My First (and LAST) Water Marble Manicure
 I should really call this manicure “An Afternoon of Frustration” because that’s how trying to create a water marble manicure left me feeling; FRUSTRATED! Those of you who have mastered the technique, I bow down to you. I honestly have no desire to try this ever again but since I made the effort, I thought I’d share my experience with you.
A few years back when China Glaze introduced the OMG! holographic collection, they posted a tutorial for their “Color Swirl” manicure and I was intrigued but intimidated by the process. Since then a whole mess of YouTubers have made countless water marble tutorials including lots of great tips and tricks to make the technique easier. I found myself watching a few this morning and got inspired. Find out more about the water marble technique and my adventure trying to recreate the look after the jump! |
The basic steps of the water marbling process sound easy enough; drop polish in water, create a pattern with a toothpick, dip nail, clean off excess. Simple right? For me, not so much. Here’s what you need to get started:
- Cup of room temperature water (filtered or distilled is preferable to tap)
- Toothpick or orange wood stick
- Cuticle oil
- 2-4 bottles of nail polish
STEP 1: Start with your nails painted and dry. Use a base color that will contrast the polishes you are using to create the marble effect. I chose to use a light base color, the minty green OPI Damone Roberts 1968.
The main issue with water marbling is that you are dipping your fingers into a pool of polish and it gets all over your skin and cuticle. You can take the time to clean it all off but I found a couple great tips on YouTube. CND’s Kristina Baune Estabrooks suggests covering your skin with cuticle oil to prevent the polish from sticking to your skin and SimpleLittlePleasures uses tape to create a polish barrier. I chose to go the cuticle oil route. My skin can always benefit from some extra moisturizing.
STEP 2: Apply cuticle oil to your skin and cuticles all the way down to the top knuckle and don’t forget the underside of your nail.
STEP 3: Drop polish onto the surface of the water from about a half an inch away so the polish will disperse. Continue adding drops in alternating colors to create rings of color. Add drops until you achieve the depth of color you desire.
Tip: Not all polish will work well with water marbling so you have to test a few to see which ones disperse the best. I tried OPI Suzi Says Feng Shui and it sank to the bottom of the cup. After a little experimenting I ended up with Sally Hansen Emerald City and China Glaze 5 Golden Rings.
STEP 4: Use a toothpick or orange wood stick to create a pattern in the polish. I’ve seen some people start from the outside but doing that just pulled all the polish into a clump so I started in the middle and worked from there. Again, you have to play to find the method that works best for you. Continue to swirl the polish until you create a pattern you like. If you mess up, just start over.
Tip: To clean the water surface, add one drop of polish and spread it over the surface pulling the color to the edges with your stick. Let it dry for a few seconds and then “clean” the surface by removing the layer of polish with your stick. It will pull up any floating bits of polish in the process. I picked up that trick from SimpleLittlePleasures.
STEP 5: Dip your nail in the polish right after you finish creating your pattern. If you wait too long the polish will dry. While the nail is submerged, use your stick to pull the excess polish away from your skin. Remove nail from water and shake off excess moisture.
STEP 6: Clean up the cuticle and skin. Thanks to the cuticle oil, the majority of the polish will easily come off using a cotton pad. I used a clean orange wood stick to push the polish off my cuticles, no remover needed. For stubborn bits of polish dip a cotton swab in acetone.
The Finished Product
So why don’t I plan to water marble again? Let me give you my list of frustrations/cons
- It’s a master at the art of time suckage. Much like Troy Dyer in Reality Bites, I spent way too much time on this to end up with ho-hum results.
- It’s a MAJOR waste of product. I trashed so much polish trying to get a good pattern, to get the polish to disperse well and to find brands that don’t sink.
- You have to keep cleaning the surface of the water or else little bits floating on the surface prevent the polish from spreading out.
- While the cuticle oil helps with cleanup, it was still a major pain removing up all that excess polish. I went through so many cotton pads and ended up getting polish on my other fingers. I seriously don’t know how people do a full manicure on all 10 nails without losing their shit!
- Trying to draw a pattern that looks good is not easy and as you can tell, I did NOT succeed at it for the most part.
