Moi-meme Monthly - The Coconut Box - August 2021

Hello and welcome to another Moi-meme monthly box! If you’ve been reading my blog for any length of time you’ll know that I’m a big fan of this subscription service and look forward to it every month. This month’s box is coconut themed, in honour of our much loved beach holidays – a distant memory of the past, but hopefully they’ll be back soon!

 

Here's what Moi-meme had to say about this months box:

 

“The heatwave may have passed but this month’s ox will have you picturing yourself in the Caribbean in no time: the gentle crash of the waves, palm trees swaying above your head and a coconut shell filled with fruity rum punch in your hand. Our latest edition is a celebration of the coconut – a multipurpose mystery (is it a fruit? A nut? A seed!?) that brings something special to everything from sun cream to cooking oil to Bounty bars.”

Moi-meme

 

As with my last post I’m trying something a little bit different and creating a little video to accompany my post. If you’d like to watch it just head over to my new YouTube channel and watch it here. So, without any more talking from me, let’s have a look at what I got in this month’s box!

 

Dock and Bay – Cracked Coconut Beach Towel

The first item I pulled from the depths of my box was this rather attractive beach towel. Dock and Bay have revolutionised holiday towel by using recycled plastic to create them. Not only is this a massive plus for the environment, but the design of the towel will dry you three times faster than the standard cotton towel – so it’s convenient to! Even better, the towel doesn’t get sand stuck to it so you don’t have to worry about brining half the beach home with you.

 

I do rather love the cracked coconut design on the towel itself, and it’ll be absolutely perfect for it we manage to go on our holiday to Mexico later this year. The neat and compact pouch will also come in handy and ensure it doesn’t take up too much space in my suitcase.

 

Dr. Botanicals – Cocoa & Coconut Superfood Reviving Hydrating Mask

Time outside with prolonged exposure to the sun can leave our skin feeling a little dryer than normal, so this mask was included in this month’s box to add some much needed hydration back into the skin. This mask is packed full of antioxidants and fatty acids to protect the skin, while also helping to smooth and hydrate it.

 

I was slightly hesitant to try this mask out, simply because coconut in skin care tends to not agree with my skin. Nine times out of ten it’ll clog my pores and give me a minor breakout. However, upon trying this mask for the stated 10 minutes and then following up with a cleaner, I can confirm that  my skin was fine. It felt soft, supple and moisturised without any pesky spots appearing as a result.

 

Joey Koala Toasted Coconut Gourmet Caramel Popcorn

Makers of gourmet, air-popped popcorn, Joey Koala have devised their own recipe to coat the corn with their own caramel. This toasted  coconut popcorn is on theme with the box, and combines the delicate flavour or coconut with the sweetness of caramel.

 

I always look forward to the sweet treat in my Moi-meme boxes, and this one did not let me down at all. Rather than eating it right away (which is my norm to be honest) I saved this one for a movie night with the Husband. As is usual for everything chosen by Moi-meme it was absolutely delicious, and rather moreish.

 

 

All in all I really liked this box, and it’s very handy to have another item ticked off the list of things I need for my holiday later in the year. So thank you Moi-meme for yet another fantastic box!

 

Do you have any subscription boxes? Tell me all about them in the comments below!

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Plant Diaries June & July 2021

Hello and welcome to another instalment of the plant diaries! It’s been a crazy few months for new growth and there have even been a few propagations recently too! I didn’t actually think I would have any new additions to report the last few months, but I actually have two, one of which is rather special!

 

As per usual, I’ll follow the usual layout of new growth, new additions and then finish up with my wish list plants. So with no further delay, let’s get stuck in;

 

New Growth

Pilea Mojito

I decided to try my hand at propagating these, as the mother plant had sprouted a few pups. I simply pulled them out of the pot (off the mother plant) and put into their own pots with soil. You can root these in water before potting apparently, but from what I read they are happy to be rooted straight away in soil.

 

I can only assume that this is correct and they are happy because they’ve both suddenly started making new little leaves for me! It will be interesting to see if the variegation that is present on the mother plant will also be present in the babies, as at the moment they are too small to really tell.

 

Philodendron White Princess

When this new leaf starting to form I was slightly concerned that I was going to get a pretty much all white leaf. Whilst these are very pretty, the white part cannot photosynthesise, which means the leaf can’t sustain itself and eventually dies. The new leaf has emerged fairly white, but there is a health splash of green on it as well. Enough I think to sustain the leaf. I had considered taking a cutting off this plant when it got a bit bigger, but I don’t think I want to at the moment, and will leave it to get a bit bigger first. Plus the spacing in between the nodes is quite tight still, so it would make for a rather difficult cut if I did it now.

