4th of July

Twinsie Tuesday: Splatter

9:00:00 AM

Good morning polished world!  How are you all doing today??  Can you believe that tomorrow it is going to be July 1st?  Where has the time gone??  I feel like summer really hasn't started because it's been so cool and rainy.  I think our Spring and Summer seasons reversed or something.

Today is Tuesday which means it is time for Twinsie Tuesday.  Our theme this week is splatter!  I have never done a splatter manicure before so I was rather excited to attempt it.  I've done a hand splatter design where I draw out the splats using a dotting tool, but it was no where near as cool as the real thing!

Since the 4th of July is right around the corner, I decided to use the Look Nail Color 4th of July collection!  Let's see what I came up with!




Colors Used:
  • Look Nail Color - Oh Say Can You See, Rocket's Red Glare, and Broad Stripes Bright Stars
I started off with a base coat of Broad Stripes Bright Stars.  I'm always in the market for a new white polish since I go through so much of it.  This one is rather nice.  Applied perfectly in two coats.  I hate hate HATE when white polish takes three coats.  I feel it gets thick and goopy looking, so when I find a two coater such as this one, it is automatically a keeper.

When the base was dry, I took a coffee stirrer and dipped it into Rocket's Red Glare.  I then blew the red polish onto my nail creating the splatter look.  I did the same thing with Oh Say Can You See until I was happy with how they looked.


Since this is my first splatter manicure, I can't really tell you if these polishes worked better than another brand for the technique.  I think they worked perfectly.  Trust me, if they didn't this post would have been all about how much I hate splatter and how I will never do it again.  I'm actually excited to try it again in the near future!

I'm also excited to do another 4th of July manicure with these polishes!

What do you think?  Fan of the splatter manicure?  Something you've done before?

Don't forget to check out the other Twinsies posts!


Amanda at Amandalandish
Amanda at Fashion Footing
Amber at Nails Like Lace
Bridget at A Painted Nail
Chelsea at Nailed Blog
Jessica at Blue Velvet Lacquer
Lakeisha at Refined and Polished
Marisa at Polish Obsession
Róisín at Cuti-CLUE-les
Savannah at Addicted to Polish
Tiffany at Polished To Precision

Until next time, <3.

Animal Print

Purple Dot Leopard

9:00:00 AM


Happy Sunday polished world!  Have you entered the giveaway yet??  It's a super rainy weekend here!  It's okay though, I needed a weekend where I just stayed home and chilled inside.  It's been quite relaxing.

Today I am sharing a random manicure I did a week or so ago.  I was tired, needed to paint my nails, and wanted something simple.  What's more simple than a leopard print and polka dots?  Nothing...nothing at all!

Let's take a look!




Colors Used:
  • China Glaze - Lotus Begin
  • FingerPaints - Silver Bells
  • Orly - White
  • Orly - Liquid Vinyl
I'm so happy Lotus Begin is part of China Glaze's core collection at Sally Beauty.  I missed this color last year when it was released as part of the City Flourish collection and I was kicking myself ever since.  I read reviews that it had a poor formula and it was an average color, but I don't agree with any of that.  It applied evenly for me in three coats.  I could have gotten away with two, but I was very light on my first two coats.  It's such a gorgeous lavender purple which my collection truly was lacking.  I know, hard to believe since I own so many purple's, but it is.  The only lavender that is slightly similar to this is OPI You're Such a Budapest, but that has a light shimmer, and it's a hint lighter purple.  Similar....not the same! 



FingerPaints Silver Bells is a polish I am getting so much use out of.  This polish was part of their Winter Wishes collection.  As a silver microglitter though, it has so many uses beyond the holiday season.  That whole collection is a perfect year round glitter one.  I hope they re-release some of the polishes so I can get my hands on them again.

What do you think?  Fan of this manicure?  Simple enough?  Should I dare to go simpler with just swatches?!

Don't forget to enter the Bestie Twin Nails Giveaway!  Not only on my blog, but Amanda's too!

Until next time, <3

Bestie Twin Nails

Bestie Twin Nails with Fashion Footing: Round 13 & Giveaway!!!

9:00:00 AM


Good morning polished world!  How are you all doing today?  I'm excited to be back posting with Amanda from Fashion Footing for our 13th round of Bestie Twin Nails!  Can you believe we have been doing this feature for a year now?!  I don't know where the time went!  To mark our one year anniversary, we are holding a giveaway!!!  Let's talk nails, then we'll talk giveaway!

