u/Londonsaurus

I haven’t kept up in the past year or two but if I remember correctly there were some formulary changes/downgrades in Biore’s watery essence that were made specifically for export. When this happened I would try to buy the Japanese formula, but I’ve lost track of where I can purchase it, and how to determine which version you are getting. Can anyone suggest me a good source for JDM version?

Alternatively if you have a suggestion for a similar quality of product that is very protective and feels good on sensitive skin, I’d love to hear your thoughts.

Beautiful people of the London Social Club, it's officially park picnic season and after last year's solstice cocktails event was so popular we're bringing it back.COCKTAILS IN THE PARK  Saturday 13 June, 5 PM

Queen Mary's Rose Garden, Regent's Park (exact location posted on the day)

Join us this Saturday for a relaxed evening of drinks, food, games, and good company. The weather is looking promising, and I'll be your hostess for the first LSC Saturday picnic of 2026!

WHAT TO BRING:

• A thermos of your favourite cocktail or mocktail (or whatever you like to drink)
• Food to share
• Suncream 
• Frisbees, footballs, anything fun
• Picnic blanket, sheet, or foldable chair
• Friends
• Your wonderful self

I’ll head there in advance to find a good spot and post the W3W location about an hour beforehand

New to Saturday picnics? We rotate parks across the year, so keep an eye out for future events too.

Can't wait to see (and meet!) you all. Any questions, drop me a message!

I feel like this is a slightly niche question, but certainly not unique, and this is the community that would have the experience to help us. 

My spouse (American) travels extensively for his work. His passport pages were rapidly getting filled up, even though he was 5 years away from expiry. Last year, his British director (biotech startup) dismissed this as a concern, stating that in the EU, they would stop stamping passports imminently. They did not stop stamping passports imminently. In April of this year, he was warned by a passport control officer while exiting an EU country that he had no pages remaining and he would need a new passport with fresh pages to enter again.

He travels 80% of his time, so he made an emergency appointment at the US embassy. The advisor at that appointment said that it should not be an issue as his passport was still valid, but arranged for him to get an emergency passport, which also came with instructions to send it in to be replaced. The advisor said it could take 6 weeks to get a permanent passport renewal, so my spouse took his new purple passport and planned to set aside time to get it renewed this August when his clients are mostly on holiday.

A few days later, my spouse flies to the Netherlands and finds out that NL does not accept emergency passports and consequently was deported. Luckily, the Dutch are practical people and, because he is a UK visa holder, allowed him to be deported back to London and not the US.

None of the Benelux countries (most of his collaborators) accept an emergency passport for entry, so his only workaround is to fly into Germany and hire a car and hope that each time that his passport is not examined and challenged at any borders. This is a Schengen loophole that he does not feel comfortable doing and is no way to live long-term. 

Does anyone else have experience with this situation? Do you have any suggestions on how to expedite a new passport quickly? Alternately his employer might send him back to the states to do an emergency appointment but is being recalcitrant about it because they don't really understand/believe this is an issue. Has anyone done this ?