u/CommercialFloor2033

Trialing this at the moment.

On me it's as matte as G&G. But it's a very powdery drying type of matte from the silica in it.

It feels like I've excessively applied silica powder all over the face which makes it's feel a bit tight on my eye area (and accentuates smile lines).

Younger oily skins will probably love this. More mature oily skins may find it overly mattifying in an unflattering way. Drier skin types don't even bother.

There's a slight whitening effect on me too but emphasis on slight. It has tinosorb M at around 1-2% and tito2 at less than 1%.

Texture wise it's like a milky thin fluid which is nice. Similar to isdin fluids.

I'm on the fence with it. I actually find G&G less drying than this but dislike the thicker cream like texture it has.

But this does tie with G&G in terms of delivering a truly matte finish. I think I prefer eucerin oil control over both of these which delivers a more natural skin like matte without drying.

Worth checking out.

So my work has a fairly good policy on sabbatical leave. We're allowed to take leave every three years to help mitigate burnout. I haven't taken sabbatical leave in ten years.

Now I'm not sure how long to take based on what I can afford (I have a mortgage to pay) and what to do with the time off.

I suppose travelling but not sure I'm keen on the idea of continuous travel for months on end.

Say I take something reasonable and affordable like 5 months - what have others done with this much time off in terms of travel?

They say the Camino provides which I always viewed with a bit of a cynical side eye if I'm honest, but I've been walking the Frances over the past couple of weeks.

I've been eating handfuls of the most delicious blackberries everyday.

I've no idea if these were planted alongside the routes on purpose for pilgrims to snack on but right now the bushes are *gorged* with deliciously sweet, ripe glossy blackberries.

It's been a small highlight of my trip!

Some days they've been breakfast, others lunch. I've eaten so many!

I think in my head when I was planning this I had a vision of like getting up super early, doing the walk and getting to the next town. Then kind of chilling but being pretty active again in the evening.

Some of this has aligned but my evenings I've just been so physically tired (and a bit achy) that I don't have much zest for going to bars and such. I have been having dinner of course but then heading back to sleep pretty much.

Now this hasn't been an issue in the smaller towns at all as they're really not much going on in the evening in some of them.

However some of the larger towns and cities I've passed through e.g. Pamplona I tried to go out to enjoy the tapas scene but was done after one bar pretty much and just feeling like I'd rather be laying on my bed instead.

Made me feel slightly idk... Guilty, for not making the most of being at the stops along the way? I know the walk is the main event but I know I'll not return to a lot of these towns. Had I come for a weekend away with no walking involved id have heavily indulged in the night life scene.

Does anyone else feel a bit like this? Like what are people doing with their evenings, or rather what time are you aiming for bed most nights?

I should add I have been having a couple of drinks when arriving with lunch. It's more the evening where I'm just beat.

I looking to get a new backpack - potentially expensive one so its made me think what people usually do here.

I was even thinking to get a cheap second one (say decathlon) for this specific purpose and use the expensive one for moving on trips.

I think the stay at a campsite type I wouldn't need to walk *that* far with the pack. And I'd feel a lot more relaxed leaving a cheap bag behind all day.

Doing it this week and weather is expected to be upto 38deg. I'm concerned as I dont do well with heat at the best of times so carrying a backpack will be intense. I have an umbrella and water and everytging recommended but it's still very hot for me.

Would you recommend avoiding the Napoleon for now and doing the Valcarlos route instead?

I know it's not as scenic but I understand it's more shaded and has more places to stop and rest / cool down. I'm starting very early either way, but even by midmorning it will be around 30.

I'm off to Spain next week so wanted to get some tubes.

However I'm not sure what the current status of this is as it was (or is?) discontinued at 0.1%.

Does anyone know if it's currently available, and what %s?

Also the general cost.

Thanks.

Doing the Camino next week. Temperatures are going to exceed 30deg on some days.

I bought a UV umbrella as I don't cope well with the heat/sun and was worried about not finding shade and just generally overheating. So i bought one of these in addition to every other adjustment.

It just arrived. It's fairly heavy.

Now I'm like in two minds if it's essential and worth the extra weight to carry, or if I'll never use it basically.

I am otherwise fully covered up from the sun. This would be an extra layer I guess. But they do reduce the temp underneath by several degrees.

Anyone using one?

How are you fixing it to your backback?

Disclaimer - I'm still trialing this. It's a bit of a strange sunscreen. Nevertheless I haven't come across mentions of this here yet so I'll share my initial review. But don't consider this a full review.

I picked this up in Germany a few weeks back. Price point is decent. It's around 20 euros for 100ml.

Consistency is extremely thin. Almost like water, but 'heavier' (more on this later). This can make it slightly more difficult to apply as it runs everywhere.

I have very sensitive eyes. This doesn't sting or make them red at all. This alone is a big plus for me as so many get rejected who fail this test.