For our manicure this time, we were inspired by this butterfly manicure by SensationalNails4U on Instagram.  I had never seen a gradient monarch wing like that and I was just dying to attempt the design.  I'm sure Amanda wasn't thrilled that I picked such an intricate manicure, but she was a good sport and agreed to it.  Unlike me who refuses to do glitter placement....ever.

Let's take a look!




Colors Used:
  • NYC New York Color - Jacaranda Flower
  • Zoya - Micky
  • FingerPaints - Frosty Lemonade
  • INM - Northern Lights
  • Black and white stripers
I started off with a base coat of white polish.  When it was dried, I sponged on my gradient using Jacaranda Flower, Micky, and Frosty Lemonade.  When the colors looked how I wanted them, I added a top coat of INM Northern Lights because all gradients demand this gorgeous glitter.



I then went through with a black striper and added the monarch wings.  I've done this design a few times before, but this is my all time favorite!  I swear the others never turned out this well.  I ended up keeping them on for about five days!  I never keep manicures on that long, but I literally loved these!

What do you think?  Fan of this manicure?  Something you would try?

Now for the Giveaway.  To celebrate our one year anniversary of Bestie Twin Nails, Amanda and I are both providing prizes for this giveaway.  

My prize is:


Three Sally Hansen Pearl Crush and Xtreame Wear Polishes!  The colors are: Shell & Tell, Babe Blue, Rainbow Fish, Big Teal, Lady Crab, and Mauve Over.

Amanda's prize is:


A Rollin' In Cashmere OPI kit, and KB Shimmer Men are From Marsala and Up and Cunning.

To enter, use the Rafflecopter widget below.  You must be 18 and older to enter, US only.  NO GIVEAWAY ACCOUNTS.  Giveaway will be open for two weeks.  Two winners will be selected.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Good luck!!!!

Until next time, <3.

Galaxy Mani

Twinsie Tuesday: Shimmer

9:00:00 AM


Good morning polished world!!  How are you all doing today?  Hope everyone has had an amazing weekend!  Today is Tuesday which means it is time yet again for another Twinsie Tuesday!  This week our prompt is shimmer!

I had a really brilliant idea to do a glitter gradient for today, but alas, I am the only nail blogger who cannot for the life of me figure out how to do one.  I tried, it failed, I looked like I just had blobby glitter tips that were NEVER going to dry.  Next thing I knew, it was midnight and I had no manicure.

I went through my stash and found Zoya Dream, a gorgeous holo glitter packed polish.  Seriously, this has to be one of my all time favorite polishes.  Glittery, shimmery, and blue?!  How can you go wrong!

I added some quick stars because with a name like dream, I started to think of the night sky.  Let's take a look!




Colors Used:
  • Zoya - Dream
Isn't Dream just that...a dream?  I used two coats for this manicure.  I almost wanted to use three to make it extra glittery, but really it wasn't necessary.  The amount of glitter in two coats is perfection.  And it's so shimmery!!!  You'll have to trust me because I couldn't properly capture it.  Maybe I'll try to get a photo in the sunshine today.



I added the white stars using some acrylic paint and a striper brush.  It was midnight so my lines and stars really aren't the neatest, but hey it works.  I think they're kind of cute.

What do you think?  Fan of the manicure?

Don't forget to check out the other Twinsie's Posts.  I bet they are more shimmery than mine!


Amanda at Amandalandish
Amanda at Fashion Footing
Amber at Nails Like Lace
Bridget at A Painted Nail
Chelsea at Nailed Blog
Jessica at Blue Velvet Lacquer
Lakeisha at Refined and Polished
Marisa at Polish Obsession
Róisín at Cuti-CLUE-les
Savannah at Addicted to Polish
Tiffany at Polished To Precision

Until next time, <3.

Animal Print

Neon Leopard

9:00:00 AM


Happy Saturday polished world!  I'm so proud of myself for actually posting this week!  My secret was being productive on Wednesday and writing up a bunch of posts.  I was going to schedule this post for Sunday, but since it is Father's Day, I'm not going to worry about the blog and updating Facebook and all that nonsense.  Plus everyone shouldn't be blogging, they should be spending their day with their dads!

Today I am sharing a manicure that I recreated after seeing this one on China Glaze's Instagram page.  Ever since purchasing the Electric Nights collection, I was itching to do something fun with one of the glitters as an accent.  Especially Can I Get an Untz Untz.  Mainly because I wanted to tell someone that was the name of the polish when they asked.

Let's take a look!




