We have had the opportunity to work with Bourjois on a few occasions, most recently for the Shopper’s Drug Mart Nail The Look Campaign. The polish consistency is ideal for nail art, a little on the thicker side with a creme look. We actually first heard about the brand over on the Pshiiit website, first thinking it was exclusive to France. When we found out the pair had teamed up to create nail art tools & accessories we couldn’t wait to see what they came up with.

Two sided dotting tools, nail tape (so hard to find in-store, this has always been an online purchase for us), nail decals + more. Here are a few examples from the Pshiiit website: http://boutique.bourjois.fr/looks/les-manucures-de-pshiiit.html  We played around with some new polish shades & tools for the nail art tutorial below – inspired by Pshiiit‘s love for simplicity + triangles.

Step 1: Begin by painting nails with 2 coats of Bourjois – Peach and Love. We almost had full coverage with one coat. This is a great pink/peach polish, the kind that are perfect for any occasion from Weddings to Summer days.

Step 2: Using the small end of the Bourjois dotting tool & Bourjois – Taupe Modèle polish begin with your base triangle. Find the center of your nail and place one polka dot. Work your dots down towards the moon of your nail creating a triangle shape.

Step 3: Repeat Step 2 on the right side of the nail using Bourjois – Adora-bleu. Try to keep the number of polka dots consistent with your first triangle.

Step 4: Repeat Step 3 on the left side of the nail using Bourjois – Amande Défilé. Leaving the top portion option to show off your pink shade.

Step 5: Don’t forget to seal in your design with a top coat!

For all of our fellow #nailartlovers out there, Bourjois has made it easy to obtain all the nail art goodies you need! Gone are the days of online shopping (& waiting, and waiting, and waiting) till they arrive. If you leave in Canada head to your local Shopper’s Drug Mart to see all the new shades + nail art accessories. Find your location here!

These product(s) were sent to us for review, please read our disclosure policy for more information.

There is nothing we love more than sharing an amazing contest and sweepstakes with out readers. We KNOW you all have fabulous nails and you deserve to be rewarded for them! When Hpnotiq approached us about sharing this contest with our readers it was a no brainer.

You all know that we’ve been obsessed with Glamming our nails up since forever, whether that be with an amazing polish, nail art or that special addition of 3D gems. Nails truly are your biggest accessory and we don’t think that is ever going to fade. We are the biggest social media creeps and have taken a look at most of our readers instagrams and twitters and know how much you love taking shots of your nails, so we knew that you would love this contest.

Here’s how it works:

From now until July 28^th 2013, Hpnotiq wants you to show them how you GLAM LOUDER to win fab prizes! During each 2-week challenge you can submit photos in different categories to win – including the glammest nails, makeup and overall look. Entries can be pictures you snap yourself or images you find online.

Here are the glamorous prizes that are up for grabs:

One year of manis/pedis worth up to $1,200, a $1,000 gift card to Sephora or Ulta, AND a chance to win the grand prize trip for you and three friends to go shopping with a celebrity in Los Angeles! Even better – the grand prize winner will star in a professional photo shoot for the chance to be in a real Hpnotiq Ad!

Want to enter?

Hpnotiq’s Glammest Nails Challenge is going on RIGHT NOW – but hurry – the entry period for the glammest nails ends at 11:59:59 a.m. EST on June 30^th! For this challenge Hpnotiq wants you to show them the glammest nails, nail art or nail finish that you’ve ever seen or done.

Think you can nail it?

You can enter as many times as you want! Snap a pic of your own, or find a pic online.  For this round, they’re choosing 4 lucky winners to receive free mani/pedis for a year valued up to $1,200!!!

To enter visit http://9nl.it/irby/, or visit Hpnotiq’s Facebook page OR follow @Hpnotiq on twitter and tweet them your picture using the hashtag #GLAMLOUDER.

We’ve entered our Bling it on nails (featured below) – the prizes for this contest are just way too good not to participate!

You can see the full contest rules here. Happy Entering!

*This post was sponsored by Hpnotiq.

Changing up the game, Sally Hansen introduced their Insta-Gel Strips – a nail wrap combined with an at-home gel manicure set. Now this, we LOVE. We are huge fans of the nail wrap, our only issue is we get some tip wear from typing all day. We were hoping the gel top coat would help cure the strip to stay adhered to the nail & it did.

The process was also way easier than we expected. 5 easy steps & you can achieve an at-home gel manicure with some fun nail art patterns. There are so many fun strips to chose from. Mix & match with lace, leopard, polka dot & more!

1. With most nail strips, begin with a nice clean base nail. They provide a cleaning pad to make sure there are no excess oils or residue left on the nail. Don’t forget to push back your cuticles!

2. Size the strip that fits your nail & apply to nail, steering clear of the cuticle. Repeat for all 10 nails. We find warmer hands work better to make the strip a little more malleable.

3. File the excess strip from the nail in a downward motion, being careful not to pull the strip back.

4. Apply a thin layer of the gel top coat, too thick and it will never become fully dry. Cure nails for 30secs with mini LED lamp & move onto the next nail. The mini lamp is not bulky at all, like we have seen with some others. It stores away perfectly.

