Monthly Mani Favs

The One With the February Monthly Mani Favs

9:00:00 AM

Hey all!  How are you all doing today?  I'm actually quite excited because I'm going to be sharing with you all a new feature for The Little Canvas.  For the past few years I've been doing the Nail Artist of the Month feature.  This year I decided to retire it.  After two months without that post, I've decided my blog was missing a little something.  I was missing that break from editing my own photos and writing about my own manicures.  So I went to the drawing table and started to think of different ideas.

Then it hit me, a round up post!  Each month I am now going to "round up" my favorite manicures of the month, along my favorites of other bloggers!  Sounds kind of furn, right?!  I think so.  We shall see how it goes.

So, February, not really my all time favorite month mainly because of Valentine's Day.  Seriously, it's the worst holiday.  Shockingly, one of my favorites of this month is one of my Valentine's Day designs.

Let's take a look at my favorites for February!


  • The One With the Mix and Match Mani for Twinsie Tuesday - I loved this kitchen sink manicure I did for Twinsie Tuesday using Harbour Island and Missed Calls by I Love Nail Polish.  The thumb was the cutest, so you probably should head over to that post and check it out.
  • The One With ILNP Paige - The only Valentine's Day manicure I really enjoyed.  The reason for that - ILNP Paige.  Such a gorgeous holo.  I went back and forth when it came to purchasing this one, but I'm super happy that I did!  Also, I think this is the first time I actually successfully did a striped tape manicure.
  • The One With FingerPaints The Mural of the Story - Mint, gradient, splatter....need I say more!?  I MUST do more manicures like this.
  • The One with the Studs or Embellishments Twinsie Tuesday Theme - OPI Show Us Your Tips! is my new favorite polish.  I need to go purchase a back up bottle ASAP.  Everything about that manicure is perfection...don't you think?
If I had to pick an all time favorite though of the month, it would have to be the last one.  They're all amazing, but that last one just really seems to blend together perfectly.  And that floral design...just love.

Now onto my favorite by other bloggers.  Since I told Sarah from 25_SweetPeas and Amanda from FashionFooting about this new idea for a post, I went through their Instagrams and found my favorites!

Let's take a look! 



  • Takko Lacquer Florals by 25_SweetPea - how gorgeous is this vintage floral design?  Something about that color combo always speaks to me.  I rarely use it too which is weird since it's one of my favorites.
  • Happy Pineapple by 25_SweetPea - Isn't this the cutest??  The other night Sarah and I were chatting and she showed me this beach towel she got from Target.  It had an adorable happy pineapple on it and she decided to re-create the design on her nails.  She seriously nailed it.
  • Cupcake Polish Swatches by FashionFooting - I know you are thinking "You're a nail art blogger, why is this your favorite?"  Well, DO YOU SEE THESE SWATCHES!?  I seriously was mesmerized by them when they showed up on my feed this month.  I really need to get them.
  • Fair Maiden Neon Gradient - Isn't that rainbow neon gradient so pretty?  And with the holo!?  Just awesomeness.  Another one I couldn't stop staring at.
So what do you all think?  Anything here stick out as your favorites?  Would you have picked anything differently?  Think you're going to like this monthly feature??

Well, I hope you enjoyed this post and can't wait to do it again next month!!  I think it's going to be difficult to narrow down my favorites next month with St. Patrick's Day and Easter.  There are going to be some amazing manicures, I already know it!  

Until next time ,<3.

China Glaze

The One With the Teal and Grey Flowers

9:00:00 AM


Good morning polished world!  Happy Friday!!!  This has been the longest week ever and I am looking forward to the weekend!  Sleeping, nail painting, shopping, church, and complete relaxation.  Nothing is better than the weekend.  I actually don't mind the weekdays because I enjoy my job.  Not many places let you have crazy manicures while working in a professional setting. I'm a lucky girl.

Today's manicure is something bright and cheerful.  After getting some real winter weather, I was itching for something bright.  I grabbed my brightest neon, China Glaze Too Yacht to Handle, and started painting.

I wasn't really sure what I was going to do when I started this manicure, but I like the end result.  Let's take a look!




Colors Used:
  • China Glaze -- Too Yacht to Handle
  • INM - Granite
  • Orly - White Tips
  • Black Acrylic
Too Yacht to Handle is beyond gorgeous.  There have always been mixed reviews regarding this polish.  Some say the formula stinks, it's too sheer, streaky, etc.  The formula can be a bit tricky, but I've dealt with worse.  I can get full coverage with two coats, but sometimes have to use three to even out some patchy marks.  Bright teal perfection.  I need to grab more back ups of this.



