Gradient Mani

Tribal Nail Art with Sally Hansen Splash

9:00:00 AM

Press Sample
Good morning polished world!  Hope you are all doing well today!  I'm doing okay for the most part.  I'm excited to finally have a day off tomorrow so I can sleep in.  I should have taken a long nap yesterday afternoon when it was cruddy and rainy out, but instead I watched re-runs of House on Netflix, took photos of my nails, and surfed Buzzfeed.  Priorities, am I right?

Today I'm bringing you a manicure I loved using a polish which I have mixed feelings on.  A week or so ago, I received the Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Rio Collection.  This collection contains 8 matte glitter polishes which are inspired by Brazil since they are hosting the World Cup.  Side note, am I the only one who doesn't care about the World Cup?  Everyone is talking about soccer and I'm over here concerned about my nail polish.

Anywho, when I opened the boxes, I fell in love with these matte glitters.  They come in a range of color combos which, for me, can be used to create fun and quick accent nail to any nail art.  Since I'm a huge fan of blue, Beach Ball, which contains matte blue and white glitters, became the first polish to try.  I grabbed a few cream polishes which matched the glitter and got to work on a fun, quick design.

Since I've become obsessed with gradients, especially after the success of my coral gradient, I decided to do something similar with the blues.  Let's take a look!




Colors Used:
  • Gradient 
    • Revlon - Dreamer
    • Ulta - Blue Streak
    • INM - Northern Lights Silver
  • Orly - Liquid Vinyl
  • Finger Paints - Paper Mache
  • Sally Hansen - Beach Ball

 Awesome manicure, right?  But do you see what I see?  Look closely at my middle finger.  Notice all the dots in between the glitters....that's not Northern Lights you're seeing, those are bubbles.  Zillions of little bubbles which were sadly thanks to the Sally Hansen matte glitter.  Unfortunately, the polish had way too much base and not enough glitter.  I tried to do a thin coat and ended up with just one or two glitter pieces on the nail.  I let that dry completely before I added a thicker coat, which did give me more even coverage, but I believe led to the bubbles.  The ratio is just so off, and I think if there was less base (and maybe it was a tad thinner) the bubbles wouldn't be occurring.

Now, don't give up on the polishes from the Rio Collection just yet, because I'm not.  The glitters are so bold and bright in fun combos.  This blue combo, as well as Tidal Rave which contains black glitter instead of the white, really are something different I haven't seen yet from main brands yet.  I will be using the rest of the polishes in the collection, but instead of painting them on, I'm going to sponge them on.  This means I will paint the polish onto the make up sponge and then dab it on my nail as if I were doing a gradient.  I think this will eliminate the bubbles and give me the exact glitter look that I'm looking for.  Stay tuned because I have a great idea using Fiesta which is the Red, White, and Black glitter.


Regardless, the manicure is awesome, and to people looking at my nails from a distance, they do not notice the bubbles.  Honestly, from a distance I barely notice them and really am able to admire the whole manicure and enjoy the glitter.  Again, that's from a distance, I get that middle finger to eye level and I want to pop the bubbles!

I love my gradient and my random tribal design.  Can we call that tribal?  I'm not sure if we can, but that's what I'm dubbing it.  Kind of looks like a volleyball now that I look at it more.

What do you think of the manicure?  Loving the look?  Disappointed about the bubbly glitters like I am?  If you own them, have you gotten them to work?  What are your tips and tricks?  Sponging work?

As I said, I'm not giving up quiet yet on these glitters.  As a paintable polish, yes I am, but not as a sponged one.  Here's hoping that it works for the few ideas that I have!

The Sally Hansen Rio Collection is a special edition collection which can be found currently at drug stores near you!

Until next time, <3

**Some polishes in this post were provided for review.  Expressed opinions are my own.  Please see my disclosure policy**

Foodie Mani

Twinsie Tuesday: Nails Inspired by Food/Beverage

9:00:00 AM

Good morning polished world!  How are you all today?  It's Tuesday so that means it is time for another Twinsie Tuesday!  Wasn't it Tuesday like two days ago?  I feel like the weeks are flying by!  Seriously though, June is almost over....where did this month go?!

This week we are posting manicures inspired by Food or Beverages.  Where I live, mid June is strawberry season!  I absolutely love strawberries!  Currently there is a bowl in my refrigerator calling my name, but sadly they are being reserved for some yummy baked goods that I'm going to be making later tonight.

Since strawberries are clearly on my mind, I decided it was appropriate to do a strawberry themed manicure today.  After seeing The Polish Squirrel's strawberry manicure, I decided to do a few big strawberries accented with little strawberries on my other nails.  I was going to use a light base similar to hers, but after seeing my mint polish sitting next to my darker green that I was using for the stems, I thought that would look pretty awesome as a base.