- It’s very easy to accidentally pull the pattern or ding it during cleanup and being a naturally clumsy person, I biffed two nails and had to start over. I even made mistakes on the finished manicure but couldn’t bother to try again.
Now before you call me out for whining, I know that any new skill takes time and practice and I’m sure that the process becomes easier the more you do it. Though in all honesty, with the amount of waste I created just marbling three nails, I have no desire to master this art. I’ll be content with admiring the YouTubers from now on.
I’d love to hear your thoughts on water marble manicures. Who’s tried it? Do you love it? Hate it? Do you have any tips to share? Any insight that might make me change my mind?
how patient you were! I would not have half of it
It is always easier when we see the advertising… it is harder at home. I even think you did pretty well.
LA
I tried this today using a light pink base coat with silver and dark purple marbling. It turned out great for a first try! Only took about 15 minutes and I only used about 6 or 7 drops of nail polish total to marble all ten fingers (not including my pink base coat). Don’t really know why everyone is complaining about wasting polish. Each nail is a different pattern, but that’s kind of what’s cool about it! Plus you can tell it’s real polish, not some cheap nail sticker or something.
Tip: Choose colors which contrast with your skin tone, or from far away your nails will look chipped. In places where my marbling is sheer, the pink shows through and it kind of looks funky from far away. Next time I will opt for a green/blue combination.
P.S. I am not a perfectionist at all, so maybe that’s why I’m so hyped on this technique!
well, i tried it yesterday and i love my nails!
ok it got me a lot of time but i love my nails! i love my nails! i am an artist! i love my nails! i love my nails!
whats the trick in getting them perfect i try and all i got was dots a the bottom are little balls by the time i was ready to make a patten the nail polish was dried
I think this is something I would like to try on an afternoon when I have a few hours to spare. It looks very beautiful. You did a great job on yours.
Michelle, what you call ho-hum results actually look pretty fantastic! Even with all the “cons” that you mentioned, I’m still going to try this at home and see if I can get anything even close to what you got!
I haven’t tried the water marbelling technique myself, but I always wanted to give it a try. Now that I know the downsides, I’m mentally prepared for frustration, but the results look quite pretty.
That emerald green and the gold looks quite nice. It’s not at all a “ho-hum” look.
It does sound like a lot of work, but I think your turned out great! I am excited to try it on my own nails now.
Please try Konad (konad.co.uk) nail stamping art which supply plates with patterned designs. Number M63 has a marble style design.
Hi Michelle, I don’t think I have commented before. I found your blog 2 or 3 weeks ago, and honestly, I had no idea there was such a genre of blogging, and I am delighted to say you have my rapt interest. I am 47 y.o. and have never consistently manicured. I have thin, soft nails, bend and break easily, and in the last few years, they have begin to split and peel. (Nice!) I now recognize my incostent care including cuticle oil and cream and lotions specifically formulated for hands have real merit! For the first time ever in my life, I am growing long, lovely nails (and caring for them religiously). For someone who hasn’t done this much, I have at least 50 bottles of nail polish from over the years (and have discovered thinner to make some of them useable again – yea!). You have inspired me to branch out from my pink/coral/beige comfort zone, and I recently bought some great Spring colors (as in periwinkle, aqua, and green shades). So last night, I had to try the marbleizing.
I love this!!!
At first, I had a little trouble, and probably spent 1.5 hrs. start to finish (incl. starting with removing old polish). I’d like to offer some info from my learning curve.
I used scotch tape to mask off my finger and leave only the nail exposed. Super easy and worked great!
I read somewhere to bring the drop of polish right down to the water to avoid a big plunge and therefore sinking polish. (This worked beautifully for me.) I even saw one Youtube video where the nail artist actually touched the drop on the brush to the water surface. I think I did that a couple of times, although I tried to avoid it.
I tried to have one of my polishes be China Glaze Fairy Dust – but no go — would not spread 3 out of 3 times I tried it. Every so often a drop wouldn’t spread, not sure why but maybe the previous drop dried quickly?