I was going to accent this manicure with black, but I decided to go with grey instead.  I always forget about my grey polishes and it's quite a shame that I do.  I think it goes well quite nicely with Too Yacht to Handle.  Plus, INM Granite is a perfect formula for a grey polish.  Two coats, pretty perfection.

What do you think?  Fan of this look?  Think it's a cool looking floral??

Until next time, <3.

Flowers

The One with the Studs or Embellishments Twinsie Tuesday Theme

9:00:00 AM


Good morning polished world!  How are you all doing today??  It's Tuesday which means it is time for another Twinsie Tuesday!  I apologize for missing last week, but it was a tough week at work and I was a bit under the weather.  Everyone has been getting this dumb cold with a cough and I ended up with it.  Oh and not to mention that last Tuesday we had a major snow storm which dumped 2 feet of snow in one day.

Well here we are a week later, the snow is melted, my cold is gone, and I'm painting my nails and posting with the Twinsie's again!  This week our theme is Studs or Embellishments.  I loathe studs, rhinestones, or any type of 3d embellishment on my nail.  I own studs, I just never use them because I think it's weird and awkward to have something sticking off your nail like that.  If they don't fall off, then I just end up picking them off.

I searched the internet for some sort of cute stud design and found quite a few.  One that stuck out was a pretty floral design by Bad Girl Nails on Instagram.  I tried it, failed with the studs, so I did my own take on it.

Let's take a look.




Colors Used:
  • Zoya - Dahila
  • OPI - Show Us Your Tips
  • Orly - French White
  • Black Acrylic
Despite the fact that I have studs on the pointer and pinkie finger, I love this manicure like no other.  It's so pretty!  The color, the design, the accent.  What's there not to love!?  OPI Show Us Your Tips! (fun name) is from the New Orleans collection which was just released.  It's a gorgeous perwinkle shade with an amazing shimmer.  Usually I don't gravitate towards polishes with this finish, but I couldn't resist purchasing it.  On the first coat I was nervous because it was crazy sheer.  I applied a second coat and seriously it had full coverage.  I don't know how OPI did it, but it's the best formula ever.



For my rose design, I used a nail art brush and black acrylic paint.  I love how it looks next to the black rhinestones and Zoya Dahlia.  Dahlia was one of the original formula Pixies that my collection was lacking so I purchased it during the Zoya New Years promo.  It's a must have.

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

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


Amanda at Amandalandish
Amanda at Fashion Footing
Amber at Nails Like Lace
Chelsea at Nailed Blog
Claire at Kerruticles
Marisa at Polish Obsession
Róisín at Cuti-CLUE-les
Savannah at Addicted to Polish

And just so you know, within 24 hours, I picked the studs off and replaced them with a black dot.  Life is good with zero 3d pieces on my nails!  

Until next time, <3.

FingerPaints

The One With FingerPaints The Mural of the Story

9:00:00 AM


Good morning polished world!  Happy Saturday!  It's been a crazy busy week for me.  Work, life, snow storms....just crazy!  I'm so happy the weekend is here so I can finally rest, and hopefully not get sick with something from being so run down.

Today I have a super fun manicure to share with you all!  It's been forever since I've done a gradient or splatter manicure, so I thought it would be kind of neat to mix the two together.  I searched to see if there were any manicures like this on Pinterest, and sure enough other bloggers beat me to it and there were dozens of neat manicures!  I knew I had to try it.

So I started to look through some of my new polishes and I found The Mural of the Story by FingerPaints.  I thought this color would look awesome using this technique, and I was right!

Let's take a look!




Colors Used:
  • FingerPaints - Paper Mache
  • FingerPaints - Patent Black
  • FingerPaints - The Mural of the Story
Amazing, right!?  I think this is one of my all time favorite manicures.  So much so that I'm really not wanting to take it off.  I started off with a base coat of white polish on all my nails.  Then came the fun part.  I taped off all my nails because I don't own any liquid latex, and I'm really not planning on buying any.  Tape works just as well and I think takes as much time to apply as it does for Liquid Latex to be applied and dry and peel off.  Plus, I found when I use tape, I have zero clean up, and I've noticed that some bloggers are left with a mess after using the liquid latex.