I'm not too happy with the end result, but they're still kinda cute.  Let's take a look!




Colors Used:
  • Zoya - Livingston
  • Zoya - Josie
  • Orly - Jealous Much
  • Orly Instant Artist - White and Black
I think that Zoya Livingston is the perfect strawberry red.  Since this polish is a crelly, it looks just like a ripe, juicy strawberry.  When my base coat of Livingston was dry, I used a nail art brush and added the detail of the green leaves.  This always is my least favorite thing to do because I never can cover the red just right.  It ends up being thicker towards the cuticle, which makes it look a tad messy.  After my green leaves were on, I went through with my striper and added the black seeds.


For my mint nails, I used a nail art brush and dotting tool to create the little strawberries.  Honestly, I wish I created this design on all my nails instead of doing the big ones on the others.  It was kind of a pain in the butt doing the little details, but after I got the hang of what I was doing it went by fast.

What do you think?  Enjoying the strawberry manicure?

Don't forget to check out the other Twinsie's posts!  I cannot wait to see what food or beverage inspired them!



Amanda at Amandalandish
Amber at Nails Like Lace
Bridget at A Painted Nail
Chelsea at Nailed Blog
Elizabeth at Did My Nails
Kelly at Tuxarina
​Marisa at Polish Obsession
Róisín at Cuti-CLUE-les
Stephanie at A Little Polish
Tiffany at Polished To Precision

Until next time, <3.

Flowers

Coral Gradient

9:00:00 AM

Press Sample
Happy Saturday Polished Peeps!  How are you all today?  Today I am going to my friend's wedding so that means I get to dress up all pretty!  I rarely dress up anymore, so I can't wait to put on a floral print dress with my heels.  Have I ever mentioned I love floral patterns, especially on dresses?

Well today I am wearing a very pretty black hi-low dress with a gorgeous floral pattern on it.  I'll share an image of it below.  Anyways, I didn't want to take away from the floral pattern of the dress, so I asked my Twinsie Tuesday and Beauty Buff girls what the best nail option would be.  After many different ideas, I settled on a coral gradient with a possible floral accent.

I did a quick Google search on "coral graidents" and I found this manicure by fellow Beauty Buff Wondrously Polished.  I love how she created the gradient on top of a light orange base and knew I had to copy it.

Let's take a look!  I'm purchasing a light box so soon we shall say goodbye to these dingy looking photos....




Colors Used:
  • Sinful Colors - Orange Cream
  • NYC New York Color - Tropicoral
  • INM - Northern Lights Gold
  • Orly - Instant Artist - Black
I copied what Lindsey did for her gradient base and started off with a base coat of a light orange polish.  I used Sinful Colors Orange Cream which is such a gorgeous polish.  I'm not sure if I used it before, but I'm kicking myself that I haven't used it more often.  It's such a gorgeous creamy orange polish that has a very subtle shimmer to it.  I used three coats to have full coverage.  I could have gotten away with two, but I was admiring the shimmer and ended up being very light on my first two coats.

When my base was dried, I created a gradient using Orange Cream and NYC New York Color Tropicoral.  This polish is from the new City Samba collection.  It's such a rich gorgeous coral polish that is also a quick dry.  Kind of really excited to have this and the rest of the collection in my stash because quick dry polishes are great for nail art, especially when the colors are as vibrant as these.  Lots of kitchen sink and polka dot manicures are in my future!  The polish was perfect for a gradient.  I only needed to dab the sponge twice on the nail and the gradient was perfectly opaque.

When my gradient was how I liked it, I ran a quick coat of INM Northern Lights in gold across them.  I picked the gold because gold looks amazing with coral.



I debated on keeping my nails plain with just the gradient and sparkle because it truly was gorgeous, but you know me, I cannot leave well enough alone.  I added a quick floral design which was inspired by The Lacquerologist's splash flowers.  I thought it was perfectly abstract and would tie in the dress well.


This is the pattern of the dress.  As you can see, those larger flowers are kind of like a light orange to coral in the middle.  My nails look more orange than they are in real life, trust me they match perfectly!  Maybe I'll snap a photo of my whole look and put it on Instagram later.  Keep looking and it might appear!

What do you think?  Liking the simple manicure?  Good for a nice event like a wedding?

NYC New York Color Tropicoral can be purchased at local drugstores for $1.99.  Totally worth it in my opinion!

