Hello Pretty Bird! - A beauty and not-so-glamorous lifestyle blog: November 2013

30 November, 2013

Holiday Gift Idea: STEAMCREAM Moisturizer

PR Sample

I completely forgot to say this yesterday, but happy Hanukkah to all of you who celebrate it! My sister's kids took great delight in wishing anyone and everyone a "Happy Thanksgivikkah" at Thanksgiving dinner on Thursday, so it's quite silly of me to forget.

Anyway, now that Thanksgiving is over it's time to get serious about Christmas gift shopping. I recently got to try STEAMCREAM moisturizer and thought I'd share my thoughts, as STEAMCREAM tins would likely make an excellent gift or stocking stuffer for the skincare junkie in your life.


STEAMCREAM moisturizer moisturiser Shu tin


29 November, 2013

Some Black Friday online beauty deals worth checking out (2013)

Affiliate Links

Hey everybody! Hope all of you who celebrated Thanksgiving had a good one. Personally I went to my sister's house and watched her three sons wrestle each other and eat turkey legs larger than their heads, though getting there wasn't as simple as it should have been:




Always a blast when that happens. Anyway, I thought I'd write up a list of some of the juicier Black Friday deals I've seen advertised lately, because I'm sure many of us will be hitting up the sales for our holiday shopping needs. I've done my best to provide accurate info and links - if you spot any mistakes let me know!

27 November, 2013

Weekly Poll: Do Beauty Bloggers Require Solid Makeup Skills?

Today's Wednesday so it's time to have your say! Come join in the weekly poll, Awesome Patrol!

I'm a POET.


OK, so I'm a bit nervous about posting today's question(s) because I worry that they will be a bit controversial for some. Maybe. Probably not. But YOLO or something, right? This week's topic is for anyone who reads beauty blogs (so all of you):


Do you think bloggers posting makeup looks, FOTDs and tutorials should have a high level of makeup skill? Why or why not? Does your opinion change if it's a professional blogger?


Personally I would say no, because there are people who excel in other areas of makeup blogging that are valuable to the community (like swatching or writing interesting reviews) so having perfect eyeshadow technique or whatever in their FOTDs isn't necessarily that important. And I'm including pro beauty bloggers in that assessment, because there are people who have built hugely successful niche blogs mainly off reviews and whatnot.

As for tutorials, if I saw one that didn't look good I probably would just pass over it without spending too much time thinking about it. Of course you may feel differently than I do - what say you? When do you see a blogger with no makeup skills do you run for the hills? (Okay, the rhyming needs to stop NOW, R.)

21 November, 2013

3 Things That Don't Suck: Roses, Roses, Roses

Affiliate Links Bought It

It seems like rose is one of those scents that people tend to love or hate. Personally I'm in the "love" category, but I've had many a friend tell me they thought rose perfume smelled old lady-ish. But they're wrong I tell you, SO WRONG!

Today I thought I'd show you three of my favorite rose-themed beauty products. I realize that this is not seasonally appropriate at all, but I've been using all three of these things on a daily basis lately so that must count for something, right?



20 November, 2013

Weekly Poll: Holiday Gifts for Men

Hey hey it's Wednesday! Guess what that means? It's time for another weekly poll!


This week's question is for those of you who are buying holiday gifts for men this year:

What sort of holiday gifts do you typically give the men in your life? Or if you are a man, what sorts of gifts do you like to receive?


I ask this because I'm sort of stumped for ideas and my boyfriend is a pain in the ass to shop for. And he probably wouldn't appreciate getting one of the million makeup holiday sets that I think are pretty, believe it or not. He likes surprises, but when I ask him what general categories of things he might be interested in he always gives me a sassy answer. For example, earlier today I asked him what his favorite gifts were last Christmas and he answered "Chocolate, chocolate and CHOCOLATE!" and then he laughed like a giddy little schoolgirl. NOT HELPFUL, DUDE.

This topic was actually inspired by a post about manly soaps over at A Beauty Product A Day, and I wrote about Dollar Shave Club yesterday, so those are a couple of ideas. But soaps and razors just don't seem that exciting on their own... and don't even think of suggesting socks, because my mom sends him enough to outfit ten people every year.

So what say you, holiday shoppers? Do you have some gifts in mind for the men in your life? Or if you just want to complain about people who are hard to shop for in the comments that's fine too. :P

10 November, 2013

Review: Kuan Yuan Lian Cucumber Water Spray

Bought It

It's official: The heating in my apartment is totally drying out my skin. Which is why I'm glad that I have an array of facial mists on hand, including Kuan Yuan Lian's Cucumber Water Spray. Today's review was requested by Yomi C in the post about my last Sasa haul... which I made almost a month ago, yikes. I'm a bad blogger for just getting around to it now! I will be writing up a review of the Bio-essence Lifting Cream in the near future as well for those who were interested.


Kuan Yuan Lian Cucumber Water Spray

08 November, 2013

Two blogger awards/tags: The Versatile Blogger & The Liebster Award

Hello everybody! So this week I was nominated for not one but TWO blogging awards/tags by two of my fellow bloggers: Chibilaria and Insane About Makeup. Thank you so much to both of you! I'm really flattered that you thought of me.

I decided to consolidate both of these into one post... hope you don't mind! Of course I will answer both of your questions separately. :)

06 November, 2013

Review: Shills Luminous City Block SPF43/PA+++

Bought It

Put your hand up if you like BB cream! Now put your other hand up if you're entertained by confusing packaging! Now wave your hands in the air and scream if you'd like to read a review of something that fits into both of those categories!

Shills Luminous City Block may appeal to fans of light coverage BB creams and/or tinted moisturizers... assuming you're not stupid like me and know what you're actually buying.


Shills Luminous City Block SPF43/PA+++


I bought this a couple of months ago from Sasa.com thinking it was simply a suncream, but it's actually more like a tinted moisturizer. Which wouldn't be a bad thing if it weren't so terribly wrong for my skin tone. At first I wasn't going to review Shills City Block because I goofed and it isn't really what I intended to buy, but lately I've had a bunch of search hits from people looking for reviews on this, so I thought I'd at least share some basic info about the product.

04 November, 2013

Tips & Tricks: How To Get Yankee Candle Tarts For Half the Price

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I've been on a scented candle-burning kick lately. I don't know if it's because there's a chill in the air or because the days are growing darker, but the visual "warmth" of candles is a really lovely thing to have around your home, and of course pleasant fragrances go well with any season. :)

Personally I'm a fan of small votive candles and tarts because I like changing up which scent I'm using frequently, and those massive candles in jars can last a loooong time. If you don't know what a "tart" is, I mean those wickless scented wax melts that you burn in a "tart burner" like this or this. Here's a picture of some Yankee Candle tarts to illustrate:




Yankee Candle tarts normally retail for $1.99 apiece, which isn't terribly expensive but we all like to save money whenever possible, right? So today I'll be sharing a quick tip on how to how to slice your tart budget in half.