Blog Tour + Cover Cosmetics + Giveaway: Nemesis - Anna Banks

About Nemesis

The princess didn't expect to fall in love--with her nemesis.

Princess Sepora of Serubel is the last Forger in all the five kingdoms. The spectorium she creates provides energy for all, but now her father has found a way to weaponize it, and his intentions to incite war force her to flee from his grasp. She escapes across enemy lines into the kingdom of Theoria, but her plans to hide are thwarted when she is captured and placed in the young king's servitude.

Tarik has just taken over rulership of Theoria, and must now face a new plague sweeping through his kingdom and killing his citizens. The last thing he needs is a troublesome servant vying for his attention. But mistress Sepora will not be ignored. When the two finally meet face-to-face, they form an unlikely bond that complicates life in ways neither of them could have imagined.

Sepora's gift could save Tarik's kingdom from the Quiet Plague. But should she trust her growing feelings for her nemesis, or should she hide her gifts at all costs?

Makeup Look Inspired by Sepora

For my makeup look, I wanted to incorporate the Egyptian influence on this book as well as the fact that Sepora is a Forger. The spectorium she forges is used for energy and can be used as a weapon. When I think of energy, I think of electricity, so I fused a lightning-like zig zag to the side of the eye with what ancient Egyptian eyeliner would look like. I kept with metal tones because of the cover as well as the fact that she can be used as a weapon.

In terms of how this look was accomplished, I used my all time favorite liquid eyeliner: Kat Von D's Tattoo Liner. It's a brush tip pen-style eyeliner, and I love how it allows me to use liquid liner without having to dip the brush back into the pot. I also used pointed q-tips with Urban Decay's Primer Potion to clean up the edges if I over drew one of the lines. Both of the eyeshadows I used are from the Too Faced Pretty Rebel palette.

Giveaway

As part of the blog tour, Anna Banks is giving away a finished copy of Nemesis and $25 Ulta gift card at each stop. All you have to do to enter is fill out the Rafflecopter below! This giveaway is US only, and is open through October 10th. You must be 13 or older to enter or have a parent enter for you. The winner will be selected shortly after and will have 48 hours to respond before a new winner is selected. Additionally, one person will be selected to be entered to win a tour wide grand prize of an Egyptian bib collar necklace or silver Serpen armband. Best of luck to all who enter!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Cover Cosmetics: The Blood of Olympus - Rick Riordan

Today is the day - The Blood of Olympus, the final book in the Heroes of Olympus series by Rick Riordan, has been released! For the past three days, We Live and Breathe Books has been counting down to this glorious day, starting with a Stuffed Animal Saturday from Amrutha, then a playlist inspired by the Percy Jackson series from Noor, then some of Marlon's favorite fanart. Now today, in honor of the release, I decided to do this Cover Cosmetics!

The cover:

The makeup:

I really liked doing an abstract look when I did my Cover Cosmetics for Unmade, so I decided to do another abstract makeup look for The Blood of Olympus! For the makeup, I focused mostly on the sky. I really liked the way the clouds looked, so I tried to replicate that. From the darker clouds, I transitioned to lighter clouds and then to the lighting from Jason's sword.

Even though I won't be able to read The Blood of Olympus for a while, I'm so excited that the wait is over. Here's to hoping there won't be a cliffhanger... Happy reading to all the half-bloods out there!

- Kiersten

Do you like more wearable or more creative makeup looks?

Let us know in the comments!

Cover Cosmetics: Unmade - Sarah Rees Brennan

In the past week I have posted a Cover Cosmetics for Unspoken (here) and for Untold (here) in anticipation of the final book in the Lynburn Legacy. Today, Unmade has been released! In celebration of this glorious day, I have done a Cover Cosmetics for Unmade by Sarah Rees Brennan! (Even though school won't allow me to read this book now. Sob.)

The cover:

The makeup:

Normally I do more wearable makeup, but for Unmade I decided to get a little more creative! I used the orange and yellow to mimic the colors of the sky on the cover. One thing I wanted to explore with this was that if you really look at the cover, about half of it is black but the orange pops out to the eye. I decided to do black cut crease to copy the sharp silhouettes on the cover and I drew the tree branches on to copy the tree branches (you definitely needed me to tell you that).

