Gradient Mani

Twinsie Tuesday: Least Favorite Polish, or in my case Nail Art

9:00:00 AM

Good morning polished world!  How are you all doing this fine Tuesday!?  Since it is Tuesday, that means it is time again for another Twinsie Tuesday.  I apologize that I skipped last week.  I thought I had time to do a manicure, but then beyond failed.

This week we are sharing our least favorite polish.  Now, I don't really have a least favorite polish, but I do have a least favorite look.  This in turn made me think that the polishes I used were my least favorite polishes.  That makes sense in my head so hopefully it makes sense to everyone reading this.

This manicure was inspired by this amazing one by The Nail Trail.  On her nails, it looks amazing, flawless, and perfect.  The colors are nice and light, and the lines are just perfect and crisp.  Mine, well it was too dark, messy lined, and just awful.  I would have loved it if I got my gradient to look like hers, instead mine was too dark and became my least favorite gradient.

Let's take a look!




I know this is the part where I say the colors I used were, but honestly, I do not remember what  I used.  I just know they were neons which I was hoping to get a perfect gradient like The Nail Trail's.  Seriously, how is hers so light and perfect!?  I need her to teach me her ways.

To get the look, I started with my white bases then applied the gradient.  Once my gradient was dried, I added the details using a striper brush.  When Hannah teaches me her gradient secrets, she can teach me her crisp line secrets also.  


Now that I'm looking at this photo, my pointer and pinkie aren't so bad, that middle finger though....bleck.  It had such potential too.  Seriously, Hannah's was perfect.  It just didn't wok on me.

What do you think?  Least favorite look?  Does it work for this weeks Twinsie Tuesday theme? 

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


Amanda at Amandalandish
Amber at Nails Like Lace
UntilAnna at Going to the Showing
Bridget at A Painted Nail
Chelsea at Nailed Blog
Cordia at Seriously Swatched
Elizabeth at Did My Nails
Jessica at Blue Velvet Lacquer
Kelly at Tuxarina
Lakeisha at Refined and Polished
​Marisa at Polish Obsession
Róisín at Cuti-CLUE-les
Stephanie at A Little Polish
Tiffany at Polished To Precision​

Until next time, <3.

Flowers

Roses Inspired by Magically Polished

9:00:00 AM



Good morning polished world!  How are you all today?  I feel like I've been slacking when it comes to the blog lately, but after looking at my posting schedule, I'm right where I should be.  Well, we will ignore the fact that I have 3 posts of photos I still need to edit.  That can be a weekend project since it's FREEZING out.  Pretty sure I'm going to spend majority of my time in my Snuggie.

Today I am sharing with you a manicure I did before Halloween but didn't have time to post since I went straight into Halloween manicures.  It is a floral manicure which was inspired by this manicure by Magically Polished, formally known as Magnifique  Nails.  I fell in love with it so many months ago when she originally posted it.  I was so happy that I was able to get around to re-creating her awesome design!

Let's take a look!




Colors Used
  • Sinful Colors - Snow Me White
  • Orly - Liquid Vinyl
  • INM - Zinnia
  • INM - Brighella
  • Zoya - Tilda
Can we take a moment to talk about how proud I am of my lines!?  I did that free hand!  First time ever I successfully did free hand stripes that looked that awesome!  I'm looking back at these photos now in awe that I was able to do so.  It's still kind of a shock to me.

The INM purples really worked amazingly together for these roses!  I started off using Zinnia, the lighter of the two and created the roses with a dotting tool.  Once the dots were dry, I went through with Brighella and a nail art brush and added the details of the roses.  Both polishes from INM are perfect for nail art!  


While I loved this manicure, I probably won't do it again for a while.  It took a long time to complete because of the dry time.  First I had to wait for the base to dry, then I had to wait for the black lines to dry, then the roses, then the roses details, then the petals.  Just one thing after the other that needed to dry before I could work on the next step or add a top coat.  It was worth it though.

What do you think?  Liking the look?

Time for me to get back under that Snuggie!  Until next time, <3.

Color Block Mani

The Beauty Buffs - Color Block

8:00:00 AM


Good morning everyone!  How are you all on this fine Wednesday.   I apologize that I was unable to post with the Twinsies yesterday for Twinsie Tuesday.  I hate when I have to miss a post, but when life gets crazy, there really aren't any other options.

