Saturday, January 14, 2012

Purple Mint Marbling

Hey guys! I am proud to say I have conquered water marbling!!!! With several failed attempts in the past on my record I thought it would never be possible. So I decided I would give it one more chance and if I failed I would let my dreams of marbling go. Thankfully I didn't fail this time and I learned the secret to getting awesome results! USE A LIGHT BASE COLOR! Try these five easy steps I used and see amazing results. I hope you enjoy my step by step tutorial. Make sure you comment and subscribe to see my latest looks! 
MixedMama<3

What I Used:
Essie Mint Candy Apple
Essie Soul Mate 
Seche Vite Top Coat
Tape 
Q-Tips 
Cup of room temperature FILTERED water
Mechanical pencil or Orange Stick  
Nail polish remover


FIRST: Paint your nails a base color of either white or a light color. I used two coats of Essie's Mint Candy Apple. Make sure your base color is COMPLETELY DRY before you continue to the next step. Once they are dry tape your fingers off so that only the nails are showing. This will help cut down on the clean up time at the end! 

SECOND: Drop in a dot of the first color (Essie's Soul Mate) and then a dot of your second color (Essie's Mint Candy Apple) in the middle of the first dot. keep alternating the colors till you get your desired amount of rings. If it's not spreading well try tapping the cup on the side and if that doesn't work then start over.  

THIRD: Take a toothpick or mechanical pencil and make your design in the polish (best results happen if you place the pencil or toothpick in the middle and swipe outwards since the outer ring may be dry).

FOURTH: Once you have your design ready pick which area you like best and stick your nail in the water at a 45 degree angle. Leave your nail in the water and blow on the polish left over for a few seconds. After a few seconds the polish will be dry and you can take a Q-Tip and swirl it around till all the polish is gone and then pull your nail out of the water.

FIFTH: Repeat for the rest of your nails. Once you are done peel off the tape and clean up around your edges with a bit of nail polish remover and a Q-Tip. Throw on your favorite top coat (I LOVE Seche Vite Top Coat) and you are done! 









45 comments:

  1. Super cute!!! Def gona try next time I do my nails!!

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  2. Awesome!I hope they turn out amazing!

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  3. So repeat the entire process/ set up for each nail? I really want to try this!

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    1. Yes you have to repeat the entire process/ set up for each nail to get the look. Hope they turn out awesome!

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  4. How long does it take for ur entire 10 nails? It does look very cool.

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    1. It took me about 30-40 minutes to complete the whole look. The longest part was letting the base color dry all the way and taping all the nails but it was well worth it! :)

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  5. i never would have understood this without the photos! thank you so much for sharing, i'm going to try!

    Kim

    http://loopsoflavender.blogspot.com/

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    1. Thank you so much Kim! I'm so glad I was able to help you! I hope they turn out fabulous!

      P.S Your blog rocks!

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    2. Love It I want to try this. Your directions are so clear. The photos are great. Thank you.

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    3. Thank you! I'm so glad you like it!

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  6. That looks so COOL! I don't know if I would be daring enough (ok, let's face it, patient) to go through with it, but it looks phenomenal. :) Great explanation and photos!

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    1. Thank you Lindsay! I'm so glad they are easy to understand! honestly it's so easy to do! While I was doing them I had my 14 month old hanging all over me!I'm so happy you liked it!

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  7. Hi MixedMama,

    I love this!! I just want to be sure of something. Do I have to empty and refill the bowl each time?

    Thanks!

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    1. So glad you like this Cassandre! No you don't have to dump and refill the bowl each time.

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  8. Hello! Just read your blog and I think this is amazing. I'm unsure about the fourth step however. Your nail is in the water while you are blowing at the left over polish? I didn't really get what was going on in this step. Could you explain it to me?

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    1. Hi Kellee! Yes you have to keep your finger in the water until you are done blowing on the leftover polish and pick it up from the top of the water because if you pull your finger out with all the leftover polish on top of the water then it will cling to your skin and nail when you pull it out and it will ruin your design. I really hope that this helps... if not try watching a few tutorials on youtube so you can see the motions :) Thanks for reading my blog!

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  9. Looks neat, and better explained that some tutorials I've seen. I've read that petroleum jelly/vaseline around your nails would do the same thing as the tape - the polish won't stick to your skin with the vaseline coating it.

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    1. Thank you! I tried the Vaseline way and it didn't work for me. I got tons and tons of bubbles on my nails and around the edges so it looked horrible. However I do have a few friends that swear by the Vaseline! :)

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  10. Does it matter what angle you put your nails in if you just want a random design?

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    1. Putting your nail in at a 45 degree angle just makes it so that the polish lays on correctly and no bubbles or clumping happens. If you want just random designs you can place your nail in a different section each time or draw a different pattern.

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  11. Do you have more tutorials? Your directions were very good. I'm gonna try tomorrow, but im a little nervous :-)

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    1. I have more tutorials on other looks abut not for marbling. If you scroll down my page look to the right side for a link that says tutorials. It will bring up all the tutorials that I have done :)

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  12. do you have any sugestions for brand of polish i havent had any luck with water marbling.... i conquered stamping this weekend...... next feat water marbling

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    1. I feel that cream finish polishes work the best and when you use all the same brand. I love China Glaze, Sinful Colors, OPI, Sally Hansen INSTA-DRI and Wet n' Wild. Essie is a hit or miss but still good.

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  13. I've tried this with terrible results. I always get the first dot of polish to spread but then the second dot, stays as a dot, and never spreads out. Was your polish newly opened, and what was the temperature of your water? Cold, warm, room temp, or does it not matter? Thanks!

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    1. I get that problem too! I use room temp water that is filtered. I've noticed that sometimes certain polish just don't mix well or it's too hot or cold in my room.

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  14. Thank you for the tips. I have tried this over and over and I never could get them to turn out. I'm for sure going to try this weekend!

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    1. So glad it helped you out! Id love to see them when you try it out :)

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  15. Ugg when I did it the Nail polish doesn't spread in the water! Do u use bottled water or tap water and how much water??

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    1. I use bottled water that is room temp and I fill it almost to the top so I don't have to dip my finger so far down.

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  16. I love this! I have to share this with my readers!

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  17. I did this and it was awesome. Thanks!

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  18. i dont get it...this didn't work for me

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    1. What don't you understand? Maybe I can help you.

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  19. I've been wondering how to do this design. Thanks for an awesome post!!!!! Hope you don't mind me sharing this on my blog.

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  20. these nails are pretty amazing! have to try it at my momas

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  21. So you have to dump the water out and start all over for each nail?

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    1. Nope, I used the same water for all of my nails. Just make sure that when you are cleaning up the left over polish in the water that you don't leave floating chunks of polish in the cup or it will mess up the next marble you do in that water.

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