I hope everyone starting Unmade today has tissues near - I'm sure this one will be as heartbreaking as the other two!

- Kiersten

Do you like more wearable or more creative makeup looks?

Let us know in the comments!

Cover Cosmetics: Untold - Sarah Rees Brennan

The other day I posted a Cover Cosmetics for Unspoken (here) in anticipation of Unmade's release on Tuesday. Today, I'm following that thought again and doing a Cover Cosmetics of Untold, the second book in the Lynburn Legacy series by Sarah Rees Brennan!

The cover:

The makeup:

I really loved the colors in the cover of Untold, so that was my main inspiration for this makeup look. I mimicked the way the trees were dark and the path was light on the lids by placing a light purple and white in the middle with a darker purple and blue on the outer and inner parts of the lid. I used the teal color from the font in the crease.

- Kiersten

Have you read the Lynburn Legacy series?

Let us know in the comments!

Cover Cosmetics: Unspoken - Sarah Rees Brennan

In honor of Unmade, the final book in Sarah Rees Brennan's Lynburn Legacy series, releasing next week (yay!), I've decided to post a Cover Cosmetics for Unspoken! (Beware: some may be spoilers?)

The cover:

The makeup:

I'm sorry. These pictures are awful. I liked them when I took them...

While I did draw inspiration from the cover, my main inspiration was the idea that Lynburns are creatures of red and gold. I decided to use gold glitter based on the glint of the gold knifes. Obviously glitter is the best representation of a weapon used to kill people. The red and black in the crease represent the blood. This look is definitely a cheerier version of the Lynburns.

- Kiersten

Have you read the Lynburn Legacy series?

Let us know in the comments!

Cover Cosmetics: The Iron Trial - Holly Black & Cassandra Clare

In honor of its release today, I decided to do a Cover Cosmetics for The Iron Trial by Holly Black and Cassandra Clare! If you missed it, all four of the bloggers here at We Live and Breathe Books reviewed it (here) and loved it! If you like fantasy, you should definitely check it out. On to the makeup!

The cover:

The makeup:

All the colors in this look are pretty much just pulled from the cover of The Iron Trial. The silvery grey on the lid is meant to mimic the mask of the figure on the cover and also references iron. For the crease, I wanted the gradient to look like the background of the cover. I also added a bit of blue for the smoke behind the characters.

- Kiersten

Are you excited for The Iron Trial?

Let us know in the comments!

Cover Cosmetics: Reboot - Amy Tintera

As I continue to be a slow reader and complete slacker, I shall be posting yet another Cover Cosmetics in place of an actual review! (I know, I suck.) For this Cover Cosmetics I was inspired by the cover of Reboot by Amy Tintera! I read Reboot last year and it's such a quick read with an inventive take on zombies. I definitely need to get Rebel soon!

The cover:

The makeup:

For this look I pretty much just replicated the top part of the cover. I used black as a base and I applied the red lines spaced out rather unevenly to mimic the barcode. I dropped three of the red lines down to simulate the drop downs pointing to 178 on the cover.

- Kiersten

What's your favorite book about "zombies"?

Let us know in the comments!

Cover Cosmetics (sort of): Sailor Moon

Yesterday I worked on my entry for a "superhero" themed makeup contest. Being the asian culture loving person I am, I decided to do my makeup inspired by Sailor Moon - and, adding to that, I was watching Mew Mew Power while I worked! While it's not entirely book related, I figured I'd share it with you guys!

I was a huge fan of Sailor Moon when I was younger (note the staff I've had since I was 5). For the makeup, I decided to use the colors of Sailor Moon's outfit: I used a blue-toned white on the lid, red and black in the crease, and blue on the lower lash line. To add a little more whimsy to the look, I did Sailor Moon's tiara in gold and red eyeshadow on my forehead and added a little gold crescent under my eye.

What were some of your favorite cartoons as a kid?