Anywho, I'm getting off topic.  Once my nails were all taped up, with a make up sponge I did the gradient with The Mural of the Story or Patent Black.  Before removing the tape, I added the splatter design.  To do this, I use the small, brown coffee stirrer straws.  I then removed the tape, added top coat, and admired my manicure.



The Mural of the Story is a gorgeous mint polish.  It is one of FingerPaints new colors for 2016 and it does not disappoint.  It was described as a neon polish, but I don't think it's neon what so ever, even when you put it over white like I did here with the gradient.  Regardless, it's a gorgeous polish with a rich saturated color.  I was nervous that the splatter wouldn't show up over the black, but as you can see it did!

What do you think?  Fan of this manicure?  Think I should do it in every color?!

I just love it so much!

FingerPaints new polishes are available now at Sally Beauty!  Head on over to pick up your bottles today!

Until next time, <3.

Bestie Twin Nails

The One With Round 21 of Bestie Twin Nails with Fashion Footing

9:00:00 AM


Good morning polished world!  How are you all doing today?  We got 22 inches of snow yesterday so my arms are killing me from shoveling.  Thankfully my neighbor lets me park in her garage so I didn't have to spend hours digging out my car.  Also thanks to the storm, I had an impromptu day off from work.  Not going to lie, missed working, but there was no way that my car was going to make it though 22 inches of snow.

Anywho, today is round 21 of Bestie Twin Nails with Fashion Footing!  For months, Amanda has been telling me I needed to watch Arrow.  I don't know why I didn't say yes right away because it's an awesome show.  Since the two of us are watching it on Netflix (Amanda's re-watching), I thought it would be fitting to do some Arrow nail art.  We re-created this design by Paulina's Passions.

Let's take a look!




Colors Used:
  • Orly - Liquid Leather
  • Orly - White Tips
  • ILNP - Mega X
  • ILNP - Music Box
Okay these nails were kind of a pain in my butt!  The bases were easy to apply.  Colors were gorgeous.  Everything was two coat perfection.  Then it came to the nail art.  The awful, horrible, no good nail art that Paulina made look so stinking simple.  I sued my thinnest of nail art brushes and painted the arrows, but for the life of me, I could not get them to look decent.  They were too thick, then too thin, then not pointed.  I had to re-do them like four times.



In the end though they looked pretty decent.  I cannot wait to wear Music Box on it's own.  It's such a pretty holo mint green!  I think I might pair it with the ILNP purple I purchased.  Perfect for Spring.

What do you think?  Fan of this manicure?

Make sure to check out Amanda's page!

Until next time, <3.

Nail Collab

The One With the Valentine's Day Instagram Collab

9:00:00 AM


Good morning polished world!  How are you all doing today?  It's Valentine's Day so we all know how happy I am.  NOT!  Cannot wait until tomorrow where I can sit and enjoy the Grammy's and act like this day never happened!  Seriously, this is the first Sunday in forever that the Grammy's aren't on.  Did they purposely move it to the 15th because of Valentine's Day?

Today I am participating in an Instagram Valentine's Day collaboration.  I figured this would force me to actually create and post a manicure for today.  So I came up with something I really do think is extremely Valentine's Day and only lasted a full day on my nails before I took it off.

Let's take a look!




Colors Used:
  • Zoya - Rooney
  • Zoya - Livingston
  • Zoya - Tomoko

I will admit, Zoya has some perfect Valentine's Day colors with these polishes.  I have owned Rooney for awhile and I'm shocked I don't use it more.  It's such a pretty shade of pink which applies perfectly in two coats.  I might ignore it for the next month or so to forget the fact it was a good polish for today, but I will return to it.  Maybe in the summer time!

Tomoko is my all time favorite Pixie Dust polish which can be used year round.  It's such a pretty champagne gold color and it sparkles quite nicely.  Two coats plus a top coat for my manicure today.  You can leave it without a topper and it's still just as sparkly.


For my design, I used the polish brush of Rooney and created the heart on my nails.  When that was dried, I went through with Livingston and created a smaller heart.  It's pretty much the same technique  I use to do the cloud designs, which I haven't done in a long long time!

What do you think?  Fan of this look?  Something you think you might try next year?

Until next time, <3.

FingerPaints

The One With the Tic Tac Toe and FingerPaints A-Cry-Lic a Girl

9:00:00 AM


Good morning polished world!  How are you all doing today?  A few more days and I don't have to deal with any more Valentine's Day manicures!  Woot!  Seriously, today I'm planning on taking the manicure that will be up on the blog Sunday and doing something totally non-pink/red.  

