Guest Post: The Little Canvas! (MONKEYS!!)

Hi everyone!  Alaina from The Little Canvas here taking over The Manicured Monkey for the day!  I couldn't be happier to be posting for Kristin today!   Back in 2012, she featured my work over here on The Manicured Monkey along with a little interview about me.  Since I was a little fish in the blogging pond at the time, it meant so much to me that she wanted to feature my work!

Through my blogging years, I have gotten to know Kristin through Twitter.  Her support of me and my blog has meant the world to me.  Most recently, she inspired me to create my St. Patrick’s Day Nail Art Wheel, which she shared on Pinterest and it got a zillion re-pins.  Okay, maybe not a zillion, but it sure got shared a lot.

For today’s post, I wanted to do something special, fun, and unique.  Since Spring is here, I debated on doing some sort of floral manicure.  Then I thought about doing a kitchen sink manicure with some tape, gradients, and dots.  Both ideas, while awesome, I was a tad bored by.  Then it hit me….The Manicured Monkey…..monkey nail art!

Let’s take a look!

 Colors Used:

¨         Base

o       Sinful Colors – Pistache

¨         Banana Nails

o       Orly Instant Artist – White & Black

o       Ulta – SunSational

¨         Monkey

o       Zoya – Louise

o       Zoya – Taylor

o       Orly Instant Artist – White & Black

Cute, right?!  I am in love with how they turned out!  They are just as I imagined.  I picked Sinful Colors Pistache for my base because it’s a perfect bright green polish.  I thought a little monkey would look beyond adorable on top of that color and I think it’s safe to say I was right.  The monkey perfectly popped off the base.

I decided to do white polka dots on the other nails since I recently figured out how to perfectly fit a dot on my nail.  It only took about two years and a lot of disasticures to figure it out.  Since this discovery, I’ve been kind of obsessed with polka dots.  I decided was a little bored by just the plain dots, so I decided to add the little bananas.  They aren’t perfect, but that’s what makes them cute!

What do you think?  Think Kristin will enjoy the monkey manicure? :)

Thank you so much Kristin for letting me come back and post over here on your amazing blog!  If any of Kristin’s lovely followers would like to check out more of my work, please head on over to The Little Canvas and follow :).

Guest Post: Megan from Wicked Splatters!

Hi, This is Megan from Wicked Splatters! Kristin let us know she needed someone to guest post this week, and I was more than happy to oblige.

For this mani, I used polish to recreate a famous painting by Claude Monet, Sunflowers! I mixed the polish to create the range of colors needed, and got to work. Once I was done, I couldn't stop staring at my nails.

Weapons of Choice:

Ulta Blue Streak, Mint Condition and Limelight

Sinful Colors Chick Chick, Cloud 9, Ruby Ruby, Snow Me White, and Black on Black

Once again, Thanks Kristin for allowing me to guest post for you. Hope you have a great trip!

-Megan

To see more from Wicked Splatters, Visit http://www.wickedsplatters.com and on Facebook!

Guest Post: Heather from Wicked Splatters!

Monkeys, I have a treat for you today, Heather from Wicked Splatters is on the blog! If you follow me on Facebook, you'd have seen me post about WS, they're very talented. Check it out, thanks Heather! (also, go Quakes and beat LA! hahaha)

Hello from the Heather, one of the girls from Wicked Splatters. I am so excited to guest post this week for our friend Kristin at The Manicured Monkey while she's on vacation. 

In this nail art design, I featured everyone’s favorite monkey, Curious George!. I used acrylic paint over nail polish for the paint splatters and the details on George's face. Acrylic paint is great for nail art, and I use it frequently for my cartoon style.

Weapons of Choice: Sinful Colors Chick Chick and Snow Me White, Acrylic paint.

-Heather

To see more from Wicked Splatters, Visit http://www.wickedsplatters.com and follow on Facebook!

Guest Post: Notes From The S Life- Beauty products under $10

10 Awesome Beauty Finds for Under $10

Hey there! My name is Sandra and I’m a lifestyle blogger over at Notes from the S Life. I blog about pretty much everything, but as a recent transplant from Texas to San Francisco, it’s been fun documenting the differences in culture (those hills are insane!)

I used to be in the beauty world, so I love reading about new ingredients, trends and colors. I am also a MAJOR bargain shopper, and think that you can get pretty much anything without selling a kidney. Here are my top 10 beauty finds for under $10.

HAIR

The L’oreal EverPure Sulfate-Free Shampoo & Conditioner have been my go-to for color safe hair care. Some carry a promotion travel size when you buy the full size, which is perfect for trips, especially since you know that hotel shampoo is going to dry the crap out of your hair. $5.99

Suave’s Dry Shampoo is the best drugstore product I’ve found to compete with professional ones. At $2.75, you just can’t beat it. Just rub the roots after spraying to avoid the lovely “drandruff look”.

SKIN

Yes To Cucumbers has become one of my favorite brands of all time. With my sensitive skin prone to redness, this milk cleanser doesn’t make me break-out, feels gentle and non-abrasive, and does a great job of removing make-up and grime. $8.99

I use these Simple Cleansing Wipes more for removing eye makeup than a cleansing substitute (this chic needs more).  They are also great on the go when you need a quick wipe and don’t want to resort to disinfecting wipes as a last resort (I’ve done that and the after effects are not pretty). $5.40

BODY

It’s awesome that Jergen’s Body Lotion’s original scent is cherry almond. It just smells so good! This is a pretty basic lotion, great for all skin types and lasts a good while. $4.99

They say to use conditioner to shave your legs instead of shave lotion, but I disagree. I find it clogs my razor and my skin tends to break out. This EOS Shave Cream is awesome. Product goes on super smooth and gets me a close shave. $3.99

FACE

Have you heard of the NYX brand? They have really great makeup that stays under $10. The blushes are some that I love. My favorite is the peach shade which leaves a nice, dewy look. If you’re looking to mix it up and try new colors, Nyx is definitely the way to go (at Ulta). $5.99

I wasn’t huge on cream shadows until I tried Maybelline’s 24 hour tattoo shades. They are seriously legit. Stays on for hours and are super pigmented. My favorite is the Bad to the Bronze. $5.99

Lipstick isn’t something I love to play around with, so I usually opt for the neutral, subtle shades. Revlon’s Lip Butters seem to do that for me, with my favorite being the pretty pink shade Cotton Candy. Goes on like butter and just enhances those beautiful lips. $6.49

Maybelline’s Falsies is really an awesome product. I did the eye-extension deal a while ago and miss those long lashes. This tube gives me volume and when used with an eyelash curler, a pretty darn good curl. $6.99

So there you have it, 10 tried and tested beauty finds that I am constantly buying and have as part of my essential head to toe beauty essentials. What are some of your favorites?