Animal Kingdom, Beauty and Skin Care, Fitness, Lifestyle, Nature, Photography

Weekend Friday Favourites

by natjtanLeave a Comment on Weekend Friday Favourites

I hope you’re having a great weekend! 

Apologies for an absence of Weekend Friday Favourites recently. Spain’s officially out of lockdown after ending its State of Alarm 21st June. Things are gradually becoming back to pre covid-19 with exceptions. Climbing I can no longer drop by whenever I want. We have to book up in advance set times to climb for 2 hours. I usually end up only having 1 hour thanks to my organisational skills. I’ve picked up a class with time being all over the place. We have to wear masks in all enclosed public spaces and when we can’t self distance however Catalunya has ordered that we wear them outside even when we can social distance to avoid the spread of covid-19. If we’re caught not wearing one, €100 fine. Exceptions are exercise, eating and drinking and if you’re under 6 years old. The beach is a grey area shhhhh. Yes, beach season is back! I’m studying a great photography course on Udemy using beach time to study via their app and videos. Otherwise I’d just play games on my phone.

Anyways, Weekend Friday Favourites, things that have made me smile or caught my eye this week. 

Muy Mucho Desktop USB Fan

Muy Mucho is an interior decoration shop I always like looking around doing my best to appreciate and not buy. This desktop fan was one of the impulse buys my Mum says, if you see it, get it. It’s perfect in my ‘office’ now it’s hot keeping me cool. I use an old iPhone socket charger as my Mac’s usb ports are taken for. I can’t recommend it enough if you want a small desktop fan. It’s silent too, a bargain at €5.99.

Continue reading “Weekend Friday Favourites” →
Inspiration, Lifestyle, Nature

June 2020 Strawberry Moon

by natjtanLeave a Comment on June 2020 Strawberry Moon

Strawberry Moon? I’m in! Strawberry Moon’s June’s full moon when one of my favourite summer fruits are ready! Give me a bowl of strawberries, raspberries, peaches, nectarines, grapes and some mango and pineapple with some soya yoghurt (I’ve just discovered Alpro’s lemon and lime soya yoghurt. Yummy!) and I’m a happy girl.

The zoo reopened in June too! Opening hours have changed due to covid-19. They’re keeping last entry winter schedule with official closing two hours later. It’s a little tricky getting there, the light only gets good when leaving nevertheless, I’m enjoying an extra hour not rushing around when there and that it’s virtually empty. The EU has opened its borders within Europe yet tourists are minimal. I never realised that most of the summer pedestrian traffic along the beaches, on the beaches, in the centre were tourists. It’s nice having a quiet city, thought there needs a balance as tourists bring dinero and Spain needs dinero.

Waxing Moon

Almost full

June 2020 saw two eclipses. A penumbral eclipse that occurs when the Earth, Sun and Moon are imperfectly aligned. The Moon crosses the faint outer edge of the Earth’ shadow, the penumbra causing part of the Moon to appear slightly darker than usual. It’s harder to see unlike full lunar or solar eclipses. The second eclipse, a Solar eclipse on the first official day of summer. This wasn’t visible in Barcelona however I was up just after Moonrise and before Sunrise. The moon shone extra bright almost like a star with light bouncing off it. It’s a bad photo, maybe the light was from the Sun chasing it from the horizon.

Continue reading “June 2020 Strawberry Moon” →
Beauty and Skin Care, Lifestyle

Beauty Finds: Translucent Loose Powder, Charlotte Tilbury, Nude by Nature, Lily Lola & Honest Beauty

by natjtanLeave a Comment on Beauty Finds: Translucent Loose Powder, Charlotte Tilbury, Nude by Nature, Lily Lola & Honest Beauty

Summer’s here and so is keeping oil slicks at bay. The last 2 summer’s I’ve been trying to finds a translucent talc free, due to talc being possibly carcinogenic, silicone free loose powder to keep the shine at bay. I don’t use primer as I don’t want another product wanting to clog my skin and I want a little shine as I don’t like the all matte look. 

In the winter I skip powder however however when the heat and humidity arrives, forget dewy skin. This girl has a full on oily slick look. I have learnt to work with my oil skin not fight it. Finding the right moisturiser helps as does BB cream or tinted foundation. For the days when I know full oil slick’s inevitable I like a little loose powder on my T zone. Loose cruelty free, petroleum (aka plastic) ingredient powders for some reason are more expensive than pressed power and harder to find. Or maybe I looked in the wrong place. Out of the four I tried, only one is now in use and even then I’m thinking shine is down to the products underneath and keeping hydrated. Excessive shiny oily skin is often down to being dehydrated. I should also point out I don’t bake. Too many lines and I only do BB cream or lightweight foundation.

