Hello Pretty Bird! - A beauty and not-so-glamorous lifestyle blog: June 2014

29 June, 2014

Blog Tips: Staying Organized & Keeping Up With New Posts

Time to talk about the sexiest aspect of blogging: Time management!

Blogging time management

This month's topic was requested by Tracy of Fanserviced:


An excellent suggestion, so thank you! Time management and organization seem to be oft-discussed topics in blogging advice posts, because (a) balancing everything can be hard and (b) everybody seems to do things a bit differently. Hooray for keeping it simple. If you read my blog regularly then you've probably noticed that I post more than once per day on average, which obviously takes a bit of forethought, so I today I'll be sharing my methods for planning ahead and keeping track of everything. Will my insane process work for you too? I have no idea. But maybe it will give you some new ideas, at least.

Quick tip before I get started: Right click - open in new tab if you want to enlarge any of the images.

I'm starting PocketDerm. Wish me luck!

Affiliate Links Bought It

I wrote a post yesterday that mentioned my how my skin cleared up a lot after I honed in on quality products in my skincare routine. While I am mostly happy with my skin these days, there is one product I have always wanted to try but has eluded me for practical reasons: Tretinoin. Also known by the brand name Retin-A. It's a highly effective treatment against acne AND wrinkles in some cases, but if you live in the United States (and a number of other countries) you need a prescription to get it. Crappy insurance + dermatology visits not being covered = tretinoin is too cost-prohibitive for me, boo-hoo-hoo.

PocketDerm Bottle Packaging Bag

I read about something called PocketDerm recently, which is essentially a subscription service that (a) allows you to consult with a certified dermatologist online and (b) allows you to get prescription topical creams for acne inclusive in the cost (which is very affordable at $19.95 per month). I suspect that some of you reading have already heard of PocketDerm, being the savvy internet users that you are, but I thought it might be interesting to write up a little intro and document my experience for folks who are new to it, so uh.... here you go.

25 June, 2014

Weekly Poll: Watcha Watchin'?

Happy Wednesday everybody! Find any new and interesting ways to beat the summer heat? (No, that's not the poll question. But if you have, feel free to share.)


This week's poll question was inspired by my lack of free time. I haven't had the chance to really sit down and watch a lot of TV lately, but last night I was SO TIRED that I got into bed early and watched things on my tablet until I passed out. I started watching a Korean TV series called Big Man (빅맨) and frankly ... it's pretty bad. It's like they took every cheesy soap opera convention and threw it together to make a hastily prepared bowl of Trope Salad. That said, I'll probably continue to watch it because (a) it doesn't take much brain power to process, which is good when you're tired, and (b) I like Kang Ji-hwan. Hubba hubba. But enough babbling, here's my question:

Have you watched any good TV shows lately? "Good" could mean actually good or so bad it's good.

Recommend things to your fellow internet-dwelling humans! Could be old or new, doesn't matter. If you want a free space to ramble about how much you love Quantum Leap or something, by all means, have at it.

23 June, 2014

drww. Power Lift Collection: Overview & Swatches

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Today I'm pleased to introduce you to a few products from drww (pronounced "drew"), a Korean beauty line designed by beauty guru Yu-Jin. My first experience with this brand was via the ActiGen Multi-Action Smart Cream Gel in Memebox Global #10, so it should come as no surprise that Memebox will be adding more drww products to their store in the near future! For now they've sent me samples from this line to give you a little sneak-peek. :)

drww. Power Lift Collection memebox

I've had these for a few weeks now and have had a chance to test them out a bit, so I'll be sharing my impressions as well. But given how much stuff there is I won't go too in-depth for each item, so if you have questions, feel free to ask in the comments!

Warning: This post is very pic-heavy after the jump. But in the best of ways.

16 June, 2014

Delicate Hardware: A Jewelry Story (via ShopLately)

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I'm a total sucker for themes. Themed parties, theme outings, themed anything. It upsets me slightly when the contents of my monthly beauty boxes don't match up with the theme listed on the info card. Yeah, I'm crazy.


Lately I've been obsessed with silver jewelry that looks like hardware. That might sound silly, but think about it: Many hardware bits are silver anyway, right? And shoving a screw in your ear isn't the safest thing in the world. Hardware jewelry is a bit edgy, but still way more subtle than dangling a paper clip chain from your nose. I like it.

