How To: Neon Water Marble

I thought I had already posted this tutorial, but I guess I was wrong. Good thing that Maria asked me about it in one of my previous post after I posted this photo of Aishila sniffing my nails. She actually gave me one of her little nos kisses, but who cares.  =) 

***

Things you'll need: a cup of lukewarm water, white nail polish, neon polishes in at least three different shades, toothpicks and tape.

Apply white nail polish and wait for it to dry. White base will make the neon colors really pop. I used a coat of  BYS White Matte nail polish. 

Apply some tape around your nail to protect the skin on your fingers from the nail polish. It will be easier to do the clean-up later if you follow this step. 

Apply the nail polish on the water surface. I applied the yellow color first and then pink, blue, pink again and so on... Always apply the polish in the middle of the polish circle. If the polish doesn't spread over the water surface, use different polish (usually it's the thickness that prevents the polish from spreading) or adjust the temperature of the water. It's best when it's lukewarm and not too cold. These are the colors I used (all BYS): The Right Bright, In Da Club and Matte Fuchsia. 

Use a toothpick to make the pattern in the polish. Once you make the pattern you like, just dip the finger in the water (on the design) with your nail facing downwards. Use a toothpick to remove the excess polish from the surface of the water and lift your finger from the water. Remove the tape. Repeat on other nails.

After you're done with marbling, you're definitely gonna need to do some clean-up. Use cotton swabs dipped in acetone for larger nail polish 'stains' and a brush for smalled ones and the areas around the cuticles.  You can add a coat of top coat for higher shine. 

That's it. It's pretty simple, but quite time (and polish) consuming. Let me know if you ever tried the water marbling technique yourself. Did you like it? 

Thanks for looking and commenting!