{Mad About Nails} YAGB Tour Nail Art

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! 

You all know I'm nuts by now, right? 
Okay, good. ^.~

I went to an awesome author event this past week, the Young Authors Give Back Tour with Erin Bowman, Susan Dennard, Sarah Maas, and Kat Zhang. 
(Check out my tour recap, the full audio from the tour, and enter to win some autographed swag!)

I've been a fan of a couple of the authors for about two years now, and was eager to meet the others. I decided to repeat the fun I had in February when I met author Jodi Meadows and painted my nails to match her books.

This time, I gave myself a challenge...I had to incorporate ALL FOUR AUTHORS into my design!

Here's the final product:

Here's a video talking about why I chose the colors, what polish I used, etc.

And if you stick to the very end, you just might get a surprise visit from author Brigid Kemmerer's fab series, which is completely appropriate because Sarah Maas introduced me to both Kat Zhang and Brigid Kemmerer by talking about when they both got book deals on her blog. Just saying...

YouTube Link

These two are POWERHOUSES for
long-lasting manicures!  One lasted
1.5 weeks, the other for 2!!!

I started off with a basecoat of ORLY "Bonder."  Many of the professional nail studios use this as a basecoat when doing nails for their clients.  It's a rubberized coat that helps polish adhere to the nail.  It stinks, but it's great!

I finished everything with a top coat of Revlon's "Quick Dry Top Coat."  I'd heard it was a rival for the legendary Seche Vite, but with fewer harsh chemicals.  It also doesn't go bad in the bottle or shrink when used.  I was intrigued, and so far, this stuff is FABULOUS.

Together, this combo has made my nails last, on average, 1.5 to 2 weeks. They're both awesome!

For my base color:

I put on one coat of OPI "Steady As She Rose." This is from the Pirates of the Carribean: On Stranger Tides collection; it's rare to find now.  It's a great color for a French manicure, though, a pale pink with a touch of lilac.  The pearly pale color matches the skin tone from the model on the cover of Susan Dennard's SOMETHING STRANGE AND DEADLY.

For my design:

Next, I started with the puzzle piece design on my left ring finger, then french-tipped the remaining four nails.  I made sure that it was only a partial puzzle piece; you can still see some "Steady As She Rose" on the nail, which matches the partial puzzle piece from Kat Zhang's covers WHAT'S LEFT OF ME and ONCE WE WERE. The black outline on both puzzle pieces was So Easy Stripe Rite in a regular black from Sally's Beauty Supply. I also used a dotting tool from the Avon Catalog to create the puzzle edges as they bled into one another.

The colors I used on my left hand were inspired by Erin Bowman's novel TAKEN.  I used ULTA "Bang!" (From the Pop Aganda Collection, which is rare now) for the orange, ULTA "Sun-Sational" (From the main line; easy to find) for the yellow, China Glaze "Def-Defying" (From this year's Cirque du Soleil: Worlds Away Collection; harder to find now, but still possible!) for the green, and E.L.F. "Green Machine" (From a 2012 Holiday Collection; not sure how easy/hard it is to find) for the teal.

For my right hand, the colors were inspired by Sarah Maas' THRONE OF GLASS and CROWN OF MIDNIGHT. I used Nail Art by Diamond Cosmetics in "Urban Legend," which either came from Urban Outfitters (I forget what came in my nail art kit, but maybe the word "Urban" in the title was a clue?) or the local Dollar Store. One of the two!) for the pink, OPI "Can't Find My Czechbook" from this year's Euro-Central Collection (Still available most places) for the blue, Zoya "Neeka" (Which is either from the regular collection or just available on their website, not sure which...but it's easy to get!) for the purple, and China Glaze "Red Satin" from a past holiday collection for the red.

It's not the best design I've ever thrown together because I was in a hurry. I kept mucking my nails and having to re-do them as they dried, too, and I even damaged one the day I needed to take pictures for you! So they're certainly not perfect, and I know that. But I had fun and that's what counts...right?

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