Greetings folks!
In this post I'll be sharing some tips I've learned over the years about water marbling. Some tricks I've learned from Colette at My Simple Little Pleasures (if you haven't yet checked out her YouTube channel, please do!), and some tricks I've learned through trial and error.
The Container:
- You don't want to put your water in a container that's too large. Unless you have larger fingers and plan on dipping all five at once, you don't want to use a bowl. Try to find something that's relative to your finger size and how many fingers you want to dip. Otherwise, it will take quite a bit of time and polish to build your bullseye, and when it comes to water marbling time is of the essence
- Don't use a container that's too small. Again, you'll want something relative to your finger size and dipping plan. Even if you only plan to dip one finger at a time, too small of a container won't allow you to drip many rings and you may end up with a lackluster design.
- Use a container that's deep enough to allow you to dip your fingers through the polish and not bump your nails on the bottom.
- For simplicity and cost-effectiveness, use a sustainable container--something that you can re-use every time. You can clean it with acetone after every marble, or if you're lazy like me you can clean it after every dozen marbles--it doesn't affect how your next marble will turn out.
- I use a glass tea-light candle holder. I have thin fingers, and can dip three fingers at a time.
The Water:
- Use room temperature water. I cannot stress this enough! If your water is too cold, your polishes will dry too fast and you won't be able to draw your design. If your water is too warm, your polishes will become thick and gloopy and won't spread. They'll also tend to blend together more if they're too warm, which will result in a "muddy" look. I put my water in a bottle and leave it out for a while (at least a day) so that it's the right temperature when I'm ready to use it. Putting it in a bottle will also keep my cats from drinking it!
- If you have hard water, I strongly suggest using filtered or bottled water. Hard water has a lot of minerals that may make it harder for your polish to spread. I have hard water where I live, and get much better results using filtered water. If you don't have hard water, you may be able to get away with regular tap water.
The Polish:
- No one brand of polish has great marblers across their line. It's always a good idea to do a test run with all the polishes you plan to use to make sure that they'll spread and won't dry too fast.
- In my experience, polishes that tend to spread well are the ones with thinner formulas. Drugstore brands are great for this, but again, no one polish brand has perfect marblers across the board.
- Don't be afraid to use different brands in one marble.
- If one color doesn't want to spread too much, go ahead and drop your next color. Sometimes a polish will push the previous ring out. If it doesn't, that previous color may have to be abandoned.
- Most glitter polishes won't work for water marbling. However, if you really want a glitter in your marble, try it out!
Dripping:
- Drip relatively close to the surface of your water. If you're dripping from too high, the polish will sink to the bottom of your container.
- Work quickly! You don't want your polish to dry before you've had a chance to draw your design. It's a good idea to have all of your polishes open and ready to go.
The Design:
- Use a tool with a fine point. A specialized water marble tool, an orange stick, or a pin will all work. I use a toothpick.
- Use your tool to anchor your bullseye to the container by lightly pulling the outer ring to the sides of your cup in a few places. This will keep the bullseye from moving around while you're trying to draw your design.
- Start drawing at the second or third ring. The outer ring is typically dry by the time you get to this point.
- Use a very light touch when drawing through the polish. Going in too deep can drag the polish or create holes in your design.
- Wipe your drawing tool off on the side of your cup or on a paper towel after every swipe through the polish.
- If your design requires that you draw into the center of your cup, you'll probably get a clump of polish in the center. Use your tool to lightly dip through the clump to remove it.
- Try to work quickly. If you allow your polish to dry, you won't be able to draw your design.
- There's no hard and fast rule as to what design you should use. Experiment! Go crazy! Be completely random! HAVE FUN!
Dipping:
- Try to dip your finger(s) as parallel to the water as possible.
- If you're dipping more than one finger at a time, try to dip your fingers at exactly the same time. Otherwise, the first finger dip will pull the polish and skew the design on your other finger(s).
- Don't bump your nails on the sides or bottom of your container! I'm a klutz and have done this more times than I can count...
- Before removing your fingers from the water, make sure that you clean the surface to ensure no leftover polish clings to your nails. Try not to bump your nails with whatever cleanup tool you're using (I've done this too. Meh.).
I hope these tips were helpful! If there's anything I've forgotten or if you have any questions, please don't hesitate to leave me a comment and let me know!
I have a tendency to prefer my gold polishes a bit more on the yellow side, but I have to say that this is probably my favorite gold that I own. It definitely leans more brown than yellow, but it's not that murky kind of brown that you can find in some golds (Sally Hansen "Golden-I", for example). 