Manicure Monday (69): Dorothy Must Die

Hi and welcome to Manicure Monday, a weekly feature that combines my love of nail polish and reading. Each Monday, I'll showcase one of my current reads along with a matching book manicure. 

Hello, hello! Has everyone recovered from their BBQ hangover yet? I admit that I am not looking forward to working a full work week. :( Today's manicure features Dorothy Must Die by Danielle Paige. I have been meaning to read this one for a while now and have only now found the time to start it. Unfortunately my reading time was pretty limited this weekend and I haven't gotten very far but I am liking it so far. 

This was a fun manicure to do since there were a lot of visually interesting elements on this cover to play with. I knew I wanted to have the dress on my hand so I started off with two coats of white polish (OPI My Boyfriend Scales Walls) on my middle finger. Then I used black acrylic paint to paint the black around the dress shape. I would have just painted the white onto the black but I wasn't sure if the white was going to be opaque enough to cover well over a dark color. I did the same for the bow tie image. Then I went back in with some blue acrylic paint and painted on the gingham pattern. 

On my index finger, I wanted to create the yellow brick road. I started with two coats of the super sparkly Zoya Kerry. Next I used a small brush and black acrylic paint to paint in the lines of the brick. I finished off my index and middle fingers with a bit of red splatter art with Seche Signature (red) to create some blood splatters. 

For my pinkie, I could not resist using China Glaze Ruby Pumps, which was inspired by the red slippers from The Wizard of Oz.

For my thumb, I wanted to paint the white heels from the cover of the book. I used two coats of Wet N Wild Black Creme as a base. Once that was dry, I went back in with white acrylic paint to draw in the shoes. The shoes on the cover are lightly speckled with black so I added a bit of black to my nails by very lightly sponging some black polish on with a beauty sponge. I put some top coat over everything and the manicure was complete!

My favorite finger from this manicure is the yellow brick road nail. It just came out exactly how I wanted it to, which almost never happens. Hope you guys enjoyed today's look. If you've read this book, let me know what you think in the comments below (no spoilers please). :)

Manicure Monday (68): The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry

Manicure Monday is a feature that combines my love of reading and nail polish. Each week I'll show you one of my current reads along with a matching book manicure.

Hello, hello! Happy Monday, all. I hope you guys had a good weekend. Mine was pretty busy but fun. I am gearing up for ALA in Las Vegas this coming weekend. I can't believe it's finally here. I am pretty excited and am looking forward to having a bit of a vacation. It may be quiet over the weekend as a result of my being out of town. I might bring my laptop but I am not sure if I'll get on it at all. We shall see.

Today's manicure is based off of The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin. This is my book club selection month and I have to say that I am really enjoying it. It's a pretty short read and I am about halfway through. Looking forward to discussing this with my book group.

To start, I did 2-3 coats of Ulta Cream of Corn on all of my nails except my thumb. It's a milky, slightly yellow creme that matched the cover pretty well. It wasn't a perfect match but it's hard to tell in the pics. 

To add some visual interest, I created stripes with stamping plate BM-423 by Bundle Monster and Zoya Pepper, a brick red.

I really did not feel like trying to paint the basket on the cover so I went with just the baby. Using acrylic paints, I drew the baby and book along with radiating white lines to mimic the cover. I painted a more defined white "splash" on my ring finger to match the cover. Above is a close up of the baby. Sorry, the refection is pretty strong and it's a little hard to see. I was actually pretty impressed with it though. In person it looks very close to the cover image.

On my thumb, I just did 2 coats of Zoya Pepper to keep things simple. That was it! This isn't my favorite book manicure. It's fine, but I think it's a little boring and I had a hard time coming up with an interesting design. 

I hope you liked today's manicure. I definitely recommend this book for all you reader and book lovers out there. I hope to finish it up in the next day or two. Happy reading!

Manicure Monday (67): Ruin and Rising

 

Manicure Monday is a feature that combines my love or reading and nail polish. Each week I'll showcase one of my current reads along with a matching book manicure.

Hello and happy Monday, everyone. Today's manicure is for the newly released Ruin and Rising by Leigh Bardugo. While this technically does not come out until tomorrow, I heard that some B&N had them out early. I went in search of it over the weekend and happily was able to find it at my local store. I decided to do this manicure today because I am going to the launch party for Ruin and Rising tonight, which is being held in downtown LA at The Last Bookstore. It should be a really good time and I hope to see some of you there.

I love the covers to this entire series. They are so striking and work well individually but also make a nice set when seen together. The cover to Ruin and Rising is much darker and more ominous looking than the last two covers. Looking at this cover, I knew that I wanted to do a gradient as part of this manicure. Using three shades of Zoya polish in Sooki, Rekha and Paris, I created a gradient on three of my fingers. I arranged it so the darkest color was at the base of my nails. Then I wanted to create a splatter effect to mimic the center part of the cover where there are faint splatters of gold on the red. I had a really hard time finding a gold that was as orange as the one from this cover. However, after much digging I was able to find a good match in Wet N Wild The Gold and the Beautiful (yes, nail polish companies do love pun-y names). I made the splatter by dipping a small mixing straw into the polish and blowing it onto the nails.

