I've been watching this new craze of Water Marbling unfold and finally had an evening free to give it a go!
Water Marbling basically does what it says on the tin! You use different nail varnish in water to create a marble effect on your nails. Now it's unique because you will never get one nail looking the same as the others which I personally love!
So, to water marble, you will need the following;
1. Time - it takes a while so make sure you have a good few hours spare
2. Patience - it's frustrating because it doesn't always go right so make sure you give it a few attempts before you even think about giving up!
3. A selection of nail polish - I found higher quality polish worked better
4. An old bowl or cup
5. Cocktail sticks, and lots of them
6. Scotch tape
7. Nail varnish remover and pads
So firstly you will need to paint your nails white. Apply one thin coat, let it dry then apply another thin coat. I done this as sometimes the marbling can come out quite thin so it gives it a bit more opacity. I used Ultra Pro (from Sallys) in French White but any white polish is fine!
Once that's dry, use your scotch tape to border the outside of the nail being careful not to cover any of the nail. This will keep the rest of your fingers from getting covered in polish! Go along the side of your nail, around the back and back down the other side. Then use another piece across the bottom of your nail.
You can now start your mixing! Fill your cup/bowl with ROOM TEMPERATURE water. This is important as if it's too hot/cold, then the polish won't spread like it should. With your first colour, apply a drop of the polish in to the centre of the bowl. This should go all watery and spread out quite a lot. Then take your second colour and do the same in the middle of the first colour. Continue to do this with as many colours as you like. I used three so once I'd gone through the cycle once, I started again with the first colour until I felt I had enough rings.
I originally decided (from left to right) on Avon Nailwear Pro in Creamsicle, Models Own in Dream Stream, Rimmel Pro in Urban Princess , Models Own in Jade Stone and Rimmel Lasting Finish in Sunshine. Some of these didn't really work how I wanted so I also used (but didn't photograph) China Glaze in Stella, China Glaze in Midtown Magic, Avon Nailwear in Aqua Fantasy, Barry M in Cyan Blue and Barry M in Pink Flamingo. The ones I didn't photograph actually worked the best!
It should look something like..
You will now need to take a cocktail stick and carefully draw a pattern in the polish that you like. Be creative! This nail art isn't meant to look perfect so if you mess up a bit..who cares?! No one is going to know! Piece of advice - the edge of the 'blob' will now be quite dry so if you get too close to the edge, you will pick the whole of the patch up on your stick. Try to swirl it from the middle!
Once you've got a pattern you're happy with, you literally put your nail in to the water face down and hold it under the water for about 10 seconds. This will help it to dry. After 10 seconds, take your cocktail stick and swirl around the excess polish. It should lift all the extra away from your nail. Carefully lift your nail out of the water and admire your work of art! I actually ran out of time so couldn't do a full set but here's what I did do..
Don't mind the mess - I didn't clean up round the nail because I was so excited to photograph! All you'd need to do is run a pad around the nail with some nail varnish remover!
Like I said, it is a time consuming task but a fun one! And it does create a bit of mess..
For an excellent YouTube tutorial, click
here! Shows all the above in a video, just incase I didn't explain anything too well!
Have you tried water marbling? If so, how did you find it and do you have tips for the next time I try?
xoxo
