Dot Mani

The One With the Random ORLY Gradient Manicure

9:00:00 AM


Good morning polished world!  How are you all doing today?  The weekend is almost here, as is July.  Seriously, can you believe the Fourth of July is next Wednesday?  Goodness I haven't even thought about any red, white, and blue manicures yet.  I need to get on that....maybe tonight.

Since it's going to be super hot this weekend, it's only fitting that I have a super neon manicure which makes me look tan.  Honestly I'm not looking forward to 98 degree highs with humidity.  I'm perfectly okay with the heat, as long as it's a dry heat.  For all you lovelies who live in Florida, I do not know how you deal with that humidity all.the.time.

Let's take a look at the manicure!


Colors Used:
  • ORLY - Summer Fling
  • ORLY - No Regrets
  • ORLY - Liquid Vinyl
  • ORLY - White Tips
  • ORLY - Mirrorball
Ahhhhh yes, I used all ORLY polishes for this design.  Isn't it nice when you use one brand for a whole design??  Andddd I was able to create a gradient again!  Remember a few posts back where I said I thought I lost my gradient touch?  Well it seems I was being a tad dramatic and just had a bad night....or two.

Absolutely love this bright color combination.  I can see myself re-creating this and putting a palm tree on the gradient or something.  I actually debated on doing some form of art over it, but it was so bright and perfectly done that I didn't want to destroy it if I messed up some art.  Plus my confidence was low that I was going to be able to re-create it perfectly if I did mess it up.

What do you think?  Like this design?  Into the super bright neons??

Until next time, <3.


Dot Mani

The One With Chevrons and Jessica Cosmetics Mysterious Echoes

9:00:00 AM


Good morning polished world!!!  How are you all doing today?  It's Monday which means it's the beginning of another fun filled week.  It's supposed to be warm here today, then plummet into true winter weather by Friday.  I believe we even have a snowflake in the forecast on Saturday.  Hopefully all the leaves will fall off the trees before the snow comes, otherwise it will be a true mess.

Today I'm sharing with you a Fall kind of vampy mish mosh manicure I came up with.  I have owned chevron nail vinyls for quite some time, but never really use them as much as I should.  Probably because whenever I do use them, my base rips right off no matter how long I wait for the polish to dry.  After getting the vinyls to work a month or so ago, I thought I would give them another go.  Who would have thought that I would have two manicures in a row work out using my vinyls.

Let's take a look!





Colors Used:
  • Jessica Cosmetics - Mysterious Echoes
  • FingerPaints - Golden Glaze
Okay, ignore my photos above, they really aren't true to color.  I don't know why but Mysterious Echoes photographed way darker in my lightbox than what it is in person.  The photo below shows it more true to color.  

Regardless, the manicure was absolutely gorgeous.  I never was one to like manicures using dark shades or gold, but for some reason this year, I can't get enough.  Maybe it's because the vampy polishes I own are all beautiful on.  And maybe because I got over my stubborn streak of only using bright polishes and ignoring all the others in my collection. 



I love Mysterious Echoes.  Two coats for this beautiful beauty.  I really love how it looks against the wonderful FingerPaints Golden Glaze.  Notice how perfect my chevrons are.  I think that has to do with the fact that Golden Glaze is one of the FingerPaints Fast Dry polishes which dry so super fast.  Also, it's one coat, so that helps too when you don't have two to three coats waiting to dry.

What do you think?  Like this look?  Something you would try?

Until next time, <3.

Dot Mani

The One With the Serendipity Polish Mish Mosh Manicure

9:00:00 AM


Good morning polished world!  How are you all doing today??  It's Wednesday so it means that Friday is almost here!!!  It was freeeeezing cold the other day, and now it's warm again.  This Fall weather isn't really sure what it wants to do yet.  Even though the weather can't make up it's mind, Halloween is around the corner and I need to start sharing designs with you.  I have two done, but I just need to edit the photos.

