Update: Birthday and Pneumonia

Hey everyone! I hope everyone is doing well this holiday season. I personally have Pneumonia and have been in bed now going on two and a half weeks, I've been so sick that I've had to miss my exams and couldn't finish a paper. Oh and it's my birthday- whoot I'm 22. My parents were very generous this year and I got some things I had been lemming for. Unfortunately, I can't really enjoy them right now. I left my camera at school as I was having trouble breathing and really just wanted to leave so I could go to a clinic and go home to sleep with my mom taking care of me. Pathetic yes, am I grateful completely. My dad also is recovering from heart surgery, so it's been a hectic month. So I do apologize for the lack of posts, but I really couldn't have gotten anything up sooner. I have a couple posts in the works but most of my makeup got left at school and I'm forgetting some of the names on certain swatches, plus I'm exhausted all the time. I really hope I can get back into everything soon, but it may be another week or so.

In good news, Venomous Cosmetics is having a weekend sale where select items are on sale for only $4, not to mention she has a new Shifty collection up as well as the They All Believed in Dragons (which is also awesome!). Venom one of the lip poisons from this collection is amazing, super sparkly and subtle for everyday. You can check it all out Here!

Take lots of Vitamin C everyone and I rec Cold Fx if you feel something coming on. Take care I'll be back as soon as I can!

Sephora VIB 20% off Event

Sephora has been a bit weird lately, but this time at least Canadians can at least use their 20% off in store. You should be getting an e-mail but if you don't and you're in the US there will be an online code, or if you contact Sephora they'll send you your e-mail so you can print off the barcode.
The 20% off event goes from November 10th (that's tomorrow) to November 14th midnight. If you to a physical store you have a chance of getting a tote bag free too.
Things I'm getting are:

• More Laura Mercier Oil-Free Tinted Moisturizer
• Bettsy Johnson Perfume (for my sister for Christmas)
• Too Face Poison Orchid eyeshadow (maybe)

I'm trying to keep my spending down this month as I know that the x-mas season is going to hurt the budget! I'm sorry for the lack of updates lately everyone, I've hit kind of a slump and midterms have just finished for me. Hopefully motivation will return soon!

Indie Updates!

Hey everyone! Just some quick updates about some of my favourite Indie cosmetics companies.

Tracy from Venomous Cosmetics has started a blog The Venomous Life, where she'll be posting preview swatches, upcoming collections, giveaways etc. Near the beginning of November she'll also be releasing a Dragon themed collection which sounds awesome! I LOVE dragons so I'm exciting to see what she comes up with.

Darling Girl Cosmetics will be back online November 1st and will be having a customer appreciation sale for a week starting then. This will also be your last chance to get the Darling Ghoul Halloween collection and Twin Peaks pink eyeshadow for charity.

Cult Nails has finalized their winter collection and it looks awesome! Be sure to check out Maria's swatches of it on the Cult Nails facebook page. The coveted Unicorn Puke flakie polish will make a reappearance in this collection under the disguise of Clairvoyant.

Finally (though not least) Morgana Cryptoria is releasing her new gel lipsticks and holding a sale that starts tonight 10 PM EST or 7 PM PST.

That's all for now! Have a good friday night everyone :D

Blog Sale!

Just a quick post to tell you that my blog sale has been added! It's at the top of every page as a tab you can click. Pictures of any or all items available on request. I tried to price everything fairly, and I'll be doing everything through paypal. Enjoy!

Update

Sorry everyone for the lack of posts. Things are going to be slow for a little while as I get back into the grind of school. I also have a bunch more reading than normal this semester so I'm dealing with that too. So I apologize in advance for the space of time between posts. To give you an idea my one class has a paper due early october on a 360 page book we need to read. I'm doomed.
Anyways, I'll be uploading my Fyrinnae Pixie Epoxy review as soon as I get the time to re-photograph it. Hope you're all doing well!
- xoxo Hebridean Sprite

Technical Difficulties!