The grey I used was actually a polish that was given out as a promo product when Shadow & Bone was first released. So far, there has been a polish for each book. Shadow & Bone's polish was a matte grey creme. I used two coats of the Grisha Grey on my thumb and ring finger. I used black acrylic paint to paint the stripes on my ring finger. 

For my thumb, I decided to pull an element from the central tower on the R&R cover. I painted the turrets with black acrylic paint and dotted on red polish to match the tower.

Bonus pic of my right hand, which I usually don't show because it's often the same as my left and it's sort of annoying to take pics of your non-dominant hand. However, I did my read hand a little differently this time so I thought it would be fun to show it.

And there you have it - nails ready for a Grisha party. Hope you guys liked today's manicure. If you're at the launch tomorrow and see me, please come say hello. :)

Manicure Monday (66): Grasshopper Jungle

Manicure Monday is a weekly feature where I combine my love of reading and nail polish and feature one of my current reads with a matching book manicure.

Hello! I hope you all had a good weekend. Saw The Fault In Our Stars last night and really liked it. It was really well done and very true to the book. For today's Manicure Monday, I am featuring Grasshopper Jungle by Andrew Smith. Picked this one up at the library recently and knew that it was going to be a MM. The cover is just too green and fun not to do a manicure for it.

I dug around in my stash for the perfect green and came up with Sinful Colors High Strung, a very bright, chartreuse green. The formula on this was a little streaky and it took 4 thin coats to get it really opaque and smooth. 

There isn't a lot going on in this cover, so I created a pretty simple look. Using a dotting tool and a silver polish (CND Silver Chrome) I made two little dots for the base of the grasshopper antennae. 

Then I painted on the antennae using black acrylic paint and a small nail brush. I did this on both my thumb and middle finger. A coat of top coat and the manicure was complete.

This was a super easy look to create and I love how bright it is. I am only in the very beginning of this book but I am enjoying it. Andrew Smith writes in such a unique way and I love reading his stuff. I haven't had a lot of time to read this weekend but am hoping to read more of Grasshopper Jungle this week. :)

Manicure Monday (65): Shadow Kin

Hello and thanks for checking out Manicure Monday, a weekly post that showcases my love of reading and nail polish. Each week I'll show you one of my current reads along with a matching book manicure. 

Hi, everyone. I hope that Monday has been treating you well.  My manicure today was inspired by Shadow Kin, the first book in the Half-Light series by MJ Scott. I picked this up on a whim at the library last week. My library's sci-fi/urban fantasy section is pretty sad but this caught my eye. I finished it last night and really liked it. I am definitely going back for the other books in the series. 

I started off with a base of 2 coats of American Apparel Manila which, as you may have guessed, is the color of a Manila envelope. Next I wanted to recreate the worn, textured look of the cover background. Using several shades of brown (Zoya Louise, Zoya Flynn), red (Knoll Knoll Red), Manila and a beauty sponge, I dabbed bits of color onto my nail until I achieved the look I wanted.  

The cover also has these fun splashes of red (for blood I presume) near the top of the cover. Using a small mixing straw and a orange-y red cream (Knoll Knoll Red) I blew polish onto my nails for a splattered effect. I still need some practice on splattering because I tend to blow big blobs of color all over the place instead of a nice splatter. But I managed to do alright. In hindsight I probably should have done thus after I drew in the spires for a more three dimensional look. 

Next, I painted the spires that are along the bottom edge of the cover into my nails. I used American Apparal Pinto for the light brown and Zoya Louise for the dark brown. After everything was fully dry I sealed it all in with top coat and that was it!

I was thinking of incorpirating some of the black leather into the manicure but I got kind of lazy and decided to just do them all the same. I like how this one turned out. It looks like I have a little city on my nails. 

Thanks for checking out this week's manicure!

Manicure Monday (64): Claire DeWitt and the City of the Dead

Manicure Monday is a weekly post where I combine my love of reading and nail polish. Each week I'll feature one of my current reads along with a matching book manicure.

Hello! Happy Memorial Day, everyone. I can't believe that it's practically summer already. This year is really flying by. I am grateful to have an extra day off to just recharge. I saw the movie Chef yesterday, which was really funny and cute. Just don't go on an empty stomach because it will be you want to eat everything. Let's get in to today's Manicure Monday! Today I am featuring Claire DeWitt and the City of the Dead by Sara Gran which is my book club pick for this month.

There is not a lot going on in this cover and this was a pretty easy look to create. I really wanted to find a good color to match the cover and, luckily, OPI Fiercely Fiona was a pretty close match. It's a weird yellow winged with green shade. I painted on 3 coats of Fiercely Fiona onto all of my nails to get a new, opaque finish. 

Next, using acrylic paints and a small brush, I painted the parrot. I painted the body of the parrot on my ring finger and had his tail continue onto my middle finger. 

Then, using the black paint, I drew in the banner-type marking that are scattered throughout the cover.

