u/transparentsalad

I absolutely loved this sunscreen but it got recalled due to separation issues (oops) and I’m not sure if they’re bringing it back. I’d love a similar option if anyone has any recommendations.

Skin type: oily/sensitive, acne prone

What I’m looking for:
• mineral preferably, my skin seems to get on better with it but I’m willing to try chemical if the texture is right
• Thick, almost dry texture. The creamy sunscreens and fluid like sunscreens leave me so oily at the end of the day even if they claim to be mattifying
• Cruelty free/vegan
• SPF 30+
• I don’t care about white cast, I’m pretty pale and white cast honestly just evens my skin tone lol

What I’ve tried:
• boots mineral face: too thin, leaves me greasy
• Ultra sun mineral baby: not bad, still greasy at the end of the day but it’s my best option right now
• The ordinary mineral: loved this, got discontinued 😢
• P20 face: greasy and leaves my face sore at the end of the day
• Superdrug face fluid: grease city, basically slides off
• Hawaiian Tropic mineral powder: used this as a topper for the ones that make me oily. It’s nice but I’m chronically ill and having an extra step in the morning sometimes isn’t achievable. And there’s no way I trust a powder alone for spf

Essentially I want to be less oily but also not have a sore face at the end of the day, so I’m seeking that perfect texture if anyone knows what I mean! Maybe I have too many requirements and I just have to accept being oily

And I was totally, completely wrong to think it wasn’t working.

Like a lot of people I read a lot of late diagnosed adhd stories where medication was life changing. ‘Like putting on glasses and seeing clearly for the first time’ ‘my mind is quiet for the first time’ that sort of thing. I tried to temper my expectations but of course, I was hopeful, especially for the ‘quiet mind’ effect. My noisy brain drives me crazy.

It didn’t happen. I noticed some subtle effects, like it feeling slightly easier to start a task I actually wanted to do, and feeling less tired all the time, but that quickly faded into the background and I felt like my life was still very difficult on a day to day basis. I asked my husband what he thought and he said it was helping, but I couldn’t believe him.

Then I forgot to refill my medication. Oh my god. Like night and day. Was I always this tired? Was I always this unmotivated? How did I live like this? That triggered all sorts of realisations. I understood, for the first time, I have consistently been able to get out of bed more days than not. Is getting out of bed easy? No. I still have days I can’t do it. But they are more spaced out and less severe. I have been consistently attending uni more days than not. Again, it’s not easy. I still have days where I feel like I’d rather die than get ready to go out. But they’re not as often, and when they do happen, sometimes I can escape the spiral.

Maybe it’s an adhd thing, I often feel like I can only feel the feeling I have in that moment. I can’t remember past feelings or believe that future feelings will be different. So I didn’t see it. I didn’t recognise how huge this actually is. But now I’ve managed to quantify it, I can see. Medication has actually made a big difference to my life, but it wasn’t how I expected and I couldn’t understand it until I went back to how it used to be. It might not feel life changing right now, but I think, over time, it will be.

Straight away you should know I am *not* a qualified English teacher. I have experience working as an English Language Assistant abroad and I currently volunteer in a casual English conversation group.

One of the group members needs to pass a speaking and listening test at B1 level to remain in the UK. She will be taking it next week. I just found out this week that she has been studying for it. She doesn’t have a formal English class to go to, and to be fair the waitlist for free or affordable classes is very long and difficult to balance with work.

Unfortunately she has already failed once, we have very little time, and based on what I know of her level so far, she’s either not B1 level or so shy and uncomfortable in English that she can’t show her level very well. I would judge her more around A2. She has to have a 5 minute discussion on a prepared topic (longer answers from her) and a 5 minute conversation on two subject areas selected by the examiner such as festivals, transportation, entertainment, etc.

With so little time and no qualified teaching available I am really worried she won't pass, but i want to help her as best I can. Any tips on last minute test prep for a test that’s probably a stretch? Please don’t say ‘don’t take the test’ lol that’s not my choice, I’m just doing what I can.

For context, this is the test format, in the grade 5 section: https://www.trinitycollege.com/resource?id=5755