 

Variegated Monstera

As I suspected when this featured in my last post, this leaf has come out with a fair amount of white on it, which is great. It’s slightly larger than the previous leaves, but not much, so I don’t think I’ll be seeing any splits in the leaves for a while, but for now I’ll enjoy seeing how each new leaf looks. There has since been another new leaf, and again, this is one I'm considering cutting so that I can have two and make for a fuller plant.

 

Snake Plant

These are really easy to keep, and my original plant has sprouted up some pups recently. Removing the pups is my favourite way to duplicate this plant. You can cut the tops of the leaves and root them, but as the original leaf then doesn’t grow back where you cut it I’m not a fan of this method. I gave one of the pups to a friend of mine a little while back and it needed to be moved to a bigger pot. So I’ve put some more pubs in with it for her so she can have a fuller looking plant.

 

Syngonium Albo

I decided to chop my albo in June to grow out a new cutting! Whilst I had partly cut it with the intention of rooting and selling, I think I'll to it instead so that I have two mother plants. My Albo is among my favourites, so the more of them I have in my cabinet the better! I'll actually be tacking another cutting soon, so I'll then be up to three of the same plant! I've also promised a cutting to my friend Katie, so having three on the go means I can (hopefully) get one rooted and with her soon.

New Additions

Calethea White Fusion

I’ve been wanting one of these for a little while, but haven’t got one because there has always been something else that I want more. I spotted this while out in my local garden centre, and as they aren’t normally in regular shops, and it was a good size decided to snap it up.

 

It appeared to pretty root bound when I got it, but after I’d removed the substrate from the roots it became apparent that some of the roots had died off. I’ve cut these away and popped back in its original pot with a Soil Ninja mix specifically designed for Calethea.

 

The White Fusion is known to be the most picky of the Calethea, and doesn’t like to live in low humidity. In fact, they seem to like quite high humidity levels. On that basis, I’ve placed mine in the plant cabinet, in the second from the bottom shelf, where humidity levels rarely drop below 60%. Even there it started to crisp, so it is now in with the tropical plants that sit above 80% humidity.

 

Philodendron Florida Beauty

This is a rather special new addition, and one that I actually mentioned in my last post as a wish list plant! As I said in my last post, I didn’t think I’d be getting one of these for quite some time. Mainly because they are quite sought after and expensive, and I’ve got a holiday to save for first.

 

Well, turns out that my friend Katie has been paying a lot of attention to my wish list, because she got me a Florida Beauty cutting as an early present for my birthday in July. It was a lovely surprise, and for the time being I initially left it in the perlite she’s put it in and popped it into the plant cabinet, but I have since moved it to PON, which gave me a chance to check the root growth, which is coming along very slowly. Being a Philodendron, I was hoping it will be as easy to root as the White Princess was, but from a little reading, it would seem that they are quite slow, which is fine by me.

 

Wish List

 

There are just two plants on my wish list at the moment, and neither are going to be added to my collection any time soon. At the top of my list at the moment is the Syngonium Milk Confetti (not to be mixed up with the regular confetti) and a Monstera Aurea. The Aurea in particular is out of reach in terms of pricing, but I'm happy to take my time waiting for the prices to drop to get one.

There sums up my plant additions and changes for June and July! I have actually had another three arrive recently, but as they came in August they'll be featured in the next instalment. Have you made any new plant purchases recently?

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Plant care

Moi-meme Luxe - The Jet Set Box - July 2021

Those of you who have been around for a little while will know that I currently have two separate subscription boxes with Moi-meme. As I couldn’t decide which one I wanted between the two, I have both, the monthly box, and the quarterly luxury box. 

 

Today’s post is about the quarterly box, also known as the Luxe box. The Luxe box is £54.95 per box, or £199.95 for four boxes. Subscribing will result in a box delivered to you in January, April, July and October. Now I know for some the Luxe box came appear a little pricey, so if you wanted to try the brand out I would recommend subscribing to the monthly box, which is £22.95 per month and can even be purchased as a one off box. You can check out my latest monthly box here.

 

For July we had ‘The Jet Set’ box. The inspiration for this box came from the world slowly beginning to open back up. From the hopes of freedom and international travel, the Jet Set Box was born. So, without any further delay, lets get stuck straight in with the contents of the July box!

