How to Get Perfect Water Marble Nails at Home

Water marbling is one of the most fun and creative things you can do with your nails, but it’s definitely not something you want to try on your own without first having some practice. This step-by-step DIY water marble nails tutorial will help you master this tricky art form, so if you’ve always wanted to try it out but felt like it was too hard, keep reading! You’ll be amazed at how simple it really is.

Supplies Needed

You will need nail polish in a variety of solid creme colors, a clear top coat, dotting tools or toothpicks, and paper towels. You will also need a clean up brush and acetone, unless you are using liquid latex or tape around your cuticles and finger skin.

You will also need a disposable cup (or a reusable cup that you don't plan to use for drinking again, just devote this cup to nail art and painting from now on.)

Fill the cup with room temperature water. If the water is too hot or cold, it will effect the nail polish by drying it too quickly while you make your design.

Preparing Your Nails

Begin by painting your nails with the first color you want to use. We recommend using a base coat to protect your nails, and using white as the base color to start out with.

Allow each layer of polish to dry before moving on to the next color.

Creating the Water Marble

Drip nail polish into the water cup, one color at a time, dripping one drop into the center of the last color to make colorful rings. Do as many as 5-15 drops total, switching between colors for each drip

Take the toothpick and draw a line from the center of the rings of polish, to the edge of the cup. Do this several times going in different directions, to make a star pattern. For more advanced techniques, you can also draw a swirl after making the starburst shape.

Applying the polish to your nails

Dip your nails one at a time into the cup at the best part of the marbled nail polish. Take a paper towel and clean up the rest of the unused polish before bringing your finger back up to the surface to avoid more color to get onto your nail.

Clean up around the cuticles and skin with your clean up brush and acetone, or take the tape or liquid latex off if you are using that.

Finishing Touches

After the polish is dry, use a dotting tool or toothpick to add small circles of different colors in the empty spaces between larger circles if needed.

Finish with a top coat and enjoy your new water marble nails!

You can even sparkle it up by applying a glitter top coat for a nice finishing touch. The possibilities are endless! Repeat this process for each finger nail, or just do one or two for an accent nail and paint the rest of your nails a solid color!

The best part about water marbling your nails is that it’s so simple and easy to do! Follow this tutorial, and you can have gorgeous marble nails in minutes with no prior experience required. To get the most out of your water marbling, use darker nail polish colors; they tend to create more striking patterns on the nails and will show off the finished design better than lighter shades. For best results, use at least three different colors; however, you can experiment with as many as you like! Tag us @northernnailpolish so we can see and share your nail art!