Q&A for How to Create a Marble Nail Effect Using Water

This can be for a lot of reasons. It may be the temperature of the water, or it may be the nail polish. This technique does not always work well with glittery colors.

The water should be room temperature.

It can but the result is a lot less brilliant because the nail polish dissipates in the water a lot faster, so you have to use it quickly.

Try a different nail polish that is not quick dry or just try to be quicker. It could also be that the water is to warm.

Yes, but the more nails you do it with, the harder it becomes. Also, your marbled patter may not be as visible on your other fingers.

You can put tape around your nail, to make excess nail polish easier to remove. You do not have to put tape on your actual nail.

Around half an hour. Wrapping the nails with your non-dominant hand is tricky and takes more time, but they dry pretty much instantly.

Applying a base coat and a top coat work to help your polish last longer. They are both optional if you are doing your nails yourself. Applying glitter as a top coat will look sparkly, but will not provide the same benefit as an actual top coat.

No, but it does help so that it doesn't mix, and it is easier to pull off later. The glue doesn't take that long to dry anyway, so just be patient.

Yes -- if it is too hot, it will clump in the middle and dry too fast. Use room temperature water.

The base coat goes on first and protects the nail. The top coat goes on last and seals the nail polish so it lasts longer and doesn't chip as easily.

Pink /purple; red/orange; black/white; yellow/pink; yellow/purple; grey/white; grey/pink; grey/black; black/green; black/purple; green/purple; orange/purple; blue/purple; blue/pink and white/everything.

Tap and bottled water will produce the same results.

Liquid latex, it's much easier to use. I recommend Simply Peel by Bliss Kiss.

Not any more than regular polish. It can be easily removed with nail polish remover, which you can pick up at your local drugstore.

You could use a dotting tool or bend a bobby pin out of shape and use that.

Paint your nails with white polish first to make sure the marble design is more prominent.

It doesn't matter what brand you use, as long as it's a thin formula. A polish will be in its thinnest state when it's brand new. But if you're looking for the best brand to just paint your nails with, might I suggest Sinful Colors.

Let the water sit out on the counter until it feels room temperature.

It seems like you're forgetting one thing, which is an easy mistake to fix. When you dip your finger in the design, use a toothpick or cotton bud to clean up the extra polish on the surface of the water, then pull your finger out of the water.

You're only using a couple drops of each color, so it doesn't matter what brand you use.

You could, but paint washes off easily and may not be good to absorb.

Yes, because water marble adds a very thin layer of nail polish to your nails so that you need a top coat and base coat to make it thick and to last longer.

For around your finger, probably. You can use regular Scotch tape/Sellotape. It makes cleanup so much easier.

Essie and OPI are both good options, but you'll probably have to experiment for yourself to see which ones are best for you personally.

You have to keep alternating colors and add lots of rings of color in order for each color to show up. For the first drop you add in the cup, it has to spread out over the entire surface of the water so it has a much larger surface area to cover, so the color will be much more sheer. The more you alternate colors, the more each drop pushes the other rings out to the edge of the cup, meaning that the other rings will be more pigmented. The second problem is that you're waiting too long to drag the polish so by the time you started to drag, it already dried.

You have to use a polish with a very thin formula. You can buy a new polish and use the new polish because the formula is in its thinnest state when new, or buy a polish thinner and drop a couple drops into the bottle and use that.

Yes, you can.

It doesn't matter what kind of tape you use, all that matters is that you are protecting your skin.

No. The water has to be room temperature or the polish won't spread correctly.