Until next time, <3

**Some products in this post were provided for review.  Please see my disclosure policy**

Sally Hansen Rio Collection Press Release

10:48:00 PM

Hello there again!  One more press release tonight!  This one is for the Sally Hansen Rio Collection which is a collection of 8 matte glitter polishes.  I see a lot of cool kitchen sink manicures in my future using these babies!  Let's take a look! 

_______________________________

INTRODUCING THE RIO COLLECTION 
EIGHT NEW SALLY HANSEN HARD AS NAILS XTREME WEAR NAIL COLORS

THINK: Multi-colored matte glitter polishes to give you a passport to party.

WHAT THEY ARE: New celebratory, glittering, confetti colors joining Sally Hansen’s beloved long-wear, high-shine nail polish collection. With Sally Hansen Hard As Nails Extreme Wear Nail Color, you always get outrageous shine plus the most of-the-moment colors. Now, with the new Rio collection, head to Brazil’s premier party destination anytime with eight color burst sensations. Channeling the bright colors and dazzling sequins of Carnival, throw your own personal masquerade ball with this must-have collection of multi-toned blue, green, and purple glitter palettes. Each modern, maximum shine polish look lasts up to a full week.

For an exotic color getaway, try these new shades alone, layered together, or worn with your favorite solid Sally Hansen polish for a unique, tone-on-tone glitter effect. Hard As Nails Xtreme Wear Nail Color features Sally Hansen’s exclusive Micro-Shine Complex, an advanced formula that bonds shine polymers and Bioactive Glass directly to nails for extreme strength, lustrous color, and brilliant shine. The specially designed Perfect Glide Brush deposits flawlessly smooth, even color with every stroke for a perfectly bulletproof look, guaranteed.

THE SHADES: Splash, Beach Ball, Samba, Carnival, Fruit-ta-ta, Tidal Rave, Copa-Banana, Fiesta

WHAT THEY COST: $2.99 each

WHERE TO FIND THEM: The Sally Hansen Salon Hard As Nails Xtreme Wear Rio shade extensions is available beginning May 2014 at chain drug stores, food stores and mass retailers nationwide
___________________________________

Click here to see the picture I took of them when I received them the other day!  They're so fun!

Press Release

NYC New York Color: City Samba Collection Press Release

10:27:00 PM

Hey all!  Just a late night press release for you all!  This is from NYC New York Color introducing you to their new City Samba Collection!  The colors are gorgeous and I've already played around with a few!
____________________________

WHAT IT IS: A limited edition color inspired by the vibrancy of Brazil. NYC New York Color is bringing the sexy beaches and sizzling sun of Brazil to New York with a new, limited edition City Samba collection filled with Brazilian fun and flare. Look your sexiest yet with Carnivale-ready nail polishes, brilliant lip glosses, and shimmering bronzing powders.

The NYC New York Color City Samba Nail collection includes:
In A New York Color Minute Quick Dry Nail Polish ($1.99): Ultra-quick dry nail enamel in electrifying summer shades. These high pigment colors are infused with a hint of shimmer for brilliant, tropically-hued nails that won’t fade. The nail strengthening formula is infused with magnesium, iron, copper, and calcium for beautiful nails and specifically formulated to dry in lightning speed time to a dazzling, high shine finish. 

The shades: Carnival Red, Sweet Melon, Copabanana, Amazon Green, Palm Tree, Ocean Blue, Jacaranda Flower, and Tropicoral.


Show Time Nail Art ($1.99): Fine-tip glossy polishes in Brazil-inspired, tropical colors. Extend your love of art to your nails with the new Show Time Nail Art line from NYC New York Color. The ultra-thin tip is specially designed to allow for intricate, detailed nail art designs. High shine and glossy, the intensely pigmented color is infused with a hint of gorgeous shimmer and draws on easily to create brilliant nails that capture the creative heart of New York and the passionate spirit of Brazil. 

The shades: Black Ink, Pinkasso and Silverism


WHERE TO FIND IT: NYC New York Color products are available at chain drugstores and mass merchandisers nationwide starting from June – September 2014. To find a retailer near you, please visit www.newyorkcolor.com

____________________________

Flowers

The Beauty Buffs: Stripes

8:00:00 AM

Good morning again!!!!  You're seeing this right, I am blogging two days in a row!  Which means it is time for another post with The Beauty Buffs!  I'm so happy that we post bi-weekly with this group because honestly I don't think I could keep up with it and Twinsie Tuesday.  That would stink too since I love being part of both groups of talented bloggers!

This week, The Beauty Buffs are posting all about stripes!  I was so excited when I saw this prompt because I love stripes.  I wear striped shirts a lot, and I've been known to buy the same striped shirt in different colors.  I was also excited because I rarely do striped manicures and I always love how they look.  Plus, where there are stripes, there usually is nail art tape, and you know how much I love creating tape designs!