5. Once you have finished all 10 nails, clean the surface once again with the cleaner pads provided – removing any left over gel that might not have been cured.

See more here: youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v4RY88MGbebI

If you’re a fan of fan art but also like the long wear of gel polish, we urge you to check this out! Fun pattern nails for 10 days without the spending hours perfecting the design. No wonder it won Allure’s Breatk-Through Award!

*This post was sponsored

Mermaid’s Kiss: Our favourite of the collection, this swatch did not photograph how it looks in real life. This polish has a soft blush shimmer base, gold glitters & raspberry sequins – pink glitter party on your nails! We used 3 coats for the swatches below due to the light base polish shade.

Million Dollar Mermaid: this polish is a pale tangerine with bright orange sequins mixed with gold glitter.

Mermaid’s Eyes: this polish is a brighter teal/blue shade with deep blue sequins + gold glitter. We barely needed 2 coats for full coverage – heavy handed one coater. This polish had a very metallic look & twinkled in the sun!

Do The Mermaid: this polish has a soft lavender shimmer base & is packed with deeper purple glitter + larger sequins. We used 2 coats for the pictures below.

Deborah Lippmann’s Mermaid’s Collection is available now at DeborahLippmann.com they are $19 each. You can also find Deborah Lippmann nail polish at Holt Renfrew Canada.

These product(s) were sent to us for review, please read our disclosure policy for more information.

The started kit includes:

• 1 LED lamp (small enough that you could throw in a bigger purse & bring to a friends house)
• 1 Gel Base Coat
• 1 Gel Nail Colour
• 1 Gel Top Coat
• 10 Nail Cleanser Pads
• Acetone Remover
• Cuticle Stick
• File & Buffer

We are not going to lie, we were a little intimidated when we saw all the goods. We opened a bottle of wine, picked our favourite shades & got started. The process is the same as a regular application – base coat, 2 coats polish & top coat. Each step needs to be cured using the LED lamp – this takes about 30 secs. A LOT easier than we had anticipated. It took us under an hour & we were all gel-ed up!

See more: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eExpAv34lnw

We might have mentioned before, but we type ALL day at work & this polish really did hold up against all those words per minute! We were so surprised! We found the nails we cured a little longer (about 1minute vs. recommend 30 secs) had more staying power. We recommend 1min per nail if you have the time – just to ensure you make it all the way to the 10 days.

Sally Hansen gel polish at-home kit is a great money saver for those that love the look & stay power of gel nails, but don’t want to pay salon prices or venturing out into the city. Our nails had the mirror shin promised & there were so many colours to chose from – there’s a shade for everyone. J is headed for a 2 week vacation (so jealous!) & loved the application so much she’s rocking Sally Hansen gel polish while she’s away. The stay power + ease is perfect & travelling with nail polish is sometimes a nighmare!

*This post was sponsored.

We’ve loved lomography cameras ever since we bought our first mini Diana a few years ago. Lomography cameras are functional, and add an awesome effect to your photos. We received the Diana F+CMYK camera a few weeks ago and have been having so much fun playing with it. We aren’t going to claim to be the best photographers around, but adding a dreamy lo-fi filter to our photos always helps. This camera is a colourful reincarnation of the classic plastic lomo camera and features panoramic and pinhole functions as well as gives you plenty of accessories to play with.

Lomography cameras have an amazing style to them as well – there are so many shapes, sizes and colours out there to choose from. When we saw the La Sardina Orinoco Ochre camera (try saying that 5 times fast) featured in FLARE’s nail magazine alongside Justin Cappelletti’s amazing nail art we thought it was a perfect pairing. The Diana F+CMYK is a mix of cyan, magenta and yellow colours – a perfect match to our over the top nail art! Thoughts?

We are so excited to announce a giveaway with Lomography Canada! We love sharing our finds with our readers and are so happy that one of you will get their very own Diana F+CMYK to try for yourself. Entering is easy!

1. Follow Polish You Pretty on Twitter here.
2. Follow Lomography Canada on Twitter here.
3. Tweet: I want to win the Diana F+CMYK from @PolishYouPretty and @LomographyCan!
4. Enter every day until June 7th at 5:00PM. CONTEST CLOSED

* China Glaze – Happy Go Lucky, OPI – No Room for the Blues, OPI – Shorts Story, CND – Blackjack

Diana F+ CMYK

Last week we were so busy that we actually made it out of the house a few days with nail polish free nails. Yes, even girls that write an entire blog and wrote an entire book about nail polish can slip sometimes. It feels strange to admit this, but we kinda liked our nude nails and might be doing it more often. There are some basic products that you can use out there that give you that au naturel feel, but add a bit of an extra something so you don’t have that un-done feeling – below are a few of the products that do that for us.

