Water Marbling Attempt #1

I’ve looked at multiple YouTube Videos and Tutorials on water marbling.  At first I was thinking “that’s entirely too much work”… but a little part of me was still itching to try it.  Last night was that night – I got home from work, got cozy in my chair and got started.

To start – you need room temperature water (distilled or filtered works best).  I grabbed a bottle of Dasani water that was sitting out on the table.  I poured some into a small ceramic cup and added in a little bit of Zoya’s Remove + to the water (I read somewhere to add a little nail polish remover OR cuticle oil to the water).  I grabbed a couple wood skewers to use in lieu of a toothpick to make my design – it was easier for me to pick up and grip while attempting this.

Biggest thing with marbling – MOVE QUICK.  I would do the polish drops in water and take too long, and when I attempted a design, the first 2 drops had already hardened a little and my design pulled into a glob on top of the water and I would need to start again!  Once I got the speed and rhythm down – I was good to go.

Taped Nails with Marley

I painted my nails with Marley and then taped off my fingers.  Nick (my boyfriend) helped me with this so I wouldn’t screw up any of my nails that had Marley on em.  I really don’t think this experience would have gone over well if I didn’t have help with it.

First attempt using Snowsicle, Caitlin, Layla and Zara

I grabbed about 10 Zoya colors I was interested in using, at first I settled on Zara, Caitlin, Layla and Snowsicle…. but Layla and Caitlin were overpowering Zara and Snowsicle.  Nick suggested I cut it down to 3 colors and take the grey colors out completely.

I looked around again and decided to use Snowsicle, Isla and Layla with Marley as my base color.  I didn’t focus on trying to get the same design in each attempt, I was trying to see what I liked so every nail would be very different design wise.  Here are some “action shots” Nick took.

Isla going in the water

Snowsicle!

All 3 colors I used spread easily and very well!  Snowsicle is a GREAT color to use, the hint of shimmer was just gorgeous.

Layla!

Making a design

Once I got a design I could deal with, I carefully submerged my nail into the design and held it in the water while quickly using the skewer to get all the excess polish away from my nail.  If you don’t do this part, you chance getting a glob of excess polish on your nail as you pull the nail out of the water.

Removing tape

Even with tape on my fingers, I still managed to get some paint below the tape.  Overall though, I was pleased with the design.

End result:

Both Thumbs!

Right Hand

Both Hands :)

All done!

Here is the final result!  Overall I am very happy with this and it wasn’t as horrible as I thought it would be… but it is time consuming!  It took me about two and a half hours!

List of everything I used:

Small Ceramic Cup, Dasani water (Room Temp), Paper towels (to wipe off skewer between designs), Nail polish remover (to add to water), 3 wood skewers, Zoya Nail Polish in Marley, Isla, Layla and Snowsicle, and Scotch Tape