Today's manicure is an all black one which could kind of be considered almost Halloween-ish.  Almost.  Okay not really.  But this design uses two polishes from Serendipity Polish's Call Me Boss Lady collection which is their Fall collection.  Therefore, it's suitable for this time of year.

Let's take a look!




Colors Used:
  • Serendipity Polish - Building My Empire
  • Serendipity Polish - CE0,000,000
Isn't this manicure awesome!?  I wasn't sure what I was doing when I started, and this just was born.  Building My Empire and CE0,000,000 are amazing together.  The best part, these polishes dry super fast, so the tape nails didn't take me forever to do, and I didn't have to put a top coat on before putting down the tape.  Love, love, LOVE.



CE0,000,000 is one of the most amazing holographic polishes that I have ever used!  Two coats to get full coverage.  I love how it looks on top of the black polish.  I think it makes the holo effect stronger.

Now we all know that I'm a huge fan of INM Out the Door top coat.  Always have been, and always will be.  Back when I purchased my first Serendipity Polish's, they broke in transport, so the lovelies at Serendipity sent me a bottle of their top coat Finishing Touch with my replacement polishes.  I'm always iffy when it comes to new top coats.  90% of the time I use a new one, it flakes off me, and just makes me go running right back to my Out the Door.

Well, Serendipity Polish Finishing Touch fell into that 10% that actually worked.  This top coat is a close second to my beloved INM.  I feel safe to say that if INM stops making Out the Door, I will switch to Finishing Touch.  Beautiful glossy finish, super fast dry, and does not chip!  I love that I have a back up in case I run out.  Am I the only one who has more than one top coat always on hand just in case??

What do you think of this manicure?  Fan of the look?  Do you own any beauties from Serendipity Polish?

 Hopefully I'll have Halloween Nails at the end of this week!!!

Until next time, <3.

Color Club

The One with Serendipity Polish Holo-Day Lights

9:00:00 AM


Good morning polished world!  How are you all doing today?  It's Friday - the end of the LONGEST week ever.  I take that back, next week might be the longest week ever.  We shall see though, I think it's going to be busy but what it won't be.

Today I have a mish mosh manicure using one of my new favorite polishes, Serendipity Polish Holo-Day Lights.  I purchased this beauty along with the Beach, Please collection a few weeks ago.  Ever since the order came I couldn't wait to use it.  Now I'm addicted.

Let's take a look!




Colors Used:
  • Color Club - Blue Ming
  • Sally Hansen - In My Suitcase
  • Orly - White Tips
  • Serendipity Polish - Holo-Day Lights
Let's talk about the design first.  I saw something with a similar color scheme by Young, Wild, and Polished.  I loved the bright mint color over the top of a light grey.  One of the new Sally Hansen Miracle Gels I received was the perfect grey.  So I grabbed all the colors and came up with a mish mosh manicure with some dots and a dry brush.  I think I need to do more neon/grey manicures.



Holo-Day Lights by Serendipity Polish is a must have!  I have not seen a more fabulous holo glitter in my life.  With one coat you have a gorgeous topper, and with two coats you have full coverage like in my swatch above.  The holo effect was just as strong inside as it was outside.  I need to buy a back up of this right away.


In my Suitcase by Sally Hansen is such a beautiful grey polish.  Light grey's like this can be tricky and end up needing at least three coats, but this gorgeous beauty only required two coats.  Just like the other Miracle Gels I own, it didn't chip right away.  I ended up getting four days out of this manicure, and would have gone longer but Blue-Ming chipped on the fourth day.  I need to start giving myself Miracle Gel pedicures so my toes stop chipping.

What do you think?  Fan of this manicure?  Love the color combination?

Until next time, <3.

Dot Mani

The One With the Marbling for Twinsie Tuesday

9:00:00 AM


Good morning polished world!  How are you all doing today?  Can you believe it is March 1st?!  Where has this year gone already!?  Soon it will be summer, then fall, and back to winter.  I'm jumping too far ahead of myself.