So years ago when I started blogging, I did a tic-tac-toe design.  I just tried to find it to link it but I cannot.  I know I did one.  I know it's on my nail art wheel I did a few years ago for Valentine's Day.  Well anyways, regardless, I thought it was time to re-create it.

Let's take a look!




Colors Used:
  • FingerPaints - A-Cry-Lic a Girl
  • FingerPaints- Paper Mache
  • Zoya - Cosmo

Kind of cute, right?  I think it is.  The pink is a new color from FingerPaints this year.  It is a neon pink polish with a subtle shimmer to it.  I used two coats for my manicure and I think it was the perfect shade.  Not too bright, not too dull.  Now FingerPaints does have a special neon base coat with their new line of polishes this year, but I decided to not use it with this pink because I didn't want a whoa in your face bright pink for this manicure.  I'll swatch it with the white next time I wear it.  Honestly though, the pink was so opaque I'm not sure what a white undie would do for it anyways.  I guess we will see at a later date.


Paired next to Zoya Cosmo, it's quite gorgeous.  Cosmo is one of the only Ultra Pixies that I enjoy.  Probably because it's silver and it has even application.  My others don't really apply well.  I should revisit them all this year and see if they do or maybe I had one evil one and I chalked off the rest because of it.

What do you think?  Fan of the tic-tac-toe?  Liking the pink polish?

Until next time, <3.

Flowers

The One With the Romantic Mani for Twinsie Tuesday

9:00:00 AM

Nothing to Disclose 

Good morning polished world!  How are you all today?  It's Tuesday which means it is time for another Twinsie Tuesday.  Since Valentine's Day (blech) is this weekend, the theme for this week is romantic.  Honestly, not a fan of this theme since I'm not a fan of the holiday.

I could not for the life of me think of one romantic design for this prompt.  Luckily in The Little Canvas vault, I had a rose manicure I forgot to post a month or so ago!  Roses are romantic....right?

Let's take a look!




Colors Used:
  • Orly - White Tips
  • Orly - Instant Artist - Black
  • Zoya - Pinks and Greens (can't remember the exact name because I stink and forgot to write down what colors I used.  I just know they were Zoyas)
This rose manicure is inspired by this beautiful rose design by mvargas_nails on Instagram.  I fell in love with the design months ago when I saw it.  Not because it was romantic, but because it was a gorgeous floral manicure and you know me and floral!  

To get the look, I started off with a base coat of Orly White Tips.  This polish could be a one coater, but I typically use two.  When it was dry, I used my Instant Artist striper and added the black lines.  When the lines were dried, I used my dotting tool and nail art brushes and drew on the roses.



It has been the longest time since I've actually done a rose  manicure.  I don't know why I don't do them more often.  The flower itself is rather easy, but yet looks like it took forever to do.  I think I might start pinning some new ideas!

What do you think?  Does this pass as a romantic manicure?

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


Amanda at Amandalandish
Amanda at Fashion Footing
Amber at Nails Like Lace
Chelsea at Nailed Blog
Claire at Kerruticles
Marisa at Polish Obsession
Róisín at Cuti-CLUE-les
Savannah at Addicted to Polish

Until next time, <3.

FingerPaints

The One With ILNP Paige

9:00:00 AM


Good morning polished world!  How are you all doing today?  The worst holiday in the world is a week away, and I'm continuing to share manicures that are kind of festive for the day.  At least festive in a non-conspicuous way.  The way that when someone looks at my nails they don't automatically think Valentine's day.

A few weeks ago I went on a little shopping spree and bought myself some ILNP's.  My cart was filled mostly with blues and greens, so I decided to throw a pink in the cart to switch it up.  That pink was Paige, and boy am I happy I bought it!

Let's take a look!




Colors Used:
  • ILNP - Paige
  • OPI - This Crown Needs a Gown
  • FingerPaints - Sterling Sculpture
  • Orly - Liquid Vinyl

 Isn't Paige gorgeous!?  I believe it is part of the Ultra Holo, if not then it really should be because it really is ultra holo'ed.  This polish applied evenly in two perfect coats.  The holo effect is so strong in indoor and outdoor light.  I'm not a pink person, but this I think is one of my new favorite polishes!


This manicure is inspired by this one I found on Pinterest.  I busted out the nail art tape which I feel like I haven't used in FOREVER for the accent nails.  I feel like I finally figured out how to perfectly apply this and get the stripes to look somewhat even.  It only took about 3 years to figure that out.

