Mandii's Muse

It's time for another edition of Makeup Mail Call! This month I want to show you my March Ipsy bag! This month, I received a great mix of products! Some makeup, some skincare, and some haircare! What more could you ask for? Here is what was in my bag this month! Chella|Ivory Lace Highlighter Pencil: I love that this is in pencil form! I can be really precise, or just draw it on the areas I want to highlight. This is matte and flesh toned so while you are highlighting it looks like you have a glow, and not glittery. Pur-lisse|4 in 1 Cleanser and Makeup Remover: This is a gentle soy milk cleanser that is said to be non drying and sulfate free. I just bought a new face wash, so trying this will be put on hold for a while. Coolway|Glow Oil Treatment: I love having hair oil samples for travel! I have never heard of this brand, so I am excited to give this a try! Marsk|Eyeshadow: I received the color Fifty Shades, and I bet you could tell me what the color is!  ;) This is a ...

Today, I'm linking up with Andrea and Erika to share with you some of my favorite nail polishes. Honestly, I cannot tell you the last time I had polish on my nails. I have such a wide variety of colors, and I need to seriously just make the time and polish them every week. #goal. I'm a frugal gal, so most of my nail polishes come from the drugstore. I love getting samples in my Birchbox or Ipsy subscriptions, and have been exposed to new brands through those as well! There's more. Much more.  I've done some blog posts on my favorite polishes, and I hope that you love these colors as much as I do! Even though these posts are older, I still use these shades to this day, and are still appropriate almost two years later! My favorite colors for Spring/Summer include a beautiful nude shade, an awesome mint shade from Wet N Wild, and a pretty purple from Julep! Just in case any of my readers are experiencing the opposite season as I am right now, I wanted to giv...

Seeing my pink box in the mail is like Christmas. I can't help but get excited. Who wouldn't love getting makeup/haircare/skincare samples in the mail? This month's theme was Creativity. Sometimes I get stuck in a rut, so I could use some creativity sometimes! Here is what was in my box for the month of March! amika|Bombshell Blowout Spray: This spray reminds me of Redken Pillow Proof. This is said to smooth, protect, and volumize. I love Pillow Proof, so I am excited to see how this stacks up! Fekkai|PrX Reparatives Shampoo: This is said to strengthen and protect dry or damaged strands. I'm worried that this could be too moisturizing, and make my hair greasy from too much moisture. I might give this to one of my curly haired friends who need extra moisture in their hair. Jelly Pong Pong|Glow Getter Highlighter: This gives a pearlized shimmer. While I don't think it would look great on me now, in the Summer with a tan I think this would look pretty. This ap...

First of all, my bracket is toast. My South region is a mess, and worst of all my mom is beating my dad and I. ( She is definitely letting us know about it too! ) We're supposed to be the basketball pros, and here she is whipping our tail. (Love you Mom!) If you want to read about my tournament experience, you can find it here! Wednesday's mean that I link up with the Pleated Poppy to show you my outfit! Today, I wanted to show you what I wore during the NCAA Tournament in Pittsburgh! I wanted to look cute, but sporty. I didn't really have any affiliation to the teams that we saw, (except Butler. Along with Duke, I love me some Butler basketball!) so it wasn't necessary for me to wear a shirt with a team name on it. So I wore my ESPN shirt. My shirt read "ESPN YES, YES, YES!!" The back of it read "Yes I'm a woman, Yes, I know the game, Yes I watch ESPN." That shirt could not have been more perfect for me. I paired it with jeans, and my...

March Madness is a HUGE deal in my house. My parents and I fill out brackets, and we lose all productivity around the house. Honestly, there is nothing better than March basketball. Upsets happen, games come down to the wire, and it is so exciting! Recently, I went to the NCAA Tournament in Pittsburgh with my dad. I found out that Consol Energy Center was hosting, and I was going. No ifs, ands, or buts about it. Luckily, I found a Groupon for discounted seats. So I bought them. :) My dad and I went to the first session in the afternoon, so we saw 2 games. The evening session had 2 more games. Once Selection Sunday happened, we knew we were going to see Notre Dame vs, Northeastern, and Butler vs. Texas. Side Note: Now, I love me some Butler Basketball. I'm a diehard Duke fan, but I also cheer for Butler. I like the guys they recruit, I like their coach, and they are just a classy organization. Mike Brey, Notre Dame's coach is a former Duke assistant. He also runs a class...

I'm usually the one to turn people on to beauty products. This time, it was my mother. She came home from the hair dresser one day talking about this product that she used on her hair. She kept raving about it the next day about how well her curls stayed sleeping on it the night before.  So when I went to get my hair highlighted and ready for Spring/Summer, she used this product on me. My mom insisted we buy some, and after using it on a daily basis, I'm hooked. Image Redken Pillow Proof is a hair primer. It acts as a heat protectant, speeds up your blow dry time, and makes your style last longer. What more could you want? The day that my stylist used this product on me, she curled my hair. I threw it up in a messy bun to sleep in, and the next day, I only had to curl a few small strands of my hair, and it still looked like I walked out of the salon. This product does not make my hair greasy, and definitely makes my style last much longer that before! After using this p...