For now it is Tuesday which means it is time for another Twinsie Tuesday.  This weeks theme is marbling, which honestly I wasn't angry about.  If you've been a long time follower of The Little Canvas, then you would know how much I hated marbling anything.  Water marble was my arch nemesis  I never could get it to work, I hated attempting it, and I thought it was a huge waste of polish.

In the past few months though, I decided to reattempt it.  Practice makes perfect, right?  Well it slowly is for me.  And I may or may not be loving water marble!

Let's take a look.




Colors Used:
  • OPI - Super Cute in Pink
  • OPI - My Pal Joey
  • OPI - This Crown Needs a Gown
  • OPI - In True Stefani Fashion
  • INM - Northern Lights
My oh my how lovely are these polishes from OPI.  Also, I'm kind of loving that my collection is growing so large that I'm starting to be able to use one brand for one manicure.  Amanda from Fashion Footing always does this and I thought she was crazy, but there's something satisfying about being able to use one brand.  Seriously, this polish collection thing is a huge addiction.

Anyways, the polishes from the Hello Kitty collection are kind of perfect.  My Pal Joey is a gorgeous cobalt blue shade which many have said is a dupe to the original Sally Hansen Pacific Blue.  I honestly can't tell you if this is true or not because I'm probably the only nail blogger who does not own Pacific Blue.  I know, I'm awful.  Regardless, My Pal Joey covers completely in two coats.  I added a top coat of INM Northern Lights because I couldn't resist.  I'm thrilled I did.



The marble came out rather well too.  Super Cute in Pink sadly didn't spread as nicely as My Pal Joey because it was more of a crelly formula.  I have to swatch it still, but I have a feeling that it would take about 2-3 coats to be full coverage.

What do you think?  Fan of this manicure?  Think I'm getting better at this whole marbling thing??

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.

China Glaze

Happy New Years!

9:00:00 AM


Good morning polished world!  Can you believe it is the last day of 2015!?  Where did this year go?!  It's been loaded with some ups and downs, but through each thing there have been dozens upon dozens of blessings.  Who can be angry with that??

Today I am sharing with you a New Years manicure I did for part of an Instagram collaboration.  I really haven't done many IG collabs, so I was super thrilled when Sarah from @25_SweetPea asked if I wanted to take part!  I quickly got to work on a gold and black manicure and came up with this little mish mosh design!

Let's take a look!




Colors Used:
  • Orly - Liquid Vinyl
  • OPI - Love Angel Music Baby
  • China Glaze - Bring on the Bubbly
  • Salon Perfect - Champagne Toast
I love how this manicure turned out!  I really had no idea what I was going to do when I started, and then I just started going and it all came together!  I truly am in love with it and am going to be sad when it starts to chip!

So let's take a minute o talk about Bring on the Bubbly by China Glaze.  It is a gold multi hex glitter with these random pieces of holo glitter throughout.  There are even these large holo chunks which sparkle off the gold.  Ugh, I'm so happy I picked up a bottle of this.  I used it as a topper on all my gold nails and then for the glitter gradient.  Best decision ever.  If you can, grab a bottle of this!



Another wonky colored photo that doesn't look like the rest.  Meh whatever.  I'm too lazy to figure out why.  Maybe I should start using my real camera again instead of the iPad for the bottle shots.  Or I should just not be lazy and use my lightbox.  Maybe in 2016!

What do you think?  Fan of this New Years look?  Are your nails black and gold also??

Alright everyone, I hope you have a safe and Happy New Year!  Please be safe!!!

Until next time, <3.

Dot Mani

Chevron and Dots with Orly Oh Cabana Boy!

9:00:00 AM


Good morning polished world!  How are you all doing today?  It's Wednesday, smack dab middle of the week Wednesday.  I was going to hold off and post this tomorrow, but I have a surplus of manicures to post, plus I'm planning on having a Nail Artist of the Month post, so I figured let's get some out of the way.  I'll regret this come the weekend and I don't have any photos edited to write up another post.  Seriously I have 5 drafts, and I think one might have the photos all ready to go in it.  Gosh, I'm a slacker.

