INSIDE OUT Nail Art Tutorial for Beginners

Like many kids, my daughter is head over heels for Disney-Pixar's INSIDE OUT. She saw it in theaters in 3D on opening weekend and has been begging to see it again. Thankfully, we have a lot of time on our hands this summer and I've already purchased tickets from Fandango for a second showing this week (Shhhh...it's a surprise!).

In the meantime, she asked me to try a bit of nail art inspired by INSIDE OUT. Apparently she saw a tutorial online and wanted me to do her nails in the same fashion. After finding the tutorial, I knew instantly, that while beautiful, the face designs shown would be impossible for a novice like me to replicate. Instead, I offered to create a themed nail for each of the five emotions: Joy, Sadness, Disgust, Anger and Fear.

Here's the original INSIDE OUT nail tutorial which my designs were inspired by. 

While this may look like a ton of supplies, we already owned most of the nail colors. We did pick up a few of the nail art polishes, which have a super thin brush. Clearly, I am not a professional with professional tools— but my daughter was more than pleased with the outcome. This is definitely a tutorial for beginners!

Supplies for INSIDE OUT Nail Art

• Bright yellow nail polish
• Purple nail polish
• Blue nail polish
• Red nail polish
• Green nail polish
• White nail art polish or pen
• Black nail art polish or pen
• Light or Dark green nail art pen (a contrast color of the base coat green)
• Dark blue nail art polish or pen
• Light or Dark green nail art pen (a contrast color of the base coat green)
• Silver sparkle polish
• Gold sparkle polish
• Clear top coat polish
• Blue nail glitter/sparkles
• Silver nail glitter/sparkles (optional)
• Toothpicks
• Nail polish remover for mistakes

INSIDE OUT Nail Art Instructions

Tip: Make sure you let polish dry thoroughly between each step.

Joy - 2-3 coats bright yellow nail polish. Using white nail art polish as glue, place a dot in the center of nail and attach round silver glitter with toothpick. Repeat this process with seven pieces of blue glitter (we used diamond shaped), forming a circle around the center. Brush with clear top coat.

Sadness - 2 coats blue nail polish. Carefully paint a teardrop shape with dark blue nail polish. Use a toothpick to guide the sides into desired shape. With a thin brush or toothpick, line the edge of one side of the teardrop with silver glitter polish. Brush with clear top coat.

Disgust - 2-3 coats green nail polish.With contrasting green art pen, paint flowery shapes on nail. This is supposed to represent broccoli. Add silver glitter in the center of each design with a toothpick. Brush with clear top coat.

Anger - 2 coats red nail polish. Make a zig-zag pattern with yellow nail polish on the lower half of nail. Fill in with gold glitter polish. Line "fire" with black nail art pen. Brush with clear top coat.

Fear - 2 coats purple nail polish. Paint a single white line with nail art polish. Make a zig-zag design with contrasting blue nail art polish on each side of the white line. Brush with clear top coat.

I think with a bit more practice I could really "nail" this nail art thing! We both enjoyed the quality time together and look forward to many more nail sessions inspired by new releases — I can already see MINIONS nail art in our future!