Right away, I knew which manicure I was going to recreate.  Ages ago, I saw this nautical rose manicure by Paulina's Passions and instantly fell in love.  I actually think that was that manicure that led me to follow her on Instagram.  Then I found her poppy nails which led me to re-create those a few weeks ago.  I think I'm going to be copying her a lot because she's a nail art genius.

I'm in love with how they turned out!  Let's take a look! 




Colors Used:
  • Base
    • FingerPaints - Paper Mache
    • OPI - Eurso Euro
  • Flowers
    • Zoya - Kitridge
    • Zoya - Rooney
    • Zoya - Tilda
Gorgeous, right!?  This manicure literally took an eternity to complete, but was well worth the outcome.  I started off with two coats of my new favorite white polish, Paper Mache by FingerPaints.  I got it for Buy One Get One at Sally Beauty along with Red White and Hue (a patriotic matte glitter polish you'll be seeing lots of soon).  None of the other colors were standing out to me, so I decided to get the white since I can never have enough white polishes.  I'm so happy I did this because to me, it's the pure white version of OPI My Boyfriend Scales Walls.  For ages I have been searching for the perfect white and I think I finally found it!  I've used it twice now and each time I'm in love with it's coverage and how fast it dries.

Enough about the white, I"m here to talk about the stripes!  After my white was dry (which I kid you not two coats took no time at all), I added five pieces of nail art tape across my nail.  Honestly, this took the most time because my OCD wanted all the lines to be perfect and sort of line up with the nail next to each other.  When the tape was how I liked it, I added one coat of OPI Eurso Euro.  Goodness I love this blue and am so happy it's part of the OPI core cream collection at Sally Beauty.  I need another bottle because it's a gorgeous color.

After the stripes were dried, I took my dotting tool and some old white polish and created three dots randomly on the nail.  I did this because I figured the pink would not be opaque enough over the blue polish.  When the white dots were dry, I added some Zoya Kitredge to cover up the white dot.  While that was drying, I used Tilda to add the leaves.  I then went back through with Rooney and created the petals.  Added a significant amount of top coat and admired my design!



I absolutely love the striped base of this manicure.  While I have done roses on top of polka dots and loved the look, something about the stripes makes them look amazing.  Maybe it's the color choice too.  Regardless, it's awesome looking.  I also wish that I could find a dress or something with this pattern on it.  I'd even settle for a blouse.

What do you think?  Loving the look or hating it?

Don't forget to check out the other girl's posts!  I'm excited to see what everyone came up with!



An InLinkz Link-up

Excuse me as I take a blogging break for a few days!  Until next time, <3.

Color Block Mani

Twinsie Tuesday: Summer Lovin

9:00:00 AM

Hello polished world!  It's Tuesday, which means it's time for another Twinsie Tuesday.  Sadly, some Twinsies have left over the past few weeks, but we are welcoming back not only some old Twinsie's but new ones as well!  If you remember, last week we welcomed backed Cordia.  This week, we are welcoming Bridget from A Painted Nail, and Jessica from Blue Velvet Lacquer.  Now, I'm not 100% positive if Bridget and Jessica will be posting this week since it's all kind of new, but regardless, head on over to their blogs and check them out!

This week our theme is Summer Loving!  I was excited when I saw this prompt since the manicure options are endless.  I decided to do something fun and bright, aka use all the neons!  While I've been known to wear my neon polishes in the winter, they get the most use in the summer time.

For today's neon manicure, I was inspired by this manicure by my fellow Beauty Buff Lindsay from Nail That Accent.  I just loved the neon mosaic and had to copy it.  Instead of doing the design as an accent, I decided to go crazy and mosaic all my nails.

Let's take a look!




Colors Used:
  • Base
    • FingerPaints - Paper Mache
  • Mosaic
    • China Glaze - Flip Flop Fantasy
    • Orly - Glowstick
    • Orly - Oh Cabana Boy!
    • China Glaze - That's Shore Bright
    • Orly - Instant Artist Black
Don't they look awesome?!  I'm seriously in LOVE with this manicure.  I have done mosaic designs in the past, but they did not come out as good as this one!  Reason this one rock; I tried a new technique thanks to Lindsay's Instagram tutorial!  Whenever I created this look, I would start off with a base coat of white polish.  When my base was dried, I would take a black striper and create the mosaic outline.  Then I would fill in the empty space, then go back over the black outline to clean up the edges.

