A Fall Fairytale

November 19, 2014November 19, 2014 ~ Taylor Justine ~ 3 Comments

I have a little story for you today. Picture this…

Once upon a time, a fair maiden lived in the enchanted southern region of California. She longed to see something she’d only heard tell of in her mother’s stories: Autumn. You see, where she lived, there was only one season: warm. But she knew there was a way to make her dream a reality, by making the pilgrimage to the mystical Tree of Fall.

And you know what? She did just that, and there she was rewarded with leaves of scarlet, gold and orange. She was filled with joy and contentment , and she lived happily ever after.

The ‘once upon a time’ of that story was this past weekend, the magical princess is me and the ‘Tree of Fall’ is the ONLY tree on my street that makes it look like November. All I wanted was a few pictures of my new TBR list additions with the pretty fall leaves, but that’s a tall order in SoCal. All of the damn leaves by my house are GREEN, just as the sky is still blue. But I found the perfect tree, which allowed me to take the perfect pictures.

Have you read either of these contemporaries? I’d love to hear what you think of them! Happy Reading!

If Fall Was A Manicure

November 8, 2014 ~ Taylor Justine ~ 2 Comments

… It would be THIS ONE!

Fall and winter don’t necessarily show up in Southern California. Because of that, we have to get our fix of the seasons in a different way. For me, that mainly consists of clothing and nail polish! That’s what inspired this fun wine and gold chevron manicure, using Julep Fazia and Cynthia.

I love these two colors together, and I’m so thrilled with the way these bad boys turned out! It is 100% one of my favorite designs I’ve done, and other folks really seemed to like them too. In fact, my mani was even FEATURED on the Julep Blog AND is the article’s thumbnail image! This is definitely one of THE COOLEST things I’ve experienced so far in my adventures running Novels and Nail Polish. Thanks to everyone that has supported me so far in this endeavor, because I’m having a blast and it’s all because of you guys!

Do you have a go-to color combo for fall manicures? Happy Reading!

Fall in Line and in LOVE

October 18, 2014October 18, 2014 ~ Taylor Justine ~ 2 Comments

Essie can truly do no wrong in my eyes. I’ve never had a bad experience with ANY of their polishes, and I have an entire Pinterest board dedicated strictly to their polishes! When I saw their Dress to Kilt Fall 2014 line of nail polish, I knew I needed them! Fall in Line, the perfect army olive green, was the first color that caught my eye.

I didn’t have anything similar in my collection yet, unlike other polishes in the collection like Dress to Kilt (burnt red) and Style Cartel (navy), which made me need it even more. I keep my style feminine and classic, so I’ve never really been one bring masculine statement pieces, like camo and military-inspired, into my wardrobe. Nail polish is usually my go-to way to toughen up an outfit, and Fall In Line does the job flawlessly.

Like every color Essie makes, the application is impeccable! In a rush, a single coat would probably dry streak-free and completely opaque, but I went with two coats just to be safe. The dry color is gorgeously shiny and rich, totally perfect for scarves and the changing leaves of fall.

I decided to jazz up the swatch with a holographic accent nail. My favorite holo top coat is by Nails Inc. I’ve had The Donmar for a couple years now, and it saves the day when I want a bit of simple sparkle, but don’t want the texture of a chunky glitter top coat.

What is your favorite color from Essie’s Fall Collection? Happy Reading!

Inspired Instas {6}

September 30, 2014September 30, 2014 ~ Taylor Justine ~ 1 Comment

A funny thing happened this past week on Instagram. For the first time, I experienced people stealing my pictures/ideas! On one hand, I am flattered that people like my photos and manicures that much, but it mainly disappoints me that a simple fix of tagging me in the photo would totally avoid this problem. Thankfully, there haven’t been A TON of occurrences for me, because I know some people have to deal with that a lot. I just wish people had the respect to always give credit where it is due!

