because of my non-existent combat skills, but because I'm a strong swimmer (and also because I ran away to hide it out).

When I read the second book/watched the second film I realised I could survive that particular arena due to my strong swimming skills. Even if that was my only skill. In my dream there was plenty of water (and a boat?) which I was able to jump off from and run off into hiding. And wait it out.

Potential Meaning: watching the Hunger Games one too many times.

6. My stress dream

My final dream is however a recurring one that popped up in adulthood and says hello when I'm stressed - but in it I'm transported back to high school. I find myself back in my old high school, a couple of weeks into 5th or 6th year and I'm yet to make sense of my timetable. I've been unintentionally missing classes and haven't been doing my homework - not due to slacking, just because my brain hasn't settled into routine. My school shared senior classes with a nearby school, so I had to sometimes catch a shuttle bus between classes. And in the dream I just can't figure out what school I need to be in!

Potential Meaning: This dream only occurs when I'm stressed. But why I'm back to school I have no idea - I was good at keeping on top of my timetable (and knowing what school each class was in).

If you're still wondering what some of your own childhood dreams meant, Ian and Adjustamatic have created this video that discusses common childhood dreams. My dinosaur dream is half-explained by Ian sharing with us that 5-7 year-olds dreams about fantastical creatures.


What's your take on my dreams? Can you remember your childhood dreams?

 About Adjustamatic
Adjustamtic specialise in adjustable beds. They have been making beds for over 50 years and are a British company who manufacture in the UK. There are nearly 30 papers written by doctors and medical professionals about the health benefits and are registered with the UK Government’s Medicines and Healthcare Regulatory Authority.



 This is a collaborative post. All dreams are my own.