Let the Water Marble Tips, tricks, and Comparisons continue... (Part II)

Hello there friends! Welcome back for part two of my water marble post. If you missed Part I, you can find it here: http://coveredbycolor.blogspot.com/2014/04/im-no-expert-but-i-have-few-water.html

Just to reiterate, I am still using the same water from the marbles you saw yesterday. I am rating each brand for marbling on a scale of 1-10 with ten being the BEST and 1 being the WORST, in my own opinion and experience.

we left off yesterday after marbling with some China Glaze, OPI, Julep, Sephora by OPI, and Orly. let's get down and dirty with the next round!

First up today is Zoya. The colors I used were Arizona, Rocky, and Sofia.

As you can see in the photo above, Arizona (the orange) spreads a little too much. Creating uneven spreads among the colors.

The end result was nice. I wish I had a better picture. I had more orange sections on my nail than the other colors though. My experience with Zoya is that some colors marble really well, and some just don't. I am giving Zoya a rating of 6 on my 1-10 scale.

Next up is Sinful Colors. The colors I used were Candy Coated, Sugar Rush, and Why Not?

The spread in the photo above was super nice. I could have went on dropping a little bit further, but chose not to.

The purple color (Candy Coated) does not show up well. After looking at the bottle I figured out why. It has a shimmery finish. I am giving Sinful Colors an 8 on my 1-10 scale. I have used Sinful MANY times to marble and get decent results.

Next up we have Wet N Wild Wild Shine. Colors used were Blazed, Sunny Side Up, and Lady Luck.

As you can see from the above photo, this polish spread perfect. I also want to note that these are not super opaque polishes. They are a little on the sheer side, so expect the colors to dull a little when marbling with them. This is why in Part I posted yesterday I suggest you wear a white undie or other undie of your choice.

Drawing my design was super easy with the great spread I had.

Nice results even though the color is a little diluted. I like this result. I am going to give WnW Wild Shine a 7 on my 1-10 scale. I have marbled with several of these and usually have a nice consistent result.

Finally, I have some Sally Hansen X-Treme Wear polishes. Colors used were Pin Punk, Blue Me Away, and Mellow Yellow.

I LOVE this spread. The colors stay vibrant and spread evenly.

Drawing a design was simple with this spread.

You can see in the photo above the colors stayed bright, and the design came out wonderous!!! I absolutely LOVE marbling with this brand, and almost always have great results. I give this brand a 10 on my 1-10 scale.

Now you may be scratching your head wondering the point of all this. Water marbles are a matter of trial and error. I have tried all of the above brands at one point or another, and have struggled with some. I was told it was probably my water temperature, but you can see that if I used the same bowl of water for each brand, then why would some marble at that temp and others not?

Some added tips that I thought of after writing Part I:

1. After removing your finger from the water, place your handover a trash bin (nail tips pointed down towards the can) and give your hand a couple gentle jerks. (Now that sounded like a porno! HAHA!) This will shake the excess water form the nail and help reduce bubbles that can occur.

2. Be sure you remove ALL of the polish off the top of the water before you remove your nail form the water. One way I do this is to blow gently on the polish and then use a toothpick and roll it through the polish.

3. If the tip of your toothpick become too goopy with polish while drawing your design, roll it on a piece of wax paper between passed. You should only use the very tip and gently swipe it through the polish, you should not be submerging it as you draw the design.

4. Don't worry about using the outer rings of polish when drawing your design. Those tend to be dryer and sometimes it can ruin the design to try to draw in them.

5. HAVE PATIENCE and PRACTICE. Buy some cheap-o drugstore polishes and experiment one day when its rainy or you are bored. Do not get discouraged.

Let me know what you think! I would love to see you try using some of the info you found here. Send me your try or post it on Covered by Color's Facebook page. Thanks for stopping by!

Until next time~

Jenn

I'm no Expert... but I have a few Water Marble Tips for you! (Part I)

First off, let me start off with a small disclaimer. I by no means am a water marble expert. I think I do okay for someone who has done it maybe 25 times, and my water marble manis turn out OK... Because I see so many struggle with water marbling, I decided to share a few tips and tricks that help ME get decent water marbling results. As you can see from the photo below, I will be using sets of 3 polishes to show you formula differences and how it can affect your marble.

1. Let me begin with some important things you must do before you even sit down to marble. Have room temperature water. I keep a bottle of water on my desk with the lid on it. That way, the water is room temperature. Water that is too hot or too cold simply will not work. I have seen it mentioned on different blogs and tutorial videos that certain water works better than others. I don't seem to see a difference. I use water from my tap, or I use spring water. Both work about the same for me.

 

 

2. Be sure you are not near a fan or heating and air duct. Blowing air can change how fast the polish sets in the water, and can prevent it from spreading.

3. Get your supplies ready BEFORE you start. Reaching for a toothpick while the polish is in the water can cause the polish to set and become useless. Also, keep in mind when choosing colors that because you are adding them to water, some colors may bleed over into the next color in the water bowl. Try to be mindful of colors that compliment each other. Do a trial run of your colors in the water to see if they spread well and the colors will compliment each other.

4. Use a base coat of polish. "Undies", if you will. I almost always use white. It allows the colors to be more vibrant. When you add polish to the water, it spreads out, and for some polishes it dilutes. You will see me use the word spread quite frequently in this post.

5. Tape around your fingers with tape. Trying to use Vaseline can make your water greasy, and can affect the spread of the polish. I prefer scotch tape. It is easier for me to tear off than painters or masking tape. Tape I GREAT for making clean-up simple and quick.