The filters in this are quite an unusual mix. I'm not covering uvb as this is generally fully covered spectrum and it's spf50. On the uva side it uses tinosorb S, uvinul A plus and Zinc oxide. The zinc oxide is very low in the ingredients list. So low that it's with the additives. Id estimate zinco here is under 1%. The bulk of the uva protection is coming from uvinul a plus.

Curiously this doesn't say spf50+. It says spf50. So the ppd is at least 16.7. I'd put it around 20 at a guess. So moderate protection. More of a low exposure type.

Texture - now does it live up to it's oily skin claims? This is where it gets quite odd.

It's a very thin fluid, like soy milk in thinness. But it's quite oily feeling. It goes on the face rather oily indeed. And it takes a long time to dry.

It's base is primarily Isododecane and dimethicone. So I guess it's like a primer almost in consistency.

I'll be honest I don't love it on my face for the first 30 mins or so. It looks and feels wet still.

The dry down though is nicer. Once dry it's not matte but has a skin like slightly dewy finish. This is where I like it a bit more.

People who use makeup may like this one as it will work like a primer.

Overall it's not a bad sunscreen. If it was higher ppd I'd possibly repurchase. As it is though for it's level of shine etc and price point I have better options available - even within transparent lab I prefer the light sunscreen ppd 33. I'll use up the bottle, but probably that will be it.

Edit - I realised come the end of writing this that it essentially is my full review as I knew I wouldn't repurchase already!

Has anyone else used this one?

We're having the heatwave now in Portugal where I live. I was outside for an hour or so today with shade and taking precautions - but I still started to feel dizzy and strange. I had to abandon my task and go lay in the air conditioned room.

The reason I ask is I'm planning to do the Camino at the end of July for two weeks (Frances). But I don't think I'll be able to cope with the heat as it is now. I'm hoping it cools down a bit or I may have to postpone.

Today for example I had all the right gear on, no skin exposure, a wet neck gaitor, I drank about 3-4l of water. I was under shade but doing manual work. It's around 38d c. But my body overheated in just minutes.

So I'm now a bit concerned as it's quite dangerous.

Bought my first Buff - it's a coolnet uv. I believe it's available in one standard size.

I bought it to cover my neck and midface area while hiking.

The issue I'm having immediately with it is it is very constrictive. It feels like it's choking me around the neck and I have to remove it to feel like I breath normally again.

In short it's unpleasant to wear.

So these loosen over time, or is there a way I can stretch it out without tearing it?

I'm doing the Camino Frances (exact route still figuring out) in late July.

One thing which intrigues but also concerns me slightly is the drinking culture on route.

Now I'll preface by saying I love a drink. Who doesn't (unless you don't drink of course) but I find it saps my body of vitality the next day. I also find my body doesn't regulate itself as well the next day - which is my concern as it's going to be very hot.

I'm not even sure what question I'm asking here specifically - maybe how have people found doing the daily trek after drinking the night before?

I'll of course exercise more caution with how much I'll intake, but I also want to enjoy passing through northern Spain wine and tapas culture....

Any tips?

Any comments?

Anyone share my trepidations on this?

Maybe I should add I'm in my 40s so I don't bounce back the next day like I used to...

Has anybody noticed a difference with this new phase of sunscreens this year which use uvinul a plus and omit avobenzone?

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So a lot of euro sunscreens are basing their uva protection around tinosorb S and uvinul a plus these days and have dropped avobenzone. They're typically nice feeling and cosmetically elegant and many claim high ppd (which is based on uva-2).

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I feel like I've tanned easily this year wearing these sunscreens. Whereas I stayed pale in previous years using various formulations with avobenzone (and similar water/sweat resistance). Which protects slightly better into the uva1 range.

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Curious if anyone else has noticed this in your own experience?

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I'm tempted to go back to formulations which use avobenzone.

Throughout the show we've only ever been given snippets of information to piece together a narrative of what is the origin of the supernatural elements of the show and how it works.

I felt it particularly egregious to end the series with such a blatant show of magic while the show never really ever bothered to tell us where it came from or properly how it works, or what it's relevance is since it sits within our reality not some alternative one where witches and wizards with real magic exit.

To be clear I'm not saying the show needed to spell everything out absolutely, but there should have been enough information provided to piece together a decent narrative if they didn't want to directly address it. In this case neither were provided. All we really got was some vague practical rules, but no meaning to understand the how and why's.

We know there's a genetic lineage of people with time travel and possible other abilities - ok but where did it start? What other abilities exist? Who made the stones and what is the explanation for why they work as they do? How does Claire have the ability to raise the dead - a feat only one person in Western history had attributed to them?

There are so many questions to ask that it's disappointing we'll never get answers to them. And I don't mean head cannon answers to be clear - yes we can invent our own backstory to pretty much anything.