Enough of my soapbox though, back to the prettiness! I think I’ve finally found a general Insta theme that I really love. From the beginning, I tended to use the same handful of filters: Valencia, Walden and Nashville. Recently, I tend to gravitate toward Nashville in almost every photo and I’m really happy with the way my photos look!

Motivational Monday: I love to doodle pretty words and quotes from time to time, and one morning, I felt I needed a little extra oomph to get me through the work day. This quote, plus the pretty peony on my desk, made the day fly by!

WIWT: A great outfit + great book can have an incredible effect on your day and self-confidence! We had a mini fashion shoot in my office this day, and it was too fun.

Naked Bookstack: There is so much beauty in pretty dust covers, but there is equal amount of beauty in a naked book! Some covers just shine when naked, and these three were perfect together!

TATBILB Cover Inspired Manicure: This is one of my favorite book manicures I’ve done to date! It conveys the feeling of both the dust jacket and naked cover, while being simple enough to stand as chic manicure without the cover for explanation!

Welcome Fall: Autumn is back! I love boot and sweater weather! Bring on the changing leaves and chilly nights.

NailKale Manicure: The kale trend has been hot for the last couple of years, but the closest I’ll get to the nasty green stuff is on my nails in the form of Nails Inc. NailKale! Its application is wonderful and has great staying power! Can’t wait to purchase more colors from the line.

fREADom: Last week celebrated Banned Book Week. I grabbed a couple of my favorite banned books and made this pretty stack!

Fall Sky: The past weekend was gorgeous here in Southern California. There was a slight chill in the breeze and the sky was bright blue! I had to take advantage of it while reading We Were Liars (which was incredible and will have its own cover-inspired manicure soon).

Fangirling: Some of my favorite posts to create AND some of the most popular on my Instagram have been quote posts. I love finding my favorite quote and telling a story through it.

National Coffee Day: Yesterday was National Coffee Day, and unfortunately I wasn’t feeling too hot. But that was improved a bit by a good book and a pretty mug.

Happy Reading!

Nail Polish Favorites // Fall 2014

September 26, 2014 ~ Taylor Justine ~ 4 Comments

It’s time to fall into autumn! Gone are the days of sweltering temps and short shorts (unless you’re in Southern California like me), and here are the day of sweaters and falling leaves. The transition between summer and fall is one of my favorite season changes. By this point, I’m always ready to pull out my boots, scarves and most importantly, fall nail polish!

Crisp air and a more dramatic, moody color palette screams fall, and that is why I love these colors for this time of year. My selections for Fall 2014 include rich blues and reds, mixed metals and of course, grey.

Mixed Metals: I am a lover of gold things, so any chance I get to wear some variation of sparkle, I’m happy. For this season, grey skies look great against a metallic duo of brushed silver and dragonfly gold. Julep’s Brit and Harlow are up to this job! Harlow is wonderfully multidimensional, with its green gold shimmer. And Brit, one of my all time fav Julep polishes, dries matte, a perfect touch for fall.

Burnt Red: Julep Sheila has just enough twist on the classic red to work for autumn months. It’s burnt red hue adds a warmth that chilly afternoon’s need.

Warm Grey: Who doesn’t love grey for fall is the real question here! It is basically the perfect color for sweater weather and all that jazz. It’s timeless and low maintenance, which makes it easy to throw on in a hurry!

Navy and Cream: Navy and cream are the perfect bookends of the light to dark spectrum for fall colors. Summer brings out bright white polishes, so the way to keep that look going into autumn is with a smooth cream. It has enough personality to stand up to the darker hues of fall, while still giving your hands a fresh look.

The easiest way to go dark, without going all the way black, is navy. It’s sexy and sultry and so great for fun fall nights!

What colors are you obsessed with for fall? Happy Reading!

Novels and Nail Polish

A pretty, little blog that celebrates well-written books and beautiful nail polish.

fall

A Fall Fairytale

If Fall Was A Manicure

Fall in Line and in LOVE

Inspired Instas {6}

Nail Polish Favorites // Fall 2014

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