Sorry everyone! I've had to give up my normal computer (and all of my photos) so that it could be sent in to be fixed. They're supposed to be backing everything up but until then I'm working off of a limited thumb drive. Also blogger has decided that I'm out of photo space. Which means I either have to pay money or find a new place to upload a bazillion photos to. *grr*

If you've got any recommendations on what to do about my photo problem I'd be super appreciative! I have a couple more reviews written up but without pictures they are rather lacklustre. I love having pictures. So in the mean time here is what you can hopefully look forward to:

• Fyrinnae Pixie Epoxy Review 

• Boots Botanicals Soothing eye make-up remover Review

•  Haus of Gloi Depravity Perfume Oil Review

Update

I'm so sorry for my absence these last couple days. Our internet suddenly crashed and the phone company was lying and it was miserable. In the mean time I wrote up some posts for you so expect a small flood over the next couple of days. Keep tuned!

New things happening at Hebridean Sprite Beauty

Hey everyone just a quick update on things here on Hebridean Sprite Beauty. I've succumbed to Twitter, so you can follow and talk to me there under HebrideanSprite. I've also added some tabs at the top. A general home tab which will take you back to the main page, a contact me one which just moved the contact information and a Desires page which are items that have caught my interest that I'll change up every once in a while and why I'm interested in them in the first place. I may or may not add a blog sale page at some point depending on my poll in the right hand column. I'll probably move the information posts up too sometime today or tomorrow.

You may also have noticed that I've widened the reading portion of the posts. This is so I can show you larger pictures, so I'm hoping this is a good change. If you like it or dislike it let me know so I can improve the blog.

Anyways, hope you all are having a great Thrusday. I should have some exciting posts coming in the next few days such as a long overdue Fyrinnae Pixie Epoxy review and Mac fluidlines from the new Mac Me Over collection which releases in stores today. I should also be  getting my Haus of Gloi stuff soon. *is excited*

If you do have Twitter you can follow me through the link here:

Mac Bloggers Obsession Collection Update

Just a quick update, if you are still interested in getting a hold of some of these items the Canadian site has some in stock (even jealousy wakes!) Just thought I'd point it out to everyone!

Here is my review on Jealousy Wakes if you're in the mood for more info. Jealousy Wakes Review and Swatches

P.S. The Haus of Gloi has restocked their Autumn collection as well :D

E-mail Subscribers

Hello everyone! Just a quick mention for my e-mail subscribers if you use g-mail the verification will have gone into your spam folder. This means that you'll likely miss it and won't get the e-mails of my updates. I just wanted everyone to be aware this has been happening quite often. *sigh* Anyways, have a lovely night everyone! I've got an absolute TON of reviews and swatches coming up, so stay tuned!

Hebridean Sprite Beauty's 1st Birthday!

From image here

A year ago today I certainly didn't think I'd be here. As a sufferer of ADHD I have a sad tendency to start something and then get distracted by something else and leave things unfinished. However the wonders of make-up has persevered and Hebridean Sprite Beauty Blog has made it to it's very first birthday!
As something that started as a way to express my more creative side as well as my need to shout out my opinion and keep up my writing skills this blog has most certainly accomplished it's original goal. I've also been able to really interact with some other awesome beauty junkies, felt like I've accomplished something and even had a stress reduction outlet! I've learned a lot and I hope I've been helpful as well.

In the coming year I hope to keep doing what I've been doing. Reviews, swatches, deals, links and opinions. Hopefully at least one giveaway and survey, as well as some sparse animal posts. I'm sure there will be more too- I'd love to hear your opinions! What would you like to see?

As a side note my Fyrinnae order came today! Perfect timing it's like a little gift to myself for this anniversary! How cool hmm? I hope to have swatches up soonish.

As for the coming couple of weeks things are going to be hectic for me! We're selling our house and moving to a completely different city- so packing, painting, cupboard and counter renovations and more will be going on. I'll try not to disappoint though.

Lots of Love to all my readers (I appreciate every single one of you!),
Krista, a.k.a. Hebridean Sprite :D

Mac Blogger Collection- Preliminary

No pictures yet, but I've just heard that Mac is releasing a collection of eyeshadows and lipglosses designed and named by 10 beauty bloggers! Personally I can't wait to hear more about this, I think the importance and value of beauty bloggers is really starting to show to the major cosmetic companies out there. I'll let you all know when I get more information about this collection. In the mean time, Mac has released two other collections- Fashion Flower and Quite Cute. Neither interested me personally nor does the coming Surfer collection, but I'm sure I'll get Mac frenzy again soon. :D

~Hebridean Sprite~

Some of the bloggers involved are Afrobella, Temptalia, Karen from Makeup and Beauty Blog, Karlasugar, and The Makeup Girl (.net) Lianne.

