How to Do Water Marble Nails At Home | Step by Step Tutorial

Ever wonder how to get that lovely Water Marble Nail effect that you see in nail salons everywhere? With these 15 Steps you will be on your way to having the best at home manicure you’ve had in awhile. We promise it really is simple!

If picking out a base coat is the hardest part of doing an at home manicure, we totally dig it! Summer is right around the corner and this super trendy manicure will have you begging for more. The colors you choose are completely up to you. From experience, try to select complimentary colors to really give your nails that POP.

Step 1.

Choose a base color that is most suitable for your daily wear. We chose a soft pink (but it can really be any color). Nude or lighter tones work best to show off the design.

Step 2.

Once the base coat of your nail has dried, use tape to aid in the clean up process. This step will prevent you from getting any excess nail polish on your skin. It also helps from removing polish from your nails when you’re cleaning up.

Step 3.

Select ALL of the colors that you want to use in your nail art experiment. We recommend using Essie or O.P.I. The nail polish should be new and not too thick! This will indefinitely mess up your nail art.

Step 4.

Choose an old, unwanted bowl or cup. The marbling process will destroy the bowl. We recommend picking up some dollar store ceramic one’s for the project. If you have recycled Chinese takeout containers you can use those as well!

Step 5.

Fill cup or bowl with filtered water. The water temperature should be warm. Let it sit out for about an hour.

 Step 6.

Choose a polish and take out the wand. Don’t try to remove the polish drop on the tip of the brush. Hold it over the bowl, and the drop will fall in, and quickly move across the water’s surface.

Step 7.

Repeat the steps as many times as you like using the colors of your choosing.

Step 8.

And again…

Step 9.

Using a toothpick, create a design in the water and swirl it around like so:

Note: **Make as many lines in the polish as you like. This will create a unique and decorative finish. For better results, use a different Q-tip to create each line.

Step 10.

When done, dip your nail into bowl wait a few seconds. It is important that you allow the outer nail polish to dry before removing. Make sure you take a toothpick to the excess nail polish in your cup or bowl while your nail is still submerged. When you remove your finger from the bowl, there should be no more excess polish.

Step 11.

The design should be completely adhered to the nail. If it has not, you probably took the nail out while the polish was still wet. Remember to wait a fair amount of time for best results. You will likely wind up with a bit of excess nail polish on your finger tips. Don’t fret too much about this. A pointed Q tip or a cotton ball will do the trick. Just take some nail polish remover and remove the excess polish from your hands. 

Step 12.

Repeat steps for all the other nails in the same way.

Step 13.

Now, take your Q tip and make sure to clean all the polish around the tips of your nails and be sure not to remove any from your nail. Again, waiting a few moments will make all the difference in your end result.

 Step 14.

Congrats -You’re ready for your top coat!

Step 15.