When you go to a high school that lets you drive your tractor to school one day, you would probably be wearing camouflage. I was not such a person to wear camo. Then, this shirt came into my life. Camo glam is the best way to describe this look. When I first saw this shirt, I was immediately drawn to it. Normally, I am not a camouflage wearing woman, but I LOVE this button up shirt! I guess I need a little bling for me to wear camo!  I wore this outfit to work, so I paired it with brown dress pants, and little brown ankle boots. I had a tank the exact same color as the pink on the cuffs, so I wore that underneath. The only problem, is that my shirt did not stay open, so you couldn't see it. I received a lot of compliments, and if I wanted to, I could wear this with jeans, and boots. Look closely and you can see the bling on the collar! Outfit Details: Camouflage blouse: Lane Bryant Brown Dress Pants: Lane Bryant Pink Tank: Old Navy Brown Boots: JC Penney ...

Before I start today's post, I want to wish everyone a Happy St. Patrick's Day! You better believe that I will be listening to Celtic Thunder, wearing my green, and playing the tin whistle today!! An even bigger event today, is my Grandpa's 92 birthday!! He is a lucky leprechaun!! Today's post is another installment of Momfessional's Show and Tell! Up today is our most embarrassing moment. Oh dear. I'm afraid I have many of these, and not many pictures to prove it. Just trust me that these happened, and laugh with me, okay? Image The first embarrassing moment happened in gym class during high school. We were playing volleyball (ugh!) and it was definitely not my sport. So the ball was hit, and I went to go after it. I got my arms in position and was getting ready to send the ball back over the net, and it hit me smack dab in the face!!! I wasn't even close to hitting it over. I could not have been hit more squarely with the ball. Luckily, I had no ...

I don't know about you, but I really like these Motivation Monday posts. It sets my week off right, and puts me in a good mood. I saw this fact on Pinterest, and was blown away. The phrase "Do Not Be Afraid" is written in the Bible 365 times.  Image There are 365 days in a year. Coincidence? I think not. Three hundred and sixty five times this is written.  I know that I don't have to be afraid. God is guiding me and protecting me on a daily basis. I should live each day without fear because my days are already planned out for me. I don't know what each day entails, but God does. He knows about the hard times, and the exciting times. Not being afraid is hard. I come from a long line of worriers. I started worrying from a young age. When I was little I was afraid that I would swallow my tongue, or quit breathing. So I wouldn't swallow, and hold my hand under my nose to make sure I was breathing. (What kid thinks of these things?!) I didn't have ...

Raise your hand if you are ready for Spring!! In the last few weeks we have had 4 two hour delays because of cold Arctic air. I think at one point it was warmer in Alaska than Pennsylvania. Something is definitely wrong with that picture! So for my outfit, I was channeling Spring. **It is finally starting to get warmer now!! It was 50 yesterday!! This sweater is a beautiful mint color, and is three quarter sleeves. It is also soft, and pretty warm. I love pastel, and bright colors for Springtime. Personally, I also feel like I look better with brighter colors against my skin tone. I paired it with simple navy blue pants, and light wedges. This look was appropriate for work, but also for running a few errands if I had to. Outfit Details: Sweater: Ross Dress 4 Less Pants: Old Navy Shoes: Ross Dress 4 Less The only complaint I have about my outfit, is that my pants are starting to stain my light wedges. I haven't figured out a way to clean them without ruining the shoes. If ...

I figured I would let you know that I am still here!! Honestly, I have been really busy with subbing, and some of my weekends are full that I haven't had time to sit down and really plan my posts out. However, I am trying to improve upon that. I just wanted to share a few things that I have been up to lately! As always, thank you so much for reading, commenting, pinning, sharing etc my blog. I really appreciate it! (If you follow my Instagram account, these pictures will probably look familiar!) I was tired of my "winter" hair, so I called my stylist and she fixed me right up! I'm a little blonder, and I LOVE it!! A local restaurant has $5 burgers on Tuesday's. My new favorite has been the Greek burger. It has red onion, feta cheese, and spinach in a Greek dressing, served with fries. On this particular night, the restaurant played Uptown Funk twice. It was the perfect Tuesday. In college basketball news, my beloved Dukies swept their arch riva...

Makeup Mail Call again! This time I am sharing my Ipsy bag from February. I received some great products, that I can't wait to try out! Here are the products I received! Model Co Blush| Peach Bellini: This blush is a pretty pinky/peach shade. It has a slight sparkle, and will look pretty and natural with many different looks. I own lip products from Model Co, so I am excited to try a face product! Tini Beauty with Rob Scheppy|Eyeshadow: This color is a champagne shimmer shade. I have plans to wear this with this on the lid, with a matte crease and highlight shade. I'm interested in seeing how pigmented this is! Joya|Composition No. 1 Parfum Oil: This oil smells very nice! It is slightly citrusy, and musky among other things. This comes in a cute little roll on, which is great for travel. This scent will be nice for Spring. A little goes a long way! Luxie Beauty|Large Angled Face Brush 504: This brush is SO soft! The brush is angled so it will be great for blush or a ...

Most of the time today, you hear or think about the negative in people. Negativity is plastered all over the news. People complain about servers, customer service representatives, or cashiers all the time. Positivity is a rare thing in today's world.  Looking for gold can be be hard. Maybe the woman in front of you in line was rude to the cashier. What we might not know is that she may have an ailing husband at home. Perhaps the man that was talking to you on the phone was short with you. What if his house burnt down and his family lost everything? Look for the positive in people. Maybe you gave your waitress a little extra tip because she looked like she was having a bad day. That's positive. Maybe you complimented a new mom who was looking frazzled with her kids. You might have just made her day. A positive thing that my family and I like to do is to bring meals to those in need. Maybe they just came out of the hospital, or have been going through a rough patch. We c...