Galaxy Nails

I had my pain management clinic appointment on Tuesday, so of course I had to do something creative for my nails. But try as I might, I couldn't come up with anything. I ended up trying something new- I went for galaxy nails.

For the record? It's REALLY hard to photograph something like this because they're so damn shiny! I'm still not thrilled with the final result, but I'm pretty content with them. Just so you know, I ended up using a total of 22 polishes for this... it was a three hour process and without quick dry topcoat I'd have given up!

I may do a video on how to achieve the sort of look I ended up with. It involves lots of clear polish, lots of polish thinner, and lots of dabbing! I ended up floating a lot of color on and using lots of layers to achieve some optical blending.

Also, my cuticles look awful and this is after moisturizing. I figure the nails are interesting enough to make up for it. If you don't like it, feel free to file a complaint into the round file... I've been too sick lately to care much about my cuticles! :D

I did this manicure in two sittings. After I finished the first session, I realized I didn't have enough value range in my nails. While I had lots of darks, I didn't have any light colors to really pop. So, the next day I added another 4 or 5 layers of color to finish off the look.

You can see a bit of the background in this last photo... it looks nice and nebula-ish, but there's just not enough bright colors to really define the areas I wanted to shine.

To fix this, I grabbed some brights- yellow, hot red and pink, and white- and started dabbing in bits here and there. When I'd get a bit too much on, I'd use my finger to pat it off, and it seemed to work nicely. See the pics farther in for a comparison.

Also, I have a couple of torn cuticles, so you'll see pretty green photoshop patches covering the disgusting parts. I'm telling you, I'm a total mess at the moment!


Anyway, hopefully you can see a bit more of the cloudy galaxy-like bits on my nails. As I said, this was a bit of a nightmare to photo! I'll let the other pics speak for themselves, since it's 2:15am and I'm still awake.

 Polishes used? Lots. A quick list: Qtica Natural Nail Growth Stimulator, Fantasy Makers- Black, Nail Fantasies- Celestial, Sally Hansen- Laser, Kiss Nail Art Nail Paint- Rock Star (Silver Glitter), Kiss Nail Art Nail Paint- Soft Blue, Kiss Nail Art Nail Paint- Soft Pink, Kiss Nail Art Nail Paint- Soft Purple,
Love My Nails- Dazzling, Sinful Colors- Dream On, Glitter Gal- Purple Holo, Matte Base, Three mini Sally Hansen Xtreme Wears- pink, hot pink, green, Heaven- Orangesicle, Heaven- Hot Stuff, Wet n Wild- Gray's Anatomy, Milani Nail Art- White Canvas, Kiss Nail Art Nail Paint: Frost Blue, Art Deco Nail Art Lacquer- Yellow, Wet n Wild- clear, Sally Hansen Quick Dry Top Coat, Seche Vite

 Let me know if you're interested in seeing a video for this technique!

Some products were provided by the manufacturer for consideration.

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