So far, the spring season has been sporadic at best. Some days, there is snow, other days, rain, and then occasionally, there is sunshine scattered throughout the day. Despite the inconsistent weather, the spring season always makes me think of pastel colours and blue skies. Perhaps that is why it seemed like an appropriate time to put the Care Bears Eyeshadow Palette from Taste Beauty to the test. The goal? Create a colourful spring makeup look inspired by the much loved Care Bears.
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.
Spring is officially here! Normally, I am the kind of person who holds tightly onto the last remaining days of winter, but this year, it feels like a change of season is in order. Yes, it is time for sunshine, flowers, and warmer temperatures. I am looking forward to walks with my husband and even some overdue cleaning tasks. (It just isn't spring without a bit of spring cleaning on the to do list.) Something else that piques my interest? Spring fashion trends for 2024. Here are a few favourites.
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.
This is my favourite time of year. Even though there are endless lists of things to do (decorating, catching up with friends, mailing holiday cards, baking, cleaning, and more importantly, watching lots and lots of Christmas movies)...there is also a lot of joy. When I start to feel overwhelmed trying to balance it all, seasonal favourites to remind me how much this time of year means. They bring me back to a place of wonder and delight. Though there have been a lot of holiday-related items making me smile recently, from classic movies to songs on the radio...here are a few of the standout seasonal favourites for 2023.
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.
Oh, the weather outside is frightful, but the fire is so delightful....Is it obvious that I have been listening to Christmas music non-stop recently? Between records, CDs, cassettes, and the radio, something is playing Christmas music at all times. My house is essentially my own personal North Pole at this point. While listening to "Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!" the idea popped into my head to do an icy winter makeup look and a warm fireplace inspired look to mirror the iconic opening line from the song. Since warm makeup looks are in my comfort zone, it made sense to start there. Especially since I had a couple of lip products from Kylie Cosmetics to put to good use. It is time to feel festive with this seasonal makeup look.
Happy Halloween! Today is all about candy, costumes, spooky sounds, and themed movies. There are many different ways to celebrate the holiday, so however you choose to spend this Halloween, here is hoping it is a day (and night) to remember. Truth be told, this Halloween season has been a lot of fun for me. My husband and I went to two different Pumpkin Inferno events earlier in the month and visited a Halloween drive-thru light show recently. I also decorated my apartment very thoughtfully (I wanted to make sure each and every item that was out made me happy and represented the magic of spooky season) and watched lots and lots of different movies and cartoons. This has without a doubt been my best Halloween season ever. So...I wanted to share some of the seasonal accessories that have been adding to all of the wonder over the last month or so.
Some nail polish colours just call to me. Especially when those colours remind me of the fall season. Though the Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Pride polish, shown above, was part of the Pride collection released during the summer...it has been sitting in my nail polish drawer waiting for the arrival of autumn. Now that we are approaching the end of October (how did that happen?!) the polish has been in heavy rotation lately. Ready to find out how it performs? Take a look at a quick and easy fall nail look?