 

Chasing Threads – Stitch Map Luggage Tag – RRP £25.00

 

First up in my box was this gorgeous little leather luggage tag from ‘Chasing Threads’. I’ve haven’t come across this brand previously but when I read the little story about how it came to be, I thought it was quite sweet story. Chasing Threads was founded by Em Royston, and it all started following a road trip across the USA with her boyfriend back in 2015. As a little memento of their trip together, Em stitched the route they had taken onto a map to frame as a gift for her boyfriend’s birthday. Em then developed this into a fabric cross stitch for the company she was working for at the time, before eventually setting up on her own.

 

The story made me think back to when Mike and I spent a few months travelling in the USA a few years ago. The brand doesn’t just do luggage tags either, the range includes passport covers, tote bags, travel wallets and much more. If you don’t want something travel related, that’s absolutely fine because Chasing Threads has all kinds of other products to choose from.

 

For the ‘Jet Set Box’ we were sent these cute leather luggage tags, that came in a variety of colours. Those who have opted to receive vegan products were sent a slightly different PU tag instead. I got the navy tag with gold and teal thread, which probably would have been my first choice or colour, closely followed by the grey tag.

 

Lola’s Apothecary – Body Soufflé – RRP £38.00 - £43.00

 

As a long time subscriber of Moi-meme, I have actually come across this brand before in the form of a candle that I really enjoyed. Lola’s Apothecary are based on a cattle farm in Devon and formulate all their products in small batches by hand. Each and every product is designed to bring an element of self-care to the user, be it a relaxing scent, a salt bath, some yummy chocolate or wonderfully soft skin. The brand is quite pricey, but from what I’ve tried so far it’s safe to say that you are paying for a quality product that’s a real treat to use.

 

This gorgeously presented Body Soufflé is said to work wonders on dry or rough skin, which I’m suffering a little bit of at the moment thanks to an eczema flare up. The soufflé itself is vegan friendly, and made from 100% natural ingredients. Subscribers were sent the soufflé in one of two scents: ‘Tranquil Isle’ and ‘Monsoon Paradise’. Mine was the latter, and is a blend of Citrus, Amyris and Lisylang Heart with notes of Jasmine an Rose. It smells absolutely wonderful, with a fresh citrus smell with the lightest touch of a floral tone. Whilst it is fairly thick in texture it melts to an oil like consistency on contact with the skin and leaves my skin feeling wonderfully soft. I’ve found that a little goes a very long way as well, which with a product priced like this can only be a good thing. Perfect for your own mini spa day at home.

 

MSH – Navy Kaftan – RRP £25.00

 

Here is a brand that has featured a few times through various Moi-meme boxes. They offer a huge range of items from gloves, scarves to beachwear. Based in Glasgow, the founders Maggie and Ann work with local designers to create their high quality and affordable range.

 

For this box we received a light, floaty Kaftan, perfect to pop on over a bikini. The design is ‘one size fits all’, and the light material flows nicely.

 

Pivotal – Facial Cooling Globes – RRP £25.00

 

Now, these came at a fantastic time for me, because after seeing some very positive reviews, this is exactly what I was looking for to add to my beauty tools. Pivotal are based in the USA and are focused on tools such as make up brushes and these cooling globes.

 

Cooling globes are said to assist with a multitude of skin and health issues. The main thing I’ve seen them used for is to aid in puffiness, in particular to the undereye area. According to the booklet that came in my box, these can also be used reduce facial tension and help stimulate blood flow to the muscles of the face. This then aids to give a tightening and lighting effect.

 

I can speak quite highly regarding how these globes help to reduce puffiness to the face, but I’ll need a far more prolonged use to determine the claims to help with the firmness of the skin. Whilst the booklet states you can keep these in the freezer, I personally opt for the fridge so that they aren’t as cold and have used these in the final step of my skincare routine to help work in my moisturiser and any residual serums into my skin.

 

Seacret – Mineral Rich Body Mud – 400g – RRP £30.00

 

Another brand I’ve come across before is Seacret. I’ve trialled both the foot mud and the sunscreen and really enjoyed using both, so I have high hopes for the body mud. Seacret are a brand that harness the powers of rich mud, salts and minerals from the Dead Sea to create luxury products.

 

For The Jet Set box we received the Mineral Rich Body Mud, intended to help prepare the skin for a sunny holiday due to its detoxifying and hydrating benefits. To use, just spread a layer of mud over any areas of the body that need attention – of all of it so long as you avoid the face.  Leave for 15 minutes and then rinse off in the shower.

 

Now, I haven’t tried this yet, and I’m a little sceptical about how messy it might end up being given that it’s described as a body mud. That being said, the mud therapy foot mud that I’ve tried in the past wasn’t messy at all, so perhaps this will be much the same. I’m saving this for my next at home spa day, so I’ll report back with my final thoughts over on my Instagram when I’ve used it!

