Mandii's Muse

Who doesn't love getting mail? Who doesn't love getting beauty products for virtually nothing? I answered yes to both questions! It was time for me to cash my Birchbox points in for some goodies. Usually, I agonize over and over on what to get, but this year I was pretty quick in my decision making. Don't worry, I was surprised myself! My dilemma with Birchbox is this. I always love to get the most "bang for my buck" when I pick out items. I love a lot of products, but I don't want to use my points on a $34 bottle of hair oil if you know what I mean. I had 764 points, which means I had $70 worth of money to use! Two words. Yes. Please! So with this haul, I got a lot of products for my money, and I also got to try some new products too! Here is the haul! The first thing I decided to get was a leopard Baggu Duck bag. I loved my first polka dotted one so much that I decided to order a new one! Leopard is always in style, so that is why I chose that one!

Well, I did it again. I went to another LuLaRoe (LLR) party, and bought more fabulous pieces. Don't know what the fuss about LLR is? Check out my first party experience here ! Another one of my Mom's friends was having a pop up shop at her home. Just like before there were rack and bins of maxis, skirts, t-shirts, leggings, and dresses. One of the great parts about LLR is they only make 1000 of each print. Because nothing screams awkward than going to a party and seeing someone in a carbon copy of your outfit! Do people these days even know what carbon paper is?!  They also don't have a catalog. If you like something...snag it ASAP because it won't be here for long! Anyway, let me introduce you to the pieces I purchased: the Randy, the Julia, and the leggings. If you were to look at my closet you will notice these colors: pink, black, royal blue, and grey. So it came to no surprise that I purchased pieces that had those colors in them. First up, the Randy tee. I c

This post is brought to you by the color pink. ;) These are just three items I bought from Amazon. I have several other items in my wishlist, and am going to be placing another order soon. Oddly (well, maybe not) enough, all of my purchases were pink. To the family members reading this, this is no surprise. The first item I purchased was an armband for my phone. I downloaded my workout playlist, and want to use my phone for the 5ks I plan on doing this summer. I didn't want to have to worry about holding my phone, or sticking it somewhere where it could get lost. I currently have a Lifeproof style case on, and it will not fit inside the armband. But when I take it out, it will fit perfectly, and I will be able to use my phone without having to worry about dropping it! My next item was a Baggu reusable bag. This is my third Baggu bag, and I absolutely love them! I am going to purchase another bag but in a different style. I am going to do a separate review on these, so stay tu

One of the many reasons why I love Birchbox so much is because of their points system. For every product you review on the Birchbox website, they give you 10 points to say thanks! After a while those points add up and you can redeem them for full sized products from the Birchbox Shop!  The decision has finally been made! I agonized for weeks over what I wanted to order. I tried numerous combinations of products in my cart, and finally settled on these ones! For you reference, I had $70 to spend. (Thanks surveys!) I chose the Stila In the Know eyeshadow palette. Ever since getting my Meet Matte Nude palette, I have had a love of matte shadows. I swatched this in Ulta, and loved how creamy and pigmented they were! Plus that orange shade, Fire; perfect for Fall! ($39.00) Next, I couldn't pass up trying the Coastal Scents Step One eye primer. I like to see how long shadow will last on my oily lids. As a bonus, I loved the price! ($9.95) Continuing with the "eye" theme

I bought some things at Wal-Mart this past weekend. Some I was looking for, and some I weren't! The best part of the haul is that it cost me under $20, which I love! I found these Avia tennis shoes. These were in the clearance section for $10! They style is the Avia Burst, and are red and purple. I don't think I will be using these for walking, because they don't appear to be strong enough support. However, these will be great for running errands, or when I just want to look cute! My next purchase was a Faded Glory lace trimmed tank. I needed a black one for a pair of pants I own, and I love how the lace adds a feminine touch to the shirt. This was on sale for $3! Lastly, I wanted to buy some Conair Section and Set clips. I have been finding that when I use the clips to "set" my hair when I use the curling iron, they last better. They come in a set of 12, and I found that that was not enough for my hair, so I bought this second set. These were $1.98.

