I had a hard time with today's manicure. There are books I love that would be really hard to make into a manicure. At the very last moment, I decided to do a Howl's Moving Castle manicure.
The book is fantastic! If you saw the movie and liked it, read the book. The book is different enough from the movie that it is like a whole new story. If you don't know anything about it, Sophie is the oldest of three sisters. She is expected by all around her to live a very hum-drum life as a hat maker, until she is cursed by a witch. Sophie discovers that she has been transformed to an elderly woman. She goes in search of the wizard Howl, hoping that he can reverse the spell even though he is known around the countryside to eat young women's souls. She meets a fire demon, named Calcifer and is forced to make a deal with him. The real fun begins as we see Sophie, Howl, Calcifer and the other characters in the book, show their true character despite other people's expectations.
It is an enchanting story and when I read it, I was so sad to see it end. There are some books that I finish and feel like I've just had a sad breakup. I go back to the book, rereading my favorite parts over again, like paging through old pictures from before the breakup. I can't even think of a book that I would want to read and can only reminisce about every part of the book I just finished, even the mundane parts. Eventually, after about two weeks of mourning, I can start to love again. It is sometimes a relief when I only kind of like a book, because then I don't experience this kind of post conclusion loss and can easily move on. Am I the only one who feels this way?
It is not my favorite manicure, but I think it represents the book well. I read the book to my then five year old daughter last summer and she knew that this manicure was based on that book when I showed her my nails. Although, looking at them, they could have been The Wonderful Wizard of Oz if I added a silver shoe. But don't think about that; they are Howl's Moving Castle nails.
I wore 3 coats of China Glaze Kalahari Kiss, which I saw in swatches last year and did not like at all, but I was surprised to really like it with my skin tone. I then painted a scarecrow and heart using China Glaze Call of the Wild applied with a dotting tool. The fire demon was created using Cult Nails All Out, China Glaze Riveting, With Love, Man Hunt, and Call of the Wild.
See other book inspired manicures and check back tomorrow for my fashion inspired manicure . . . I'm thinking of a throwback to 2011 fashion.
~Alexis
