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Tuesday, June 7, 2011

There May Be Hope for Me and Marbling

You may remember that my first try at water marbling was not exactly a rousing success. I got a lot of tips in the comments on my entry about that attempt, which I appreciated; I re-read them all before I gave it another go.

Things I did differently this time:

1. Added more rings of polish to the cup before swirling them.

2. Pulled/combed/swirled the rings more aggressively.

3. Used distilled water instead of tap water.

4. Reused the same cup for all nails (just scraped the excess polish off the water before dropping in new for the next finger).

Things I forget/neglected to do:

1. Buy toothpicks or cocktail stirrers, so I used the same orange stick for mixing up the rings as I had before (no sense in ruining a new one).

2. Wiggle finger to dislodge air bubbles.

3. Take pictures of the cup at any point.

I liked the results better than the first time, but here, I'll show you so you can see if you agree:





The colors I used were Rescue Beauty Lounge Bruised, Zoya Bianca, and Studio M Shy Girl.



My favorite is middle finger, especially at an angle that camouflages the air bubble:



Runner up is my ring finger, which is extra swirly:



It looks like I got some skin irritation from the tape this time; I thought it was the same stuff as last time when I didn't notice that problem, but it didn't persist so I guess that's not an issue. Maybe the difference is I left it on longer this time since I was doing more drops and more swirling before dipping.

Things I want to focus on next time:

1. Being more deliberate with the patterns I make in the polish.

2. Eliminating those darn bubbles.

I'll be happy to hear any more tips you've got for me—the ones from last time definitely helped.
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27 comments:

  1. UnknownJune 7, 2011 at 8:23 AM

    Well you did a great job this time !! I had the same problems with the air bubbles, but I don´t know how to prevent them :P Great choice of colors, too! :)

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  2. turtlechick12June 7, 2011 at 8:24 AM

    That came out awesome! I love the swirls you got I never seem to get a good pattern going. Good Job! I have heard others use vaseline around the finger instead of tape but I haven't tried it. Honestly I just dip my finger and spend forever cleaning up later lol

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  3. jaljenJune 7, 2011 at 8:30 AM

    Ring finger is my favourite but it's an awful lot of hassle. I shan't bother as I seem to be a bit OCD about uniformity.

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  4. mrsrexyJune 7, 2011 at 9:03 AM

    I have no tips as I've never tried but it looks great! Ring finger is my fav too!

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  5. styrchJune 7, 2011 at 9:05 AM

    I think this is AWESOME! Your color combination looks likes such a wonderful strawberry ice cream with berry mix ins! It's yummy! I was thinking about you yesterday when I read The PolishAholic's Post on doing a splatter mani. I was wondering if you had given that a try too.

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  6. UnknownJune 7, 2011 at 9:06 AM

    I like your middle finger and pinky. They look so good! I still have never tried this, but every time I see someone do it I want to even more!

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  7. GailJune 7, 2011 at 9:28 AM

    It looks so pretty!

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  8. AllisonJune 7, 2011 at 9:29 AM

    Hi there! Those look GREAT! I have one suggestion, though I've never tried marbling. What about using masking fluid instead of tape or vaseline? You can get it at art supply stores - I've tried using it for regular manis and it works very well as long as you remove it while the polish is wet (which makes it much less useful since you can only do it with one coaters or reapply after every coat).

    But that does seem to make it perfectly suitable for water marbling no? I'm trying to remember the actual nail related product that was insane-o expensive and basically the same ingredients but I'm drawing a blank.

    Have a great day!

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  9. IvanaJune 7, 2011 at 9:46 AM

    Great job, it looks so beautiful! I really like WM but I don't have patience for that. :)

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  10. rebeccaJune 7, 2011 at 9:48 AM

    ooh, you did awesome!

    i have a tip :)
    if you see bubbles/lumps in the water before you dip, put your stick right into the bubble and it should pick it up and then it wont end up on your nail!

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  11. Deborah - Love. Varnish, chocolate and more...June 7, 2011 at 10:17 AM

    I like this combo and outcome! Still have to try for myself..

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  12. Sara ♥June 7, 2011 at 11:03 AM

    Well done! I think it looks brilliant! =]

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  13. CamyJune 7, 2011 at 11:36 AM

    They look really nice!

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  14. EleninaJune 7, 2011 at 12:14 PM

    I like it very much!! I tried and tried a lot of time to make the water marble nail art but I have got the same problem with the air bubbles, so I cannot have a good mani :-(

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  15. Nail Dazzler Nails June 7, 2011 at 12:38 PM

    That is really pretty. I wish I could do it so well.

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  16. Johanna (Paillette)June 7, 2011 at 12:54 PM

    Wow!!!
    Really beautifully done!!!

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  17. GemxJune 7, 2011 at 1:09 PM

    Wow, that looks amazing! Done like a pro!
    I really want to give this a try, but I'm the kind of person that only uses half a bottle of nail polish remover because the rest gets spilled with my clumsy limbs! Can you imagine the mess with water, polish and remover! :P

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  18. ToyomiJune 7, 2011 at 1:21 PM

    This is too cute , the combo worked so well .

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  19. Megan HarmeyerJune 7, 2011 at 2:41 PM

    Great marble!! See...it just takes some practice. And patience. I like the color combo.

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  20. Olivia FrescuraJune 7, 2011 at 4:59 PM

    great job! I suck at marbling. I'm gonna try again after finals I think, or maybe 4th of july mani!

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  21. LesleyJune 7, 2011 at 7:39 PM

    well done! this looks fantastic! I may have to stop being avoidy and just try marbling out for myself.
    :)

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  22. MariaJune 7, 2011 at 8:52 PM

    looks very nicee!! i love the color combination! and dont worry practice makes perfection ;)

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  23. MintyJune 7, 2011 at 9:16 PM

    This is so beautiful! My favorite is the ring finger.

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  24. lacednotesJune 8, 2011 at 4:34 AM

    Good job! I like the colours. Don't forget to wiggle that finger underwater to reduce the bubbles!

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  25. AnonymousJune 8, 2011 at 8:59 AM

    I love how this turned out. SO beautiful!

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  26. nail crazyJune 8, 2011 at 1:19 PM

    wow, amazing job, you really done it this time, congrats :-D

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  27. coraJune 10, 2011 at 3:21 AM

    love it! i'm terrible with the whole marble thing,i tried it for 5 times and i got such a thick layer that it looked like a polish goo :(
    no topcoat could harden that out i'm affraid.
    yours turned out really really pretty!

    ReplyDelete

Thank you for reading and commenting! I greatly appreciate knowing I'm not just talking to myself here. :) I'm moderating most comments now due to the spate of spammers who claim to be looking for sexy times.