This week's prompt is "Love Song." At first I couldn't come up with anything so I decided to go the literal route. I went through my music library and looked for love songs, finding more songs about losing love or being physically addicted to someone. While that's all well and good it's not what I wanted for the prompt. Luckily I found the perfect song and three runner ups I'll also share with you. The song I chose to use for this week's prompt is "Closer."
No...not that one.
In an interview with Rolling Stone Tegan talked about writing the song saying, "Although I do imagine that this would be an okay song to make out to, all I intended was to write something sweet that reminded the listener of a time before complicated relationships, drama and heartbreak. I was writing about my youth, a time when we got closer by linking arms and walking down our school hallway, or talked all night on the telephone about every thought or experience we'd ever had. It wasn't necessarily even about hooking up or admitting your feelings back then. In fact, that rarely happened. It was the anticipation of something maybe happening that was truly exciting and satisfying. We were perpetually getting closer, yet we rarely got physical with one another, if ever."
This is exactly why I chose the song. It reminded me of that first rush of infatuation and wishing to be close to someone without treating sex as an ultimate goal that one or both people are trying to get to. The type of closeness that comes from holding hands and innocent kissing that leaves you dizzy. There's a certain kind of giddiness and excitement that comes from that part of the relationship. I kind of think we all miss that in a way and probably need more of that feeling in our lives.
So anyway, onto the mani!
For this I used 3-4 thin coats of Finger Paints Spun Sugar as my base because Spun Sugar was a pain in the ass to apply. I don't know why but I'm having the worst luck with light purple polishes lately. This one in particular wouldn't self-level, it was a little on the streaky side so I just had to change my application style a bit to get a smooth canvas.
I added a couple coats of HK Girl top coat to help that along before writing "I want you close" across my nails in black Sharpie because there's no way I could paint anything remotely legible if I used polish. Next I used a dotting tool to add hearts using OPI Pink Friday (ring finger) and China Glaze Something Sweet (middle finger).
I'm kinda proud of this mani. I'm definitely not very experienced with nail art, I've never used a Sharpie before and I've very rarely used my dotting tools. I'm not so great at making hearts with dotting tools (despite how easy they are in theory). When I was making the hearts I noticed the tool was pulling up some of the polish I had already laid down so I very lightly brushed some top coat on the design and that made the polish fill in the streaky and bare parts.
I smoothed top coat over the whole design. This is where you use a thicker coat than normal and push the top coat over the nail rather than putting the brush in direct contact with your nail. You can see on my pinky finger I didn't have quite enough top coat and that's why "close" is fuzzy. I would have fixed this more if I hadn't already redone the words several times already. By the way, if you mess up with a Sharpie don't use remover and redo the whole nail. Sharpie designs can be removed with rubbing alcohol and it doesn't affect the nail polish underneath.
I mentioned there were other songs I had considered using as inspiration. Mostly the lyrics wouldn't fit on my nail but I totally would have used them if it weren't for that because these songs are great and some of the lyrics really resonate with me.
Snow Patrol - "You're All That I Have"
Some of my favorite lyrics:
A welcome arrow through the heart
Under your skin feels like home
Electric shocks on aching bones
There is a darkness deep in you
A frightening magic I cling to
This is the first song I ever heard from this band back in 2003 or 2004.
Some of my favorite lyrics:
I'm far too shy to speak to you at school
You leave me numb and I'm not sure why
I find it easier to sit and stare
Than push my limbs out towards you right there
My heart is bursting in your perfect eyes
As blue as oceans and as pure as skies
I struggle for the words and then give up
Florence + the Machine - "Strangeness and Charm"
I love Florence + the Machine beyond words. Her lyrics are AMAZING, she has a beautiful way with words, her voice is heavenly, and her music is arranged to emotionally and spiritually move you. I know all of that sounds really cliche but in this case it's completely true. A quick quote from an interview she gave about this song for those of you who are curious. "I was talking to my dad about these two sub-atomic particles called 'strangeness and charm'. People only know they exist because we can feel their effects. I thought that was quite a nice metaphor for you know affection and emotion."
My favorite lyrics from this song:
The static of your arms, it is the catalyst
You're a chemical that burns there is nothing like this
It's the purest element but it's so volatile
An equation heaven sent, a drug for angels
Be sure to check out the awesome manis the rest of the Nail Crazies came up with!
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