Today I am really excited to show you some more Hallowe’en nail art: Frankenstein’s Monster Nails!
I wore them for 4 days straight. Unfortunately, during that time, the sun only came out once, but I was busy and couldn’t take photos, so I only have flash and natural-light photos to show you. Hope you don’t mind!
Frankenstein by Mary Shelley is my favourite novel of all time. I love the author’s way of writing in such a descriptive and flowery way – it helps me visualize everything like I’m watching a movie.
Back in 1818, people sure knew how to craft sentences and make them sound so poetic. And I admire how they flossed an impressive vocabulary!
If you haven’t read the original text, I highly recommend you do. It’s so much more than just the Hallowe’en character that a lot of people have identified it with.
The first time I read Frankenstein was in university for a humanities class. It was the biggest surprise. I thought it was going to be boring and cliche. It wasn’t! And I had trouble putting the book down. I literally read it in 2 days…on the bus, the subway, in my bed… (Sigh, I so need to re-read it.)
There’s deep philosophy and a myriad of allusions to other famous literature.
I really empathized with the monster more than with Frankenstein. The nameless monster was actually really intelligent and even taught himself how to read! He desperately wanted to be loved and to feel a sense of belonging, especially after he was harshly denied all ties to the only familial bond he knew. I could understand why he ended up lashing out.
Frankenstein’s Monster Nail Art Pictures
Swatches
All swatches have:
- Nubar Foundation Base Coat
- 2 coats of Nicole by OPI Daffy Dill
- Eyes:
- OPI Alpine Snow (white)
- China Glaze Liquid Leather (black)
- Hair & Mouth: NYX Ink Nail Art in Black
- Seche Vite Dry Fast Top Coat
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Flash
Flash – Okay, I wanted an excuse to show you my small Frankenstein’s Monster candle luminary! I think it’s so adorable! I have the large one, too. They’re both from Bath & Body Works.
Flash
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This is an excerpt from the novel. It’s when Dr. Frankenstein is wandering the streets aimlessly early in the morning. He leaves his apartment to avoid the monster and regrets creating it. Hope you won’t storm out of your home and regret recreating this nail art if you choose to try it. 😛
This is Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley by R. Rothwell (1841). Pictures of people were so creepy back then!
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Flash
*~* Frankenstein’s Monster Nail Art Tutorial *~*
What I Used:
- Nubar Foundation Base Coat
- Seche Vite Dry Fast Top Coat
- OPI Alpine Snow
- Nicole by OPI Daffy Dill
- NYX Ink Nail Art in Black
- China Glaze Liquid Leather
- Daniel Stone Art Tool #4
- Piece of foil
Step 1: Apply Your Base Coat
Step 2: Paint Your Nails Green
You don’t need this exact shade of green. Any light green will do and the character will still be recognizable. I just really enjoyed the formula of Nicole by OPI Daffy Dill.
Make sure you wait a good 10 minutes to let this dry a bit before you continue.
2 coats of Nicole by OPI Daffy Dill
Step 3: Add the Emo Hair
Using your nail-art striper or brush dipped in black polish, outline the top curve of your nail near the cuticle. Then, randomly create pieces of hair falling down onto the forehead. I think it looks best when each nail is different because not all monsters are created equally, right? 😉
Step 4: Start the Eyes
Apply some white nail polish to your piece of foil. Dip your dotting tool into it and apply 2 dots per nail. Don’t worry if they’re not perfectly centred. Remember, these are your monsters. They can look any way you want. And don’t let anyone else tell you otherwise.
Step 5: Add a Mouth
Using your nail-art striper or brush dipped in black polish, add a line for each mouth. Here, I was trying to make all the lines go at different angles, but it turned out that just my middle finger’s nail had the most dramatic angle. And I’m okay with that.
Step 6: Add Stitches
To make the stitches, simply add a few vertical lines over the mouth you just created.
Frankenstein Nail Art Step 5
Step 7: Add Pupils
Add some black polish onto your piece of foil, and dip your dotting tool in it. Add 2 pupils per nail. You could add them more in the middle like I did, but feel free to make them wackier.
I hear that monsters like to look around and not just straight ahead. But I didn’t get their memo when I was doing this. It would be really cute if you made them so they were looking at each other.
