Step by Step: Candy Water Marble

Because we're having such a horrible boring weather these days, I decided to do a step by step water marbling tutorial. I know you can find them everywhere, but I did one in case someone would love to read mine. :D

This is one really picture heavy post, so click read more to see all the details. :) I only did one nail for this tutorial, but I used the same colors as in my candy water marble I showed you the other day.

For the water marbling you'll need:

1. Polishes you'll use for water marbling: You must experiment with polishes, because not every polish cooperates with water as we would want to. I decided to use same China Glaze polishes for this tutorial I used for my previous manicure, because they really work great. I also tried some OPIs, Orlys, Color Clubs, Catrices, some of the Essences work great too, but there's no rule so keep trying them out (On the picture ~ China Glaze: Something Sweet, Sugar High, Heli-Yum).

2. Toothpick, a wooden orange stick or something pointy: To draw the design.

3. A tissue or a paper towel: So you can wipe off the toothpick or an orange stick.

4. Cup of water: I always use a room temperature water in an empty yoghurt's plastic cup - my mom has a bottle of water ready for her flowers, so I usually take that one. :D You can have problems with the polish, if the water is too cold or too hot, so keep experimenting with the water temperature. If you still can't make the polish spread as it should, try to use distilled, filtered or bottled water.

You'll also need a tape or vaseline, Q-tips, brush, nail polish remover and top coat.

Step 1: Don't forget to prep your nails before water marbling. I usually do one hand at the same time, because having tape on all 10 fingers would probably lead to a fail. :D

If the colors you're using are sheer, put a coat of opaque polish as a base before water marbling, so the colors will stand out more. For this tutorial I used some of the really opaque polishes, so I only added a coat of OPI - Sweet Heart as a base (very sheer milky polish). I also taped my finger with sellotape, using 3 pieces of tape (sides and the bottom) so all the polish don't stick to my skin, because that'd be just too messy and hard to clean. You can use sellotape, scotch tape,... I also read that vaseline works great too (but I didn't try it on myself).

Step 2: Take all the lids off and start adding a drop of each polish into the water from a low height (if the drop sinks into the water, you're dripping it from too high up or the polish is too dense). When the drop hits the water, it spreads, so you keep adding the drops and you'll get rings of color.

Step 3: Then you take a toothpick or an orange stick and start drawing the design you want. I was trying to make some kind of flower design so I just draw some lines into the center. Wipe off the toothpick before drawing, so the polish won't stick on and ruin the whole design you're trying to get.

Step 4: When you're happy with the design you made, place your nail above the design you want to show on the nail and dip it into the water.You can also dip more nails at the same time, I'd say two would work great too, not sure about three. Just make 2 same designs close enough and dip 2 nails in the water.

Step 5: Do not pull the finger(s) out until you remove the excess polish with a toothpick.

Step 6: Here you can see how the polish sticks on the tape, so when you remove the tape, you don't have a lot to clean up. :)

Step 7: Clean up the excess with a Q-tip and a brush, add a top coat and you're done!

Huh, that was a long post and I think I just lost 2 hours for putting all this together. ^_^ I really hope that at least one will read this whole post and find it useful ~ then I'll be more than happy! :)

If you're scared of water marble, you can start with an accent nail and when you'll get used to this technique, sooner or later you'll want a full manicure. :) Practice makes perfect so keep trying and don't give up. When nothing goes as it should, I just leave it for a day and start again some other time.

Let me know what do you think about this tutorial! Thanks for reading!

Xoxo,

Ivana :k