Do Galaxy Nail Art

Sophisticated nail art is a recent trend that has many of us longing for lustrous one-of-a-kind nails to make onlookers stop and stare. Create some out of this world nail art by painting tiny galaxies on each of your nails. The final product looks labor and talent intensive, but is easy and requires only a few layers of polish.

Steps

Creating Your Base

1. Prepare your nails. The best nail art is accomplished on a clean slate, so prepare your nails in such a way to make them easy to paint. Clip or file them to your preferred shape, and then buff off the tops to create a smooth base. Add a clear base polish to seal the nail and prevent yellowing.
2. Paint the background color. Ideas of outer space conjure up images of swelling darkness full of stars. Recreate this deep and layered backdrop by painting the base-most layer of polish black. You can use shiny polish, but for an interesting effect try using matte nail polish.
3. Add distant stars. To make your nails look like a realistic starscape, you need to give the illusion of distance. Create the appearance of distant stars by adding a layer of clear polish with very small silver glitter flecks in it over the top of the black base. Do not use polish with large glitter flecks, because things far away should appear smaller while things close up appear larger.
4. Choose your galaxy colors. We’ve all seen them - the swirling clouds of colorful nebulae captured by the Hubble space telescope. Galaxies come in nearly every color, so choose 2-3 of your favorite complimenting shades to recreate on your nails. If you aren’t quite sure, find an image of a galaxy you like and pick out 2-3 of the primary colors in it.
   • Popular hues to use are bright blue, green, purple, and pink.
   • Choose colors that are solid (don’t have any glitter) and completely opaque.
5. Get your sponge ready. To add layers of color, you will be using a sponge rather than the brush that comes with the nail polish. Grab a makeup sponge and rip of a piece small enough to fit over the center of your nail without touching your cuticles. To keep your fingers polish-free in the painting process, you can use a pair of tweezers to hold the sponge.
6. Sponge on your first layer of color. Choose any of your galaxy colors, and use the bottle’s brush to dab some of the polish onto the sponge. Aim for a very small amount, otherwise the polish will be too gloppy and completely obscure the backdrop you already created. Dab the sponge over different areas of each nail to create a cloudy blotch of color.
7. Add subsequent layers of color. Use the same sponge and a different color to add layers and texture to your galaxy background. You can do as many layers as you want, but be careful not to blot out too much of the black background. In this case, less may be more.
8. Clean up your nails. As a result of using the sponge, you likely have dabs of color along your cuticles and the skin around your fingers. Use a q-tip dipped in nail polish remover to get rid of any color on your skin and to add a finished look to the background color.

Creating the Stars

1. Use a small glitter overlay. One option for making the stars on your nails is to find a clear polish with small glitter. If you wanted, you could use the same color that you initially painted over the black. Using this small glitter may not add as much depth, but it is easier than using 5-6 different polishes.
2. Add larger glitter chunks. In addition to or instead of using small glitter, a clear polish with large pieces of silver glitter or confetti is a good option. Do a single coat of this over the top of your galaxy base for a finishing touch.
3. Add small white dots. Use white nail polish and a dotting tool or pen to add small white dots to represent stars. Vary their size to mimic the appearance of stars in real life, and to add the illusion of distance.
4. Draw on stars. Use white nail polish with a dotting tool to draw on small stars. Rather than trying to create a classic hand-drawn star shape, make small “x” marks to represent the glowing balls of gas. Similar to the dots, make every star a different size to add realism to your galaxy painting.
5. Finished.

Video

Template:Video:Do Galaxy Nail Art

Tips

• Rub a bit of vaseline around the edges of your nails to prevent the nail polish from the sponge from sticking to your skin. You can simply wash the polish/vaseline off afterwards without using acetone.
• Try a method of drying your nails quickly to avoid damaging your nails before they dry completely.
• If you don't have a dotting tool, you can use a mechanical pencil with the lead extended far out, instead. A bobby pin will also work. The lead is small and thin enough to create small lines and dots.

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Sources and Citations

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