Make sure that you wait 15 minutes or longer before continuing to the next step. If you don’t, you run the high risk of smearing your design.
Step 8: Add a Top Coat
Step 9: Look Down at Your Nails & Remember That Monsters Need Love, Too!
Hmm…when I looked at my nails, I sometimes saw a middle-aged man. But let’s just pretend that we only see Frankenstein’s Monster, okay? 😉
Do you think you’ll be trying this Frankenstein’s Monster nail art on your fingertips? Which is your favourite novel? Any other Mary Shelley fans out there?
This design looks really cute! I think I will try them out but then with a different color than green maybe um pink? Let’s pretend he fell into pink paint or something :p
As for novels I just (trying) started to read novels in English like Jane Austen and that already blew my mind. I like her writing style a lot but if you’re aren’t an English native speaker it can be difficult. Otherwise I like to read those Harlequin Bouquet novels that you can find everywhere – they read fast and are usually ( too) easy to follow .
Hey Elyne!
Pink is a very cool twist on this design! Hehe, I’m giggling thinking about Frankenstein’s Monster falling into pink paint.
You know, I’ve never read a single Harlequin book to this day. And as for Jane Austen, the only book she’s written that I’ve read so far was Emma and it was in university. I’ve been meaning to read Pride and Prejudice.
Love the monsters & ur witches are Wonderful!!!!! 🙂
Hey auntheathee!
Thanks! 🙂 And I’m glad you liked the witch nails I did earlier. *Cackles*
What a coincidence!! I did the same nail art earlier today! I also added a rhinestone on each side of his face (his head screw lol). Thanks for shedding some light on it’s history. I always thought the monster was named Frankenstein but now I know he’s actually nameless and frank was it’s creator!
Hey Vivian!
Nice! 🙂 I like how you chose to add the rhinestone for the bolt! Great idea!
No problem. It’s my favourite novel, so I couldn’t write this post without talking about it…hehe! Yeah, the poor guy was just called “Monster” or “Creature”. If you ever get a chance, you should totally read the book. You’ll really feel for the monster. (I’m might re-read it before Hallowe’en. It’s been far too long since I last read it.)
Too cute! I’ve been a silent follower of your blog for a few weeks now… and I really really love your photos and ideas! This is the awesomest Halloween manicure that I’ve seen yet 🙂
Hey melsy!
Thank you for breaking the silence! *Bangs cymbals and hits all the pots and pans* 😛
I really love hearing what my visitors think, so please feel free to leave a comment again even if it’s to disagree with something I’ve written. It’s fun getting to know you and finding out what you like and what you don’t like.
So happy to hear that you enjoyed this nail-art design. I was ecstatic to wear him on my nails! 😀
This is soooo cute!
I did it last year.
Your pictures are awesome.
Carolina recently posted: China Glaze Spontaneous
Hey Carolina!
Do you think you’ll be doing these nails again this year? I may make this design a Hallowe’en staple every year because I loved it so much. (Of course I’m biased because the novel is my favourite.)
Thank you! I’m so happy that you enjoyed the pictures! 😀
Mary, this is SO adorable! I love them.
I always did sympathise with the monster in this story, I totally agree with you.
Nicole recently posted: China Glaze Crimson
Hey Nicole!
Yay – a fellow Mary Shelley reader! Hehe, I’m such a nerd. Whenever I find out that someone read Frankenstein and enjoyed it, I get all giddy. It’s as though I’ve discovered another member of some secret circle that I’m a part of. 😉
I actually saw a similar design of Frankie’s monster over at tumblr and decided to tweak it a little. My end design looks very similar to yours! Great minds think alike, I always say. 😀 I already have my Halloween nails all done in a post and ready to go but I still need to finish my October birthday nails set before I can show them. Also, I think you did a better job of it. 😀
Carmela recently posted: Truckload Tuesdays: Drugstore (and more) Roundup from Across the Border
Hey Carmela!
Hehe, yes, great minds think alike! 🙂 Can’t wait to see your version – I bet it’s even better than you’re letting on!
Do you have a link to that Tumblr page? I’d love to see it!
