Hello everyone,

Happy Friday to all of you! I haven't written a monthly favorites post in a while and they are my favorite kind of posts because I get to share a little more of myself and what I like with you.

So for today's 'Fridays with Mandy' post I'll be sharing with you what I have been loving throughout January. In all honesty these are products I've enjoyed since December, which means these are my more my current obsessions than favorites. 

To start off I have been probably overusing my Escada Turquoise Summer perfume. Yes you read that right, it says Summer. I got this as a birthday present from my brother, which is very generous of him. It is comes in 3 different volumes and mine is 30 ml. It is limited edition as Escada launches their annual fragrance and this one is of course for 2015. The packaging itself is very attractive. The box features a lot of flowers, butterflies and berries and it just looks divine! It comes in a blue bottle with a silver cap which has a hot pink interior. As a person who loved details I am amazed by how much attention they paid just to the packaging. Moving on to the scent, it is a fresh fruity scent with pineapple and berries as top notes. I love the tutti frutti mixture. It does come off a little strong at first but the scent melts into the skin within a few minutes., It lasts for a good 4-5 hours before you would need another refreshing spritz. However if you're not one for fruity scents it's best to stay away from this one.

Another favorite is my Sleek The Gold Standard palette which I reviewed back in December ( http://mandy-s-heart.blogspot.com/2015/12/reviewi-lust-eyeshadow-palette-in-gold.html ) When the festive season came to an end I expected it to be in the corner of my drawer until there was a special occasion. However it has been the opposite of that; this is the palette I've been reaching out for most days in January. It contains a lot of shimmery colors and while I'm not one for shimmery lips I can't resist a bit of shimmer on my eyes. My everyday makeup look was basically either Vera (gold) or Coco (coppery bronze) on my eyes with a little bit of mascara. What I love about these eye shadows is that they have great pigmentation and they blend really easily. I thought Sleek blushes were good but my, these eye shadows are Gold! *Ignore the pun* hehe :) This palette is well worth the $11.49 price tag!




I also purchased a love bracelet from Royal and Regal. I've lusted after these bangles which are replicas of the Cartier love bracelets ever since I saw them on their Instagram page. So I got myself one in Rose Gold. I love this so much and I half expected it to last a week at most but I am surprised at how well these are made. I've been wearing it every single day since I bought it so I HAD  to include this in my favorites. I did a lot more that buy this bracelet so look out for a post on my haul. Everyday I'm shufflin' haulin'. 






Moving on, I also have been loving the Jordana Matte Lipstick in No. 42 Terra Cotta. I'm absolutely over the moon with this one. For me it ticks all the boxes in terms of the formula, the pigmentation and ease of application. It looks more brown in the tube but on my lips it adjusts into a brown that's equally mixed with orange. I find it to be very flattering on my tan skin tone than most orange/ brown shades. I was surprised to find that their lipsticks have different formulations. So if you're new to the Jordana matte lipsticks and want to purchase this one, check out my review of their matte lipstick in Taupe which has the same formulation as this Terra Cotta one. ( http://mandy-s-heart.blogspot.com/2015/03/review-jordana-matte-lipstick.html )

Onto skincare favorites, I have been loving the ST. Ives Daily hydrating body lotion with Vitamin E. My skin has been extra dry over the past couple of months, and out of all the products I tried to make my skin feel moisturized this was my absolute favorite. The best part of this product is that it is non-greasy. It's very gentle and has a subtle scent which is not too overpowering. It just made my skin feel fresh and so much healthier in comparison to its state before. This product does not contain any parabens, and is not tested on animals.




Over the month of December I was so busy that it was barely 'the holidays' for me. So I didn't have as much time to read but this month I've been getting back on track and I have loved re-reading the book 'How to stop worrying and start living' by Dale Carnegie. It's a great read for anyone who is interested in reading for self-improvement and understanding oneself and others. It speaks to anyone who identifies themselves as worrying more often than not and feeling anxiety. It was very educational and at the same time a good wake-up call for me personally and I would highly recommend it to anyone. For an animated review, check out this video by FightMediocrity https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4UYYzbzGk6s



To end the post on a lighter note, another favorite of this month was watching Grease Live. I loved the production; it was seriously amazing in terms of the performance of the cast and how quick the changes were.  I loved Rizzo- Vanessa just elevated not just the standards of performance but also professionalism. Julianne Hough was incredible: how she managed to sing hopelessly devoted after that high power dance routine, I have no idea. I got chills and they were multiplying ;) I'm sorry for my neighbors who now have to continuously listen to my renditions of Grease songs.

That sums up my January Favorites. Click the photos to direct you to the websites of the featured products/ brands. Thank you for reading this post and let me know what your January favorites are in a comment below.

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Much love,