And that's it! The bird looks a little blob-y in these pics but is a bit clearer in person. Overall this was a simple and fun manicure. I am about a third of the way through this book and it's just OK so far. I find the main character pretty annoying which is hindering my enjoyment of the book. But it may turn around so I'll keep reading.

Hope you guys liked today's look and I'll see you with another manicure next week!

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Manicure Monday (63): Sublime

 

Hi and welcome to Manicure Monday, a weekly post that combines my love of reading and nail polish. Each Monday I will show you one of my current reads along with a matching book manicure. Thanks for stopping by!  

Hello and happy Monday. Today I have a really fun and easy manicure to match the cover of Sublime by Christina Lauren. 

First, isn't this a gorgeous cover? I really loved the dreamy quality of it and all of the swirling fabrics and hair. I decided to create a fun, easy look using a simple technique. I don't know if there's an official name for this technique but I am going to call it a swirl manicure. It has a look similar to a water marble manicure but is much easier to accomplish.

First I started off with a dark grey base (Sinful Colors Ardoise) on all of my nails. Then I placed random drops of each color onto my nails. In order for this to work well it's best to work on one nail at a time before moving on to the next. The colors I used were Zoya Gie Gie (light pink shimmer), Zoya Rebel (light blue shimmer), Sinful Colors Ardoise (dark grey) and OPI My Boyfriend Scales Walls (grey toned white). After placing small drops of each color onto the nail, I swirled them together using a nail dotting tool. You can really use anything for this part - a toothpick or pin would also work well.

 

Do this for each of your nails. You polish will be quite thick after this so be sure you give it enough time to dry all the way through before you put your top coat on. And that's it! For very little effort you get a pretty cool looking manicure.

I haven't really had time to do much more than start Sublime but it's good so far. I also love these authors and have a feeling I am going to like this one. Hopefully I will find more time to read this week than last.

Thanks for checking out today's manicure. Have a good week!

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Manicure Monday (62): Don't Turn Around

Hi and welcome to Manicure Monday, a weekly post that combines my love of reading and nail polish. Each Monday I will show you one of my current reads along with a matching book manicure. Thanks for stopping by!

Hello! It's Monday again which means it's time for a new manicure. This week's manicure was inspired by Don't Turn Around by Michelle Gagnon. This ARC has been in my TBR pile for so long and I am glad that I've finally started it. I always knew that I wanted to do a manicure with it, too, since the cover is so colorful and distinct.

To start, I painted on one coat of a white creme (Cult Nails Tempest) onto all of my nails to make a nice base for the other colors pop against. Next, I used four colors ranging from a chartreuse green to a red-orange to create a gradient that matched the cover colors. The shades I used were (starting with the green) OPI Who the Shrek Are You, American Apparel Manila, Zoya Arizona and NYC Color Spring Street. There are lots of tutorials online on how to do a gradient manicure if you'd like to try for a similar look.

Next I used China Glaze Megabyte, a sparkly gold holo, and a skinny nail brush to paint in grid lines similar to those on the book cover.  Added a layer of top coat to seal it all in and it was done! This was a pretty easy look to achieve with a bit of patience and I really liked the finished results. 

I hope you all enjoyed today's manicure. Have an awesome week!

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Manicure Monday (61): The Winner's Curse

Hi and welcome to Manicure Monday, a weekly post that combines my love of reading and nail polish. Each Monday I will show you one of my current reads along with a matching book manicure. Thanks for stopping by!

Hello again. I hope you all had a great weekend. It was the first weekend in a about month where I did not have a million things planned and I used it to recharge and rest. My current schedule doesn't allow for much free time during the week and my reading has really slowed down. I was glad to have a free weekend though because it let me start and finish the book I am featuring today for Manicure Monday.

The Winner's Curse my Marie Rutkoski has been getting a lot of hype lately and I am happy to say that it lived up to my expectations and more. I really loved both the main characters in this and the story unfolded in a way that I did not expect and I cannot wait for book 2. Why can't it be 2015 already?

This book also has a gorgeous cover and I set about recreating on my nails. I have to admit that I didn't love the outcome of this manicure. It did not come out quite as I had envisioned though it's growing on me. To start, I laid down 2 coats of Zoya Mia on all of my nails. Mia is a pretty pink/mauve creme that matched the lighter color of the dress well.

Next, using a dark burgundy shimmer (Studio M Hearts on Fire) I painted in the large petals of the flowers. After they dried I went back in with Zoya Mia and Zoya Hermina, a cool gold, to add more petals and depth. I put coat on everything and let it dry. Then using a pearly white acrylic pain and a dotting tool, I went back in and added the little pearl dots that are on the dress.

For my thumb, I decided to draw the dagger that is also part of the dress ensemble I used China Glaze Side Saddle for the handle, OPI Love.Angel.Music.Baby for the hilt and CND Silver Chrome for the blade.

Like I said, this didn't come out quite as I'd pictured. I really wanted something lush and full looking like the dress. This is pretty but it's missing something. Maybe I should have drawn in more flowers or more texture for the background. 

I borrowed this book from the library but I liked it so much that I will probably be purchasing a copy soon. Have you guys read The Winner's Curse yet? Thanks for coming by and checking out today's manicure. Have a fun week!

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