Mastering the Art of Water Marbling

So many people want to know about the great Water Marbling effect. Water marbling is a type of nail art that looks like multi-colored swirls. It takes lots of practice (as I've been learning), but the results can be beautiful. In case you are wondering how to do this, I thought I'd show you step by step.

 

Water Marbling Part 1 and Part 2 (I'll explain later)

 

 

Apply a solid color polish to each nail (you want a more dramatic effect) or your just a base coat - this is optional

Let nails dry naturally - you know the carnal rule if you don't want smudges - no shaking of the hands,  blowing, or put your nails under a fan

Add water to a wide bowl (you can use a paper cup in an emergency). NOTE - DO NOT use cold water, this makes the glaze dry faster in the water). Fill to the top (the fun part is next)

 

To create the marbling glaze, add 2 to 3 or more drops nail polish to the water (most people do 2 or 3   

different colors but you can do more if you want). For this Water Marbling session, I used all Borghese colors - Mezzanotte Blue, Milano Taupe, and Maraschino (from the Rapido Collection) but then I decided I needed more shimmer and a bolder result, so I added several drops of Dolce Vita Fuchsia (this explains part 1 and part 2)

 

 

A skin forms on the water's surface. Insert the end of a toothpick or in my case, a bent paperclip) into a swirled section at or near the center of the skin. Drag the toothpick to the edge and back. Repeat. Continue drawing out lines of color until the skin looks like a marble sunburst.

 

Dip your fingertip quickly into the marbling glaze. The nail polish skin tends to goop up around your finger just like it does the toothpick. You want to keep as much of the goop in the bowl and off of your fingers as possible to avoid a mess. So take up a toothpick in the opposite hand and draw the skin away from your finger. After you clear the skin away from your nail, you can lift you finger out of the bowl.

 

Soak a cotton round in nail polish remover then wipe off the excess glaze around the sides of the nail. Use a cotton round to clean the bottom of your finger.

 

Finish with a top coat to seal the nail art. The top coat will prevent the water marbling from chipping.  

 

Ok, your turn.