The Spring Tag

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Recently, while catching up with my skincare guru Caroline Hirons' blog posts, I came across The Spring Tag, which was created by Emily Hearts. Among other bloggers, Emily tagged everyone who wants to do this tag, so I thought it was a great opportunity to participate in the blogging community, and also tell you, lovely readers, a bit more about myself.

Before I dive in and start answering the questions, let me tell you that I LOVE Spring. I love everything about it - longer, warmer days, blooms everywhere, bumble bees busily buzzing among all the flowers, birds chirping, blue skies and warm Spring showers. I love the fact that we can put away heavy boots, woolly scarves and warm coats deep in the wardrobes and wear all the fun colours again. Speaking of colour, let's get to the first question:

1. What three colours remind you of Spring?

Fresh, vibrant green - the shade everything is turning under warm sun rays, sunny yellow of daffodils and clear blue - the colour of sky on a bright, sunny day.

2. What is the first thing you add to your Spring wardrobe?

Definitely a lighter jacket and shoes. And this year I'm thinking of adding a dress.

3.  What is the first item that you ditch from your wardrobe to make it more Spring-like?

I ditch the dark colours and woolly scarves. But,  since I live up north, it's not yet the time to get rid of your winter coat.

4. What are your ultimate nude and bright lipsticks?

I'm not a huge lipstick wearer and I prefer shear formulas to heavy, matte ones. But, as soon as Spring comes I pull out from the depths of my drawers, the Tanya Burr lipgloss in Chic and the Mac one in Just Superb. For a bright lip I like to wear my Bourjois rouge edition matte velvet lipgloss/lipstick hybrid in Frambourjois.

5. What is your signature Spring fragrance?

This year it is Jo Malone Wood Sage and Sea Salt.

6. What do you add or drop from your skin care routine?

I change products, rather than add or drop. I change my SPFs from 30 to 50, and change my morning cleanser to a lighter one - my favourite is REN Rosa Centifolia cleansing gel. Oh, I might use hydrating facial spritzes more often.

7. Do you change your hair up in Spring?

Yes, I like to add a few highlights to my hair to make it look more fresh and brighten up my face a bit.

8. Are there any exciting beauty releases that you can’t wait for?

I'm sure everyone of you has heard about the Charlotte Tilbury's Norman Parkinson Collection by now. I have a feeling it's going to be big. But I am waiting for the launch of the Pop of Passion lip oil balms from one of my favourite beauty brands, Bare Minerals. I love a good nourishing lip balm, and it's even better if it's a colourful balm.

9. What are your three favourite nail colours for Spring?

I have to say I am not an adventurous person when it comes to nail polish. I usually stick to what I like, so nudes on the fingers and brights on the toes. At the moment I like to wear OPI bubble bath or Essie's angel food and peach daiquiri. I do have my eye on Barry M Gelly Hi Shine in almond and huckleberry, though..

10. Who do I tag?

Agnieszka from Agi's Boutique
j.beaute

Halen from Halenhearts you tube channel

A Little Boat Sailing

Rachel from Claireful

cuteandconfident

And everyone who wants to do this tag :)

Love,
Basia

French pharmacy goodness

Some of you lovelies, especially those of you who live in UK, may know of a little website called escentual.com. The website offers all kinds of things beauty, including French pharmacy cosmetics that may be hard to find in drugstores or on the high street. And seeing that till the end of March, Escentual have a great promotion of up to a third off selected French goodies, I thought that I would share with you a few things worth buying. 

First up is Bioderma Sensibio H2O - micelle solution. Now you may have read about it on your favourite blogs or seen it on You Tube. If you've never tried it, but want to then put it in your basket pronto. Formulated especially for sensitive skin, it removes make up and impurities efficiently without irritating. It is fragrance-free, alcohol-free, doesn't contain soap and it has physiological pH (the pH of your skin), so it won't dry or sensitize. It really does remove mascara and heavier, albeit non-waterproof, make up quickly and doesn't sting the eyes.