Colors Used:
  • China Glaze - Treble Maker, DJ Blew My Mind, Violet Vibes, and Can I Get an Untz Untz
  • FingerPaints - Paper Mache

Oh how I love the combination of these colors!  I think that Treble Maker is my all time favorite green polish.  Just look at how pretty it is!!!  All polishes applied evenly in two coats and dried with a shiny finish.  I added INM Out the Door like I typically do which just added to the shine.


Can I Get an Untz Untz applied perfectly in one coat.  I dabbed a little in the upper part to get that purple piece because I somehow started lower on the nail and I had a naked spot.  It was all user error, not the polish.  It matches the other three creams perfectly!!

What do you think?  Do you have the Electric Nights Collection?

Until next time, <3.

China Glaze

Too Yacht to Handle with FingerPaints You're so Antsy

9:00:00 AM


Hey there polished world!  How are you doing today?  I think it's going to rain....again.  It's so depressing too because yesterday it was gorgeous outside.  Perfect 70 degree weather, no humidity, slight breeze.  Can everyday be like that, please?

Last week when it was dreary and rainy, I felt the need to do a bright manicure.  So I grabbed China Glaze Too Yacht to Handle, one of the brightest polishes I own, and got to work on something simple yet fun.

Let's take a look.




Colors Used:
  • China Glaze - Too Yacht to Handle
  • FingerPaints - You're so Antsy
  • Orly - Mirrorball
Remember last year when Too Yacht to Handle came out and everyone complained that it was the worst formula ever, but since the color was gorgeous, it was worth it?  Well it most certainly was worth that awful formula.  This year, China Glaze re-released the polish as part of their core line, and I am here to tell you that the formula is night and day from the original.  This one wasn't patchy or streaky.  I was able to get it to apply in two coats versus three.  Ahhh it's perfection.  I cannot wait to see if my bottle of That's Shore Bright was reformulated as well.



You're So Antsy by FingerPaints is an awesome black and white matte glitter which was released as part of the Picnic in the Park collection.  It has micro black and white pieces mixed with square black and white pieces.  I'm loving this because it is unique in comparison to other black and white glitters that I have used in the past.  The square gives it a different look which really adds a different dimension to it.

What do you think?  Fan of this manicure?  Bright enough for a rainy day?

I was over at Sally's last week and I still saw some bottles of the Picnic in the Park polishes.  I bet they will be going on clearance soon if they already haven't.  Fingers crossed that FingerPaints adds this polish to their core line!

Until next time, <3.

Gradient Mani

Twinsie Tuesday: Blobicure...sort of....

9:00:00 AM


Good morning polished world!  How are you all doing today?  Still rainy here.  At least we have power....that is all that matters.  The night that the storm ripped through here and we lost power, I was actually sitting down to do today's manicure.  But alas, I had to go with a plain swatch which was done by candle light.

Today is Tuesday which means it is time for another Twinsie Tuesday.  Our prompt for today is blobicure.  Which means you paint a base coat, then while it's still wet you drip some blobs of polish on and they expand, leaving you with a blobicure.  So I tried this, and it was not drying.  I waited over an hour and it just was not drying, so I couldn't keep it on.  I probably should have snapped a photo of it while it was still wet, but it didn't even look that good so I called it quits.

So I decided to think of things that were blob like.  All that came to mind was a splatter or paint drip manicure.  Since splatter is coming up soon (spoiler alert) I decided to do a blobbed paint drip nail art.  It was kind of inspired by Kelly at Tuxarina's design she did for her Nail Artist of the Month feature way back when.

Let's take a look.




Colors Used:
  • Finger Paints - Paper Mache
  • Orly - Oh Cabana Boy!, Glowstick, and Skinny Dip
  • Orly - Liquid Vinyl
I started off with a base coat of white.  When that was dried, I sponged on the pink, then the yellow, then blue polish.  They all blended together to make a little bit of an orange, green, and purple hue.  I added a quick dry top coat and let the nails sit and dry for a bit.

Once everything was dried, with a nail art brush and tooth pick, I added the paint drips.  Doing this design from the cuticle was so much easier to do than from the tip of the nail like I've done before.  I felt like it was easier to imagine a dripping from that angle.  If that makes any sense.  It does in my mind.



I then went over and added one more quick dry top coat over the design.  I really love how they turned out.  I really need to do more paint drip nails like this in the future.  Or as I should call it, blob nails.  Because they're kind of blobby....right?

Yeah I failed this week at Twinsie Tuesday again.  I really need to follow the prompts better haha!

What do you think?  Fan of this look?  Think it passes as a blobicure?

Don't forget to check out the other Twinsie's who I'm sure did follow the prompt!!!