She has some other amazing design ideas that I really would love to try: http://awkwardfriendtotheleft.tumblr.com/post/11030991637
Carmela recently posted: Truckload Tuesdays: Drugstore (and more) Roundup from Across the Border
Haha, I love the way she did the mummy! It really looks all spooked out and adorable.
I love this idea, both because of Halloween and the novel! Frankenstein is one of the only “horror” stories I really like, because it is just classic. I always felt bad for the “monster” too. My copy of the book includes an introduction that describes how Mary Shelley initially came up with the idea and wrote the story, and I found that very interesting as well. On the subject of the nails, they are really cute! It seems to me like the lime green from the Shrek collection would also work well for the background.
Hey Jessica!
YAY! Another fan of the book! 😀
The version I have is by Broadview Literary Texts (the one edited by D.L. MacDonald and Kathleen Scherf). It also includes a lengthy introduction on the education of Mary Shelley, Victor Frankenstein, the Monster, and the evolution of the novel. There’s tons of background information and a chronology of Mary Shelley’s life.
What I really love about this edition is that there are tons of footnotes that help you get more out of the reading and see the allusions to other classic literature. This was the book that I also got the picture of Mary Shelly from. 🙂
Now going back to nails. Hehe! Yes, I agree – OPI Who the Shrek Are You? would also be a fantastic choice for the background! 🙂
You’re an amazing blogger. I like how you show how to do the manicure step by step. Thanks for sharing that.
I love this manicure. I have to say Frankenstein is my favorite novel as well, as is the movie.
xoxox
Alexis recently posted: Braaaaaaaaaains Or Beauty?
Hey Alexis!
Aww…thank you for saying that! Makes me feel so good!
I’m always glad to show how I did something step-by-step…unless it’s just nail stamping by itself, then I’ll just show photos of the finished look. I like for people to be able to replicate it, and sometimes when you see that it just takes a few small steps, you’re more inclined to try a new design.
I love how all of them seem to have a different expression! This is adorable!
Emily Jurow recently posted: Jessie’s Girl Confetti layered over black
Hey Emily!
Glad you like it. I initially just tried to make all the mouths different, and the middle finger one was the most dramatic (and, of course, my favourite because of that). 😀
This frankenstein nails are AWESOME! I had to tweak it a bit and used a dark blue instead of black. It still ended up great!!
Hey Zoey!
Thank you so much – I didn’t want to remove them, but then I had another nail-art idea that I was itching to try.
I’m glad that your turned out well. Dark blue is close enough to black, and actually, I’m picturing what the monster would look like with dark-blue hair, and it sounds pretty cool! Nice twist!
Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein is my favourite book to date (and the only book I’ve read more than twice)… I too empathized with the Creature more than with Frankenstein. I read this book in English Lit in university and even wrote some psychology papers on it (nature versus nurture stuff).
I love how these turned out, and how the Creatures wanted photos with everyone around 🙂 line em up, lets take a photo 😀
I want to try one of these on an accent nail for Halloween… we shall see if I get around to it 😀
ps. I love how your Creatures are smiling even through all those stitches… 😀
Marta recently posted: New Bohemian- Triplet Post
Hey Marta!
Haha, y’know, this was what I was wearing when I met mellinail (Mary from My Numerous Diversions). There was one woman who asked me if it was crackle! Hahahaha! I wish they’d create a crackle polish that shatters into nail art – I’d buy it like there’s no tomorrow.
Oh, if you try this on an accent nail, I MUST see how it turns out! I LOVE your nails so much! x 10748794
OMG!!!! Out of your many amazing Halloween nail designs, this is DEFINITELY my favorite!!!! I am SO doing this for Halloween! 😀 You’re so amazing, Mary!
Hey Ruthe!
Thank you, and YAY! I’m taking that as an even bigger compliment since Frankenstein by Mary Shelley is my favourite novel ever! 🙂
Oh, if you take photos of your manicure, could you please show me? I’d love to see it on your pretty nails!
Wow so many cool designs for halloween that iam finding out there but i really like this one since i am a fan of frankenstein not to mention you have set this out really well i mean comon the step by step guide is so helpfull thx alot for posting this i love it.
Gemma recently posted: Frankenstein Bride Costume Jewellery
Hey Gemma!
Glad you enjoyed the tutorial. 🙂
So cool! Amazing for Halloween