It's a beautiful Easter egg mornin' with a bright coloured Easter egg sky... Happy Easter to all who are celebrating today! This has always been one of my favourite holidays. I love the bunny decorations, the chocolate, the seasonal movies, and the time spent with loved ones. This particular holiday always seems to be so full of hope and optimism. Maybe it is because the sunshine has returned and the spring season is in full bloom. (Or maybe it has to do with the baskets full of jellybeans, chocolate eggs, and other assorted treats.) Whatever the reason, this holiday is always a highlight. Since seasonal movies and television specials are an obsession of mine, it only makes sense to share some of the best Easter movies and specials. 

I have loved a lot of bands over the years. Westlife is one of them. As a boyband fan who always looked forward to Brit List (in my adolescence, YTV had a music countdown show called the Hit List, and the Brit List episodes were focused on music videos from popular artists in the UK)...Bryan, Shane, Mark, Kian, and Nicky were an important part of my life. I had posters from imported Top of the Pops magazines that I bought at Chapters. I had every album. I listened to every song over and over again. Though years have passed, their music, old and new, has continued to be a meaningful part of my life. I've spoken here on Mansa Fashion. in the past about being bullied and feeling like an outsider in my younger years. Back then, music was my safe place...my escape. I suppose it still is. Which is why it was so exciting that Westlife recently embarked on a small North American tour for the first time. It was promoted as a St Patrick's Day Special. Ready to find out how it was? Keep reading...

Hard Candy and the holidays are a perfect match. For many years now, there have been Hard Candy holiday themed items added to my collection during the month of December...and this year was no different. There is a lot to love about Hard Candy in general. The brand offers some stellar products for pretty affordable prices. Their holiday releases are especially easy on the wallet. The three sets above ranged from $5 CDN to $10 CDN. Ready to take a closer look at these budget friendly products? Find out whether these Hard Candy holiday sets perform well? Here is everything you need to know about these items...

There is a lot to love about the holiday season. One example? Advent calendars. I love them a lot, but over the years, it has been harder to find decent ones that aren't overly expensive. (Even though I love watching people open all sorts of advent calendars on YouTube, the idea of spending hundreds or even thousands of dollars on an advent calendar is ridiculous to me.) Thankfully, the Charmed Aroma 12 Days of Jewelry advent calendar was a little more reasonable, especially because the store had a sale taking place when the calendar was purchased. Sadly, there is not a lot of Charmed Aroma in my future, because the store near me finally closed. This calendar was purchased in late November and the store was closed on Boxing Day! I suppose the treasures inside of this advent will carry me through. Ready to take a peek inside? Here is a look at this jewellery advent.

Welcome 2024! Somehow, a new year has arrived, but today, I am taking a moment to look back at the year that has ended. What a year it was. To be honest, I can't say that 2023 was my favourite year ever, though there were certainly some highlights. Generally speaking...it was a mixture of good and not so good. The good? Seeing Clay Aiken in Niagara Falls, a vacation to Montreal, a special getaway with my husband in the fall (there were Halloween events and even a spaceship themed hotel room), and getting a new pet fish. The bad? Getting COVID in the summer (I was down for the count for about a month), the end of a longtime friendship, lots of anxiety, losing even more faith in humanity, and many of my loved ones getting COVID riiiiight before Christmas. Yeah, 2023 was a lot. Needless to say, I am looking forward to 2024. I am hoping for a better year.

Merry Christmas! It is difficult to believe that the day has arrived already. Though the holiday season is always busy, this year, things have been especially hectic since my loved ones have been under the weather recently. It delayed all of the decorating, wrapping, and baking that normally takes place at my parents house throughout the month of December. Ultimately, everything became rushed and last minute...which took a bit of the fun out of the season. Despite all of that, I did my best to make Christmas as special and magical as possible. (There have been lots of movies and Christmas carols.) I hope that your holiday season has been wonderful and exciting. And I hope your Christmas Day is everything you imagined it would be. 

Life has certainly been busy lately. I suppose that is always the way around Christmas time. There is so much to get done...there are so many activities...and of course, there are so many holiday specials to watch! This season has been a bit different. Unfortunately, some of my loved ones have been under the weather. (COVID strikes again.) That has put a damper on the season - and has made all of the decorating, wrapping, and baking at my family home feel very last minute and thrown together. Normally, we do things bit by bit over the month of December, but we really have had to just do our best with the time remaining. The next couple of days are sure to be hectic, as we desperately make up for lost time. In the meantime, I am taking a moment to pause and look back at a few seasonal highlights. This month, there have been trips to the mall, advent calendars, holiday movie nights (my husband and I went to see The Grinch and The Polar Express in theatres), gift drop offs to friends, and drives around to look at all of the Christmas lights. Even though this holiday season hasn't been exactly what I imagined, I am doing my best to focus on the good. So, here are some pictures of my decorations, some sweet treats, and even some holiday themed makeup brushes that I have been using recently. Keep reading for some seasonal inspiration...

