Thursday 23 October 2014

#TBT Then And Now - WaterMarble Nail Art

Before I start this blog post, I have to throw in a small disclaimer saying I do not claim to be any sort of water marble expert! :) I have merely picked up a few tips over my nail art career and it seems to now be working for me.  Keep reading this post to find out what those tips are and to see my video tutorial, as usual! :)

I thought it would be perfect to start my #TBT series off with Water-Marble.  I first attempted water-marbling 82 weeks ago, and at the time, gave myself 6 out of 10 - CLEARLY I was being a little cocky.  Looking back, my attempt doesn't even deserve 0.6 out of 10!  Even although I can still see mistakes with these nails today, I am still much happier with them, and can defiantly say its one of my best water-marbles to date.

As always, you'll find a picture of my "Then" or "TBT" Picture, after the jump ;-) Brace yourself....


I started off by painting all of my nails with Sinful Colors - Snow Me White.  I never done this in my previous, 82 week old attempt.  I also used scotch tape, to tape round my finger, this helps with clean up.




Next, I started dripping Barry M - Black, Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear - Wet Cement and Showtime into a plastic cup that was filled with room temperature, bottled water.  Using my smallest dotting tool, I started to drag a pattern into the polish.  I picked the part of the pattern I liked best, and "dunked" my finger into it.  

Whilst my finger was still in the water, I used a cotton bud or Q-Tip to gather up all of the polish still floating in the water.  I then brought my finger out super slowly & removed my scotch tape with scissors.  

Finally, I cleaned up around the edges and added a topcoat.  For a little added bit of bling, I stuck 2 small silver studs to the top of my nail.


Water-marble Tips!
  • Always tape round your finger! It minimises clean up and just generally makes your water-marbling career 10 times easier!
  • Always start with a base colour of white polish.  This helps the polish your working with in your marble become really opaque when it touches your nail.
  • Use room temperature, bottled water.  I always just keep a bottle of water at my nail station so whenever I feel like gettin' my marble on - I'm ready!
  • I used to think you needed to "dunk" your dotting too or toothpick into the polish that you have dripped in the water.  I have since found out that you only need to drag the surface of the polish on the top.  Sometimes I use a needle for super precise lines.  
  • Experiment with polish, patterns and find out what works best for you!  Its just the same with stamping - not every polish will stamp, this goes for water marbling.  I'm working my way through my stash to see what I can use and what I can't. 


As I mentioned before, here is my TBT to 82 weeks ago first attempt at water-marbling.  So many eye sores in one picture, and so little time...



Do you have any more tips for us fellow water-marblers?  I'd love to hear them, so be sure to leave a comment if you do!

The music to today's tutorial is Don't Stop Believing by Journey, because you shouldn't give up on Water-Marbe and say that you can't do it, if you practice & follow my tips from above, you'll surprise yourself :-) it's taken me 82 weeks to get to where I am today & I'm still learning.

Good luck!


**Music is Journey - Don't Stop Believing.  I do not own this music**

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