1. Kiehl’s Ultra Facial Oil-Free Gel-Cream - What we love about this cream is that it moisturizes your face instantly and within seconds it feels like you’re wearing nothing at all. Our faces have never been so hydrated.
2. Revlon Colorstay Mannequin Hands Collection - Seasonal shades come and go, but nude nails are forever. This collection offers every nude shade imaginable so that everyone can find their perfect mannequin hand!
3. Essie Millionails – Yup, we’re talking about this again! Please do yourself a favor and start using this treatment as a base or clear coat. It is amazing. That is all.
4. Almay Smart Shade Primer -  Even if you don’t plan on wearing makeup, this product is awesome. The green ribbons neutralize redness, while swirls of lavender pigments even out and brighten skin tone.
5. Dior Nail Glow – We are huge fans of pigment highlighters so naturally we would love this. This gives your nails a pretty pink and awesome shine. If you never wear nail polish then we think you’d like this.
6. Revlon Crazy Shine – Crazy shine is an understatement. This is such a fun tool to play with and it will leave your nails the shiniest they’ve ever been.
7. Almay CC Cream – We realize that we talk about this cream a little too much, but we are totally over BB cream and devoted to this CC cream – it’s awesome and you need to try it! If you aren’t one for heavy foundations then this is perfect for you.
8. Bourjois Rose Exclusif Lipgloss – Again, we love pigment highlighters and this lipgloss gives you just the perfect shine. Such an effortless, natural look.

“Last summer, OPI created a ‘Vintage Minnie Mouse’ line. Women around the world fell in love with the fun and playful shades evocative of Minnie’s traditional look,” explains Suzi Weiss-Fischmann, OPI Executive VP & Artistic Director. “This year, OPI is exploring a different side of Minnie Mouse. TheCouture de Minnie collection draws inspiration from Minnie’s iconic style and incorporates trends most recently seen on the runways, from standout shades to fun textural elements.”

Chic From Ears to Tail – This bubblegum pink creme shade has a very subtle silver shimmer. We used 3 coats for the pictures below to achieve full coverage.

A Definite Moust-Have - This polish is fuchsia based with hints of coral. There is a subtle pearl finish in this polish. The formula of this polish was really great – smooth creme finish with full coverage with 2 coats. 

Minnie Style - This clear based is infused with 3 hex glitters – red, white and hot pink. We are wearing Minnie Style over top of Chic From Ears to Tail in the pictures below. The glitter coverage was great, we only needed one coat for all over glitter placement. The hex glitters stayed put, not moving around with the brush.

Innie Minnie Mightie Bow – Bright cherry red this polish is a classic red shade with a very subtle shimmer. The formula was great – almost a one-coater for full coverage. 

Magazine Cover Mouse – Liquid Sand! Textures all are the rage right now, & this one might be our favourite. This strawberry-hued polish dries matte & is extremely sparkly! The gold and pink matte glitters  pick up so great in the light.

This limited edition collection will be available beginning June 2013 at Professional Salons and Spas for $10.95 CAN suggested retail for each nail lacquer. As with all OPI nail lacquers, all polishes contain no DBP, Toluene, or Formaldehyde, and feature OPI’s exclusive ProWide™ Brush for the ultimate in application. For more information, please call 800-341-9999 or visit www.opi.com. Follow OPI on Twitter @OPI_PRODUCTS and become a Facebook fan!

“Inspired by breezy chiffon cover-ups and cashmere pastel evening looks, these six shades make the perfect wardrobe for any journey. There’s nothing more calming than a cruise to paradise. It completely rejuvenates mind, body and soul.”

There are 5 shimmer shades & 1 creme shade in the collection. 5 of the 6 polishes had the same consistency – a medium coverage base infused with glass-speckled shimmer.

Naughty Nautical - It’s been awhile since we’ve been head-over-heels for a turquoise shade, but we are in love. The marine blue-green mixed with shimmer is just what our nails need for the summer – not too bright, not too dark, with a little something extra! We used 2 coats for the pictures below.

The Girls Are Out – Inspired by peonies (our fav. flower!) this fuchsia sparkle polish was our favourite of the collection. We needed 2 coats for full coverage. This polish had a more jelly-like formula, which worked great with the micro silver specs. 3 coats needed for full coverage.

Sunday Funday – We can’t get enough coral! This tangerine/coral shimmer polish is perfect for those in search of an essential summer shade. This is exactly what we think of when we think summer! We used 3 coats for the pictures below for full coverage.

The More The Merrier – This juicy lime green shade is the only creme polish of the collection. Definitely a colour for the adventurous type or anyone looking for something a little different this summer. 2 coats pictured below.

Full Steam Ahead - A soft pearlescent lilac polish, this is the safe colour of the collection – the one you know everyone will like! Lilacs are in full bloom right now & this polish would make a perfect pairing. We used 3 coats for full coverage.

Rock The Boat – A shimmering french/cornflower blue polish had a slight grey undertone. We needed 3 coats for full coverage. 

The Essie Summer collection will be available in June. Essie nail polish can be purchased at Shopper’s Drug Mart, Walmart & other Essie retailers for $12.00 CAD.

These product(s) were sent to us for review, please read our disclosure policy for more information.