I am here today though posting with The Beauty Buffs!  This week we are talking all about color blocking!  I love color block manicures!  I've tried to do them numerous times the past few months, and they were great until I went and applied my top coat.  I had a goopy bottle so it dragged the paint and ruined my crisp lines.  I never photographed them because I was just too embarrassed.  They literally came off two seconds after I completed them.

Finally after purchasing a new bottle of top coat, I was able to create an awesome color block manicure.  I'm really happy with how it turned out!  Let's take a look!




Colors Used:
  • OPI - My Boyfriend Scales Walls
  • Faby - Plastic Jewels and Neon Lights
  • Faby - Sakiko's Time
I really love the colors I used for this color block manicure.  A few weeks ago, I received some polishes from Faby.  Faby is a company out of Italy which is new to the United States.  I've used Black is Black numerous times and love it, so I was excited to start using the colored polishes they sent me!

These two did not disappoint.  Plastic Jewels and Neon Lights is such a fun, bright turquoise cream polish, and Sakiko's Time is a gorgeous purple, grey cream.  The two polishes compliment each other perfectly.  Now, you know me, my primary concern is if the polishes are good for nail art.  My verdict for these Faby's: they're awesome!!  I used my nail art brush to fill in the empty spaces for the color block.  Both were very opaque and applied evenly.  I didn't have a problem with them drying too fast, so when I pulled my tape off, I didn't have any little strings left behind! 



I really love Sakiko's Time.  It's such a unique shade of purple that my collection was really lacking.  I can't wait to use it as a base for some Winter manicures.  Can you believe I'm already talking about Winter manicures??

What do you think?  Liking this color block?  Have you ever used a Faby polish?

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



An InLinkz Link-up

Until next time, <3.

Nail Artist of the Month

November Nail Artist of the Month: The Naily Mail!

9:00:00 AM

Good morning polished world!  Happy November!  I can't believe that it's already November.  Of course, it started off with a bang here with cold rainy weather.  I think there were even some wet snowflakes in the air.  Before we know it, we're going to have inches on the ground and we're going to be celebrating Christmas!

Since it is the first post of the month, that means that it is time to let another talented lady take over the blog for the Nail Artist of the Month feature!  This month I am pleased to introduce you all to Lauren from The Naily Mail!  I have been following Lauren for quite some time and only recently did the two of us discover that we weren't following each others Instagram accounts.  Not only could I believe that I wasn't following her Instagram, but I couldn't believe that I hadn't featured here on The Little Canvas yet!

Now it is her turn!  Let's take a look at her awesome manicure!

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Hello, The Little Canvas readers! I feel so privileged to have been chosen as Alaina's Nail Artist of the Month. I am a huge fan of her nail art so was incredibly happy when I found out that she was a fan of mine too! Just a little bit about me; I'm Lauren, a 22 year young nail blogger from the UK. I have been blogging for nearly two years and I can honestly say that starting a blog is one of the best decisions I have ever made. One of my favourite things about it is getting to know others that share my enthusiasm for nail art :)

 My favourite type of nail art is mosaic, they take a lot of time and patience to do, but they are 100% worth it in the end! I usually paint them freehand, you can do them with striping tape but I prefer doing it freehand as that way I have more control over the sizes and shapes of the mosaic 'pieces'. So today, if it wasn't obvious enough already, I've got a mosaic design to show you, with a gradient integrated too!



I went for an autumnal colour scheme and used all Barry M polishes for this mani: Mustard, Paprika, Chilli, and Matt White. I added a few round gold studs and then finished it off my my new favourite top coat, Seche Vite (I've only recently tried this, I can't believe I went so long without it!).


I think this design looks more complicated than it actually is - the key is patience! I couldn't bring myself to remove this design, it's definitely one of my favourites, I say that about nearly every piece of mosaic nail art I do though! I hope you like it! If you want to know a bit more about how to do this design, or if you would like a tutorial please feel free to ask :) I want to show you one of my previous mosaic designs too, it's Gaudi themed, inspired by my trip to Barcelona this summer, and inspired the autumn gradient mosaic above. You can read more about it here. Do you have a favourite?


Thank you so much for this opportunity Alaina, I really hope you and your readers enjoyed my post :)
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When Lauren told me she was doing a mosaic design, I pictured something COMPLETELY different in my mind.  This is beyond words!  So much better than anything I pictured!!!  I need to attempt this soon!!!

Please make sure to follow Lauren's Blog, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter!  You will not be disappointed!

Thank you Lauren for creating such an awesome, perfectly fall themed manicure!  I'm really loving it!

Until next time, <3.