Amanda at Amandalandish
Amanda at Fashion Footing
Amber at Nails Like Lace
Bridget at A Painted Nail
Chelsea at Nailed Blog
Jessica at Blue Velvet Lacquer
Lakeisha at Refined and Polished
Marisa at Polish Obsession
Róisín at Cuti-CLUE-les
Savannah at Addicted to Polish
Tiffany at Polished To Precision

Until next time, <3.

Dot Mani

Sally Hansen Miracle Gel Skittle Manicure

9:00:00 AM


Hey polished world!  How are you all this Saturday?  I'm sorry I didn't post much this week!  If you follow me on Twitter, you know that on Wednesday there was an awful storm which knocked my power out.  I spent Thursday helping out around the house cleaning up and resting.  I swear, the whole thing was quite anxiety producing.  Hail the size of my palm, wind that was just crazy....ugh the storm was awful.  Hopefully that's the worst of the season.

Today I am sharing with you a bright, fun, skittle manicure I did using 5 Sally Hansen Miracle Gel Polishes.  I was unsure of these polishes when I received them due to some mixed reviews online, but I have quickly fallen in love.

Let's take a look!




Colors Used:
  • Sally Hansen - B-Girl, Pink Cadillaquer, Morning Sunshine, Dive Bar, and Pink-A-Colada

I honestly cannot pick my favorite out of the five of these.  If I had to though, it would be a tie between Dive Bar and B-Girl, and that's only because I gravitate towards those colors.  All five of these polishes had perfect application.  Pink-A-Colada and Morning Sunshine needed 3 coats for full coverage, while all the others only required two.  This mainly was due to the fact that they both are light colors.  They are worth the three coats though because they're so vibrant!


This time I was a good girl and used the Miracle Gel top coat instead of my INM Out the Door.  This time the polish didn't shrink and wear time was awesome.  I took them off after four days because I was bored of them, but I could have gotten a few more days out of them.  Nothing more than a little tip wear.  I'm going to try these polishes out as pedicure polishes to see how long they truly do last.

What do you think?  Fan of the skittle manicure?  Do you like the Miracle Gels?

Until next time, <3

Flowers

Twinsie Tuesday: Oldest Untried

9:00:00 AM


Good morning polished world!  How are you all doing on this fine Tuesday?  Since it is Tuesday, that means that it is time for another Twinsie Tuesday!  This week we are sharing manicures that were done using our oldest untried polishes.

Now I had my oldest untried out on top of my Melmer the other night, but as you may have read in my last post, I had quite the little accident.  I was opening my top drawer, and in all honesty I cannot for the life of me figure out how it happened, but the whole thing got top heavy and came forward right at me.  All three drawers started to come out, but the second one made the great escape and crashed everywhere on the floor.  All the untrieds were everywhere, top coats were smashed, and my room smelled like chemicals.  It was awful.

So as everything laid intermingled on the floor, I had no clue what was my oldest or newest untried.  Since I was wearing a color block dress that had orange and pink in it, I grabbed Sally Hansen Desert Poppy which is one of my untrieds for awhile and decided to use it.

Let's see what I did.




Colors Used:
  • Sally Hansen - Desert Poppy
  • OPI - Hey Baby
  • Sinful Colors - Snow Me White
  • Sally Hansen - Celeb City
My manicure was inspired by a brighter, more neon version created by NailDecor.  I think I like the darker version I created using Desert Poppy and Hey Baby.  Desert Poppy is from the Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure line.  It's a very pretty orange which applies evenly in three coats.  I could have gotten away with two if I was a bit heavier with them.  I'm pretty sure you already know how much I love the brush on the Complete Salon Polishes, so you know that I was already prepared to love this polish.  I'm not a fan of oranges typically, but this one is so bright and cheerful, it's hard to hate it.  Plus it makes me look tanner than I am.


I love how the orange looks with Hey Baby.  The two colors complimented each other so well.  I know that this polish has been unried for awhile and I'm kind of kicking myself for waiting this long to use it.  I really need to start using more orange polishes.

What do you think?  Fan of this polish?  Liking the manicure?

Don't forget to check out the other Twinsie's manicures!


Amanda at Amandalandish
Amanda at Fashion Footing
Amber at Nails Like Lace
Bridget at A Painted Nail
Chelsea at Nailed Blog
Jessica at Blue Velvet Lacquer
Lakeisha at Refined and Polished
Marisa at Polish Obsession
Róisín at Cuti-CLUE-les
Savannah at Addicted to Polish
Tiffany at Polished To Precision

Until next time, <3.

