I was thrilled when St. Martin’s Press reached out to me with their new YA/Adult contemporary novel, In Some Other World, Maybe. It’s possible that I was more excited about the cover than the actual story right off the bat. I mean, look at that beautiful rainbow watercolor-looking gorgeousness! I was ready to paint away before even opening it.

Thankfully, the book lived up to its beautiful cover, and I ended up loving them equally! In Some Other World, Maybe follows three separate story lines with characters that intertwine and intersect as everyone grows up in modern America. The characters learn about love and loss, life in Hollywood and how to make it in this messed up world. It was a fun and unique story that I really didn’t want to put down until it was finished!

A word to the wise, pay attention to people’s names at the beginning of the book. I ended up going through a couple chapters before realizing that the characters (major and minor) we are first introduced to show up in all three of the story lines. Once I realized that, I actually went back and reread some of the book to clear up the confusion!

Now, let’s paint a watercolor masterpiece!

This mani used A LOT of polishes. This might be a record for the most polishes I’ve used in a cover-inspired manicure thus far! I really wanted to capture the watercolor rainbow vibe of the cover, and so I pulled out all of the polish stops.

To start, I painted two coats of Essie Blanc and sealed with a quick dry top coat. If I may go off on a quick tangent, I finally jumped on the Seche Vite bandwagon, and it feels like home. I will probably never use another top coat, it’s that fantastic!

Now down to the nitty gritty: the how-to of the watercolor look. I adapted the main technique from a tutorial by The Beauty Department, one of my daily reads for all things beauty! Grab your acetone/nail polish remover and a small container to hold it. I personally use the bottle cap because it’s super convenient! You’ll also need a brush to paint on the design.

On a small square of foil, place a drop of your first color. I went with a watercolor base of Bikini So Teeny on all five nails. Dip your brush in the acetone, then into the color. I did this one or two times to get it diluted a decent amount. Dab the polish on your nail, and don’t be afraid to further dilute the color by dipping the brush back into the acetone without adding more color. The top coat you applied to the first coat will keep the nail polish remover from stripping the base color!

Continue the dilution technique for all colors desired. I decided to do a different color combination on all five fingers because I wanted to capture the beauty of the rainbow! Make sure all of the nail polish remover is dry on the nails before painting a top coat, otherwise you’ll have holes in the final polish layer.

Have you tried a watercolor manicure before? What techniques did you use? Happy Reading!