 

 

 

And that sums up the contents of the July Luxury box! The total value of this box comes in at just under £150.00, which is pretty great for a £55.00 subscription box. The standout product for me is absolutely the Lola’s Apothecary Body Soufflé, I can see myself using this very frequently, although to make it last I will probably reserve it for my Sunday night pamper. This is one of the many reasons I love Moi-meme, because I wouldn’t typically look to go out and buy a £43.00 moisturiser. This subscription box allows me to try out products I haven’t discovered or would typically be hesitant to purchase at full price.

 

If you’d like to see these products a little closer, go check out my video over on my brand-new YouTube channel. 

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July 2021 Look Back & My 30th Birthday

I suppose I should probably start this post with an apology for disappearing off the face of the earth for the past few weeks, but as you’ve probably guessed from the title of this post, I had a reason; on 22nd July I had my 30th birthday!

 

It feels really weird to think that I’m no longer in my 20’s. Even more so because I still don’t really feel like a ‘proper’ adult. Which I probably should by now, given that I’ve ticked off plenty of adult-y things like buying a house and getting married. That being said, literally everyone I speak to about it feels the same so maybe that’s the catch – no one really feels like a ‘proper’ adult and we’re all just muddling our way through and pretending we know what we’re doing.

 Anyway, let’s have a little look back over July and the month of my birthday!

I kicked off the month with a relaxed evening with one of my closest friends, Maria, as well as her husband and absolutely stunning doggo Otto. They came to ours for the evening and we had a massive take away together and talked the night away. Our cat Boots even got to meet Otto, very briefly before he decided to dart upstairs.

 

The following weekend I had a day seeing my Mum, and we went for a long walk in the stunning weather with the beautiful Willow before heading for lunch. I followed up that same evening with a D&D session with friends. We’re all getting quite into the game and are now all fairly competent when it comes to playing.  

During the actually week of my birthday, I have the whole week off work. I had no real plans when I booked the time off, but I knew that working was most certainly not going to be on my agenda. Mike and I spent a few days having a massive clear out of all the weeds and debris in the garden, something we’ve been meaning to do for some time but not got round to. I also made a start on our fences, jet washing, cleaning and repainting. With the lovely weather we made really good progress with the painting and are now almost done. Next up is the decking, and then we need to work out whether we are doing the planters or not. It should all look really good when it’s finished.

 

On one of my days off (the day before my birthday) my gal pals surprised me by turning up at the house unannounced to kidnap me for the day. They brought my an ice coffee and took me off in the car. I did work out where we were going pretty much straight away (it was a toss-up between Taverham Garden centre, Yo Sushi, or both) but, that’s because they know I love both of these places. We had a great lunch, and then went off the have our nails done and chill out together.

 

To celebrate my birthday, Mike, with the help of our friends threw a Hawaii themed party. My friend Katie decorated her house with tropical themed decor while Chloe made some absolutely delicious cupcakes. We had a bar fully stocked with everything we needed to make tropical themed cocktails and I got to see plenty of people, some of whom I’ve not seen in quite a while.

It was a great night with lots of laughter, and topped off the end of July really nicely for me. I’ve even put a little video together to immortalise the day! When I returned to work from my holiday the following week I felt well rested and refreshed and ready to tackle the rather significant number of emails in my inbox!

The end of July was fairly quiet for me as work has been absolutely crazy. I’m still in the office just two days a week, but a lot of the other teams have started to get more people back in. Our ground floor is a very large open plan room, and to be honest, I’m finding the additional noise and stimuli really difficult to deal with.

I’ve always been quite hyper aware of things happening around me (most likely to do with my ADD / ADHD) and the increased number of people around me is taking a bit of a toll. I’m finding that I have a headache by the early afternoon, and I’m absolutely shattered in the evenings when I’ve worked from the office. I’m hoping that this is something I can get re-used to, but I guess we’ll see.

Mike and I also decided that we would quit (or at least heavily reduce) drinking after my birthday. There are a few reasons, but a main one is that we just aren’t interested in returning to bars and clubs. To be fair, we were getting bored of our regular haunts before lockdown, and the long break hasn’t changed our minds. I’ve also been having some health issues that I think are down to whatever has been going on with my heart. I’ve been on a list for a week long ECG and another cardiology appointment for over a year now (covid screwed it up for me) and I don’t think that binge drinking on the weekend is going to help.  

I also want to have a healthier August, with more activity and better eating. Not only will this help me prep for our Mexico holiday later in the year, but it’s good to be kind to your body as well.

That sums up what I got up to in July! Here’s hoping the weather stays nice so that I can finish off the garden and enjoy the sunshine a little more!

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Lifestyle