Adventures In Water Marbling

I was hanging out in my bathroom the other day - just me, a cup of water and a few nail polishes - when I casually decided to have another go at this whole water-marble-nail-art thing.  You know, the nail design where you drop some polish into some water and, if done successfully, it forms rings of color that you can manipulate into different marble-like patterns.  Well, if you read my previous post then you know that my first attempt fell horribly flat with my finger ending up with globs of polish on it.  But, lo and behold, this go 'round was a successful surprise, ending with a coherently gorgeous marbling... and on the first try, no less!

And so, with my confidence buoyed by this fantastic achievement, I cleared out the remnants from the first design and grabbed the items needed to carry the look onto the other hand: one cup of room temp water (I used bottled spring water); nail polish remover; nail polishes (I used four colors); a marbling tool like a toothpick or nail stick.  Having neither of the latter in my possession, I improvised by using an old earring (ghetto, yes, I know!).

I started off with Revlon's Seductive, which is a dark plum.  Holding the brush close to the water, the polish dropped to the middle and dispersed right on cue.  I continued on with the other colors, dropping them as "bulls-eyes" on top of each other.

At about the fourth or fifth drop, that's where things got a little sticky.  My colors weren't spreading freely like the previous ones, causing the previous ones to be more oblong than circular.  So, I shook the cup a little to get some more movement out of them.

I then started to marble the colors by dragging my tool through the dots/rings until I saw a desirable pattern emerge.  I worked as quickly as I could, but could already tell that even the inside polish drops had gotten a little stiffer than I had hoped due to the air drying it.  And that's when I had my light bulb moment: the ceiling fan was on in the room I was now working in, which was causing my polish to air dry quicker, which was preventing my bulls-eyes from spreading, which was making my final design a little tougher to pull off!  But pull it off, I did.  

And then I dove in, laying my nude fingernail directly on top of the design and then flexing my finger straight so that the entire nail was submerged in the water, catching as much of the design on my nail in the process.

After wiping away the excess, this was my final result.  It wasn't as ornate or color-complicated as my first design, but was still awesome... at least in my eyes.  The top of my nail was a little too bare for me, though, so I doctored it up a tad and gave it the ol' Dolce touch!

(Final Result: Left hand)

(Right hand)

Out of the two, I do prefer my first attempt, which is the design on my right hand.  But both are cool.  Also, I chose to do the patterns on top of a nude base because I like the look of "flesh patterns", but I'm open to using colors, too.  And I prolly will with my next attempts.  Well, I guess I shouldn't say "attempts" since I have pretty much conquered the task.  So let's say, "with my next editions".  Yeah, that sounds much better.

And so, with a pocketful of patience (and staying out of a room with a whirring ceiling fan) I have learned how to successfully water marble my nails.  A feat that I am kinda proud of and will, no doubt, quietly add to my list of "can-dos".  And I ain't ashamed to say that I'm kinda hooked on it, too!  I love the randomness of the outcome and even the process of marbling itself.  Yes, some more water nail art will definitely be making its way down my creative pipeline.  And I can't wait to share with you what I come up with!