A very colorful water marbling

This particular water marbling is one of those that I just threw together because my sister-in-law was using all of my other nail polish at the time while I was doing mine. All in all, I liked the overall effect of it.


Like I mentioned in my earlier post, I never thought to take picture of the process of the water marbling, but there are tons of tutorials on youtube you can use. Anyway, since all of my nail polish is currently in another state since I've moved, I am finding pictures online of the colors I've used.


On to the process. 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)

Purple Potion by Sally Hansen

Brisk Blue by 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.

And now, for my final result. I was getting a little annoyed because I didn't have any nail polish remover to clean it up better, but I found out afterwards that you can use clear nail polish to get rid of excess polish; just brush a little on, and wipe off with a wet cloth for best result. I usually have to do this about two to three times.

Good luck, and feel free to post all of your attempts (and successes!) of your water marbles. I have included Simple Little Pleasure's youtube page; she has a lot of amazing tutorials and designs to try!