I better stop slacking though because I want to start sharing holiday manicures!  I have only painted one that I can consider holiday....maybe, so really I'm not too far behind.  Maybe this weekend I'll start painting some Christmas designs.  Oh and then there is Bestie Twin Nails coming up!  I think December is going to be quite busy over here on the blog.

I'm getting off topic.  Today I'm sharing with you a manicure which is a recreation of one I saw by Nicole over at Young Wild and Polished.  Some of her kitchen sink manicures are to die for and super eye catching.   This pink polka dot/chevron combo was just that and I had to re-create it.  Of course, using one of my brightest neons.

Let's take a look!




Colors Used:
  • Orly - Oh Cabana Boy
  • Orly - White
  • Orly - Liquid Vinyl
I just only now realize that I used all Orly polishes for this manicure.  I love when I'm able to do a full manicure using one brand.  My collection isn't nearly as large enough to do this for every single manicure, so when that one rare occasion pops up, it makes me happy.  My goal though is to own every single Orly polish known to man because I have yet to find one that I hate.  They're worth the extra money because I swear they never get goopy or dry up.  I think that I've said this twenty times over on the blog, but I had to say it again.



Oh Cabana Boy! is my favorite neon pink polish.  Back when I first started blogging, my first neon pink polish was China Glaze Hang Ten Toes.  It was my favorite polish because it wasn't just a neon pink, but it had this weird blue shimmer undertone.  I used that polish right down to the bottom, got super happy when I found some bottles at a supply store.  Sadly, I found that the polish was unworkable as China Glaze changed the formula and you could barely get two coats because it was so streaky and chalky.

So I my sad little self returned my defected bottles of China Glaze and went on to Sally Hansen where I stumbled upon Oh Cabana Boy, an identical dupe in my opinion.  It is the same bright pink with that blue weird shimmeryness to it.  Formula is pure perfection.  Two coats, solid coverage.  It dries matte like most neons, but when you add a top coat it becomes so shiny and it really makes the neon pop.  As I said, by far my favorite neon pink polish.  I actually love all my Orly neons.  I should do an Orly neon week soon.

What do you think?  Fan of this manicure?  Something you would try?  Do you love Orly neons as well?

 This turned into a love post for Orly, which wasn't my direction when I started writing this post.  I do want to say before I sign off, the Twinkled T Chevron Nail Vinyls deserve a lot of love here.  They're beyond awesome!  I love how Nicole did the chevrons up and down.  I'm not that creative to think of putting the vinyl on my nail in a different direction.  I just love everything about this manicure.  All products, the look, everything.

Okay, I'm going to stop talking now.  This post is becoming the longest in the history of this blog!  Have a good day!

Until next time, <3.

kitchen sink mani

Orly Chevron

9:00:00 AM


Good morning polished world!  How are you all doing today?  It's Friday which means the weekend is almost here!  It's been a long week so I cannot wait to sleep in tomorrow.  I was too exhausted to edit up a perfect Fall manicure to show you all today, so I decided to go into The Little Canvas vault for today's post!

I purchased some of the polishes from the Orly In The Mix Collection in September and of course used them right away.  Of course time got away from me and other manicures took precedent so it got lost in the vault.  It's rather sad because it is such a cute manicure

Let's take a look!




Colors Used:
  • Orly - Indie
  • Orly - Electropop
  • Orly - MirrorBall
  • Orly - French Tip White
  • Twinkled T Chevron Vinyl
Indie and Electropop are just like all other Orly polishes.....perfect.  Two coats for both and I had full coverage.  When doing the gradient over the chevron vinyls, I only had to dab the sponge a few times because the color is so concentrated in the polishes.



I'm actually happy that this manicure fell into the vault and I'm revisiting it now because I'm remembering that I own these polishes.  I need to break them out and use them again.  Maybe for something floral?