Let us know in the comments!

Countdown to City of Heavenly Fire: City of Fallen Angels

As you have heard multiple times in the past week, City of Heavenly Fire is being released in three days. ONLY THREE DAYS! In anticipation of this glorious event, We Live and Breathe Books has been doing a post every other day for each book in The Mortal Instruments series. If you missed the past ones, check out Noor's City of Bones outfits, my City of Ashes Cover Cosmetics, and Marlon's favorite fanart for City of Glass! Today, I'll be doing a Cover Cosmetics for City of Fallen Angels!

The cover:

The makeup:

For this look, my primary inspiration was the general color palette: oranges and yellows. The idea of fallen angels suggested by the title inspired be to do a harsh wing shape to the eyeshadow and eyeliner like the wings of angels.

Thanks for checking out my look and stay tuned for the next Countdown post on Monday!

- Kiersten

Is there a specific color palette you associate with the book?

Let us know in the comments!

Countdown to City of Heavenly Fire: City of Ashes

If you haven't heard, in anticipation of City of Heavenly Fire's release next week (ONLY SEVEN MORE DAYS!!!!)  we are doing a post for each book in The Mortal Instruments series. The posts will be done every other day until City of Heavenly Fire launches. If you missed it, check out the outfits Noor picked out for City of Bones!

For my post, I'll be doing a Cover Cosmetics post (shocking, right?). For this makeup look, I was inspired by ashes (because City of Ashes) and the fiery look of Clary's hair on the cover. I used a fire-colored glitter on the lid and black and silvery gray in the crease. I thought a smokey look was especially appropriate for City of Ashes.

The cover:

The makeup:

Thanks for checking it out and look out for the next countdown post on Thursday!

- Kiersten

What colors inspire you from City of Ashes?

Let us know in the comments!

Cover Cosmetics: Branded - Keary Taylor

As the end of the semester, and my first year of college, approaches, I'm finding myself with less and less time for fun things like blog posts and sleeping. Fortunately I found some time to put aside for one of my favorite things - makeup! The cover I chose for this post is Branded by Keary Taylor! I really love this cover, as I mentioned when I reviewed the book, and I thought it would be a good one to use as inspiration.

The cover:

The makeup:

I chose to do a neutral, flesh-toned color for the lid so that the outside would really pop. The blue I used was to match the background and I imitated the shattered looking wings at the top of the cover by sponging on a few different colors.

- Kiersten

What did you think of this week's look?

Let us know in the comments!

Cover Cosmetics: Divergent factions

Hello, everyone! As I'm writing this, I just got back from seeing the Divergent movie! As you can imagine, I went all out for this - I did themed makeup, wore a Divergent tank top, and even put on a temporary tattoo of Tris' birds for the showing. I actually really enjoyed the movie! Sure, there were some changes here and there that I still need to think a little more about before I come to a full conclusion about how I feel about the movie, but overall I think it was fairly true to the story and very true to the feeling of the world. To be honest, my biggest disappointment came from the lack of Dauntless chocolate cake! I mean, seriously - important stuff. Anyway, I really enjoyed it and I think it has a lot of potential to make Insurgent an even better film adaptation.

Now onto the makeup looks! I've been posting a different faction look on Twitter every day but now I will compile them and write a bit about my thought process behind each of the looks.

Abnegation is a faction dedicated to selflessness. Part of this includes rejecting vanity and not wearing makeup. However, choosing to do no makeup for my Abnegation look would be counterproductive and silly. I still wanted to keep the look fairly neutral, so I stuck with tan and then I used grey, the color of Abnegation, in the outer half of the lid. I'm also not a person to go without eyeliner but I decided to smudge black eyeshadow instead to keep the look soft. I used all shadows from the Divergent collection for this look: Humble Sheen, Radiant Initiation, Abnegation Stone, Dauntless Ink, Serene Vanilla, and Altruistic Almond.

