Water Marbling- A unique way to design nails!

As promised, here I am to show all of you how to do some water marbeling. I am happy to see that this technique is spreading through some of my friends on facebook who have tried it and shared their pics with others. I think we can all agree that the world will be a more colorful place as water marbling continues to be discovered by more and more "fingernistas."

I hope these pictures help illustrate these easy steps to creating your own masterpiece. 

First, here are some starter tips:

• You can use whatever colors you would like.  You may run across a polish that just doesn't work right.  It happens.  I would just find a different color to replace it. 
• I suggest using a base color that will allow your designs to really pop.
• Pick really contrasting colors to help the design show detail.  Do not be afraid to go for bright and dark colors!

Items you will need:

• A cup or bowl- I used a paper dixie cup
• Room temperature water- I used Nestle Purified bottle water
• Base Coat
• Base Color (If you choose)
• Nail Polish color selection of your choosing
• Pointed Orange Stick (some say a toothpick works)
• Scotch Tape
• Scissors
• Tweezers
• Top Coat

Now that you have everything, here we go!

My Array of Polishes for this Project

 Above: Pink Gel Coat (I use this as a base. This stuff retails for $30. Too much for me, but I was given this bottle), Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure 240 Choco-Latte, Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure 370 Commander in Chic, Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure 540 Fruttie Patutie, Sally Hansen Hard as Nail Hard Lemondade, Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure 640 Plum Luck, and Salley Hansen Insta-Dri AntiChip Top Coat (I swear by this stuff and buy it by the buckets). 

Step by Step How to:

• Paint your base coat on clean dry nails.  Wait at least three minutes. 
• Then paint first coat of base color.  Wait at three five minutes.
• Paint a second coat of base color, if you desire.  Wait at three five minutes.
• Top with thin layer of fast drying top coat.  Wait at least three minutes.

*The theme is giving ample time for each layer to dry.  This goes for any time you do your nails.  A lot of people tell me they can't get their polish stick. To get a polish job to last, use the steps above. If you use decent products, it will last for at least 3-5 days.  I add top coats and small touch ups every couple of days to try to extend polish job even longer.*

Here is a picture of me with the base color on. It is a very nude color. 

• Once dry, you will need to tape the finger you want to dip first.
• Use a 1 inch piece of tape to go straight across the bottom part of cuticle.
• Use a 3 inch piece of tape to edge left side of cuticle and nail bed that goes up and around finger tip and edges right side of cuticle and nail bed. 

• Next, you get to start building your "bullseye" to create your design. 
• Fill your cup with room temperature water.
• Loosen the tops of your shaken bottles of polish.
• Let one drop of polish fall in center of water, you should see the polish spread to create a thin film on top.
• Let another drop of the next polish fall in the center, you should see this polish spread creating a circle inside the first polish.
• Repeat this step until you have built a bullseye that has a good mix of colors. 

*You will want to do this somewhat quickly.  No need to rush around, but going to slow may cause polish to dry and then you can't create design appropriately.*

• When satisfied with the bullseye of colors, use a pointed orange stick to create design. 
• Start in the middle of design and pull tip outward to create a swirl.  Have fun and experiment to find a design you like.

• When the design is to your liking, line your taped finger right on top. In a swift even movement, dip your finger nail down into the design.
• Keep finger submerged in water. 
• Swirl orange stick around finger to pick up the remaining polish residue. 
• When water seems clear, slowly pull finger up. 

After dipping two fingers at oncce.

• Use scissors and tweezers to slowly remove tape from finger. 
• Use cotton swab and polish remove to clean excess paint around finger.

Thumb after removing tape and excess polish.

•  Repeat process until all fingers are complete. 
• Apply top coat.
• Show them off!!

 

Left Hand





Right Hand





A look at my first time at it!







I think I like the bold colors better!





If any of you try this, I would love to see pics! Send them to me at mreckehoff@yahoo.com.  I would love to add them to my next post. 

Teaser for next week: I just bought six different nail design polish so I am thinking of doing some animal prints designs.  We will see!!!







Never thought I would blog, but....

I am not a writer. I am not an artist. I am not one of those people who says I am terrible at something when really I am great. Because I am none of these things, I imagine this blog will be mediocre, at best. Hell, I am not sure there will even be a second post yet. But since I have found something I am passionate enough about, I thought I would give this blogging thing a go.

So now that I have laid out my abysmal expectations of this blog, here is a little back story. As I have gotten older, like most women, I found a strange thing happening where I became more comfortable with who I am on the inside, while losing who I think I am on the outside. What I mean is before I knew it, I couldn't wear the same size, type, or style of clothes. So, I started to really focus on things that made me feel beautiful and not just what the newest trends or cover models dictated. And anyone who knows me knows that this usually translated into footwear. But as of late, there has been a new obsession- beautiful natural fingernails. 

How does it get classifed as an obsession? Well, it started to dawn on me that this might be the case when when  a friend told me that she thinks it's funny that she can recognize my hands on her facebook feed before even seeing my name. Then, I further affirmed the issue when I found myself checking out other girl's digits just as much as their shoes. It was stamped bonafide, when the hubs had to patiently wait on our way out of Denny's as I had to finish giving a full blown tutorial with the girl that checked me out. It is just that as I learn new techniques, find new products, or try out a new trend, I want to share the knowledge.

So, here I am starting this blog to share some of my ideas, experiments, failures, successes of the nail polish world with you. I have been using my finger nails as little expressions of my personality for some time now and I am hoping this will encourage or inspire you to do the same. So whether it is a crazy  shade that is out of your normal color pallette, those nail polish strips that seem a little crazy with all those patterns or a shellac manicure- DO IT! Give it a go. And if you don't want to spend the money or time, it's okay, just stick around for free as I will eventually hit on all of these because I have done them all!

Since this blog thing alone exhausted me for today, I will not be digging into anything new with you today.  However, I will leave you with a teaser. I plan to do water marbling again this week and will be taking pics along the way. This way I can not only show the end result, but how to get there! My first every attempt of water marbling happened two days ago.  I love it! (see the picture below)

For your Fingertips, At your Fingertips!