China Glaze - Flying Dragon

Hey guys!  Today's polish is China Glaze Flying Dragon.  I bought this quite a while back when I first started getting into polish and before I knew about always topcoating polish.  When I originally put it I instantly hated it, but I wanted to give it another chance.

China Glaze - Flying Dragon no topcoat

China Glaze - Flying Dragon no topcoat

Hard Candy - Crush on Ivy

Hey guys!  Today's polish is another Hard Candy from their Crushed Chromes collection.  This polish was featured in my "Filing Mishaps" post, but I wanted to give it a full review for it.  I'm back to shorter nails and now that I'm over my initial shock and dismay, I'm actually really digging the new length, especially for typing.  Anyway, on to the polish!

Hard Candy - Crush on Ivy

Blogger Problems - Filing Mishap

Hey guys!  I was thinking today that my nails were looking rather wonky looking.  While I was on vacation, I let my nails be free of polish except for Duri Rejuvacote and I had filed them down a bit because they were starting to be crazy long.  Well, filing my nails without polish on them was a bad idea because they looked weird when I finally put polish on.

So after polishing them, I went at them with my file, and then all of a sudden I had a panic moment where I literally burst into tears because they looked even worse than before and I had to file them down even shorter to fix them.  It was definitely a "OMG, what did I do?!?!" moment. 

Obviously it isn't the end of the world, but for a bit there I was so upset and frustrated.  I've been growing my nails out since I started over again in April with applying Duri Rejuvacote and I was contemplating about doing a follow up post to show you my progress.  Of course I'd filed my nails quite a few times in between then and now, but I was so proud of how long they'd gotten.  My nails have never been that long and strong in my entire life so I guess I was mourning their loss.

Blogger Problems - Filing Mishap!

Normally this would be a review post, but I'll save that for another day to actually focus on the review.  I had actually taken a really quick picture of my "before" nails (I wasn't really worried about lighting or colour correctness), so I took quick pic of my "after" nails as well.  I think the end result does look neater and more uniform than before and they don't look as short as I'd originally thought.  It does make typing a lot easier with the length they are now, though!

Have you had filing mishaps before, or weird "nail issues" that have bugged you or frustrated you?  Let me know in the comments below!

Makeup by One Direction Giveaway!

Hey guys, I am back from vacation and I have a special post for you.  Thanks to Brandbacker, I've been given the great opportunity to work with Markwin's International to give you a chance to win an exclusive makeup kit from One Direction.  I've also been chosen to review one of the special collector sets, and will be sharing my review with you once it's arrived!  The description in italics below is directly from the company.

Image Source: The Makeup by One Direction Facebook Page

"Makeup by One Direction is a range of makeup and cosmetic products celebrating youth, style, and the uninhibited lifestyle of a new generation. Celebrating life with bold shades, unique formulae and infused with limited edition collectable packaging, Makeup from One Direction is fun, bold, often irreverent, with a touch of cheeky mischievousness. Offered at prices that every girl and woman can afford."

I've seen the sneak peeks of the packaging and they look like fun and cute sets.  There will be 50 winners and each winner will receive a limited edition collector's tin before they are even made available for purchase.  The kit shown on the entry below is called "Midnight Memories" and there is also a "Take Me Home" kit and a "Up All Night" kit.  My favourite of three three is the Midnight Memories kit, so I hope that's the one making it's way over to me!

The giveaway is open to Canada (excluding Quebec) and US residents only who are 18 and older.  As always with contests, please be sure you are reading the full terms and conditions located on the bottom of the giveaway widget.  I wish all of you the best of luck and I look forward to sharing more details regarding the release of these kits once I've reviewed them!  To keep in touch what's going on, don't forget to follow Makeup by One Direction's Facebook page.  If you also follow along on Twitter or Instagram, be sure to check out these hashtags: #makeupby1D, #thelookscollection, #markwins

I am a Brandbacker community member and I am participating in the Brandbacker Makeup by One Direction Campaign from Markwin International.  I was not compensated for this post.  I will be receiving samples to facilitate an honest review, but all opinions will be always be my own.  The giveaway is hosted by Markwin's International and not by PJ's and Polish.  Prizes will be distributed by the brand.

Nail Polish Canada The Great Giveaway of 2014!

Hey guys!  I am coming briefly out of vacation mode to share and excellent contest opportunity with you.  Nail Polish Canada has teamed up with Cirque Colors, NCLA and Picture Polish and are putting together an amazing giveaway.  One lucky winner will be able to win up to 200 polishes from 10 different brands on their site. 

Bloggers like myself have been nominating the prizes and as of this post the prize pool is up to 64 polishes.  You enter directly at Nail Polish Canada's Rafflecopter as well as earn extra entries by entering the Rafflecopter from participating blogs.

 OPI - This Gown Needs A Crown

Girly Bits - The Power of Love

Happy Canada Day!  I tried to do some nail art for today and it just wasn't working out.  Instead I have Girly Bits The Power of Love from the 80's Girl Band collection to show you.  As Girly Bits is a Canadian company, I feel that it's appropriate that I share a Canadian brand today.  I got this in my recent nail mail and couldn't wait to try it out.  Power of Love is a textured glitter polish and I was able to resist the urge to topcoat it for review purposes.  I did one nail with topcoat on my other hand to see how I would like it with topcoat and other than I normally prefer a smooth nail I think it actually looks better without topcoat.  If you prefer with topcoat, then I recommend two generous coats of topcoat like Seche or HK Girl to get a complete smooth surface.  Description in italics below is from the maker.

Girly Bits - The Power of Love