For my Amity look, I thought about incorporating their red and yellow colors but, obviously, decided not to. Instead, I drew more inspiration from their symbol of the tree and the way the symbol is represented on the cover of Insurgent. To do this, I used green, brown, and tan to blend the colors into harmony - a thing that Amity loves. I also added the green eyeliner just to add a little more pop to the look. From the Divergent collection I used: Bold Espresso, Intrepid Moss, Golden Honesty, Altruistic Almond, Burnt Mahogany, Radiant Initiation, Dauntless Ink, and Serene Vanilla. In addition, I also used Nyx Jumbo Eye Pencil in Milk (white cream base) to make the highlight more prominent and Urban Decay 24/7 Eye Pencil in Mildew for the eyeliner.

With Candor everything is black and white - right or wrong. I think the sharp black and white is important for Candor so I wanted to base my look around the stark contrast between the colors. From the Divergent collection I used Dauntless Ink. Since there's no full on white color in the Divergent collection (Serene Vanilla comes close), I used a white cream base and Glamour Doll Eyes Electric Chair.

When I was thinking about Erudite, I felt like an Erudite woman might not want to take the time to do a lot of makeup - she'd rather spend her time researching or developing something new to help their society. Keeping this in mind, I still wanted to incorporate some Erudite blue into the look. From the Divergent collection I used: Humble Sheen, Erudite Sapphire, Dauntless Ink, Serene Vanilla, and some Gleaming Pearl from the cheek palette. In addition to that, I also used a white cream base for the highlight and Urban Decay Haight.

Last, but certainly not least, is Dauntless. For Dauntless I wanted to stick with something daring. Black was an obvious choice since black is the Dauntless color; however, I felt that all black would be boring and I wanted to make it a little more fun. I added the grey on the lid to add more light rather than an all consuming black and I added the red along the edge as a pop of color to symbolize the fiery coals of Dauntless. From the Divergent Collection I used: Dauntless Ink, Abnegation Stone, and Serene Vanilla. I also used a white cream base and Glamour Doll Eyes Electric Chair for the highlight.

Which faction look is your favorite?

Let us know in the comments!

Cover Cosmetics - Percy Jackson and the Olympians series - Rick Riordan

If you have yet to see the stunning new covers of the Percy Jackson series, you're about to. As the covers were revealed one by one, I fell in love with all of them - they are simply gorgeous and I love how they all connect together. Seeing the color scheme on the covers, I knew I had to do a cover cosmetics for it.

The covers:

The makeup:

For this look, I focused on the colors that really popped out to me when I was looking at the covers - the yellow cloud in the center, the orange cyclops, and the green and blues of the ocean and labyrinth. I also incorporated a little bit of purple from the ocean and clouds on the first cover. The colors don't show up quite as vibrant in this photo as they were in person, but the yellow and orange are on the lid with the blue in the outer crease, green in the inner crease, and purple on the inside of the blue in the outer corner. I also did a green, blue, and purple gradient on the lower lash line.

Although I didn't have time to do so before making this post, I'm planning on doing another more neutral look inspired by the spines that go with these new covers. Hopefully soon, so stay tuned!

- Kiersten

What do you think of the new covers?

Let us know in the comments!

Cover Cosmetics: City of Heavenly Fire - Cassandra Clare

As you may have noticed from my Waiting on Wednesday post, I was extremely excited to FINALLY get to see the cover of City of Heavenly Fire by Cassandra Clare. In honor of the cover reveal and less than 122 days to the release (I'M SO EXCITED I JUST CAN'T EVEN), I've actually created two looks inspired by the cover for this Cover Cosmetics!

The cover:

The makeup:

The top look is inspired by Clary. I used the light colors because of the way she appears in a white dress and the bright red for her hair. I also incorporated some of the (heavenly) fire at the bottom of the cover in the glitter on the outer lid.

The second look, by contrast, is Sebastian/Jonathan. While Clary almost appears pale as white, Sebastian is shadowed in purples and grays, with almost his whole face covered in shadow. I also added batwing eyeliner to mimic his wings (which I am SO interested to find out about...). I liked doing these two looks because I felt that it really symbolized the battle between good and evil that will be presented in City of Heavenly Fire. I can't wait for the release!

