Monday, September 22, 2014

31 Day Nail Art Challenge: Day #20 - Water Marble


Water marbling: it can go so wrong, or it can go so so right. This is a very tricky technique, even for experienced nail artists. There are tons of blog posts providing tips and tricks for water marbling, and I will share a few that got me through this mani. This is my second attempt at water marbling, and while it doesn't look as fancy as some others I have seen, I am pretty proud of the results.


Here are my supplies for this mani:
Base Coat: Orly Bonder
Polishes: N.Y.C. - French White Tip
               Wet 'n' Wild - Disturbia
               Wet 'n' Wild - On a Trip
               China Glaze - Goldie But Goodie
Tools: Disposable Condiment Cup (Like These)
           Filtered Water
           Toothpick
           Pencil
           Vaseline
Top Coat: Seche Vite

The very first step to water marbling is to make sure that your set-up is good and that your polishes will spread on the water. I tried a couple different types of water/cup arrangements for my first water marble and found that a plastic cup filled with room temperature filtered water works the best. I think the condiment cup I used this time was a little too shallow, so I would recommend something taller, like a plastic shot glass or a bigger plastic cup.

To make sure the polishes spread out on the water, just let a drop of the polish fall into the water and see what it does. If it sinks straight to the bottom or just sits in the center without spreading, it's probably not going to work. If it immediately disperses across the surface, that is a good sign and the polish will probably work.

To prep your nails, do a coat of base coat and then one or two coats of white polish (I used the N.Y.C. white) so that your colors will show up nicely. Before dipping each nail, cover the rest of your finger with Vaseline so that the excess polish will just wipe away after. Some people prefer to use tape to cover the rest of their finger, but I find this to be easier.

Once you have your good polishes, drop them into the water to form concentric rings. Repeat until you have made as many layers as you want. I only made 6 layers, using each of my polishes twice, because it's important to work quickly before the polish dries, and I found that was my max. Then, use the toothpick to draw out designs from the rings. Once you have a design you like, place your nail down onto that area, submerging into the water. Hold it there while you use the pencil to clean up the rest of the polish on the surface. Once you get it out of the water, just wipe around the edges and coat with your top coat. Or, get frustrated with your design, remove it, and start over like I did about 10 times!

Here is a little picture tutorial that goes along with what I said from nail-art-101.com.

Water Marbling Tutorial
Water Marbling Tutorial Tutorial

And here are a couple more pictures of my final result:





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