The Little Canvas

Leopard Print Mani Inspired by Properly Polished

9:23:00 AM

Happy Sunday! My post is delayed today because I forgot to write it up last night and hit the publish button. I actually woke up at 2am and remembered I forgot to do it. Since I was exhausted and half awake, I just rolled over and said to myself I would wake up early and do it in the morning. Well, it's morning, I didn't wake up early, and the post is late. Ooops.

At least I'm getting a post up. What I really wanted to get up today was my Halloween Nail Art wheel, but it is still a work in progress. I think I have 3 nails done on it. I was going to work on it last night but I got side tracked with my manicure for Twinsie Tuesday that took longer than expected. It's awesome though so it was worth it!

Today I am sharing with you a fun animal print design I did after I saw this manicure by @properly_polished on Instagram. Remember the other week when I said animal prints + gradients = awesome? Yeah, well, this manicure is awesome! One of my favorites!

Let's take a look!

Colors Used:

INM - Brighella
China Glaze - Capacity to See Beyond
OPI - This Crown Needs A Gown
FlossGloss - DimePiece
Orly - Liquid Vinyl

Love love love this manicure. I think my favorite part is the side to side gradient. Nine times out of ten, I typically do the gradient starting at the cuticle and going down to the tip. I don't think I've ever done one this way and I am very upset with myself that I haven't done this sooner! Brighella to Capacity to See Byeond are gorgeous together and blend perfectly on the nail!

While I love my animal print nails, I have to say, the silver sparkly one is the highlight of this manicure. Usually I put a top coat of OPI In True Stefani Fashion over This Crown Needs a Gown, but I wanted something more sparkly. That's where DimePiece comes in to play. This polish is so glitter packed filled with holo pieces. Everyone must have it in their collection!

Notice I didn't add any sparkles to the rest of the manicure? Despite desperately wanting to, I controlled myself from adding Northern Lights to the gradient. While it would have blended perfectly with that sparkly accent, it would have made that plain black nail look a little weird. As I've been told frequently this past week, "You cannot put Northern Lights over everything!!" This manicure is proof that I don't have to!

What do you think? Liking the look? Isn't it awesome!?

Alright, time to edit this post and make sure what I typed makes sense and let all you lovelies see the manicure. The Halloween Nail Art Wheel is coming soon, along with tutorials!!! Hopefully by the end of the week! :)

Until next time, <3.

Nail Artist of the Month

October Nail Artist of the Month: Mac Schoen Nails

9:00:00 AM

Happy Thursday and Happy October! I can't believe that October is really here, but that's okay because I rather enjoy this month. Fall is in full swing, I have dozens and dozens of apples to bake with, and it's almost pumpkin carving time! Not to mention all the nail art possibilities because of Halloween being right around the corner! I need to start my Halloween Nail Art Wheel!

Since it's the first post of the month, that means it is time to introduce you all to another amazing Nail Artist of the Month! I am very pleased to introduce you to the talented McKenzie from @Mac_Schoen_Nails on Instagram! I've been following her account for quite some time and admired her work. She is seriously an amazing nail artist. Just wait until you see what she created for today!

Let's take a look!

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Hello ladies! I was so honored getting chosen by The Little Canvas to be Nail Artist of the month for October! I'll share a little bit about me and then I'll tell you about the materials and tools used to create my mani.

I'm 22 years old, been happily married for just over 3 years now. I grew up learning to paint and draw from my aunt. I used to paint rocks, canvas, or just whatever I could get my hands on. It wasn't until a little over a year ago that I discovered the amazing world of nail art! Becoming such a great passion of mine it's been a blast pushing the boundaries of "what's possible" to be put on nails!

I hope one day to get my nail tech license, but until than I'm just going to enjoy this great ride. :)

I want to give a huge thank you to The Little Canvas for this wonderful opportunity and thank you to all my supporters, I wouldn't be where I am without you guys! I mean that from the bottom of my heart.

Now the details of my mani:
I used mostly acrylic paint to do the design itself - Colors and brands used..