With all my cosmetics I like cruelty free, vegan if possible, clean ingredients, natural ingredients. No nasty toxic ingredients like petroleum and it’s alias (3rd or 4th generation I sometime use depending on ewg.com), parabens, SLS’s, phthalates,  etc. I try to avoid palm oil as I prefer orangutans having forests. With skincare it’s easier, with make up it’s harder. My skin type is oily, sensitive, acne and yes, now anti ageing as those lines…

Charlotte Tilbury Charlottes Genius Magic Powder Under Eye and Face 1 Fair

Soft focusing light defusing loose powder

A genius, light diffusing loose powder that blurs, visibly reduces dark shadows and boosts radiance. Use all over face, matching skin tone for an enhanced complexion or a lighter shade for under eyes for a brightening effect.

I wanted to try something by Charlotte Tilbury. She’d launched a little earlier in Sephora Spain and I’d been hearing so much on YouTube by beauty YouTuber’s I no longer watch about her line. I wanted a translucent powder but I also wanted to try one of her products. I’d checked out reviews before and should have left it on the shelf. The sales assistant said even though it’s not translucent as the range then didn’t have one (maybe they do now) being ‘fair’, it’s the right shade for me. You know I ignored that little voice that said no.

Continue reading “Beauty Finds: Translucent Loose Powder, Charlotte Tilbury, Nude by Nature, Lily Lola & Honest Beauty” →
Lifestyle, Nature, Photography, Travel

Muir Woods and Muir Woods National Monument

by natjtan2 Comments on Muir Woods and Muir Woods National Monument

You can’t go to Northern California and not take time out to checkout Redwoods and Sequoias some of Earth’s oldest and tallest trees! On holiday vaccay easier this year to San Francisco, Hawaii and the Big Sur, we wanted to see for ourselves these amazing trees. 

Yosemite and Sequoia National Parks were under snow and when P looked to see how far Hawaii was from California, Hawaii won. Luckily just north of San Francisco is Muir Woods and Muir Woods National Monument, a National Park filled with Coast Redwoods and Giant Sequoias. 

Most of the photos are noisy with ISO as it was my first time shooting in such light. I wasn’t sure of the levels shutter speed or aperture so please excuse the noise and look of some photos.  As usual I’m a bad editor cutting down photos.

If driving there you have to book up in advance the parking ticket. No advance ticket, no entry. About 1-2km from the park are signs reminding you last chance to book up before as there’s no mobile or wifi coverage once in the park. Parking is $8.50, entrance $15 per person. Under 15’s free. A shuttle bus is available from near by towns.

The main show is the monument, a mostly boarded loop trail in the thickest darkest part of the forest. Redwoods are the stars here. I wanted to do the Panoramic Trail (once the ocean view walk before the trees grew blocking the vista) however time was an issue before the park closed. A ranger recommend the Canopy trail, a 4.8km/3mi approx 2 hours hike that connects with Lost Trail and and part of Fern Creek trail looping back to the entrance. He mentioned it’s great for lefties. Being mixed handed I loved the trial until it looped back in favour of righties. The path flowed. We got there around midday on a Sunday with the trial already getting busy. If you want peace and quiet, no human voices go early. It was so obvious we were the tourists in our winter coats while the locals were in t-shirts and tank tops. No way was it warm enough! It was the same temps as back in Barcelona and everybody there was in winter coats.

Continue reading “Muir Woods and Muir Woods National Monument” →
Inspiration, Nature

May 2020 Flower Moon

by natjtanLeave a Comment on May 2020 Flower Moon

The best month of spring is May. Not only because it’s my birthday month, flowers start blossoming letting you know summer’s a month away hence May’s full moon name, Flower Moon.

This May it was extra special being the last of 2020 super moons (when it’s closer to Earth making it look bigger) and the first moon of some sort of freedom from Spain’s covid-19 lockdown. We were finally allowed outside to exercise! Okay, it was age time slotted freedom, but we were allowed out after 7 weeks cooped up. Flower Freedom Moon.

I didn’t take many photos of May’s moon phases. Like April’s Pink Moon they’re a little same same. No trees, building framing la luna. I’ve included this month some of the wildflowers that the councils didn’t cut due to the lockdown and sunrises. Some thing a little different. 

Birthday Moon

May’s other moon names include Mother’s Moon, Milk Moon, Corn Planting Moon.

Continue reading “May 2020 Flower Moon” →