Nail Challenge is over. I am glad about this - I was sick for a fair bit of it and really sort of lost it towards the end! That said, it was a fantastic way to learn new techniques and to think of ideas to use my untried or least-used polishes :) I started a 'Polish Ban' on the 1st of May that coincided with the Moyou London Challenge and had about 40 untried polishes in the bottom drawer of my Helmer - on the last day of May, I now have only 9!
So what I did when I got sick AGAIN - going on a whole month now - is use another untried polish and try a technique that I haven't done in a while:
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Lyn B Designs is an indie polish company over on Etsy and I have recently discovered their polishes thanks to a wonderfully enabling friend. On the 30th of April I placed my last pre-buy-ban order and received four wonderful polishes including the gem you can see on my index and little fingers above!
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Space Gandalf is a SUPER glittery polish. Like seriously seriously glittery. Cover your eyes in the sun glittery. You can only sort of see it above. It is a lovely smooth blue jelly base and packed full of small holographic microglitter and a bunch of holographic shreds and, my personal favourite, holographic moons! It dries to a very textured finish so you will need a coat or two of good topcoat, but it applies really well and the glitters come off on the nail nicely. I was impressed, if not for the holographic glory of it, but for the fact I only needed ONE thick coat to get maximum coverage.
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You can see just one coat of Space Gandalf over one coat of China Glaze Fancy Pants above. I am really surprised at how opaque it became and that I didn't have to fish for the holo moons!
It will also be apparent that I had some fun with water marbling! I used the below colours either side of Space Gandalf for the water marble accent nails:
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Left to right: China Glaze Fancy Pants, LynB Designs Space Gandalf & China Glaze Dandy Lyin' Around. Not pictured is OPI Alpine Snow that I used as undies for the marble.
Now, I have a bit of a bone to pick with all the chatter out there about water marbling and how it is seen as some sort of 'holy grail' of nail art techniques because it is apparently so hard. It is NOT really that hard, trust me! I will admit that there is some trial and error finding polishes that work, but it is not the most difficult thing I have ever attempted.
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There are only a few "rules" that I follow that have resulted in excellent results for me when I have done water marbling:
1) Don't go out and buy bottled water before you have tried water from your tap! I have found a few guides that recommend only using bottled water. This is more often that not because some minerals in local water supplies around the world can affect whether or not the polish spreads, which is true, but I have found we have very "soft" water in New Zealand and I have never had an issue with it.
2) Use a shot glass! Using a larger glass can mean that the polish will try to spread over a greater area meaning a less precise marble pattern or it might not spread at all. I use a shot glass for all my marbling because it is small and gives my polish a nice, small and circular shape to stick to. It's also less bulky and messy because you don't need as many drops to get a nice pattern!
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3) Work quickly, but steadily. Just like nail stamping, you need to work quickly and drop the little balls of polish in as quickly as possible before it all dries too much. This doesn't mean you need to rush, but use a steady hand and don't drop the drips of polish from too high a height from the water. Just above the water level works well for me.
4) Use a super pointy item to drag through the polish. I know you might see a lot of dotting tools used to drag polish, but I have personally found them too bulky and blunt to really drag effectively. More often than not they would drag too much and ruin the circles of polish. I use a very small 2mm knitting needle to marble with. It's super thin and pointy and makes the dragging part effortless! You could also use a tapestry needle or a pin....or even a clean nail!
And finally...
5) Practice! I know you will hear it a tonne of times, but practice really does make perfect. It helps to try the technique a number of times before you really "get" it and you might just discover a different method or ways of marbling that work for you. Try different brands of polish and when you hit on a winner? Stick to the brand or just keep experimenting!
While these tips are by no means a definitive guide to water marbling, they are things that have worked for me every time and methods I will continue to use.
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Oh I have a new camera too. So much macro. Many sparkle. WOW!
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If you would like to have a look at the polishes on offer at Lyn B Designs, you can go and check out the store on Etsy. I have seven Lyn B's now and will continue to go back to get more :D
(Disclaimer: All polishes and extra materials used and reviewed in this blog post were purchased and not donated for review unless otherwise stated.)
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