How Lindsay did it was pure genius and so much easier!  She started out with a base coat, then created the color blocks on the white nail without the outline.  When the colors were all on the nail, she then went through and outlined each individual area.  It was sooooooooo much easier this way and my lines were a million times neater!



The color combination was pure genius also.  I was debating on adding a neon blue, but am super happy I didn't add that into the mix.  I think it would have taken away from the bright neon.  And boy are these nails bright.  I wish I could have truly captured the brightness, but as you ladies know, photographing a neon is near to impossible.

What do you think?  Loving the neon mosaic?  Think it's perfect for summer?

Don't forget to check out the other Twinsie's posts!  I can't wait to see who else busted out their neons!


Amanda at Amandalandish
Chelsea at Nailed Blog
Cordia at Seriously Swatched
Elizabeth at Did My Nails
Kelly at Tuxarina
Lakeisha at Refined and Polished
Marisa at Polish Obsession
Róisín at Cuti-CLUE-les
Stephanie at A Little Polish
Traci at DrinkCitra

Until next time, <3.

Bestie Twin Nails

Bestie Twin Nails with Fashion Footing!

9:00:00 AM

Happy Sunday Polished World!  How are you all today?  I'm doing okay....yesterday it was freezing.  Okay, maybe not freezing, but for mid June, it was way too cold.  Hopefully today it will be warmer.  Also, it's June 15th, so that means it's Father's Day!  Happy Father's Day to all the Dad's out there, especially my own!  If I'm still running this blog next year (which most likely I will be), I will create a Father's Day manicure.

Today I am bringing you some Bestie Twin Nails with the lovely Amanda from Fashion Footing!  A few days ago I posted on my Twitter that I wanted to do this or a mani swap with someone, and Amanda was the first to volunteer!  

Amanda went through my Pinterest board of never ending nail ideas and sent me ten different designs.  After some deciding (they all were really awesome), we settled on this design by Newly Polished on Instagram.  I really loved the simple floral design on the nude base.  The colors were so unique too and really added something to the manicure.  So we talked it through and debated on color schemes, I decided to stick with the original, and Amanda did a little something different, which came out awesome!

Let's take a look!




Colors Used:
  • OPI - My Vampire Is Buff
  • OPI - Hey Baby!
  • China Glaze - Too Yacht to Handle
  • Zoya - Thandie
  • Sinful Colors - Snow Me White
  • Sally Hansen - Golden I
The design was rather simple.  I started off with a base coat of OPI My Vampire is Buff.  This polish takes three coats to get full coverage.  If you applied it heavy, you could get away with two.  I just recommend three thin coats, because this color is one of those unforgiving ones when applied messily/goopy/thickly.  When my base was dry, I went through with my dotting tool and created the dot flowers all around the nail.

Since I'm not a huge fan of studs, I decided to forego the circular bead middles of the flowers that Newly Polished did.  Instead, I used a gold polish for the centers.  I'm happy with that decision because it made the flowers look more like flowers and made the whole thing less blah.  Sometimes when I use all creams with no glitter/shimmer polishes, I feel like my nails are horribly boring.



Overall, I'm very happy with how the manicure turned out.  I'm typically not the one to wear "neutral" "subtle" designs like this, so it was really a great refresher in my mind!  Plus, who doesn't love a manicure that is quick to do and still looks like you spent hours on it?

What do you think??  Liking the subtle design?

Make sure to head on over to Amanda's blog and check out her manicure!!!  Hopefully she will agree to do more Bestie Twin Nails with me in the future!  Think I can get her to do crazy nail art?

Until next time, <3.

Galaxy Mani

Pastel-ish Galaxy Nails

9:00:00 AM

Good morning polished world!  How are you today?  I'm doing well because I have a day off from work!  Excuse me as I go back to sleep and spend my whole day in bed.  Okay, maybe I'll get up and do something productive.....maybe.  Actually I do have a few things to do, including photographing and putting reviews on the blog of some different items that have been sent to me.

Since I'm too lazy to edit photos of current manicures, I'm digging into The Little Canvas vault.  I love having a little back log.  Of course though it took me a good 20 minutes to determine which of the 5 manicures from the vault I wanted to post.  

After much consideration, I decided to go with these pastel-ish galaxy nails.  After seeing some similar manicures posted all over Instagram, I decided to give the design a try for myself.  For the life of me, I cannot tell you which Instagrams I saw it on, but I can tell you that The Nailasaurus has a great galaxy nail art tutorial which I should have copied now that I look at my manicure.

Let's take a look!




