You could say Melissa Osburn is slightly obsessed. The 29-year-old graphic designer loves nail polish so much that she devoted an ambitious project to it: to paint her own nails with 365 unique designs in 365 days. “I started accumulating nail polishes and in a matter of a month and a half, I ended up with around 70 bottles,” said Osburn, who documents her progress at daily-nail.blogspot.com. “So I really felt a need to justify my purchases.”
Since she began her project in September 2009, readers have flocked to Osburn’s site in hopes of seeing what she’ll design next. Although flattered, Osburn isn’t surprised because, she explained, “nail polish is the ultimate accessory… it's cheap, easily accessible, and always fits.” Her designs are inspired by a random mix of themes and everyday objects — everything from food (wedding cakes, Nerds candy), pop culture (“The Simpsons”, “True Blood”) to more serious themes (gas masks, the overturn of Prop 8 in California).Having painted “crazy” nail designs since she was in her teens, Osburn thought it a natural personal challenge. What she didn’t account for, however, was the difficulty in coming up with new ideas every day — not to mention removing time-extensive designs from her much-modeled fingers. “There are days where I feel like the Cinderella of nail art, rushing to get things posted by midnight.”
Scroll through a sample of Osburn’s latest creations below. For more nutty nail designs, visit The Daily Nail.