Giveaway Winner!

There were 45 entries when all totaled and the Random.org machine spat out number 35. Congrats to Anne-Marie T. I can't find your e-mail through GFC but I've sent you a message through GFC. Please send me an e-mail (dolphins_dream_too@hotmail.com). I'll need your mailing info. Just as a recap you've won

1. One bottle of Limited Edition Joe Fresh Twilight Nail Polish
2. One tube of Revlon Life's A Peach Super Lustrous Lip Gloss
3. One tube of N.Y.C. Cream Blush Stick in Big Apple Blush
4. One Wet n' Wild eyeshadow Color Icon Single in Brulee

Thanks again to everyone that entered and participated in the survey! :D

Zoya Summer Buy One Get One Free Deal!

Zoya has just released their new Summer collections- all three of them for a total of 15 colours! If you live in the continental USA you can order from these three collections and get one free bottle for any bottle of polish you buy! You can get the full details here!
The code is BOGO make sure you enter it or you won't get the deal!

As a side note I'm super sorry for my crappy updating schedule lately, I've got major projects and the lighting is just so awful in my townhouse I end up disliking all the pictures I take. I've only got a month left until exams are over so things should pick back up again then, but in the mean time please try to be patient with me! All my love!

20% off Codes!

Hey everyone! I just wanted to tell you about some 20% off codes I heard about from Polish Galore's blog!
(She has lovely polish swatches if you're interested, totally worth a look!)
These three sites all have the same code, Apothica, Skin Care Rx, and Skin Botanica
http://www.skincarerx.com 
http://www.apothica.com
http://www.skinbotanica.com

And the Coupon Code: MARCH20


Apothica is my favourite of these, as it has a ton of great Cruelty-free brands and most of the new Spring collections in. Here's some of my favourite brands that they have, and some I am really looking forward to trying! (All non-animal testing of course!) Plus they have candles, fragrance and skin care too!

• Stila
• Too Faced
• Spa Ritual
• Cargo
• Estee Lauder
• Becca
• Bobbi Brown
• Lippmann polishes
• Nars (Note- Nars is non-animal testing but is owned by Shisedo who do test)
• TheBalm

Hope this is useful for some of you! (Now I'm back to writing papers, finals are coming up so I'm trying to finish all my major projects and papers which are coming due as well!)

Mac Peacocky Update

Temptalia has the promotional photos and images of the Peacocky products up on her sight, hopefully I'll start to get some more swatches soon! (I can't wait this collection looks awesome!) Check it out here! Isn't the promo model photo goregeous?!

Where I am

I'm sure you're all wondering where I disappeared to, the answer is the Bahamas, my parents surprised me and decided to bring me on a cruise with them. We spent some time in Florida and then cruised for a day were in the Bahamas for a day (today) and are going back to Florida tonight to spend time with my Grandparents. The exciting information is I got a bunch of great Drugstore products from the states including some stunning nail polish colours, gel liners and more! So on top of the things I recieved for my birthday and the things I bought I've got reviews galore coming for you! Until then I apologize for disappearing. Hope everyone's holidays are going well! (Or exams if you're still studying/writing them as I know some of you poor souls are). Lots of Love from the Bahamas!

P.S. The Blinc mascara survived snorkling today and still looked good and came off so easy in the shower! Best mascara I've used to date!

Urban Decay Spring 2010

Temptalia photo of Cream E/s pencils by Urban Decay

If you haven't heard yet Urban Decay is releasing a ton of really neat things for Spring (I know we're receiving info already! It's not even Christmas yet! Don't rush the season!). But also included are cream/stains for cheeks (with a neat snake print on the front), a new shade of Urban Decay Primer Potion in Gold, a lash growth and mascara system, two lip pencils, and a super curl mascara. 

These honestly look lovely! Temptalia has some great swatches up so be sure to take a look.

On another note, still running around like a chicken with my head off, I have 3 exams in two days and a paper due the day after that, plus I can barely focus because some idiot decided to have the road along our residence/townhouse constructed on and it's so bloody loud the house shakes and it doesn't shut up all day. You can tell it's very frustrating for me. So I apologize for the lack of updates, I should be back on the 10th at the latest, which coincidentally is my birthday! Yay! Something to look forward to! So please be patience with me, I'll be back! (Though maybe not with the kapow action of Arnold S.)