I don't know how I feel about the heart.  Part of me likes the fact that I outlined it, but part of me doesn't.  It's really been a love hate relationship with that dang heart.

What do you think?  Fan of the look?  Do you think it was a good idea to outline the heart?

Until next time, <3.

Dot Mani

The One With the Random Mauve Manicure

9:00:00 AM


Good morning polished world and Happy Friday!  How are you all doing today?  It's been weird weather here.  Warm, cold, warm, cold.  It needs to make up it's mind on what season it really is.  I doubt it will though.  I'll be stuck here in random weather limbo with my sinuses killing me.

With the worst holiday in the world, Valentine's Day, right around the corner, it only seems appropriate that I start sharing with you some pink manicures.  I rarely wear pink, yet it's the part of my collection which I think has the most polishes.  Regardless, this awful time of year gives me an opportunity to use polishes I don't ever get to use.

Today's manicure is just something I made up with OPI Just Lanai-ing Around.  I bought this polish because I didn't own anything like it.  I debated on getting it because I figured I would never use it.  Sure enough, the dumb thing sits in my melmer rarely being used or touched.

So here it is, in all it's mauve-y goodness.




Colors Used:
  • OPI - My Vampire is Buff
  • OPI - Just Lanai-ing Around
  • FingerPaints - Wrapped in Ribbon
Gold, pink, and nude.  Yeah, that sounds totally Alaina.  NOT.  I honestly don't know where I came up with this color combo but I'm kind of happy I did.  Something very different for my nails.  It's kind of nice mixing it up a tad.



Just Lanai-ing Around is actually quite pretty.  It's a dark mauve cream with a very very subtle shimmer.  Two coats and you have full coverage.  I can see myself using this as a pedicure color during that summer/fall transition time where it's not too cold to be wearing shoes.  You know, when you're still holding on to summer in hopes that maybe Fall will never show up.

What do you think?  Fan of this look?  Something different?  Very simple for me.

Until next time, <3.

Dot Mani

The One With the Mix and Match Mani for Twinsie Tuesday

9:00:00 AM


Good morning polished world!  How are you all doing on this fine Tuesday?  Since it is Tuesday, that means it is time for yet another Twinsie Tuesday!  This week our prompt is Mix and Match.  This is the perfect prompt for me because let's face it, all of my manicures are mix and match manis!  For those of you who don't know, a mix and match manicure is where you mix up a bunch of different techniques, and match them together in one manicure.  At least, that's how I interpret it.

So, Amanda from Fashion Footing gave me a coupon code for ILNP.  Since I didn't own any, I thought I would take advantage of the coupon and splurge...and boy did I.  Today's mix and match manicure uses two of my new beauties, Harbour Island and Missed Calls.

Let's take a look!




Colors Used:
  • ILNP - Missed Calls
  • ILNP - Harbour Island
  • Orly - White Tips
Holy holo, am I right!?  I am so happy to have these beauties in my collection.  Harbour Island is a gorgeous teal jelly with holo glitter pieces throughout.  I was unsure of this one, but as soon as I opened the box, this was the one I gravitated towards and was beyond happy I purchased.  On the website, she writes that it takes 3-4 coats for it to be opaque, but I thought it built up quite nicely with two coats.  Maybe because I don't have longer nails and my "smile line" or whatever is barely there I didn't noticed the sheerness.  Honestly though, I think that the base was so packed with holo glitter, it took away from the fact it was a jelly.  Oh many the mermaid ideas I have with this polish.

Missed Calls was another one I wasn't sure about purchasing.  I figured it would be just like a black polish with a holo topper.  I figured I could just use Orly Liquid Vinyl and my Nine Zero Holo All The Things and save myself the money.  Oh boy, I was wrong.  So happy I purchased this.  It's a black/grey polish with such a strong holo effect.  Two coats and you have full, beautiful coverage.  I think this would make for a gorgeous base for galaxy nails.


My manicure was kind of inspired by this one I found on Pinterest.  I liked the general look of the mix and match acrylics.  Since I loathe all things 3D on my nails, I translated the 3D into nail art using the holos and such.

What do you think?  Fan of this look?  Lover of ILNP?

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


Amanda at Amandalandish
Amanda at Fashion Footing
Amber at Nails Like Lace
Chelsea at Nailed Blog
Claire at Kerruticles
Marisa at Polish Obsession
Róisín at Cuti-CLUE-les
Savannah at Addicted to Polish

Until next time, <3.