Mad About Nails: Based on Jodi Meadows' Newsoul Book Trilogy!

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I've had quite a few people comment on my nails in the past ask what I was using or wish I'd done a close-up so they could see better, etc., etc., and had a realization: Why not do a feature on nail polish? It's not book-related (Unless you're wearing the new HUNGER GAMES-inspired line from China Glaze, but I'm not even going into how wrong that is...), but it's fun. Plus, if I do this feature, I'll be more likely to re-paint my nails this week and less likely to let them chip their way to the bare bones (which would mean that I could see my nails...and if I see them, I want to bite them!).

Welcome back to another edition of Mad About Nails! 

This week, for the first time, I based my manicure on a book cover design.  Yes, a BOOK!


I went to an epic signing last week (Which I'll talk about in tomorrow's post...which maaaaaay include an autographed giveaway for my Blog-o-versary and hitting a thousand followers...so you probably want to stop back tomorrow!) and was finally able to meet my beloved Jodi Meadows!

For those of you who haven't read INCARNATE or ASUNDER, you're in for a real treat...and the INCARNATE e-book is only $2.99 right now, so it's a great blind buy, hint hint!!  This weekend, I'll be reviewing both books, so check back!

Here's a video featuring what I did...jump down for a list of what I used!


I started off with Sally Hansen Nail Nutrition Green Tea + Olive Growth as my base coat.  This winter has been harsh on my nails, and they've been peeling, which makes them even weaker.  They're also softer at the moment.  When I was sick in December, my medicine destroyed them even further.  So now they're short and growing out again. (Sorry they're not nicer to look at!)  I'm hoping this new Sally Hansen stuff I bought will help get them back into shape!  (If you look closely in the below close-up, you'll see just how dry and gross my skin looks, too.  Sorry about that.  It's the price of winter nails!)

You can see the way Zoya's "Chloe"
shimmers a little better here!
...and also how the winter has dried out my skin, eep!
First, I painted a solid base color on each nail.  My thumb was painted orange in ULTA's "Sun of a Gun."  The next two fingers were painted yellow in ULTA's "Sun-Sational."  My ring-finger was painted a deep, shimmery green called "Text-tile Me Later"  (because I didn't have a "middle" shade of green, only paler limes and darker hues of emerald/forest/etc...but I rectified that last night ^^;) from ULTA's Glazed and Confused 5-Piece Collection, and my pinky was painted in OPI's "Pack Your Booty Shorts."
You can definitely still buy the orange and yellow polishes; I picked them up at least week during an ULTA BOGO sale specifically for this design.  I'm not sure if ULTA would still have the collection or how old the OPI is (they gave it to me for free at some point, so idk...)

I let this dry overnight.  In the morning, I applied the gradient, using the above colors.  For the red, I used "Off with her Red!" from OPI's limited-edition Alice in Wonderland collection, though any red will work, and a blue called "Indigo" from a previous ULTA collection entitled Denim Blues.  (It was again, a little dark, and I just picked up a better blue from OPI's brand-new Euro-Centrale collection last night...Yes, I spent wayyyyy too much money on  nail polish last night....)

I followed this video by DandyNails to achieve the gradient effect:


Once this dried a little, it was time for nail stamping! (Just google the term if you're not familiar with it)  I used plates SH24 and SH13 from Shany Cosmetics. SH24 featured a beautiful ornate butterfly, but the image was too big for my currently too-small nails.  SH13 features three small butterflies, and was a little smaller than I would have liked.  Ultimately, I made do!  To stamp, I used "Silver Mercedes" by Pure Ice.

Here are the tools I used for stamping/gradients and clean-up:

This type of nail polish container is so much easier when
doing nail art because you won't mess up your design!
I bought an empty container at Sephora.
The face sponges are from the Dollar Store and used for gradients!
I topped my nails off with a new favorite polish of mine, "Chloe" by Zoya.  The bottle looks neon pink, but it's this gorgeous holographic glitter that seems to change colors based on what it's paired with.  It's multi-faceted and I ADORE it!

I finished everything off with OPI Top Coat.

That's a looooot of polish for one design!!! ^^;;;

  Is anyone else obsessed with nail polish? What are you wearing right now?