As we venture through time and space -- GALAXY Nails!

I typed this blog up in January. Why didn’t I post it? I kept thinking I would do galaxy nails again. Perfect it. But then I fell in love with other nail fashions and everyone was doing the galaxy nails… but here goes. It’s not winter, it’s now summer… enjoy!

As a child, I always loved learning about the cosmos… I even had a place mat that had all the planets (including Pluto) in order. When I saw galaxy nails all over tumblr and pinterest, I had to try it!

While looking through the instructions, I thought it would be hard. A make-up sponge? Tweezers? More than 5 different colors? It’s simpler than I thought.

I flew to LA with these bad boys and they held up to Hollywoods’ glitz & glamour. Eat your heart out, Orlando Bloom!

The first nail was a little tricky, but once I got the hand of it… it was super fun!

Here’s a list of what you’ll need, what I used, and other random suggestions:

1)     Make-up Sponge

2)     Tweezers

3)     Blue or purple dark base – China Glaze VIII (dark eggplant purple)

4)     Medium blue/purple – Sally Hansen Thinking of Blue (navy)

5)     Lighter color – Mattese Elite Dead Punk Rocker ( metallic gray/blue)

a.      Any kind of gray/blue/purple would work!

6)     Bright color – Sally Hansen Tough Luck (lime green shimmer)

a.      This shimmer looked amazing! It brought it all together

7)     Glittery top coat – China Glaze Fairy Dust

The amount and types of colors could be interchanged so much! I think that’s why I love galaxy nails so much, it will always be different.

Instructions after you have put on your base color and it’s dried:

1)     Rip an incredibly small piece off of your make up-sponge

2)     Dip it into your medium; make sure to sponge it around on your paper (or aluminum) to get the excess off of it.

3)     Dab it in a circular motion on center of your nail.

4)     Wait until it’s dry.

5)     Dip another side of the sponge into your lighter color

6)     Dab it across your nail any way you would like. I did it diagonally.

7)     Dry.

8)     Sponge your bright color and go over your ligher color!

9)     Some people use a white or light gray to dot tiny, tiny stars, but I didn’t do that.

10) DRY!

11)  Use your glittery top coat!

12) You’re done!

Drinking on the plane to LA !

I love it. My friend’s sister refers to this as if it’s one easy coat. But it certainly is easy to try and one of the easiest nail arts. If it smudges, it looks like it’s SUPPOSE to be like that.

Get creative with this! I'm thinking of doing a daytime galaxy color scheme. The sponge tool is a must try for anyone getting into nail art.

Try it out! And let us know what you did differently. 

Newspaper Nail Art

Instead of looking through my newspaper for headlining stories on firefighters saving babies from a burning building, I looked for words to put on my nails.

Newspaper Nail Art is one of the easiest things to do. If this were a Nail Art college, this would be in our introductory class.

What you will need:

1)     Newspaper

2)     Light nail color (white, gray, light pink)

3)     Rubbing Alcohol (don’t waste vodka)

4)     Clear Top Coat

The newspaper article I used was on someone who loved baking cakes. Perfect, I love eating cakes!

Step 1: Paint one coat of your light nail color.

I used OPI’s French Quarter For Your Thoughts from their 2011 Fall Collection. Make sure this coat is completely dry before moving on! I made the mistake of thinking it was “almost” dry, proceeded to the next step, and it failed. Miserably.

Step 2: Dip nail in rubbing alcohol for 15-30 seconds.

Step 3: Quickly (!!) put your newspaper over your nail, hold for 15-30 seconds.

I found each nail did something different. Some did not hold, some I had to do longer than 15 seconds. Press your newspaper on your nail really hard, but watch it, don’t hurt yourself! Warning: the fingers you use to press the newspaper will get residue on it, but we will fix that after your nails are done.

Step 4: Repeat on all your nails.

Step 5: Let dry! 10 minutes, minimum

Newspaper ink takes a while to dry onto your light nail color. Be patient.

Step 6: Apply top coat.

If you see your nail color streaking, do not continue! Wait a few more minutes to make sure it’s dry. I cannot stress this enough.

Step 7: Once you're 100% sure your nails are dry, use nail polish remover to get rid of any newspaper ink left on your fingers and around your nails. (or wash your hands, that's how I got rid of mine) *this step isn't necessary, if you some managed to do this without making a mess of your fingers

Your end results will make headliners (see what I did there?). A few of my nails ended up streaking even though I was completely sure they were dry, but they ones that came out were gorgeous. My thumb has the word “love” backwards.

These newspaper nails have a very edgy feel to them. I used a regular top coat for them, but I might use a matte next time. I feel very Debbie Harry with these nails, I like it.