Indie Christmas: Notoriously Morbid's "A Dark Christmas Dream"

Bought It

Attention: We interrupt your regularly scheduled programming to bring you Indie Friday: The Christmas Edition! A bit late for the big day, but 'tis basically still the season, right?

For this extra-Christmassy edition of Indie Friday I thought I'd spotlight Notoriously Morbid's new "A Dark Christmas Dream" collection, which I got some sample baggies of during their Black Friday sale.

Merry Christmas Everybody!

Merry Christmas to all of you who celebrate, and a very merry Wednesday to those of you who don't!

Image source: photoraidz on FreeDigitalPhotos.net

I won't be doing a poll question this week because I'm sure a lot of people will be busy doing holiday stuff offline today, but if you're bored (and/or avoiding certain family members) feel free to share what you'll be doing for the holiday in the comments. Personally I'll be cooking a massive meal with my boyfriend and watching stupid movies... oh, and in case anyone was wondering, the tinsel surprise was a success. :)

Enjoy your day!

Review & Swatches: e.l.f. Studio Moisturizing Lipstick

Affiliate Links Bought It

Hello holiday shoppers! Have you spent all of your money yet? Well, if you've got $3 left to spend on yourself perhaps you might be interested in a review of e.l.f.'s new Studio Moisturizing Lipsticks, which are - you guessed it - only three bucks each.

Today I'll be reviewing/swatching these lipsticks in three shades: Coral Cutie, Party in the Buff, and Flirty & Fabulous.

Current Fave: Tony Moly Intense Care Dual Effect Sleeping Pack

Affiliate Links Bought It

Fun Fact: My apartment is ROASTING HOT right now. I'm sure I've complained about this before, but since the landlord controls the heat in our building it's often way too hot and dry in here. So here I sit in December, with the windows open and shorts on, pretending I'm at the beach and lamenting the dryness of my winter skin.

Unusually hot apartment aside, I'm sure I'm not the only one to experience dry skin in the winter, so I thought I'd talk about a moisturizing product I've really grown to love over the past year: Tony Moly's Intense Care Dual Effect Sleeping Pack.

Six Months of Hello Pretty Bird: My Blogging Mistakes

It's happened you guys: I've been updating this website regularly for six whole months. Well, more or less - I deleted my introductory post when I changed the name of the site because it no longer made sense (more on that later). But we're right around the six month mark in any case.

Six months is not enough time for me to claim expertise on all things beauty blogging, but it has been enough time for me to sort of get into my stride and figure out the basics. I haven't had any major problems during my relatively short time in this corner of cyberspace, but of course there have been a few small missteps here and there. Being the self-deprecating fool that I am I thought I'd share those things with you - perhaps if you're a new-ish blogger you can learn from some of my mistakes? Or at the very least you might be able to commiserate and/or laugh at me.

Accidental bad hair selfie: also a mistake.

Update to Comment System on HelloPrettyBird + Social Media Stuff

Hey folks!

This is just a quick update to let you know that I've switched from the standard commenting system on Blogger to Disqus in order to make my posts more discussion-friendly. I'm sure most of you already use Disqus on other sites, but in case you've never encountered it before here are a few pointers:

I <3 stock photography. Image source: twobee @ FreeDigitalPhotos.net

• You have to sign up for an account to use Disqus, but it takes like three seconds and you don't even have to leave the page. Just click on the commenting field, click the part where it says "Register with Disqus", enter your info, hit the little arrow and you're all set! You might want to verify your e-mail address at some point for security reasons, but you don't have to do that to leave your first comment.
• If you're also a blogger or website owner, make sure to fill out your Disqus profile so people can easily find your site info when they click on your name. To do that quickly, click the arrow next to your name at the bottom right-hand side of the widget, select "Your Profile", and when it pops up hit the "edit" button and it will open your dashboard page. Once you're there you can add a website and bio under the "profile" tab and a picture under the "avatar" tab.

The biggest change to come from all this is that you won't be able to comment anonymously anymore - though if you sign up for Disqus with a bogus name it's not like I'm going to know. :P

I've tested Disqus on my mobile devices and it seems to work, but I'm not sure how well it will play with older phones and such - if you have any problems feel free to e-mail or tweet me. The widget is in the process of importing the old comments from Blogger now, so hopefully all your old nuggets of wisdom will be back in their rightful places shortly. Hopefully.