What do you think?  Did you purchase any polishes from this collection?  I still need to use the matte glitter I bought along with these!

 Sorry for the short post, but exhaustion is getting the best of me!

Until next time, <3.

China Glaze

Halloween Kitchen Sink Inspired by Bad Girl Nails

9:00:00 AM


Good morning polished world!  How are you all doing today?  I'm doing quite well.  I think....just maybe....that I am feeling better.  I don't want to say it because now there's a cold going around at work and with my luck I"m going to catch it.  Let's pray I do not.

Since it's October, I'm going to attempt to do Halloween themed manicures the whole month.  I'm not ready to do the cute little monsters or jack-o-lanterns yet, so I have been looking for some subtle Halloween manicures to re-create.  I should be creative and come up with my own, but hey I was sick, I am allowed to use Pinterest to get some inspiration.

Today's design is a recreation of this bright, fun kitchen sink manicure by Bad Girl Nails.  I recently purchased the whole China Glaze Ghouls Night Out Collection, so I had a perfect orange for this design!  Ugh I love this collection, I do have some original ideas using the polishes! 

Let's take a look!




Colors Used:
  • Orly - Liquid Vinyl
  • China Glaze - Lady and the Vamp
Oh my goodness.  Lady and the Vamp is the BEST neon orange polish I have ever owned!  The pictures here do NOT do it justice!  It is so bright and creamy.  Every other orange neon that I have ever owned has been extremely sheer and they take 4 coats to be opaque on their own, or 2 coats over white which is no fun.  This polish is literally two coats and you have the brightest orange highlighter neon nails ever!  I'm so happy I purchased this!  I'm excited to see if the other neons in the collection are opaque also!



I used my Twinkled T chevron vinyls for the ring finger.  Now instead of painting over them like I would when using tape, I decided to sponge on the black polish.  It worked, but I don't recommend doing it.  I think it would have been a zillion times easier and less messy to just paint normally over the top of the chevrons.  Plus, when sponging, I found that some of the polish ended up sneaking under the vinyl.  I'm not angry with how it turned out, but I was kind of annoyed.  Maybe I didn't push the vinyl down enough...who knows.

What do you think?  Fan of this orange and black manicure?  I think Bad Girl Nails' was a lot better than mine.

Well I am off...maybe to plan some more Halloween nails!  Until next time, <3.

Dot Mani

An Orly Dry Brush Manicure

9:00:00 AM


Happy Sunday polished world!  Hope you all have had a fabulous weekend!  I'm quite exhausted and am planning on using today to catch up on some sleep and rest.  Oh, and I wanted to go hit up the Sally Beauty OPI Buy Two Get One Free sale.  And maybe stop and buy some boots.  Okay, I won't be resting today.

That doesn't mean though that I don't have time for a blog post!  I'm sharing with you today a dry brush manicure that I was inspired to do after seeing a similar one by @nails_and_wax on Instagram.  Her's was done with a dark green polish, which I attempted to use but it just didn't look good on my hands.  It was actually a good thing the dark green didn't work for me because when I removed it after a whole 10 minutes of it being on, it had already stained my nails.  I could only imagine the damage it would have caused if I wore it for three days.

So I substituted the dark green for one of my favorite polishes, Orly Gumdrop.  Let's take a look!




Colors Used:
  • Orly - Gumdrop
  • Orly - French Tip White
  • Orly - Liquid Vinyl
I think I'm obsessed with Orly lately.  That and China Glaze.  I swear those are the only two companies I have been using for the past few weeks.  I need to dig deep into my Melmer and re-visit all my OPI's, Sinfuls, and Sally Hansens.  So many pretties being neglected.  But how could you not neglect them when Orly makes gorgeous polishes like Gumdrop?!  And the world's most perfect white and black polishes?  I just love them.  Yes, Orly is a little more expensive, but I think it's worth it because the bottles are a little larger, they never dry up, and the caps are awesome with that squishy grip.



