As most of you know, I have been getting really into nail art recently and have been trying new techniques each week. This is my second attempt at the marble effect and I wanted to share it.
LETS BEGIN!
PREP YOUR NAILS
Before I start any new nail design, I like to make sure that my nail bed is well taken care of and prepped before painting.
First, you want to remove any old nail polish completely. You then want to use a cuticle remover; any will do, I use Sally Hanson Gel Cuticle Remover. You can use whatever you prefer, but I like to use an orange stick or cuticle pusher to push back your cuticle and remove any excess skin/cuticle. After you've rinsed that all off, you can begin filing. *I prefer a squared nail.* Afterwards, begin buffing over the entire nail bed with a buffer. To complete the prep, wash yours hands to make sure any loose debris is clear from your nails.
WHAT YOU'LL NEED
Base Coat - *Gelous, Advanced Nail Gel Coat
Mint Nail Polish - *wet n wild megalast I Need a Refresh-Mint (218A)
Dark Purple Nail Polish - *wet n wild megalast Disturbia (217B)
Top Coat - *Seche Vite Dry Fast Top Coat
Small cup/bowl/vessel with room temperature water
Tape
Q-tips
Orange Stick or Tooth Picks
Napkin or Paper Towel
Nail Brush (optional)
*All the products listed within this blog were purchased with my own money.
BASE COATS
First, apply a layer of your favorite base coat. If you're wondering why my nails are different colors and texture, it is because I am growing out and filing down old acrylic nails. I didn't want to remove them completely because my natural nail is damaged underneath.
Second, apply two coats of your mint nail polish. The pictures make the mint look sky blue, but in real life, it is a greenish-blue minty color.
TAPE YOUR FINGERS
Since we are dipping our nails into polish, you want to avoid having to remove tons of nail polish later by wrapping your finger in tape. For each finger, you will need 2 strips of tape.
Wrap first piece of tape above the base of the nail, as close to the nail as possible without touching.
Place the second piece of tape, centered on the tip of your finger, just below the tip of your nail.
Wrap the loose ends of the tape along the side of your nail bed to cover each side.
Wrap the rest of the tape behind the nail.
CREATE YOUR PATTERN
Using your small vessel of room temperature water, you're going to want to have both bottles of polish open. The technique is that you want your polish and the water to be similar temperatures. If the water is warm, the polish will be too dense and sink. If your water is cold, the nail polish will clump instead of spread out. ~TIP: when creating your pattern, work quickly as the polish will begin drying, resulting in bubbles or clumps within your pattern.
Take your nail polish wand/brush, and let it drip into the center of the water. If the water is of the right temperature, it will spread out across the water. Do this again for the next color (it will spread out inside of the first color). Continue to do this until you start to form a bullseye.
Repeat step 1 until you have 6 or more rings. I chose 8-10, alternating 4-5 drops of each color. Picture shows 10
At this point, you can make any pattern you would like, but if you want the same pattern I used, then continue reading... using an orange stick or tooth pick, lightly dip the orange stick tip into the center and pull out 5 tips.
Once you make a star shape, in between each tip, going from the outside in, do the same, pulling from the outer ring into the center.
BEGIN DIPPING
With your nail bed parallel to the water, dip your nail straight into the pattern.
While keeping your nail submerged, wait about 15-30 seconds to let the excess polish 'harden'. Take your orange stick or tooth pick and swirl it around the water to pick up the excess polish. The longer you let it harder, the easier it is to clean up. This is critical for keeping your pattern from messing up.
Carefully take your nail out, trying not to touch the bottom or the sides. ~Haha, just made me think of the game operation.
Repeat Steps 1-4 of "Create Your Pattern" again and repeat the dipping steps 1-3 for the rest of your nails. Depending upon the size of your water vessel, you can dip multiple fingers in at a time, but make sure they are not touching, are dipped at the exact same time, and both fingers are parallel to the water/pattern in order to get the best results.
Carefully remove the tape from your fingers and use a Q-tip dipped in nail polish remover to clean any polish that got onto your skin.
Optional: if you want an even cleaner look, use a nail art brush dipped in nail polish remover and go along the cuticle to clean up any more polish.
COMPLETE YOUR NAILS
To complete the look, paint on your favorite fast drying top coat.
Hope this was helpful! If you want more tutorials or have any questions, please comment below or email me!
Labels: blue, dark purple, design, marble, mint, nail art, nail polish, Nail Tutorial, nails, purple, seche vite, tutorial, wet n wild
