i hate mondays: for your face and soul ~ february favourites

another month gone. 2016 is passing by quite fast for me, scary. but let's lighten up the mood instantly with some favourite products, that always cheers me up (you know those hours spent on youtube, looking up beauty gurus and trying to find a good enough reason to splurge on yet another red lipstick).

this month has been full of travels, i feel like a true adult, i have my own case and everything. my traveling hacks learnt from numerous times in london always come in handy, even with trains (pendolino is good stuff).

but here is some stuff i've been loving not only while traveling, although that changed my use of them.

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magic cushion

ever since i became more interested in asian, korean especially, culture i've wanted to try cushion foundations. the girls there and in the west are all big fans since it's supposed to be super light yet longlasting and the formulas are usually very watery, moisturising. also... come on! it's such a fun application method!

the only thing that was not so great about those foundation was the fact that they were freaking impossible to find! i try to avoid buying products for my skin online, just because i'm so fair and pale that most of them are too dark or yellow, even if the photos say otherwise. in korea the trend is to be lighter then here so it probably should be fine but the shade ''light beige'' by etude house doesn't sound convincing to me.

but the patience paid off. the sephora brand came up with a cushion foundation probably like 2 months ago, it's available here for 79 zlotys, which is fine really for a bit of a higher end foundation. the colour range seems small at first but try it out, it fits both me and my mum and she's quite tan. of course i'm using the lightest 14 ''soft beige''.

the product comes in, surprise surprise, a cushion. when you open the compact you get a mirror and a small puff, the actual product is hidden inside the case. out the cushion on your three fingers and press it into the cushion. the trick is though not to press it hard, the product is there, believe me, you can always come back. once you have that just pat it into your beautiful face, starting from the center. don't rub, i know the urge, just pat. you don't need a lot in my experience, three pushes is more then enough for me.

the coverage is just what it says, very natural and delicate yet it unifies (is that the correct word?) the skin tone. the truly amazing thing though is the freaking lasting effect!

i touch myself a lot. ok, that came out wrong. i touch my face a lot during the day, like resting my chin on my hand and such. usually a bb cream doesn't last all day, i get just a tiny bit of colour on the cotton pad in the evening. but this! this is different! freaking all day running around the city and it didn't budge. set with just powder (which isn't a must really but i can get a bit oily in the t-zone) and it's amazing.

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mischievous grapefruit

here i am being a bit of a bitch cause it's not available any more, but it's so good! l'occitane's ''pamplemousse-rhubarbe'' from their pierre herme collection. it was a limited edition during i think holiday time and i have the eau de toilette, shower gel and hand cream.

i'm not gonna go on about the actual gel or cream, you probably know l'occitane's products, if not, their hand creams have 20% shea butter and it's the bomb.

another thing is writing about the scent. i'm quite sensitive to smells but don't know the science at all. the things i found that can maybe tell you something:

top notes: rhubarb, grapefruit, lemon, cypress

heart notes: clove, nutmeg, lavender

base notes: cedar, vetiver

i don't really know if they are all here. what i can say though is that it smells citrusy, fresh with a bit of sweetness. it's a daytime perfume for sure, probably more summer appropriate but who cares. it's marketed unisex and i definitely agree, i would love a man to smell like that. the only downside is it's not so great lasting power. the gel and hand cream are good but the perfume itself i feel fades quite quickly. the one thing i found to be very good (i'm new to perfume so it's probably new only for me) is to spray it on your hair when it's almost dry, like one extra blow with the hairdryer. the smell doesn't overpower you and others really, subtle but i think that the rhubarb addition gives it a nice original touch.

i say that like you're gonna buy it or something. the only way i can think this information could be useful for you is if you want to know what i smell like. weird but now you know.

oh, and the mischievous part is a quote from the original description...

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the only good thing about valentines

i feel like valentine's day is only fun for couples and since i'm not a part of one, it's not fun for me. but! a lot of shops and whatnot come out with special offers and things because of that and i'm sure you take advantage of that too. so now i'm willing to give up my already battered hipster card for your possible pleasure.

i love coffee, any pretty much. so when i noticed that starbucks here came out with new flavours i had to try. and what a good idea that was...

i've been obsessed with flower flavoured things for ages and rose, apart from the all mighty lavender, is my favourite. the starbucks coffee is rose and pistachio flavoured with pink whipped cream, wha?! cool, right? it's good, go try it, unless you're not a fan of starbucks which i get.

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tiny wonders

in january my favourites mostly included (or solely really) beauty products. in march i feel like i'm gonna have more of those cause i found a lot of new things to test, but in february it's mostly other stuff i liked. the last thing i really want to talk about but i'm not sure if i have enough info is an exhibition i saw in cracow. it's in my favourites cause among all the stuff and works i've seen this month this has been the best (and believe me, i've seen masterpieces).

this is a tiny exhibit by takayuki hara held in manggha (a japanese/asian arts centre) in cracow. the title is ''before we fall again'' and consists of around 30 works done in various techniques. most are drawings but there are also graphics and these crazy sculptures made from blown out egg shells.

his works are very intricate and detailed, he must have a crazy good pencil sharpener. or a mechanical pencil... duh... anyway. the works are centered around the darkness of falling/failing, the different stages of that, the changes we go through. it's also dedicated to the artist's uncle who passed away, which i think is saying a lot. the whole thing is showing the ideas of a man between his falls and the magical world in his head, i guess.

but the interpretation is to each his own, that's how i see it. the works are very valuable on an artistic level too, that's why it's one of my favourites this month. here are some of my faves in the collection: