Triple CANVAS Gradient!

Hello!

This gradient uses all 3 of our soft holographic shades. It's beautiful and I am so proud to say that these are our lacquers!!

CANVAS x 3

This is Flaunt It! Hand of the King and Polar Bear Dip.

aaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhh! love it!
I was initially going for something more tribal print, and I think I may have possibly achieved that had I stamped with black. Obviously going with the white gives it a wintery holiday sweater/tights kinda vibe. Yes, a bit early - but I don't care cuz I luuurrvs it anywayzzz
This image is from BundleMonster 102 and I used Rica Whiteout. I'm finding this polish much easier to use than my Konad White!!!

These 3 shades are all available at our Etsy store right now!

-L

My Grade-est Hit! 31DC2014, Day 10 - Gradients

Oh god, nail puns! hahahaha

I just had to.

Today I present to you my greatest Instagram hit - my newly dubbed "crossover gradient".  I do gradients ALL the time, so for this prompt in the challenge I really wanted to go above and beyond.

crossover gradient

Yay! This look got almost 250 likes, and one of them was the Nailasaurus! I def fan-girl squee'd when I saw that!

I started with a base of Zoya Brigitte. On my thumb, index and pinky I used a reinforcement sticker for my half moons, and a french manicure guide for the upper half. I've done and seen many half moon gradients before, and when I've seen double gradients Simply Nailogical has dubbed them 'scaled gradients', but those typically use craft tape to create a, well, scaled look with interesting shapes cut into the tape. I'm not sure this is a scaled gradient since it adheres to the half moon look.
The deepest purple in the gradient is Misa Sorry Just Can't Help It, then Zoya Odette and Zoya Rue.

The same gradient was used on my middle and ring finger over a french guide. When that was dry I went over it in the opposite direction, being sure to use a shade that would allow the previous gradient to be visible. This took a very light hand. I used OPI Don't Bossa Nova Me Around and Zoya Rue. Then for the hell of it I threw on Cirque Iris on my index and pinky for some shimmer.

I can't wait to try this technique again with different shades!!! Please let me know if you try a crossover gradient for yourself!

-L

31DC2014, Day 7 - Black & White

Heyo!

Day 7 - Black & White

I feel like I really stretched my creative muscle on this one!

This is an ode to old film! I tried to create a vintage vignette look with a radial gradient. I'd say it was semi-successful - my collection is really lacking the perfect grey.
I started with a base of Sally Hansen White On, then used CoverGirl Silver Lining, Misa Paint My Nails @Work and Essie Licorice.

I gotta give props to VividLacquer 021 for making this mani possible! What an awesome image plate.

-L

31DC2014, Day 6 - Violet

Hello!

Day 6 - Violet

So I finally dipped into a holo AND a CANVAS lacquer for this challenge!

Girly and sweet - not like me at all! ha.
The base is OPI Don't Bossa Nova Me Around, and the gradient uses L'Oreal Royalty Reinvented and CANVAS lacquer Orchids. IRL you could see s a bit of the shimmer in Orchids on the tips and had a really pretty effect.

For the stamping I used Color Club Eternal Beauty and Pueen Encore 02A. Surprisingly there was still a beautiful linear effect on the nail.

Even though this is not my usual steez, I still really liked this.

-L

Vacation Nails with MoYou Stamping

Hello!

Ok, so I didn't go on vacation. But let's say I did, I'd definitely rock something like this for a tropical trip.

I started with a base of OPI Don't Bossa Nova Me Around. I then used a makeup sponge to add the 3 colours: bondi nyc Teal Magnolia, OPI I Can't Cope-acabana, and OPI Live.Love.Carnival. It was meant to be a pie-shaped gradient, but I like the looser randomness of the final result.

I then added the tropical foliage images using Konad Gold Black and MoYou Tropical 12.

I love bright and tropical themes (can you tell?), but after a day or two I got restless with it. I was too busy at the time to do another mani, so I added a glitter topper!

Yay! Elevation Polish Haba Xueshan is one of my all-time favourite glitter toppers. Not sure why the black and white combo always makes things look a bit more 90's to me. Perfect, since I'm seeing a 90's esque topical trend everywhere this summer.

Do you prefer with or without the glitter?

-L

Faux Watermarble

Hello!

Whoa - I've been a busy bee this week so I don't have a lot of art to share today.
I only have an iPhone pic of the final mani that I had to snag from my Instagram.

I started with a base of OPI I Don't Give A Rotterdam, a shimmery grey that is more complex upon closer inspection. Then I created a diagonal gradient with Essie Naughty Nautical (aqua) and Nyx Purple.
Here's a look at the gradient pre-stamp:

I added the faux watermarble type image from Vivid Lacquer plate 009 and Konad White.
I have never been able to make watermarbling work for me, so this is an easy cheat.

Any tips of making real water marbles work?

-L

Pychedelic Stamping with Pueen Encore

Hello!

Previously on last week's episode of CANVAS lacquer (here).

So here's the look post-stamp.

This was my first go around with the new Pueen Encore plates I recently bought. These images are from plate 01B. I am LOVING this collection. At first I was having a bit of trouble with my new squishy stamper, but I think it needed some priming. So after gently buffing it a bit I tried again and had better luck. They're not perfectly centered, but for this look I don't mind they're a little off, it adds to the psychedelic look. The thumb image reminds me of a mandala.

I think the pairing of the circle gradient and the radial nature of these images really work well together, I am so happy with the way this turned out!

As a stand alone this nail reminds me of classic comic book style for some reason. Am I crazy?

-L

Sun Gradient Pre-Stamp

Hello!

So you know how I'm always forgetting to photograph my bases before I do additional art?
Well I was so happy with today's gradient pre-stamp that it's getting it's own post (and day of public wear) before I add art!

So I've done plenty of linear gradients, pie gradients, and now this is my first circle gradient. I didn't intend it to look so solar, but here we are.
I used Misa A Sunny Smile Makes Me Go Wild (yellow), Quo by Orly Femme Fatale (pink) and Nails Inc Baker Street (blue), all on top of a base of two coats of OPI My Vampire Is Buff. Had I done 3 coats I probably wouldn't have revealed that ridge on my ring finger. Oh well!

Now the big decision is what will happen next... Tune in for the finale!

-L

Pretty Shimmering Pie Floral

Hello!

After making a conscious decision to use more holos, I've now decided I need to give more of my shimmers some shine.

I used Elevation Polish Limestone as my base. In the macro below you can see hints of the gold flakes shine through the gradient. The 'pie' gradient is made up of Elevation Polish El Cap (bluish purple), Duri Showstopper (pink) and Misa Let's Go Green (green, duh).

shimmery 'pie' gradient pre-stamp

The flower image is from Bundle Monster 220 and I used OPI Eurso Euro and Live.Love.Carnival.

...and here's a bonus macro that our Instagram followers seemed to enjoy.

-L

Nail Fail

Hello!

Sometimes what you dream up in your mind doesn't end up translating well to your nails.

This is one of those times. I quite like the way the gradient turned out, so I'm disappointed I ruined it with this poor stamping.

I started with 2 coats of Cult Nails Let's Get Dirty, which is neither here nor there since no evidence of it comes through the gradient. I had originally intended for all 4 shades to be visible but the lines I created on the sponge were too wide. The gradient colours are Duri Showstopper (pink), Essie Naughty Nautical (turquoise), and Essie Sexy Divide (purple).

I then used different parts of a lily bouquet image from Vivid Lacquer 014 with Konad White. Crap. Nothing against the image plate, I just didn't plan my stamping well. It looked so stark with just the white that I used a couple Nfu-Oh jelly polishes and filled the image in a bit, but still looks crap!

Since I change my nails so often this really isn't the biggest deal, I only lived with it for about 24 hours before taking it off. Win some, lose some.

Do you wear your fails or do you scrap them immediately?

-L

Dusky City Skyline, Nails of the Day

Hello!

Today's look is sort of a practice run for a similar idea I've been playing with in my head for awhile, but I'm not going to reveal all the details yet!

I started with 2 coats of bondi nyc Chasing the Sun.

Orange is certainly not my first pick of polish shades, but I quite like this! It reminds me of creamsicles.

I then sponged on Duri What A Keeper (blurple with hidden shimmer) and bondi nyc NYPD (the deep blue). The sparkly 'stars' are Color Club Magic Attraction, which has holo that unfortunately didn't translate in photos.
I stamped the buildings from Vivid Lacquer plate 004 with Konad Gold Black and the moon with Vivid Lacquer plate 017 and Konad Silver. I purposely didn't use my usual NOPI because it's actually more opaque than the Konad special polish and I wanted the moon to look a bit more ethereal.
The tiny building lights are OPI I Can't Cope-acabana, using a cut down brush and just barely dotting it onto the surface.

I took an iPhone photo with flash, and it made the moon look really cool!

The glare of the flash even gave me perfect stars in the sky!
Hope you like this look as much as I do!

-L

I'm So Fancy, Nails of the Day

Hello!

I didn't plan for this look to turn out so elegant, but it definitely made me feel kinda fancy when it was all done!

 

Silly me, I forgot to take a picture of the gradient before the stamping - but here are the details.
I started with 2 coats of Cadillacquer Blowfish. It's also the bottle I'm holding. I think it reads a hint more green in real life. The other two shades are also Cadillacquer (all 3 are from the Breaking Bad collection). The soft lilac colour is Yeah, Science! and the blue is Better Call Saul (I mistakenly said it was Car Wash on Instagram, sorry!)
I initially tried the gradient with the traditional make-up sponge method, but the sponge sucked up all the base and left me with only shimmer, so I knew it was going to take forever to get the right opacity. Instead I just painted the shades on, figuring I'd stamp over it anyway.
I then added the images from Pueen plate 65 and my trusty silver stamping polish NOPI Positive Energy, topped with HK Girl.

 

I posted this look on Instagram and tagged Cadillacquer. She reposted to her audience and it got a lot of likes. *fangirl moment*

-L

Holy Holo! Nails of the Day

Hello!

I wanted to something a bit “simpler” today, but it didn’t turn out quite as simple as I had hoped.

Most people use a sponging technique when creating gradients. Unfortunately, sponging typically eliminates the linear ‘flame’ in holographic polishes, so I simply used careful application using the bottle brushes to get this look.

diffused lamp light

My thumb to middle finger required a lot of fussing.  I had to apply a lot of different shades to get a good gradient. My ring and pinky finger were totally easy and turned out exactly as I pictured in my head!

direct sunlight

Lacquers used from thumb to pinky: Colors by Llarowe Black Gold, Texas Tea, Color Club Beyond, Layla Coffee Love, Color Club Eternal Beauty, Layla Ultra Violet, Cirque Bejeweled, Glitter Gal Bondi Blue, Liquid Sky Lacquer Swerve, Layla Emerald Divine, Color Club Kismet. I had originally tried using Femme Fatale Ink of the Sea as a purple to blue transition, but it really didn’t work.

shade

 ...and a bonus pic.

 -L

Cynthia Rowley Inspired, Nails of the Day

Hello!

I’m really excited about sharing today’s post because I love the results, it may be my favourite mani to date!

I was really stumped for inspiration. Now that I’ve been putting my nails on the internet I was having serious performance anxiety. I cleaned my nails and mulled over my options for hours. HOURS.

I finally decided to interpret my Cynthia Rowley scarf. It’s so bright and floral – perfect for spring!

I started with my go-to base, CoverGirl Silver Lining. I was getting sick of doing linear gradients so I painted a tri-colored wheel  thingy on my sponge and rotated it for each finger. The tricky part was remembering which way it was oriented when I went back for more layers!

the first stage

The colours on the wheel are bondi nyc Teal Magnolia, Duri Showstopper and L’Oreal Royalty Reinvented. I’ve used Showstopper for a number of gradients, but for some reason last night it was not behaving well. It kept balding instead of building so at the last gradient layer I added a bit of bondi nyc Fuschia-istic to make the pink as opaque as the other colours.

the final product

I pulled out 5 different stamping plates but didn’t end up using them all. I used Pueen 46 and bondi nyc The Limelight over the purple parts. I really love this colour combo, I just wish it was more obvious.  The image transferred well but it’s just not as opaque at one layer, and I didn’t double stamp for fear it would look too messy. I used the same image and stamped with OPI Amazon…Amazoff over the teal parts (it stamped beautifully and I look forward to using it again). On just my thumb I used Konad m4 and bondi nyc NYPD, as a trial. I like the contrasting accent for my thumb, but I thought it would be too bold for the rest of my fingers so I put NYPD away.  Instead I grabbed Konad m53 and bondi nyc Chasing the Sun and stamped some flowers over the pink areas. This unfortunately was barely visible, but created a lovely shade, so not a total loss. I turned to Nyx Purple instead for the flowers. Everything got topped off with Glisten & Glow HK Girl.

the mani and its muse (the scarf)

I posted this on our Instagram account yesterday (canvaslacquer), and was asked if I would enter it into a spring themed contest. The prize is basically a shoutout from 3 beauty bloggers, but it would really help the CANVAS cause so I’m going to enter. Wish me luck!

-L

Easter/Spring Mani featuring Emily de Molly 'Frail Promise', Nails of the Day

Yay! Spring has FINALLY sprung in Toronto. My spring inspired mani ended up looking a bit Easter-y, but since it's coming up anyway I'm quite satisfied with the result!

First I started with a base of Colors by Llarowe Precious Metal (shimmery grey). My thumb and ring finger are featuring Emily de Molly Frail Promise. I only needed 1 coat for the glitter payoff. I tested this on a nail wheel previous to using it in this mani and discovered that I def prefer it at one coat, at 2 coats I found it a bit too busy for my taste - but to each their own!
I love the colour combination of the glitters, which is what lead me to choosing the colours for the gradient. The green is piCture pOlish Jade (shimmery minty green) and the pink is Duri Showstopper (shimmery pink).
I then stamped over the gradient using Vivid Lacquer plate 019 and Konad White. I was having a hard time getting the images to transfer cleanly - but that was definitely due to my white polish getting a bit old, and  nothing to do with the plate.

I don't typically show my thumb, but since I didn't get as much of the aqua glitters on my ring finger as my thumb I decided to include it, better tying all the colours together.
However, that being said, I still didn't feel it was as harmonious as I'd like it to be, so I topped everything off with a coat of KBShimmer I Only Have Ice For You, a sparkly holo glitter.

The difference is subtle in pictures but more apparent IRL. I LOVE the added sparks of holo over Frail Promise.

Here's a closer look.

Hope you're all able to enjoy the beautiful spring weather!

-L

Stamped Vertical Gradient, Nails of the Day

I love gradients. For some reason I find doing them vertically more challenging than horizontally, but I love the effect! I usually use cremes, and I've tried holos once or twice, but I've never used all shimmers, and I'm quite pleased with the result.
Because it has a slightly metallic finish, at a glace it almost looks like I could be wearing foils (which I have yet to try even though I picked up a Ciate kit from Winners a couple months back).

vertical stamped gradient, notd

Unfortunately there's some tipwear since this is day 3 with this mani (my day of photos were a bit messy, the clean up on this was a real pain). In lower lighting this sometimes looks like it's a multichrome polish, shifting with the curve of the nail - love it!

I used a base of CoverGirl 'Silver Lining'. I like using it as a base for a lot of nail art, such as my Monet mani.  It's not too grey or too metallic, it's closer to a shimmery off-white if you ask me, which I prefer to a stark white.
For the gradient I used Misa 'Let's Go Green', China Glaze 'Frostbite' and Nyx 'Purple'.
I then stamped using VividLacquer plate 019 with Konad 'Gold Black'. In the bottle this appears quite shimmery, but it almost never translates onto the nail, so it's pretty much my go-to black stamping polish.

Anyone else find vertical gradients harder than horizontal, or is that just me?

-L

Tropical Vacation, Nails of the Day

I'm going away for bit, so these seemed highly appropriate.

tropical sunset NOTD

As much as I'm looking forward to this vacation - I'm also really excited about coming back because we will be launching the CANVAS lacquer Etsy store! Please stay tuned!

-L

From the vault, iPhone edition

Here we have several manis I did last year that I only ever photographed with my iPhone.

Considering I was quite a novice when I did these I think I fared pretty well! Opinions???

This was/is my only attempt at doing a vertical gradient (per nail), and of course I had to make it more complicated by creating a gradient across all the nails too, then stamped with stars.

I'm still amazed at the variety of looks you can accomplish with dots - I don't take advantage of this simple technique enough.

I'm kinda meh about this look. I don't wear red very often and I was just trying to do something a little different.

Dots again! I've seen a few different stamping images of this look that are much more precise, but I think I did ok with just my dotting tools.

This tape mani didn't come out as crisp as I had hoped, but I remember going to the farmer's market that day and got compliments left and right.

This is my first attempt at the 'waterfall' technique that most bloggers would credit The Nailasaurus for inventing. This was probably attempted almost a year ago and I still don't feel I have a very good handle at using striping brushes, but I still like the results even though it's not as neat as hers.

-L

From the vault...

I really started getting into nail art only about a year ago. I think I've come a long way since then, but it's also nice to reflect on my first few mani's; to see the evolution of my style and skills.
From time to time I (or Alana) will post something 'from the vault'... kind of like a Throwback Thursdays, only for nails, and on whatever day of the week we feel like!

my first fully stamped mani

I used 3 A-england polishes for the gradient, stamped the snake-like pattern from 2 different images, and then added the gold accents with another A-england.

I'm now sporting more squoval shaped nails, only for the last couple months - but seeing those roundies seems so foreign already!

-L