I had super easy clean-up using a new product I just found at Big Lots the other day for 50 cents. It was a package of nail swabbers (can’t remember what they actually call them. They were like Q-tips with a pointed swab on one end (great for getting under the free edge of the nail), and the other end has a sugar-cube size and shape cosmetic sponge, which I just kept soaking in a capful of non-acetone remover and used as needed for the little extra bit around the cuticle. I only used 1 swab for all 10, and they come about 16 to a pkg.
Finally, on my 2nd hand, I tried a little experiment, I taped my pointer, middle and ring fingers, (those fingers are easy to position right up next to each other), and dipped all 3 in one polish design. It worked great and saves on polish. With this technique, I could make 6 polish designs and get all 10 done, less time and polish wasted.
I put on a topcoat of quick dry (one made by Joan Rivers), and then later put on a coat of the Fairy dust and another quick-dry. As a basecoat I used only a ridge-filler, my colors were pink, periwinkle, leaf green, aqua, white, and a pearly violet purple. It looks like a Mary Quant, and I’m getting rave reviews today. This morning, I topcoated with OPI Nail Envy. I know this is a long comment, but I want to encourage those who are intrigued but not sure if they want to try. Good luck! And by the way, Michelle, your nails look awesome. Please post if you decide to try this again.
I really like the look. I’ve gone on youtube to try different nail tutorials, but some are way to hard and others just show pictures without any type of directions. But this is really really cool. Thanks!!!
Oh I forgot to ask, but can you post some more nail art designs?
*high five*
I only attempted to do a water marble on 1 freakin’ finger and couldn’t even do it. I think my water was too cold though.
Put tape around your nail. Before polish dries, just peel off the tape, and there isn’t much left to clean up. When dropping polish, drop it as close to the water as you can, and make sure the water is warm.
I’ve done this and it’s not frustrating at all. It takes time yeah, but it’s well worth the results. I think yours looks perfectly fine. Thanks for the tip WendyBee, I’ll have to try multiple fingers at once. Wait, what did I just say? =)
I’ve never heard of this technique before but I thought your nails looked so beautiful, I had to try it myself! Taped my fingers so there was no clean up needed. The only thing I did find is the polish seemed to dry to quickly so I wasn’t able to make much of a pattern. The water was room temperature and it was the same with several nail polish’s, all different makes.
Can anyone suggest something to stop this?
PS. I LOVE this blog, fantastic work
If you find that the nail polish dries to quick to make nice pattern, try going from the center towards the circumference of the polish with the tool your using to pattern the colors instead of inwards. Also, I leave all the bottles I’m about to use completely uncap so I don’t have to unscrew every single bottle between color switch. Try really scrapping the bottle to get as mush as possible on the brush this way it won’t take too long for the drop to accumulate and fall off. And the largest rim from the first drop, try not to use it since it will be the first one to dry.
I think this looks great! I love the color combo and the effect is really pretty.
It does look really nice!
I’ve tried water marbeling only once (so far…), and my first attempt was messy but fun ;o)
I dipped all five nails of one hand at the same time (try a very loose fist so your nails are all parallel to the water surface), and while I had major clean up (never thought of the cuticle oil trick…), the results were pretty and it took no more than 10 minutes (plus 20 minutes clean up) for both hands…
[...] All Lacquered Up attempts a water marble manicure and shares her frustrations with the technique. * If you have previously been opposed to waterproof [...]
[...] All Lacquered Up attempts a water marble manicure and shares her frustrations with the technique. * If you have previously been opposed to waterproof [...]
I’ve done this a couple times, and while it’s definitely time-consuming, it’s SO worth the results. I use the tape method, which I find works well. Most OPI polishes work, as well as the 3 polishes from the China Glaze Up And Away colletion I have. Nicole by OPI doesn’t work though…wasted lots of that
Agree that if you do more than one finger at once it definitely saves time.
Okay, i’m hooked. Thanks for posting this even though you didn’t like it because I probably wouldn’t have discovered this if you hadn’t and did i say i’m hooked. I tried it right away and it wasn’t difficult at all. I used the tape method and removed the remaining polish with a paint brush dipped in acetone. I love the way it came out.
Hi Michelle:
I have been AWOL from the web because of taking care of my dad 24/7. Tomorrow he undergoes pace maker surgery. We hope for a success.