Brand: Americana
-Winter Blue
-Neutral Grey
-Alizarin Crimson
-Moon Yellow

Brand: Apple Barrel
-Tapestry Wine
-English Ivy Green
-Haystack
-White
-Black
-Toffee
-Christmas Green
-Granite Gray
-Pumpkin

Brand: Folk Art HD
-Forest Moss
-Autumn Leaves
-Yellow Ochre

I used Nail Aid 3 minute Artificials as my base coat to help strengthen my nails. 'Bahama Mama' by Essie is used on my thumb and I used a cream color by The New Black (it was in a tiny kit from Ulta it doesn't have a name sorry!) as a base coat to my design. I used an amazing brush by Jolie Polish for clean up. If you've been searching for a clean up brush that holds up through a good acetone thrashing, than head over to Jolie Polish at storeenvy.com :) Trust me you won't regret it!
Another must have is HK Girl top coat by Glisten & Glow which is what I used on this mani. Last but not least I finished this mani with some cuticle oil from Sally Hansen.

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Amazing, right?! Honestly, amazing cannot even describe how fabulous these nails are. Look at all the little details! The pumpkins on the pointer, the bridge, the changing leaves! It's just AMAZING! I wish I were this talented!!!!

Please make sure to follow McKenzie on Instagram! You will NOT be sorry!

Thank you so much for this amazing mani, McKenzie! :)

Until next time, <3.

Giveaway

Giveaway: Liquid Palisade by Kiesque

9:00:00 AM

Twinsie Tuesday: Biggest Splurge

9:00:00 AM

Nothing to Disclose

Hello and Happy Tuesday! I'm happy to be back posting with the other Twinsie's after skipping last week. I do apologize about that, but time really got away from me! Kind of like how today is the last day of September....where did this month go!? Just crazy....crazy, crazy, crazy! Oh well, that means it's time for me to start planning some Halloween posts and a Halloween Nail Art Wheel!!

Let's not rush into that though, time to talk about this post right here, right now. Today we are posting all about our "Biggest Splurge." I really wasn't sure what to do. If I had to pick a week to skip, I would have picked this one because honestly I do not splurge on nail polish. I refuse to spend more than $5 on a bottle. Maybe I would spend $6 or $8, but it would have to be a really awesome one.

So since I don't have a biggest splurge polish, I wasn't sure what to show you today! After thinking about it for a while, I decided to share the polishes which I cannot get enough of and have purchased numerous back up bottles of. That's kind of a splurge right? When you spend $5 on each bottle and have 5? I'm going to go with it.....

The polishes I have numerous back ups of at the moment are China Glaze Capacity to See Beyond, OPI Eurso Euro, and OPI My Boyfriend Scales Walls. Let's take a look at the mani I came up with using all three!

Colors Used:

China Glaze - Capacity to See Beyond
OPI - Eurso Euro
OPI - My Boyfriend Scales Walls

When The Giver Collection first was released by China Glaze, I really wasn't feeling it, until I saw swatches of Capacity to See Beyond. It is the perfect blue polish that I have searched for since I started my little nail polish hobby. After snatching up one bottle, I realized it wasn't going to be enough and I went back to every Sally's until I had more! The polish applies perfectly in two coats and is so bright and shiny. It's perfect.

OPI Eurso Euro is a gorgeous polish which I purchased originally because it looked pretty in the bottle and at the time I needed a dark blue. It was on sale and I thought why not. Notice, the polish was on sale...I refuse to purchase OPI at the $9 retail price. It's the perfect dark blue which I think everyone needs to grab a bottle of. Applies perfectly in two coats, and looks amazing with a top coat of INM Northern Lights. I went for a complete cream look here, so I stayed away from my glitters.

OPI My Boyfriend Scales Walls was a polish I never saw myself purchasing. When the Spiderman collection came out, I saw it and thought "Why would anyone spend $9 on a white polish?!" After hearing many bloggers rave over it, and many of my nail girls told me I needed it, I caved and purchased a bottle on sale. I kicked myself that I didn't get it sooner! It's the perfect off white base for nail art...not too bright, and not too dark. To date, I think I've purchased 5 bottles, mostly on sale. Most recently I found two bottles at Beauty Plus Salon on clearance for $3.95 each. How could you pass it up?! I may go back and snag the other two I saw there the other day!

I attempted to do a plaid design on my accent nail, and really hated it, so it was removed almost immediately. I was looking through my Pinterest boards for inspiration, and came across my owl manicure from last year. I always do owls in the Fall and thought a little blue one would look adorable! I did him a little differently than I normally do. I used my polish brush to create the body, then drew on the ears with a nail art brush. I like him better than the whole nail owl look. I'm happy I went with an owl accent...he's so stinkin cute in blue!

What do you think? Liking this look? Is it passable for a splurge post? Is there a polish you cannot get enough of and would buy numerous back up bottles?

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