Quick update and a tip

If you're a Canadian student of any age, it's most definitely worth your time to get an SPC card (Student Price Card). These cards along with your student I.D. offer you discounts at a ton of places. A couple examples are Zellars, Rexall, Aerie, Ardene, and The Body Shop. It's not just places that sell cosmetics though it's food, fashion, living, sports and even travel too. Best of all it doesn't cost much to get and it's valid for a full year. And if you're a Bank of Montreal member you can get your card for free. You can check it out at www.spccard.ca .

As for the update, it's blogging month where bloggers are encouraged to post everyday. I'm not sure I'll manage that though as I've got so many projects going on at the moment I feel like I'm drowning. This will probably be the only post today, hopefully I'll have more time tomorrow so I can post something a bit more interesting.

Passed the 100 Post Mark

Image Source

The Sephora for OPI holiday collection was my 100th post on this blog. So, just for interests sake I've got some interesting facts about Hebridean Sprite Beauty Blog.

1. This blog came into being when finally decided I needed to do something to occupy myself while I was ill last summer. It was between a blog and a youtube channel, I'm extremely glad I chose the blog. I can hear the dreaded ums, and pauses that could have been. Ugh. The official start date was May 31st, 2010.
2. The most expensive item I've reviewed thus far has been the hair removal system Silk'n SensEpil. The least expensive was the very first item I reviewed, NYC Ultra Moist Lipstick in Wild Orchid, which was a nice $1.99 CND. It still is one of my favourite smelling lipsticks.
3. This is not my first adventure into writing, though it is my first adventure into extended non-fiction writing. Before I had written fantasy novels, and fanficiton.
4. When I first started I couldn't really be bothered doing my nails, now I can hardly wait till my polish chips so I can apply another one. (My current reigning favourite is Nubar Gem).
5. I insist on spelling the Canadian way in my posts despite my US-english spell checker consistently telling me I'm spelling it incorrectly. Chances are I still am.
6. Most posts get updated at least once after they've been posted live. This is most often because I've forgotten information, the pictures messed up in formatting, my sentences don't make sense or any of these in combination.
7. Most of my pictures are taken with my iphone because I can use it one handed. My digital SLR takes two hands which is impossible to do when taking pictures of yourself or your nails. I have been attempting to improve picture quality though by asking other bloggers what they do or use for lighting.
8. I've learned most people don't like to answer polls. I guess I'm strange because I've always enjoyed doing so.
9. The counter at the bottom of the page doesn't count page views, but instead the number of different computers who have visited the page that day. Today it passed 2000. Whoot!
10. The main visitors of the blog come from Canada, the USA, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Australia and Spain. However, there has been visits from all corners of the world except the Arctics. This includes all the way down in Chile in South America; Hawaii and Anchorage Alaska USA; St. Johns Newfoundland, Canada; Kandalaksha Russia, Cape Town South Africa, Auckland New Zealand; a plethora of Asian countries heck I could go on and on and on. If you're interested click on the revolver map at the bottom of the page then hold your mouse over any of the spots. The town and country with their flag will pop up. Ever since I got the map I've checked it daily and am constantly surprised by which new countries have visited recently (today was Guam, and Martinique).
11. The most popular post to date is Mac A Tartan Tale Sneak Peak with 431 page views. True Blood a look at Pam's Cosmetics has the most comments (7-> 4 of which are my responses).
12. I really got into blogging because I was researching the Clarisonic for my acne over Google and found Make-Up Alley. Because of the wonderful people on there and the countless chats I've been in since, I've fallen in love with cosmetics, nail polish and skin care. (My username is naturegerbil on there is anyone is interested).
13. I have yet to get one e-mail regarding my blog from readers
14. I have 9 followers (not including the automatic addition of myself when I created the facebook option). I've looked at everyones profile at least once and have literally jumped for joy with each new addition.
15. Every day I'm falling more and more in love with blogging!

So if you're a reader, a fellow blogger, or just a passerby, thanks for visiting and taking the time to read what I've written. I'm finding Blogging makes my life just that much richer and if I can cause someone to smile or learn some small tidbit of information than I'm truly glad. Hopefully, I can continue only to get better in the coming future!

As always, any questions or comments feel free to leave a comment below or send me an e-mail, I'd be happy to hear from you.