My first water marble

Since finding out about water marbling nail art about a year ago, I think it's safe to say that I have a problem. I am having some serious withdrawals from not doing it in so long, but during a recent move, all of my nail polish was left behind. ::sigh::


Anyway, back when I first started attempting marbling, I got excited because of the possibilities of using so many colors. Bright, by the way, is my favorite color. I have never been one to match my outfits to my nails, so having funky colored nails doesn't bother me. 


Now, on to the nail art. I didn't think to actually take a picture while I was in the process of said water marbling, but I found so many nail tutorials on youtube if you're really interested in learning how to do it. This first one was a valiant first attempt, although it took a little while for me to figure out I needed to adjust my water temperature. You're supposed to use filtered room temperature water, but I'm cheap, and my el-cheapo nail polish didn't like the room temperature water. 


First things first, you need to paint your nails a base color. It can be any color, but if you're working with neon colors, you should make your base coat a white; that way, your beautiful colors will pop! The colors I used for this nail design are:

French White Tip by NYC (for the base)

Green with Envy from Sally Hansen

Twisted Pink from Sally Hansen

Splendid by Hard Candy

What you'll need:
a cup that you will never have to use again (can be a glass one specifically for water marbling, or I just use the disposable snack bowls for kids)
room temperature water 
toothpicks or orange sticks
tape, cuticle oil, or chapstick to coat your fingers for easy cleanup afterwards
nail polish remover (and Q-tips!) for cleaning up afterwards
and of course, your nail polish in 2+ different colors.




OK. So on to the fun stuff. Again, start with your base coat of whatever color you choose. Make sure to have your water already sitting out and ready to use. Go ahead and have all of your polish caps removed and ready to quickly grab. Drop your first color in the middle of the water, followed by the second color, third color, etc. Repeat the process two more times so you'll have a nice bullseye design in the middle. Work quickly, though, because the nail polish will dry fast. Take your tooth pick (or orange stick) and make a swirled design in the polish. Making sure your finger is already protected by whatever method you choose (tape, cuticle oil, chapstick) at least up to the knuckle, angle your fingernail over the part of the design you want on your nail, and then dip it. Use your toothpick to get off the polish from the top layer of the water. Once you've gotten all the stray polish out of the water, you're done! Take your nail out of the water, wipe off the excess polish from your protected skin, and cover it with your top coat. Make sure you only do one nail at a time, because unless your bowl or whatever is big enough to even dip two fingers at a time, it will tend to get even more messier than it was meant to.


Aaaannnnnd, my final design looked like this...

Side note: These are my natural nails, and if you have ever had acrylic nails, you'll know that polish sticks to false nails much longer than natural nails. Keep this in mind if you're wanting your design to stay on longer.


I have included one of my favorite person's youtube page, but of course, you can use anyone's tutorials you'd like. Good luck, and feel free to add any of your attempts (and successes!) of water marbling.