 

6. Make sure the polishes you want to use are open and ready. Fumbling around with bottles can cause the spread to set and then it will stop spreading.

 

7. Be quick. Drop one color, then the other inside, and so on. Do not pause in between!

 

OK! Now we are ready for the fun stuff! I highly suggest as a new water marbler, you do not use sheer, metallic, or sparkly polishes. They do not marble as easily as a good solid cream polish. For the purpose of this post, I used only opaque creamy polishes. Also, as a newbie, I would not recommend starting with more than three polishes. It can become difficult with four or five. For the purpose of this post, I also chose o keep brands together. You can mix and match brands by all means.

 

(water does not change for any of these marbles, I used the same bowl of water for all of them)

 

I am trying to make a point with this next information. Please bear with me if I sound confusing.

I will use a scale of 1-10, 10 being the BEST and 1 being the WORST. (This is my opinion, others may have different experiences.)

 

First set of polish:

 

First up is China Glaze. I used Light as Air, Rich and Famous, and recycle for this demonstration.

 

 



I add a drop at a time of each color. Now, notice how even the "spread" of the polish is. China Glaze spreads nicely for me, and the color concentration stays strong and doesn't dilute very much.

 

 

This is a successful marble, and on a scale of 1-10, I rate China Glaze a 8 for marbling.

 

Next, I did Orly. The colors I used were Red Flare, Lemonade, and Snowcone.

 

 

As you can see from the photo above, the first color spread fine, and the others just sat in the middle of the bowl. I call this a bad spread. It probably will not come out as nice as other marbles. Many people at this point might tell you to check your water temperature, but remember the China Glaze spread really well in the same bowl of water, at the same temperature. In my opinion, it's the polish that doesn't spread very well.

 

 

These colors bled into each other. It's not entirely awful, but not the look I was hoping for. I would give Orly a rating of 6 on a scale of 1-10.

 

Next up is OPI. The colors I used were I Theodore You, Amazon...Amazoff, and You're Such a Budapest.

 

 

From the photo above, you can see that these polishes spread really well. Two of the three diluted a little. I realized after that they weren't the most opaque colors I could have chosen, which could have been the issue. Since the argument could come into play again about water temperature, remember I used the same water bowl in the previous marbles.

 

 

 

The final result for the OPI is above. It has a very cool effect and I wouldn't call this a failure. I would rate the OPIs a 7 on a scale of 1-10.

 

Next we have Julep. For this marble I chose Nina, Lauren, and Courtney.

 

notice the spread is not equal, and it did not stretch very far towards the edge of the bowl. They started drying too fast. Same water as the previous marbles here as well.

 

 

I couldn't draw a great design because of the polish drying too fast.

 

 

It was a horrible mess! I have tried several times to marble with Julep with no success. In my opinion it's too goopy and dries too quickly to get a good spread on the water. I would rate Julep a 2 on a scale of 1-10.

 

Finally to close out this round, we have Sephora by OPI. Colors used were: Havana Dreams, Add a Cherry on Top, and What Aura Gonna Do?

 

 

That is an awesome spread!! There is even pooling of colors, and it stretches to the sides of the bowl very nicely. Again, same water as used for all of the other marbles.

 

 

Drawing a design in this spread was so easy and so pretty!

 

 

The final product came out very nice! The light blue of Havana Dreams sort of dilutes and fades out, but it blended nicely with the other two and gave a very pretty effect. This would be super for Valentines Day. On the 1-10 scale, I would rate this brand a 9 for marbles.

 

Stay tuned tomorrow for the second half and more brands with my ratings. Let me know down below what you think. Do you think these tips and tricks will help you? Will you try to marble using a different brand if it hasn't worked for you in the past?

 

Until tomorrow~

Jenn

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My China Glaze Spring/Summer Color Picks

I am always on the hunt for neon and bright polishes that catch my attention. Even the hubby has gotten involved in pointing out super bright or neon polishes to me in the store. I went through my China Glaze collection the other day and pulled out my brightest ones, and then took a trip to Sally's for the B2G1 sale in search of other neons or brights I did not have. I love the colors and all, but the application and finish of these polishes kind of grinds my gears! I also do not like wearing these colors without nail art. I love them, but I just do not dig plain Jane neon nails. So, Using some of the ones in the photo below, I did a manicure full of nail art. I decided to include the sponges I used in the picture because I thought they looked so pretty! :)

Pictured: In the rear; Orange Knockout, Celtic Sun, Purple Panic, Pool Party, Rose Among Thorns

Laying in front; In the Limelight, Sun Worshipper

 

 

For the nail art below, I used the colors Orange Knockout, Celtic Sun, Purple Panic, Pool Party, and Rose Among Thorns. To me, this makes a perfect summer manicure. The colors all marbled VERY well, and also sponged on over white perfectly to make the gradient underneath the stripes. I had no issues with application.

No Flash

 

With Flash

 

 

Marble close up

 

 

I will be featuring more of these colors and some by other brands in the coming week. Be on the lookout for those. I realize some of these are older colors from old collections, but I think sometimes instead of going out and buying new polishes for a season, you can go "shop" your own collection for forgotten polishes.

 

With the spring and summer season upon us, which are your "go to" brights or neons? Do you even care for those types of colors? I asked my followers on my Facebook for input on colors/brands they preferred in neon or bright colors, I would love to hear from you here as well. ENABLE ME!!! I know all of us ladies in the nail community are capable of that! :)

 

Until next time~

Jenn