Diablo III midnight release nails + hedgehog!

So the much-anticipated Diablo III came out May 15th (Tuesday) and it is AMAZING! My husband even pre-ordered me the Collector's Edition so I got all sorts of extra real-life and in-game goodies. But on to the nails!

Posing them with the skull-pture (hurrhurr) that came with my CE of the game. The hole in the forehead is where the Black Soulstone USB stick (with a copy of Diablo II + x-pac) can be inserted for display purposes. The Soulstone got in the way of my nails though, so it is not pictured here. :)

Right hand

Left hand

Each of the fingers on my left hand shows one of the five unique skill resources for each of the classes. I'll go more in-depth with comparisons later in the post.

My right hand is simpler, as usual when painting with my non-dominant hand, but I love how it came out. I continue to be impressed with China Glaze's beautiful matte polish Stone Cold - it is so unique and lovely! It surprised me because it's pretty durable for a matte polish, which you're not suppose to apply a top coat over (because then it becomes glossy like any other polish).

So on to close-ups!

In-doors... well, in my car while I was waiting in line at the bank, hehe.

From thumb to pinky, we have: Hatred/Discipline, Arcane Power, Fury, Spirit, and Mana. I'll be going in to detail with each nail shortly.

In-doors, perched atop my steering wheel.

I love how my Angiris/Archangel accent nail turned out! It looks particularly awesome next to the Stone Cold matte. For it I used CG's Seaspray, a light blue with a subtle frosty finish. To give it more of a frosted/pearl look, I applied some of Essie's Luxeffects - Pure Pearlfection. Then I did the gold french-tip with Orly's Luxe.

 

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Next we have each of the skill resources represented on the nails of my left hand. I did all of the following with sponging techniques. My galaxy nails know-how came in handy for all of these. :)

Demon Hunter: Hatred (Orange) & Discipline (Blue)

Here I tried to capture the smokiness of the orange (Hatred). I didn't want it to look too similar to the Barbarian's Fury resource. For a base coat, I did a solid color of Zoya's Tao for a smoky back-color effect. Then I sponged on the color, including some white to help the blue stand out more easily. I originally used a darker silver for the metal separator bar, but it didn't look good overall, so I went over it with the lighter silver. This one got a blue rhinestone to mimic the glass-glare of the source material

Wizard: Arcane Power

The Wizard was by far the easiest - it is purple with pink flecks. Orly pretty much did the work for me with their lovely polish, Fowl Play. I took a few shots to give you a good idea of what it looks like, since it was difficult to capture. This one got a light pink rhinestone because, pink bubbles!!

I love when I have an excuse to wear Fowl Play; it is so unique and pretty. :) Click to have a better idea of the flakie distribution.

Barbarian: Fury

Next up is the class I am currently playing through as my main - the Barbarian! I actually think this one came out looking most true to the source, though the colors look a bit washed out in this photo... so scroll up a tad for a better idea of how it came out.

I used three colors for this one: the pale yellow creme base is Sinful Colors' Unicorn, with a sponged circle of SC's Cloud 9 (the orange)... then I added a touch of CG's Riveting but it was pretty intense and I didn't want to overpower the mani. So, I blended it in with some more of the pale yellow and orange until I got what I wanted. Added an orange rhinestone for the finishing touch.

Monk: Spirit

This one was kind of hard to photograph, but I liked how it came out. I did the same sponging process here as I did with the other nails, trying to capture that pearly-light-yellow look... it came out a bit more vibrant than I had hoped, but I think my yellows were just not pale enough. I went over this with a coat of Essie Luxeffect's Pure Pearlection, and topped it off with a diamond rhinestone.

Witch Doctor: Mana

Last but not least is the Witch Doctor's Mana resource. In an attempt to tone down the brightness of this great blue (CG's Dorothy Who?), I started with a base coat of Zoya's Tao, just like I did for the thumb. I painted a layer of Dorothy Who?, then sponged on some white to get the sphere/orb effect, and then sponged on more blue until I was satisfied. This one get's a pretty blue rhinestone.

So yeah, Diablo III is amazing and between the game itself and this midnight-release-manicure, a lot of fun has been had. I'll post a comprehensive list of all the colors I used when I get home, so enjoy a picture of my pet hedgehog looking ornery after a bath!

"It's okay hedgehog! It's just a camera, not a predator..."