Colors Used:
  • Base
    • OPI - You're Such a Budapest
  • Galaxy
    • Sinful Colors - Snow Me White
    • Sinful Colors - Bright Lucite
    • Color Club - Miss Bliss
    • Color Club - Eternal Beauty
  • INM - Northern Lights
  • Sinful Colors - Snow Me White
Even though I didn't follow Sammy's tutorial, the nails still turned out pretty dang cool looking.  Unlike the previous galaxy nails I've done where I started off with a base coat of black polish, I did a base of a lavender polish (You're Such a Budapest).  Once my base was on, I took a corner of a make up sponge and sponged on the outline of the galaxy using Snow Me White.  I then went through and added Bright Lucite, a baby blue, along the outside of the white using another corner of the sponge.  I then used Color Club Miss Bliss and Eternal Beauty to fill in any blank spots and create a holo glittery dimension to the galaxy.

To make the galaxies look like galaxies, I went through with a quick coat of INM Northern Lights in Silver.  This polish is awesome for galaxies because all the little glitter flecks look like dozens and dozens of twinkling stars.  When Northern Lights was dried, I went through with a dotting tool and nail art brush and created the white stars.  The addition of the white starts really pulled the whole manicure together.



Of course, I finished it all off with a quick top coat of INM Out the Door.  Frequently my followers ask if they have to put a top coat on over Northern Lights, and the answer is no since it is a fast dry top coat.  I typically do because in many cases it is an intermediate top coat, meaning I usually use it to seal in a gradient then go through and add more art.  After the art is on, I need to seal that in too, but don't want to add more glitter, so I just use my plain fast dry.

What do you think of my pastel galaxies?  Fan of them compared to the traditional galaxy with a black base?

Time for me to go be unproductive!  Just kidding, as I was writing this post, I realized I have to get a Twinsie Tuseday and The Beauty Buffs post ready for next week!  Both groups have fun themes this week, so I'm excited to start creating!

Until next time, <3.

Dot Mani

Twinsie Tuesday: 3D Decor! - Sally Hansen Rhinestones

9:00:00 AM

Press Sample
Good morning polished world!  How are you today?  I hope you all are doing well.  Today is Tuesday meaning it is time again for another Twinsie Tuesday!  We will ignore the fact that I missed last week's prompt and hope that maybe in the future we'll have another "Re-visit a prompt" week.  I'm excited to announce that this week we are welcoming back Cordia from Seriously Swatched.  I love Cordia's blog and am so happy that she is back posting with us!

This week, we are adding 3D decor to our manicures.  This means rhinestones, studs, and/or fimo!  Now, if you know me, I am not a fan of anything that sticks off my nail.  I have the tendency to pick them off literally 2 seconds after they're on.  I do love studs and rhinestones though, and wish my OCD let me keep them on a little longer than what I typically do.  They're a quick and easy way to add nail art to your nail!

This post provided me with the perfect opportunity to finally use and review the Sally Hansen I <3 Nail Art Studs Kit I received.  When I got them, I was so excited to finally have such a neat variety of studs.  The kit I received contains black rhinestones, clear rhinestones, and matte circular gold studs.  They come in these glass tubes which contain zillions of each!  There are so many that I doubt I will ever use them all myself!

I decided to go really simple and go with a polka dot accent, with my favorite silver polish with glitter topper, framed by a cream polish with the studs.  I couldn't decide which cream polish to use, so I asked my friend to pick between Sinful Colors Mad About Hue and Orly Gumdrop.  The Sinful purple was the winner and ended up being perfect!  Let's take a look!




Colors Used:
  • Sinful Colors - Mad About Hue
  • OPI - This Crown Needs a Gown
  • OPI - In True Stefani Fashion
  • Orly - Liquid Vinyl
  • Sinful Colors - Snow Me White
  • Sally Hansen - Rhinestones
Pretty, right?  While this manicure would have looked awesome with Orly Gumdrop with the silver and black/white polka dot nail, Mad About Hue looks great as well.  This is a new Sinful I picked up a few months ago when the Spring pastels started appearing in the stores.  I used it once already for a gradient and really enjoyed it for that.  As a cream base, it's just as great.  I had full coverage in two coats with no bald spots.  The first coat was a bit iffy because it was sheer and not so bright, but after the second coat, it was like a whole new polish.

After my two coats of Mad About Hue were dried, I added a coat of my Out the Door Top coat, then quickly placed the studs on my nails.  The Sally Hansen kit comes with a little stud picker upper, but it was a tad too big for my liking, so I ended up using the one I purchased last year from Sally Beauty Supply.  If you don't like the size of the one Sally Hansen provides, you can just use a tooth pick.  I placed the studs where I wanted them and lightly pressed down on them to make sure they set.  When my top coat dried, they were dried into place.  I do not recommend putting top coat over these studs!