Serozinc by La Roche-Posay is another YouTube / blogosphere hit that, until recently was only available on ebay or in France. Now you can easily get it in UK and with a third off, which brings it down to under £6 (and to think that I paid £13.50 on ebay when I first got it-dread). It is created with just three ingredients: La Roche-Posay's soothing thermal spring water, healing zinc sulfate and astringent sodium chloride. If you have blemish-prone skin, then Serozinc is your friend. You can use it as a toner or a refreshing mist during the day. Zinc sulfate is the ingredient added to many, if not all, products for blemish-prone or acneic skins. I'm on my second bottle and have a back-up in my stash.

Speaking of La Roche-Posay, I couldn't not mention yet another internet world favourite - Effaklar Duo [+]. The non-comedogenic, hypoallergenic, oil-free wonder that helps your skin fight excess shine, unclog pores and correct the appearance of blemishes, while, at the same time, rebuilding your skin's surface and preventing the pigmentation marks left behind by angry spots. Now, my skin doesn't quite agree with having it all over it, so I use it as a targeted treatment on those pesky lurkers that sit deep under my skin and feel like a volcano waiting to erupt. This cream really speeds up the process of the spots coming to the surface and makes them heal much faster without scarring or pigmentation marks.

Last, but not least, is the Vichy Ideal Soleil Mattifying Face Fluid - Dry Touch SPF50+. A sunscreen protector with both UVB and UVA filters. This products is for all of you girls (and guys) out there who used to either skip SPF creams altogether or resigned themselves to looking shiny in the name of protection. This little gem will protect your skin with a high factor and give you matte complexion. It works perfectly as under make up primer, too. I love it, and I am really picky about my sun products. This one really does what it says on the tin, so it is no wonder I'm on my second tube.

Will you be purchasing any of the products mentioned above? Or do you have recommendations of your own? I'd love to know, so why don't you leave me a comment?

Basia x



This post was not sponsored. It does not contain affiliate links.

What makes you happy?

Did you know that 20th of March is International Day of Happiness? This year it coincides with first day of Spring (yay) and solar eclipse. I haven't been able to see it as there's thick cloud cover where I live. Anyway, first day of Spring always makes me happy. It brings with it a promise of longer, warmer days, new blooms popping out everywhere and birds chirping every morning and evening. It brings with it the excitement of new things to come. So what a happy coincidence it is that this year it falls on the International Day of Happiness! 

To celebrate it, I'd like to share with you the things that make me happy. It's the smell of freshly brewed coffee every morning, the scent of a new book, my favourite candle burning, the taste of chocolate when I have a real hankering. It's the fresh bunch of flowers on my desk and the smell of linen that's dried outside in the wind. It's a brand spanking new eyeshadow palette. It's the soft purring of my cat.. even if I only get to hear it when I'm on the phone with my mum. 

Happy International Day of Happiness everyone!

What makes You happy?

This post was sponsored by the word "happy" :)

Basia 

Why not me?

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And here it is. My first ever blog post. I've been meaning to start a blog well over a year ago now, but I always found reasons not to (sounds familiar?): I'm not a good writer. There are even times when I hate writing. I'm not a very interesting person. There are so many blogs out there that are amazing / interesting / popular / beautiful etc. who is going to read mine? I have no idea how to blog. I'm not good at taking photographs. I don't know how to design my blog. Should I write in English or Polish? (I'm bilingual). Maybe both?

And so, over time, I gathered quite a collection of reasons NOT to start a blog and was forever putting it off. Until I found this article on Pinterest and this blog post. They made me realise that if I want to have a blog, no one is going to start it for me, and I am the only person who can make it happen. If I don't do it, I will regret it for the rest of my life. And also: Why not me? Why not me to have a blog? Why not me to start writing about the things that I like, dislike, love, things that made me think or made me happy.. Why not me?

I am not going to get ahead of myself and worry if I'll have enough topics to write about, if people like my content. I am not going to concentrate on the things that I don't know and concentrate on learning them (I have already learnt how to embed a clickable link, yay). I am going to concentrate on the fact that I finally did it, I have started my own blog. Because: Why not me?


Basia