It was February 2020 and I was stuck in bed with a terrible cold. I remember that I had called in sick to work for a few days and was feeling especially miserable and restless. (I never could have predicted how much life would change just a few weeks later, when the COVID-19 lockdowns happened and toilet paper became the most sought after item in town.) While resting in bed, surrounded by tissues, I scrolled through different streaming platforms for Christmas cartoons in an effort to cheer myself up. Enter Perennial Pictures. On Amazon Prime, I found a cartoon called Up On The Housetop from 1993. It filled me with an indescribable sense of joy and safety. I felt better than I had in days. Next, there was a recommendation for another cartoon from the same company, then another, and another. Soon, I was looking up the Perennial Pictures website to make sure I didn't miss one single moment of animated bliss. I watched everything I could get my hands on...and then watched it all again.

There has been a lot of seasonal reading taking place lately. Truth be told, I always have a stack of books waiting to be read, but a few books were set aside specifically for this time of year. Some of the books in the pile were thrifted and some were brand new...but all were ready to make the holiday season feel a little more magical. Ready to find out more about the Christmas themed books that I have been reading lately? Here is everything you need to know about these seasonal stories. 

Sometimes, the right nail polish can make all the difference. Especially during the holiday season when there is so much to see, do, and explore. After all, there are often dinners with friends and family, shopping excursions, twinkling lights to see, and hot chocolates to drink. It only makes sense to have fabulous nails for each and every seasonal moment. Though I am not super skilled when it comes to nail art or anything like that...there are some fabulous nail polishes in my collection that make life a little bit brighter during this time of year. Ready to see some of the standouts? Maybe you have something similar in your nail polish collection or are looking for a little inspiration this month. Either way, there is lots to love about fabulous nail polishes. 

In previous years, there have been several posts dedicated to obscure Christmas movies, specials, and cartoons here on Mansa Fashion. The reason is simple. I love them...a lot. Though the more popular holiday movies and specials make me smile, there is something extra thrilling about discovering media that is lesser known. Something new-to-me. Something I might have missed before. I used to find all sorts of random Christmas movies at the dollar store and at different thrift stores. This year, I have managed to find some hidden gems on free streaming platforms. I absolutely love free streaming sites, because it is often possible to find lesser known media from the 80s, 90s, and 00s. How exciting! Today, I wanted to share five of my favourite obscure Christmas cartoons. Each one has been adding to the magic of the holiday season this year. 

Christmas time is here. Happiness and cheer. Fun for all that children call their favourite time of year. Peanuts and the holiday season have long gone hand in hand, thanks to the iconic Christmas special, "A Charlie Brown Christmas." So, it is no surprise that makeup brands would want to release Peanuts themed products during the holiday season. Last year, Wet n Wild did just that, with a collection that included blush palettes, beauty blenders, and all sorts of other themed items. At that time, I was able to find the Merry Christmas, Charlie Brown Eyeshadow Palette. (That eyeshadow palette has been in heavy rotation for the past year.) When I was in the England recently on a shopping trip, I came across another Peanuts x Wet n Wild product. This time, it was the What Christmas Is All About 3-Piece Multi-Stick Set.  Does it work?? It is time to find out. 

To all of my Canadian readers...Happy Canada Day! To everyone else...Happy Saturday! Since it is a holiday where I live (but I don't have any real plans, aside from working on assignments and maybe eating a burger for dinner) it made sense to do a themed #FOTD here on Mansa Fashion. In honour of the Canadian flag colours, my makeup look today is red and white. To create the look, lots of different products in my makeup collection were used, most of them drugstore or on the more affordable side. Ready to take a peek? Here is my red and white makeup look inspired by Canada Day.

Happy Easter! Or should I say...Hoppy Easter? (Is it too early in the morning for a bad joke? Ahh, it is never too early.) This is one of my favourite days of the year. Though there are many different ways to celebrate Easter, for me, it is about family, chocolate, and feeling like a kid again. It is about hope, sunshine, and miracles. However you are choosing to spend the day, my fingers are crossed that it will be overloaded with joy, wonder, and lots of delicious treats. And maybe even an Easter egg hunt.