I've come to the conclusion that This Crown Needs a Gown with In True Stefani Fashion on top of it is my favorite accent nail of all time.  I've done it before and always loved it, but this time my love was different.  I debated on using Zoya Cosmo, but I got scared it would take away from the studs.  Plus, I think it would have been too busy.

What do you think?  Fan of the studs?  Do you like adding 3D decor to your manicures?

If you want to purchase your own I <3 Nail Art Studs kit, you can find them at your local drugstore.  Walgreens sells them for $6.49.  For the amount of studs you get, it's totally worth it.  I seriously will never go through all of these.

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


Amanda at Amandalandish
Chelsea at Nailed Blog
Elizabeth at Did My Nails
Kelly at Tuxarina
Marisa at Polish Obsession
Róisín at Cuti-CLUE-les
Stephanie at A Little Polish
Traci at DrinkCitra

Until next time, <3.

**Some products in this post were provided for review.  Please see my disclosure policy**

Bug Mani

Zoya Bubbly Monarch Wings

9:00:00 AM

Press Sample
Happy Saturday polished world!  And boy is it a happy Saturday for me, I don't have to work today and it's supposed to be gorgeous out!  That means I'm going to wash and wash my car, and maybe vacuum it as well.  Sure, it really doesn't sound too fun, but anything sounds good after you're able to sleep in.  Oh how excited I am to sleep in.

I'm also excited to share today's pretty manicure - Zoya Bubbly Monarch Wings!  As soon as I received the Bubbly collection from Zoya, I knew that I wanted to re-create the monarch design on my nails!  Last year, you may remember that I did this exact design using the Irresistible polishes.  Looking back at that manicure, I'm remembering how gorgeous the Irresistible polishes are.  I need to dig through my stash and re-use some of them this summer.  Also, look how short my nails were!  Goodness gracious.

Instead of doing a gradient like I did with the Irresistible polishes, I decided to go simple and just swatch the colors.  I'm so happy I did this and didn't complicate the gorgeous polishes.  Let's take a look!




Colors Used:
  • Zoya - Binx, Muse, Alma, Harper, and Stassi
  • Orly - Instant Artist - Black and White

Aren't the colors gorgeous?  In the sunlight, each polish takes on a whole new dimension.  I'm actually quite upset that I couldn't get some outdoor photos of these nails.  It of course was cloudy and then the tips started to wear since it was black, so the lightbox it was.  Each polish is a colored jelly based with holo glitter pieces throughout.

Muse and Stassi are the most color concentrated of the bunch.  For me, it took two coats to get full coverage.  Binx, Alma, and Harper all took three coats to get the colors to really pop.  If you used one thin coat followed by one thicker, you would have been perfectly okay.  Since I was doing art though on top, I really wanted my base to be as concentrated as possible.  The formulas though are pretty great and the polishes themselves are unlike anything else in my collection.  I highly recommend them!


To get the look, I used my Instant Artist stripier and created the swooped line by my cuticle.  From that line, I created the four lines down the nail.  Then I connected the lines with more little swoops, then filled in the tip of the nail with black polish.  When that was dried, I added the polka dots.  Well that is the most confusing explanation of how I got the look ever.  Maybe I'll create a tutorial....

What do you think?  Like the monarch wings?  Loving the Zoya Bubbly polishes?  Would you like to see a tutorial?

The Zoya Bubbly polishes can be purchased from Zoya's website for $9.00 each.  I don't believe that they currently have any promotions, so you'll have to splurge if you want them.  I think they're worth it!

Now if we could just get Zoya to create some linear holo polishes similar to the Color Club Halo Hues, my life would be complete.....

Until next time, <3.

**Polishes in this post were provided by Zoya for PR purposes.  Please see my disclosure policy**

Animal Print

The Beauty Buffs: Neon Everything!

8:00:00 AM

Good Morning polished world!!!  Before I start today's post, I'm going to apologize for totally skipping yesterday's Twinsie Tuesday.  I was so tired Monday night that I decided I was going to write up a post stating I was skipping Tuesday morning before the 9am posting time, but the internet was down where I worked.  The day went by and by the time the internet turned on it was too late to post anything.  I promise to be back next week posting with my lovely Twinsies!

Today I am posting with the lovely Beauty Buffs!  This week our theme is neon everything!  I couldn't think of a more awesome theme to kick off the month of June.  Who doesn't love wearing neon's in the summertime?!  Heck, I love wearing neon polishes even in the winter!  They're so bright and fun and really make a manicure pop.

