If you guys are like me, then you have tried 100 different water marbling tutorials, 100 different times, and each time it has turned out to be a messy disaster :(
Well hopefully I can end that cycle for you guys here today with my Water Marbling Tutorial
What You'll Need:
♥ Nail Polish Remover- expect to make lots of mistakes
♥ Vaseline (recommended but not needed)- some people like to use tape, but I think vasteline is much better
♥ A shot glass or any small container- the smaller the container, the less nail polish you use
♥ Room temperature water- I use tap but most recommend filtered... I see no difference
♥ Tooth Pick
♥ Nail Polish- At least two different shades
A note about the nail polish: Don't use your favorite shade because you will be using a LOT of it
Also, and this is an important one- use a newer bottle of nail polish. This tip is the one that made the difference for me. It doesn't even need to be a good bottle of nail polish, it just needs to be very liquidy, and not at all gloppy
First, and this tip is optional, use a q-tip to smear some Vaseline on the skin around your nail... this will make sure that when you are done, you can just wipe off all the excess lacquer
And of course, as always, push down cuticles, file your nail, wipe once with nail polish remover to make sure your nail is clean and oil free, and apply a base coat
Many tutorials often suggest first painting you nails white or one one of the colours you have chosen for your marble... at least in the beginning you will be making a lot of mistakes and needing to start over fairly often, so I just don't bother with that step
Drop your nail polish one colour at a time into your water. If your nail polish spreads out and dissolves (like in fg 2), than you are on the right track. If it just kind of sits there, than your nail polish is too gooey (like described above). Make sure to work quickly here... you don't want your nail polish to dry out while you are still working with it. I used 6 drops in the photo's above
Now, drag your toothpick through the nail polish. You may want to do this a couple of times from different angles till you have achieved the desired pattern
Dip your finger in, nail first
And use the toothpick to get rid of all the excess nail polish still floating in the water, so that when you remove your nail from the water, the remaining nail polish wont ruin your work (yes, you need to repeat every step for every finger)
Your finger should look like this... it's ugly, I know!
But if you look past the mess, you can see how nice it will look once it's done
And there you go!
Hopefully I saved you guys some time!
Tips and Other Things:
♥ Don't get discouraged if you mess up... this is a hard technique to master!
♥ As you go along, your water will most likely start to look pretty yucky. To clean your water, just add one drop of nail polish to your water, let it spread out (you may need to help it with your toothpick), and then let the nail polish dry. After a few seconds, use your toothpick to pick up the nail polish and you should have a clean cup
♥ This technique is pretty time consuming, so make sure you allot yourself enough time to finish
♥ When filing your nails, make sure to move the file in only one direction (none of this side to side nonsense) or else you may ruin your nail bed
♥ If you let each coat dry before applying the next, then you will have a longer lasting mani... but who has time for that!?
I'm not sure how easy that technique was to grasp just written out, so if you feel like you still don't get it, try one of these video tutorials:
Coming up next...!!!
The Ombre Nail
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