I just saw your email and love that water marble effect you did. Your nails dipped in green are so lovely and beautiful.
I think you deserve a Hugh pat on the back for the hard work you accomplished. Your so honest to your fans and readers. O
ne more reason to love your web blog.
If this was a Martha Stewart…(hate to pick on her but she does do the impossible and many have complained she doesn’t give all the details to her lovely works of art; okay maybe she does now)… nail polish web blog. She would just how the finish work of art and a small section on how to do this, not listing the major problems you have found.
You have so much integrity, energy and spirit. That’s why your nails always look so gorgeous!
((((Love Michelle))))
Mc Huggs
[...] happened to stumble upon this new “marbleized” nail technique that i read about over at All Lacquered Up (my absolute favorite nail polish blog) and decided to give it a try. i used OPI’s Moon Over [...]
The end result is so cute! Are you sure it’s too much effort? I’ve never seen this before – I’m going to try it, but given your advice re. time I might have to wait til the weekend when I have an hour or two free! Think it looks fab though
I think yours looks awesome. I’m with you here, I tried it once and NEVER again! It’s just not worth all that hassle! I HATED getting polish all over my fingers and you never really know how the polishes will act in the water!
Thanks for all the tips, I tried WM for the 1ts time, it was awful but after reading this I chose to try until results. With my new experience, this is what I can tell you:
First of all if you’re going to dip your fingers in there you will have a mess to pick up. An easy fix is to dip fake mails instead. Now on those videos I see these fancy nail holders but I decided to simplify with nails (construction nails) with some simply clear tape I can attach the fake nail to the head of the nail. Second, go cheap! you’ll be using plenty of polish so you might as well keep the expensive stuff for more moderate use techniques. To top it off, the cheaper the polish I used, the better it could spread. If you drop it from higher, it will take longer but spread more. And finally, if you’re going to cover the nail with a color before use, never use a dark color, the best I found was a silver shimmer, it accentuates the colors more than anything.
What I ended up with for material of choice would only be worth a few dollars and good for many many use. A list of the polish I found decent so far are : l’Oreal shock proof – Ardene – LA colors color craze and LM. But honestly all those cheap imitations from dollar-stores seems to work best.
i love water marbling! It does take a ton of time though, but the results are awesome and I get a million compliments and people asking how I did it. Check out my blog for more tips and even a step by step walk-through! =]
http://cleverandcolorful.blogspot.com/2010/07/how-to-water-marble.html
***^^ A good base coat is a great idea. I use opi’s base coat and it’s great. Then put your base color over it. design, dry properly and use plenty of top coat. My home done mani/ pedis usually last 3-4 weeks.. with a few chip touch ups.
You can use fake nails. I’ve seen people fashion a ‘rake’ out of straws taped together.. then stick the nails on it with that blue gummy tack that sticks up posters. dip, then dry on the rake.
I’ve used this same technique on fabric and paper before. If you can, I’d test your technique out with cheaper paints and paper until you get the hang of it. It comes out beautifully and makes the best fabric for quilting.
I LOVE doing my nails. I’ve been experimenting with many styles and brands. I found that the name brand $40 a bottle nailpolish is usually just as good as some of the stuff you can find for $2 at a drug store. (I own hundreds of bottles of polish) What I usually do for cleanup is… I paint as I need to. If I get it on my skin.. oh well. Then once it’s all dry, I get a pair of tweezers and pick the polish off my skin. Then I put a top coat on. You just need to be careful with the tweezers. Your skin makes a natural oil, so it wont hold the polish. A friend of mine would paint her nails around 10pm, go to bed at 11.. then wake up and take a shower and the stray polish would be all gone.
[...] que entiendan lo entretenido que puede ser, los dejo con un tutorial de la Water Marbling Manicure que puede funcionar perfectamente para un look de fin de año. Esta técnica puede poner a prueba [...]
I’ve done it twice now. The first time, believe it or not, I didn’t use cuticle oil, and it took forever to actually get the nails perfect.
I’ve realized though, instead of wasting good polish, just use Petites which are found at any Target, Walmart, CVS Pharmacy, etc. Their only 1-2 dollars! (:
If I were you, I’d try one more time, because from the pictures, yours seem to have come out better than mine!