- Kiersten

Which look is your favorite?

Let us know in the comments!

Cover Cosmetics: Catching Fire - Suzanne Collins

As I'm writing this, I just got back from the premiere of Catching Fire. This movie was seriously incredible. Of course, they had to cut things from the book, but I think they made good choices about what to keep and how to incorporate things they cut in a different way. Also, the costumes and makeup are so stunning. As a costume design major and makeup enthusiast, I was absolutely in heaven looking at all the costumes and makeup. A+mazing job, Trish Summerville. I want to be you when I grow up.

Anyway, I thought I'd share the makeup I did for the premiere! This one isn't inspired very much by the book cover - I was inspired mostly by Katniss as "The Girl on Fire" from the first movie and just fire in general.

The cover:

The makeup:

Anyway, I highly recommend going to see Catching Fire! I was fangirling so hard the entire time. They kept so many of the best lines and moments. They might seem random and insignificant to those who haven't read the books, but I think they definitely kept the fandom in mind when choosing what to include. I just loved it!

Happy Hunger Games! May the odds be ever in your favor.

- Kiersten

Cover Cosmetics: Angelfall - Susan Ee

Hello and welcome to this week's Cover Cosmetics! Cover Cosmetics is a meme that we host here at We Live and Breathe Books in which I take inspiration from a book cover to do a makeup look. This week, to commemorate the release of World After by Susan Ee, I'm doing a look inspired by the cover of the first book in the Penryn & the End of Days series, Angelfall. I really loved Angelfall (reviewed by Marlon here), and I can't wait to read World After!

The cover:

The makeup:

I knew the cover of Angelfall was pretty but I didn't realize how pretty it was until I looked closer for doing this makeup look. The cover is composed of a beautiful mix of gold, bronze, steel blue, and darker blue, which I wanted to incorporate into my makeup. The colors don't show up as well as I had hoped in the photo, but the makeup shifts from a gold-ish/copper-ish to brown on the lid and from a steel blue to dark blue in the crease.

- Kiersten

What did you think of this week's look?

Let us know in the comments!

Cover Cosmetics: Frozen - Melissa de la Cruz and Michael Johnston

Hello and welcome to my second post of my new feature, which I've decided to call "Cover Cosmetics"! It seemed an appropriate name, with the inspiration being book covers and the content being cosmetics. This week, I decided to do a book I reviewed not too long ago (here). The book was sitting on the shelf in front of me and I was really inspired by the beautiful blues and pops of gold. Without further ado, here's my makeup look for the cover of Frozen by Melissa de la Cruz and Michael Johnston!

The cover:

The makeup:

For this look I wanted the majority of the eye to be covered in the blue gradient from the cover, but I also wanted that pop of gold. Luckily I had those frilly eyelashes hanging around! Unfortunately, these lashes are rather fragile and all the glitter started falling off, which saddened me greatly. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the look!

- Kiersten

What do you think of the new name?

Let us know in the comments!

Cover Cosmetics: The House of Hades - Rick Riordan

Hello, all! Since going to college I've begun to post a lot less here, which is really sad to me. Unfortunately, I just can't read fast enough to write reviews with all the plays I need to read and work I need to do. (For example, I started reading The House of Hades the day it was released and I have yet to finish it. Sad life.) So, I've been thinking about something I could do to still have regular posts on the blog and then it came to me: I can do makeup inspired by book covers! Makeup is actually one of my favorite hobbies, and, since I do my makeup every day, it wouldn't take much time to do a post such as this. Basically, what I'm saying is welcome to my first Bookish Makeup post! (The name is a work in progress. None of us here at We Live and Breathe Books could come up with a clever title. If you have any suggestions for a new name, please comment!) Since we just wrapped up our The House of Hades live-blogging, I decided that it would be appropriate as inspiration for my first post!

The cover:

The makeup:

I really liked the reds and oranges on the cover, but I also wanted to incorporate the dark purples into the look as well. I really like the way this turned out and I can't wait to do the next one!

- Kiersten

What do you think of this new feature? Any name ideas?

Let us know in the comments!