When I saw today's prompt, I knew that I was going to do an animal print of some sort.  I personally believe that you can never go wrong with a fun neon manicure with a zebra or leopard print.  Since I couldn't figure out which color to use, I decided to use my favorite Orly Neon's to make a gradient and go all out with an animal print.

Let's take a look!




Colors Used:
  • Orly - Glowstick
  • Orly - Melt Your Popsicle
  • Orly - Oh, Cabana Boy!
  • Orly - Liquid Vinyl
  • Orly - Instant Artist - Jet Black
  • INM - Northern Lights Silver 

Hands down, Orly makes THE best neon polishes ever!  I really wish I could have photographed this manicure outdoors, but of course it was cloudy.  I did capture a photo on my phone which I'll be sharing on my Instagram in a few days where you will see the true brightness of this manicure.

For my gradient, I started off with a base coat of a white polish.  I then decided to go from dark at the cuticle to light at the tip since I rarely do this.  I feel like I keep my dark colors at the tips and do the light at the cuticle.  I love the look of it and since the neon's were so opaque, I didn't have to keep going over it.  I then went over my gradient with Northern Lights because all gradients need to sparkle.  With my Instant Artist, I created the zebra print, which I think is my best yet!  I'm so happy with how it turned out, especially on the thumb!


I accented the zebra design with plain black nails using my favorite black polish, Orly Liquid Vinyl.  It has such even coverage with two coats and is beyond shiny!  I decided to do black instead of white because I think that the dark really makes the neon stand out.  To match the glitter on the gradient nails, I added a quick coat of Northern Lights.  The glitter picked up the color of the neon polishes next to it and really added a whole new dimension to the manicure.

If you don't own these Orly polishes, I highly, highly, HIGHLY suggest that you run to Sally Beauty this week and purchase them.  Especially since they're Buy One Get One Free!  They're so bright in the bottle, and do not disappoint when on the nail.

What do you think?  Fan of the neon animal print?

Don't forget to check out the other posts by The Beauty Buffs!  I can't wait to see what everyone has come up with!!!  I'm super excited to see the neon make-up looks!



An InLinkz Link-up

Until next time, <3.

Nail Artist of the Month

June Nail Artist of the Month: A Painted Nail!

9:00:00 AM

Happy June!  How are you all today?  I am such a space case today!  Is that even a thing?  Well I completely spaced and never responded to the e-mail from today's Nail Artist of the Month and COMPLETELY forgot that this post goes live today!  Of course I realized this after I grumbled my way through editing photos of my own.  I wish I remembered before all that because setting up these posts for me is the breather I need which gets me away from complaining about editing.

ANYWAY!  I am super excited to introduce you all Bridget, the blogger over at A Painted Nail.  I started following Bridget awhile ago on Instagram where I have watched her grow as a nail artist.  She truly is a talented girl, who is the master of gradients.  Seriously, head over to her Instagram and take a look at some of her gradients, they're amazing.

Time to hand over the blog to Bridget!!!
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Hi friends and readers of The Little Canvas! My nail is Bridget and I write the nail blog A Painted Nail. Along with a healthy obsession for polish, I am quite the connoisseur of nail art. Alaina has been a long time inspiration and I am ridiculously happy to be chosen as the nail artist of the month for June! Since it is the beginning of summer, I wanted to do something inspired by the warm season for you guys!


Used:
O.P.I. - LAMB
O.P.I. - MVIB
O.P.I. - Amazon...Amazoff
Zoya - Wednesday
Zoya - Neeli

Circle studs from Born Pretty
Small squared brush

I like to use nail art designs as accent nails with a plain polish. It is a little less time consuming and less overwhelming. Plus it is a fun way to change up a day old mani! For my accent nails, I did the watercolor gradient from this (link: http://www.thenailasaurus.com/2014/05/watercolour-gradient-video-tutorial.html) tutorial by The Nailasaurus. I wanted to go for a beachy look so I followed up with my absolute favorite gold glitter, O.P.I.'s LAMB from the Gwen Stefani collection.



Gradients are one of my favorite things and I love the way this technique blends the polish colors. It is definitely one you should try!

I hope you enjoyed my post and a huge Thank You to Alaina for letting me share it!
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What an awesome manicure!  I am in love with the look of the watercolor gradient!  I saw Sammy's version and thought to myself how neat it was and I really needed to try.  Now after seeing Bridget's manicure, I REALLY need to try it!

Please head on over to Bridget's blog, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram and give her a follow!  You won't be sorry!

Thank you so much Bridget for taking the time to create this post! <3 

Time to now search for my next Nail Artist of the Month.  Could it be you? ;)

Until next time, <3.