This manicure is super simple and eye catching.  That's what makes it so great.  You don't have to spend a ton of time on manicure to have some fun nail art!  Literally, I think this manicure took me a half hour to do on both hands.

What do you think?  Like this design?  Have you tried the dry brush technique?

 Well I am off to enjoy my semi relaxing and semi busy Sunday!  Until next time, <3.

China Glaze

Twinsie Tuesday: Inspired by Your BFF

9:00:00 AM


Good morning polished world and Happy Tuesday!  That's right, Tuesday, which means it is time for yet another Twinsie Tuesday!  This week we are sharing manicures inspired by our BFFs.  I decided to be inspired by my polished BFF Amanda from Fashion Footing.

Amanda and I both have a love for everything floral.  She is a lover of daisies so I decided to do some fun daisy nail art.  I re-created this design by @mvargas_nails on Instagram.  It worked out perfectly because that fun bright green teal is also something Amanda likes.

Let's take a look!




Colors Used:
  • Orly - White
  • China Glaze - Too Yacht to Handle
  • FingerPaints - Sterling Sculpture
  • Acrylic
I really love how these nails turned out.  I was so sad when they finally chipped and I had to take them off.  They were so simple, yet different and fun.  The middle nail really gave me a run for my money.  I think I had to take it off three times before I got it looking how I wanted it to.  The first time I put too much of the Too Yacht to Handle so there was no room for the white space.  The second time, the line going down the middle was wonky and well you can't have that.  And the third time I messed up a flower.  Fourth time was a charm in this case.



I loved doing the daisies in black.  Something different that I honestly never would have thought to do.  They really were eye catching.

What do you think?  Like this manicure?  

Don't forget to check out the other Twinsies!  We have some new lovelies posting with us this week!


Amanda at Amandalandish
Amanda at Fashion Footing
Amber at Nails Like Lace
Bridget at A Painted Nail
Chelsea at Nailed Blog
Marisa at Polish Obsession
Róisín at Cuti-CLUE-les
Savannah at Addicted to Polish
Until next time, <3.

Bestie Twin Nails

Bestie Twin Nails with Fashion Footing! Round 15!!

9:00:00 AM


Good morning polished world!  How are you all doing on this fine Thursday?  It's getting cooler and more fall like around here.  I'm not complaining, but I feel like summer flew by.   Hopefully it warms up before Labor Day so I can wear my work dresses at least one last time this season!

Today I am posting along side with Fashion Footing for Round 15 of Bestie Twin Nails!  This month we decided to re-create this manicure by Plump and Polished.  Amanda and I both love floral nails, so we quickly agreed on this one to re-create!

Let's take a look!




Colors Used:
  • China Glaze - Flip Flop Fantasy
  • Orly - Liquid Vinyl
  • Orly - French White
  • FingerPaints - Sterling Sculpture
I love this color combination!  I've owned my bottle of Flip Flop Fantasy for about three years now.  I saw a long time ago that they re-formulated this polish which made a lot of bloggers go into a frenzy.  I honestly thought it looked the same, until I was in Sally Beauty and I was checking out the China Glaze Wall.  The one I have is a lot more pink than the one that is currently for sale.  Kind of a shame, but honestly, I wouldn't have known the difference unless I saw it on my nail and then saw it in the store.  It's not going to stop me though from buying a back up.  Both formulation colors are unique to my stash and a must need.



I'm super proud of my stripes I did using my striper brush.  I was going to use tape but became beyond lazy.  I already owned a black striper, but to get the Flip Flop Fantasy lines, I had to dip and old striper brush into my main bottle of polish.  I need to do this more often, or even maybe do more waterfall manicures.  Remember when Amanda and I did that for BTN once?

What do you think?  Like this look?  Fan of this version or the new version of Flip Flop Fantasy?

Don't forget to check out Amanda's manicure!

Until next time, <3.