Indie Friday: Haus of Gloi Pumpkin Butter & Perfume Oils Review

Bought It

Alrighty then, who wants to read about some delectable-smelling bath and body treats from an awesome indie company? Today I'll be writing about a few things I picked up from Haus of Gloi recently - more specifically, a couple of their body butters (aka "Pumpkin Butters") and perfume oils.

How I'll Be Stuffing My Boyfriend's Stocking This Christmas

Affiliate Links Bought It

Now that I've got your attention with that saucy post title, would you like to see what I bought for my boyfriend's Christmas stocking? All of the responses to my gifts for men poll and male gift guides floating around the blogosphere lead me to believe I'm not the only one who finds their significant other difficult to shop for, so perhaps this post will provide some inspiration.

Please note: I will be using stock images in this post because I already have some of this stuff wrapped/bundled up! Also, a lot of the things I bought came from ASOS because I happened to be shopping on there anyway, but many of them have equivalents on other websites or even at a store near you, GASP.

Review: e.l.f. Studio BB Cream SPF 20 (Fair)

Affiliate Links Bought It

I don't know about you, but I'm a sucker for novelty. Whenever a company I buy makeup from regularly releases something in a new format I'm like OMGMUSTTRY. Which is great for blogging material, but not so great for my wallet. Anyway, between e.l.f.'s regular low prices and frequent 50% off sales I felt like I didn't have much to lose by trying their new BB cream, so I thought I'd share my results with you... for science!

Indie Friday: Portland Black Lipstick Company (review & swatches)

Bought It

So today I'm really excited to introduce a new series on HelloPrettyBird: Indie Fridays! I haven't decided yet if this will become a weekly or fortnightly feature, but going forward I'll being doing regular posts focusing on smaller, independent purveyors of goods and their wares (or just general information about indie cosmetics). You can expect to see a lot of makeup and fragrance in particular because that's what I tend to buy for myself, but perhaps I'll branch out a bit if another type of indie company strikes my fancy. :P

For my first-ever Indie Friday (yay!) I'll be talking about Portland Black Lipstick Company, which makes "All-Natural Makeup For That Un-Natural Look."

10 Holiday Gifts Under $50 I'd Actually Want to Receive

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Hey guys - I don't know if you heard, but the holidays are coming up. Yeah, really. Have you bought all the stuff yet?

Image source: Grant Cochrane @ FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Personally I'm still second-guessing some of my gift ideas. I have no trouble thinking of stuff that I would want, but I'm not shopping for myself, now am I? Well, sometimes I am. But not right now. Today I thought I'd share a few things that I've been coveting, because if I'd enjoy receiving them as gifts that means somebody else probably would too, right?

Weekly Poll: Your Desert Island Makeup Brand

It's Wednesday... do you know where your children are? (Do they still use that tagline in PSAs? If not, I probably sound really creepy right now.)

Aaaaaanyway, Wednesday means it's time for another reader poll!

This week's question goes out to anybody who wears makeup - I'm guessing that's most of you?


If you were allowed to buy one and only one makeup brand for the rest of your life, which one would you choose and why?


Personally I would choose Revlon, which is interesting because they don't usually crack my list of HG or favorite products. But if we're talking about products for the ENTIRE FACE (and nails) they have reasonably good offerings throughout their line, including foundation that doesn't make me look ridiculously orange. And it doesn't hurt that they're affordable - if I'm stuck on this hypothetical deserted makeup island I'm still going to be watching my pennies, because that's just how I am.

Which brand would you guys choose? There can only be ONE!!!

Review: em Michelle Phan Lash Gallery Dramatic Volume Mascara

Bought It

Today's review may be of interest to those of you who have eyelashes you wish to accentuate! I received em Cosmetics' Lash Gallery Dramatic Volume Mascara in my last Ipsy bag, and since em is a relatively new brand I thought it might be helpful to do a review.

Cyber Monday Beauty Deals 2013 (sorry in advance to your wallets)

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Just in case your wallet isn't totally exhausted from Black Friday, I've compiled a list of some of the Cyber Monday/online holiday beauty deals I found especially interesting. Most of these deals run through today only, but I'll make note of it if they have a later expiry date.

Image source: OpenClipArt

Personally I'm eyeing the deals from Ulta and Wantable pretty hard... how about you?