The Michael's store by my house is huge. I however, never make it past the front door. Why? The $1 section. I almost always pick up a few things from the dollar bins. It sucks me in. I can't help it! This time, I could have spent easily $20. I didn't and had great restraint. Haha! Here are a few of the tings I did buy! Blank Notecards: I have been all about monograms lately. So when I saw these with the letter "M" and that they were pink, I had to have it! These come in a package of 6. I also think that little handwritten notes are becoming a thing of the past, and it is always nice to receive a little note in the mail! Red Container: I later found out that this is magnetic! You can hang it on your fridge if you want! I haven't quite decided how I wanted to use this yet, but I will think of something! Washi Tape: I have heard the buzz surrounding washi tape, and saw some and picked it up. I loved the red with the polka dots, and the chevron pink is to

So, I had my first experience at Ulta on Friday. A new store opened about 30 minutes from my house, and of course this beauty obsessed girl had to check it out!    ;)  All I can say is, I have already started to compile a list of the products I want to buy and try out. It was really nice to see a lot of the products that I have heard about on YouTube, or QVC, and physically touch and swatch them. Needless to say, I am DEFINITELY going back! I did, however buy something on this first trip! My blog readers know how much I detest spending money. Get ready for this readers, I spent $20 on a lipstick! I can still hardly believe it myself. I bought the Vitality Lip Flush in Je Ne Sais Quoi from IT Cosmetics. This color goes on clear but changes with your pH level. Once I try it more, I will write a review. On the lips, this feels wonderful! Since I spent $20, when I checked out, the sales lady gave me a free 4 ounce bottle of It's a 10 Miracle Leave in Conditioner. I was surprised and

I'm sorry my blog didn't go up the past 2 days. I have been a horrible blogger this week. Stick with me though, I have some great posts coming up! I am still learning the ropes when it comes to blogging. Forgive me?  Today, I have a very small haul from JC Penney! It is one of my favorite stores to shop at, and the items I got were $4.97. Yes, that was the actual price.  The bright colored top is by Liz Claiborne. I am not usually drawn to colorful tops like this, but when I tried it on, I was instantly in love with it. This type of blouse can be worn with jeans, grey pants, you name it. It came with a lilac tank to go underneath. I have been loving chiffon type blouses lately, and these can be worn summer or winter.  This black jacket is by Xersion. I love the material on this jacket. It isn't t-shirt material, but won't pill or get snagged. I can throw this on with jeans, or with my black workout shorts. Plus, you can't go wrong with the color black!!

Here are some of the beauty gifts I received. I didn't have a lot of these in mind, so my parents and aunt and uncle did a good job! Beauty: Mary Kay Skinvigorate cleanser: I was wobbling back and forth on a Clarisonic, and this is doing a good job for me so far! I will do a review once I use it more! Dotting tool and brush: I have wanted a dotting tool for SO long! This was a great stocking stuffer item for me, and I can't wait to use it! Blistex Lip Vibrance Lip Balm: This is a tinted lip balm that has SPF 15. The color is a beautiful rosy color. It smells like strawberries! Contact lens case: This will be absolutely brilliant for traveling. The case is enclosed in a case. I love the red pattern, and I can just throw this in my bag and know where my contacts are. Now I still have some Christmas money that will start to burn a hole in my pocket, so I might use that to buy a beauty item I have been coveting. I haven't decided yet. So what beauty items did you

I did some shopping this weekend, and I thought I would share it with you! I collected these items over a few days, and all of it was super cheap! (Cheap=Happy Mandii!)   I bought these bandanas at Hobby Lobby. I saw Kandee Johnson's tutorial on how to tie a bandana and I wanted to recreate that look. These are slightly larger than an average bandana. I bought the red one because I am going to a tailgate at a college, and their colors are red and white! The pink one, well, who doesn't love pink and white polka dots? Best part about it, they were $.99! I bought this Freeman Paper Mask at Wal-Mart. I have been seeing a lot recently about paper masks, and I wanted to try one. This one is made for oily skin. It has starfruit, lavender, and tea tree in it. This was only $1.37. If I like it, I might go back and get more! If you know me, you know I love a good trip to Walgreens! I picked up 3 products from Jordana, and 1 product from Sinful Colors. The Jordana products I picked