31DC2013 Day 19: The Pleiades Star Cluster Galaxy Nails

One of the most awesome sites on the internet is the NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day. They post a new photograph every day that is accompanied by an explanation/caption written by a professional astronomer. Their photos are always fascinating and actually real, which makes them even cooler. I thought it would be a great place to start as the inspiration for my galaxy nails!

I found this image of the Pleiades Star Cluster and really liked the dusty colors mixed with the burst of blue.

Galaxy nails are achieved by sponging light layers of color over a black base. They are usually embellished with glitter and large "star" dots!

For this look, I used the following colors:
Duri Into the Further - black
China Glaze Desert Sun - orange/brown
Sally Hansen Water Color - blue
China Glaze Fairy Dust - silver microglitter "stars"
China Glaze I Herd That - gold microglitter "stars"
Zoya Purity - white

I'm still a little bit unsure how I feel about the large dots. I put a lot of them on this time! I think it would have looked more realistic without them BUT I do like the stylized effect they lend.

This is also the first time that I've used a glitter other than Fairy Dust for the smaller stars (though I couldn't help but use Fairy Dust, too). The gold is really pretty and it totally helped me mimic the look of the photo I was working off of.

And of course, I couldn't help but do a combo image for pinning!

More 31 Day Challenge
View upcoming prompts!
My galaxy nails from 2012!
My galaxy nails from 2011!