I’m having trouble with the polish not spreading or spreading too much. The polish just stays in the middle and drops to the bottom. Or It seems like it wants to gravitate to one side of the cup. Also, it dries on top of the water really quick so I can never make a design in the water. I use room temperature bottled water in a glass cup, about an inch and half long. Any tips on how I can improve my results?
Thank you.
I’m having trouble with the polish not spreading or spreading too much. The polish just stays in the middle and drops to the bottom. Or It seems like it wants to gravitate to one side of the cup. Also, it dries on top of the water really quick so I can never make a design in the water. I use room temperature bottled water in a glass cup, about an inch and half long. Any tips on how I can improve my results?
Thank you.
Please disregard the first comment I posted. My email was incorrect.
I had all the frustrations you had, however I am planning to do it again. I used an entire bottle of one color, and half of my other one. Not to mention 1 and a half hours. But it was fun, and I might as well do that instead of watch TV. Water Marble just takes A LOT of practice, I’ve only done it once so I have a longways to go. But I do understand why you’re not going to try it again. Good luck in the future =)
where can i buy that water marble polish….??
I havent tried the technique and I really dont wear nail polish I dont have steady hands. But I personally thought that your nails came out cute for your first time. I like them. I know you dont want to try it again but maybe practice on a friend with the tape next time and get the hang of if
. Good job and good luck.
I tried water marbling and every time i tried to make a design or swirl it would always stick to the toothpick as if I was cleaning it up. I dried too quickly. I’m going to stick with old fashion nail designs not this new stuff.
I never thought to use cuticle oil. i tried the tape method and it was soooo messy. so, i used vaseline the next time and it was much neater. i’ll have to try the oil method next.
Use chapstick instead of tape. Make sure to get it all around your figure and the cuticle, and you can just wipe the excess polish right off. :] Just don’t be shy about using it lol.
And sparkly nail posish is a lot harder to work with, so I recommend using regular ones. :]
I just recently started experimenting with water marbling. Like you, I was very frustrated at first. It took a few different times of sitting there just trying over and over to get it. Now I have my own techniques and things are starting to get a lot better. I did a flower patter the other day that was perfect. I love this technique!!!
Your nails looked very pretty! It can be very time consuming and frustrating. I use clear or narrow masking tape for the task. Yes, I have problems at times with the polish not spreading out as it should, but I have found (sometimes), if I tap the droplet with a toothpick, it spreads; realizing that you really need to work somewhat quick. Too, I have tapped it and it sank.
[...] you’ve never heard of water marbling, you should definitely check out this tutorial on All Lacquered Up. And if you want to see some really fantastic manicures, head over to My Simple Little Pleasures. [...]
I like it!
I have never try this but after I saw your result I may try this next week
I found its very time consuming and i have found that none of my nail polish worked . It was difficult to make swirl yar.. it was very disappointing .. could u tell me which nail polish should i use.. I m india i dont get OPI here so
i absolutely LOVE this technique, but yes, its very time consuming. tape works to a certain extent but theres still a lot of clean up to be done. i just discovered this yesterday and it took me a couple tries on my nails but if you really look at each nail theyre all really pretty!! nail art deco by la colours works exceptionally well too!! i think your nails turned out great
:) p.s. never thought of chapstick, good idea??
I work at a salon and we were thinking about having nail marbleing as a service but dont know what to charge any ideas?
Oh gosh, I’m sorry. I wouldn’t even know where to start. Maybe charge the same as you would for nail art per nail.
Great tutorial; I followed the steps once and got a semi-presentable result. I’ll practice a few more times before featuring the look on my own blog.
I tried the water marbling and it worked out! I did all of the basic steps, but instead of the pads, I used q tips to clean up the extra polish. You hold onto the sticks, so you don’t have to worry about getting the nail polish remover on your nails(:
Also, I had the same problem with my polish sinking to the bottom. But, I tried dripping it at a different (a smaller) height and it worked fine after that. I think you should try it again. The first time I did it, it ended in frustration as well. The next times ended well because I knew the steps after that and knew how to use my utensils a little better. Practice makes perfect!