Nail Artist of the Month

June Nail Artist of the Month: Nails Like Lace!

9:00:00 AM

Good morning polished world! How are you all today on this lovely Sunday? I have a fun filled day of cleaning ahead of me. Clearly I don't know the definition of fun. It's been a weird weekend....on Friday night I had zero nail inspiration, then when I started to do my nails, my Melmer flipped forward dumping a good chunk of my polish on the floor and breaking two bottles. RIP to my INM Northern Lights in Gold....RIP. I know it's sad to be devastated over a polish, but that one I am since I can't find it ever anywhere. Oh well....I'll eventually get another.

Since Friday I've taken a little break from polishing, especially since I have Spring cleaning on the agenda for today. No point in painting my nails just to have them chip.


It's perfect timing to introduce you all to another Nail Artist of the Month.  This month I am featuring Amber from Nails Like Lace who happens to be a fellow Twinsie from Twinsie Tuesday!  I'm such a fan of Amber's nail art.  Everything is so crisp and perfect....she needs to give me some lessons.

Let's take a look at what Amber came up with! 

_________________________________________

Hey lovely Little Canvas readers! I'm Amber, the mastermind behind Nails Like Lace. I'm so thrilled to by Alaina's nail artist feature for June!

I'm a 26 year-old toddler mom from the Midwest U.S. I've been a nail blogger since late 2010, even though it feels like I just started a year ago!

Now that this part of the world has finally decided to start warming up, I thought I'd celebrate with yummy ice cream nails!


I used Leesha's Lacquer Ice Cream Cones as my base, and acrylic paint for everything else. All finished off with a matte topcoat since there's so much going on in it.





This was a fun mani, I love how it turned out - so colorful! What do you think? It is up to The Little Canvas standards?

Thank you for having me Alaina! Your monthly features are so great!

_______________________________________________

Above and beyond The Little Canvas standards!!!!! This manicure is so amazing!  I love the base, the ice cream cones...everything!!!  I need to re-create this manicure ASAP.  I don't have a fun base to put it on, but I'm sure I'll find something.  The little cones are just adorable.

Make sure to follow Amber on her blog, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube!!!

Thank you so much for the awesome post, Amber!

Until next time, <3.

China Glaze

Neon Rainbow Nail Collab 2015!

9:00:00 AM


Good morning polished world!!  How are you all today??  I'm doing fabulously because as you all know, it is FRIDAY!  I feel like all Friday's are holidays.  Especially after long work weeks....and this one was one of those.

Today I am super excited to be part of my first Instagram Collaboration.  Amber, from Nails Like Lace, hosts random collaborations throughout the course of the year.  Dozens upon dozens of girls participate and share their manicures and Amber puts them together in an awesome collage.  Every time I see the collab announcement, I forget or run out of time to create a design.  When Amber announced this round, I was beyond thrilled that I actually had a manicure on my hands that would be perfect!

This collaborations theme is Neon Rainbow!  You know me, I love all things neon, and after buying all the China Glaze Electric Nights polishes, everything was neon.  I was itching to do a gradient with them so I got to work and did this awesome rainbow design.

Let's take a look!




Colors Used:
  • Sinful Colors - Snow Me White
  • Orly - Glowstick
  • China Glaze - Glow With the Flow
  • China Glaze - DJ Blew My Mind
Yes, you are seeing that right, I only used three polishes to get this awesome gradient design!!!  For my pointer and pinkie, I blended Glowstick with Glow With the Flow.  The yellow and pink blended together to create an orange in the middle.  For the next nail, I used Glow With the Flow along with DJ Blew My Mind, which created an awesome purple color.  The last finger was created using DJ Blew My Mind and Glowstick which created a green color.  I think that is my favorite nail.  Okay who am I kidding, they all are my favorite.



For my top coat, I used FingerPaints new Gel Like Top coat.  I am a devout fan of INM Out the Door, but this...this top coat is to DIE for!!!!  I'm not going to lie, I was iffy about using it.  I don't have good luck with non-fast dry top coats.  This top coat though dried BEYOND shinny and dried pretty quickly.  Not as fast as my Out the Door, but not too long that I felt inconvenienced.  It was a little thicker than most top coats, but that didn't effect anything.  The wear time was three days.  I was going to keep them on longer, but you know me, I get bored with my manicures fast.

Long story short, this top coat is a keeper!

What do you think?  Fan of this design?  Love the rainbow collab?

Check out the collage below which features so many other lovely artists!


I loved being part of this and cannot wait for the next!

Until next time , <3.