Anyway, ShopLately has a ton of hardware-inspired accessories, so I maaaaaaay have picked up a few things—want to see what I got?

12 June, 2014

Meet Revitarest, the skincare ... pillow?!

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I don't know how many of you reading use Pinterest, but I've been wanting to start a new board for a while. A board for all those things you didn't know you needed or wanted until you saw them because there's no way you could have even conceived of them on your own. If anyone knows of a way to summarize that feeling in a few words, let me know. But in the meantime, let me introduce you to a product that would surely get pinned to that board: The Revitarest Skin Care Pillow.

Revitarest Butterfly Plushie Skincare Pillow

Yes, a pillow for skincare. That's plush and blue and shaped like a butterfly. Curious? I certainly was.

11 June, 2014

Weekly Poll: Royal Flush

Happy Wednesday all! I'm still working on my crazy organization project so forgive me if my comment replies are a bit slower than normal, but I figured I should get back to posting. These blogs ain't gonna write themselves, after all.


Today's poll question is about something I think pretty much all us have: toilets. I like to keep things classy around here.

Have you or anyone in your household ever flushed anything "unfortunate" down the toilet by mistake? If so, what was it and how did you get it out?


Let's just say that this topic was inspired by a recent incident in my own life. An incident that occurred at 3AM and involved a 6oz spray bottle accidentally falling into the toilet as it flushed. How was the toilet able to suck it all the way down? I'll never know. In the end we had to call for a plumber, who showed up equipped with a snake and plenty of poop jokes.

09 June, 2014

BRB - I'm Filthy.

Just a quick announcement: I'm going to take a little blogging break (or more accurately, I have been taking a break since Saturday). I figured I'd announce it here so folks don't think I'm dead. (I'm sure y'all were really worried.)

Random placeholder photo I took: A couple embracing against the Fijian sunset. Because I'm creepy like that.

Why the break? I've been spending most of my free time this week reorganizing my massive mess of a home office. Seriously, it's a disaster area, and my productivity is suffering because of it. My goal is to make it (a) tidier and (b) set up in a more functional way without buying a ton of new furniture. So far all I've had to get is a better office chair (yay!) and one set of plastic drawers—not too bad. I don't know that the final result will be Pinterest-perfect, but as long as things actually have a place to go and are not on the floor that's probably fine.

Wish me luck! And if you have any awesome motivational articles about organization, feel free to share them in the comments. I'll probably be back to posting normally on Wednesday or Thursday.

05 June, 2014

Review: Arvazallia Argan Oil Hair Mask & Oil Treatment

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I feel like it's impossible these days to flip through a beauty magazine (or website) without a thousand argan oil hair treatments jumping out at you. Where did they all come from? Why now?! Maybe it has to do with the fact that argan oil is an awesome, multi-purpose moisturizer. That must be it. In any case, I'll be reviewing two argan-tastic products from Arvazallia today: Their hydrating Argan Oil Hair Mask and Premium Argan Oil Hair Treatment.

Arvazallia Hydrating Argan Oil Hair Mask Arvazallia Argan Oil for Hair Treatment

Will they stand out from the competition? Read on to find out!

02 June, 2014

#HPBScentOfTheDay Challenge Roundup 4/4 - final

May is over so I thought I'd check in for the final roundup of my scent-of-the-day challenge. Many vials were opened, many perfumes worn, many scents were described as "fresh" or "neutral" (my boyfriend's default words to describe things with inoffensive odors). At last, this challenge has come to an end.


01 June, 2014

5 Simple Uses for Rosehip & Argan Oil

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I don't know about you, but I really like using oils as part of my moisturizing routine. I've found that it actually makes a huge difference in my skin, and there are a number of oils that don't seem to exacerbate my acne, so I'm totally on the oil bandwagon at the moment. I recently found myself in possession of two ENORMOUS bottles of rosehip seed oil and argan oil thanks to InstaNatural, and wondered "How am I going to use this all on my face before it goes bad?"

Instanatural rosehip seed oil and argan oil

I have a not-so-secret secret to share with you—oils can be used for more than just rubbing straight on your face. So I thought I'd share a few of my favorite uses for rosehip and argan oil with you today. These ideas aren't really groundbreaking, but maybe some of them will inspire you to use oil in new ways.