Tips and Tricks Tuesday-Water Marbling 101

Think you can't watermarble? My tips might change your mind!

Like many people, I really struggled with watermarbling. I was a total failure the first few times I did it. Now that I've watched a lot of Youtube videos on the subject, I feel like I'm a lot better at it.  At least, I haven't wanted to tear my hair out the last few times I did it, which is progress for me. ;)  I wanted to share all these tips in a concise post so that other people who were struggling like me could find it all in written form rather than having to a bunch of videos. (Although watching water marbling videos can be quite enjoyable, also!)

I have a few videos links in this post, so please jump to begin unraveling the mysteries of watermarbling!

Comparison: Butter London Tart With a Heart vs. Nina Holographic Topcoat

Here's a quick post comparing Butter London Tart With a Heart with Nina Holographic Topcoat. I had a hard time finding Tart With a Heart at the sample counters at my local Nordstroms, and then only got a few pictures before the polish peeled off my nail wheel. As you can see, the Nina Holographic Topcoat is very close to Tart With a Heart, but it's not an exact dupe.

Butter London Tart With a Heart on left, Nina Holographic Topcoat on right

Here is a picture from the very kind MissCarley. She's a fellow regular at the Makeup Alley nail care forum. I really recommend visiting, it's such a great resource for us nail polish nuts! Anyway, Miss Carley was nice enough to give me permission to use her pictures of the Butter London Tart With a Heart and Nina Holographic Topcoat. Here's one pic: 

Nina Holographic Topcoat on left and Butter London Tart With a Heart on right 

In MissCarley's pictures, Nina Holographic topcoat is on the left and TwaH is on the right. She tried it over American Apparel Hassid (a black creme) and Butter London The Black Knight.  

I hope you can see in these pictures that the concentration of microglitter in TwaH is a little denser than the Nina Holographic topcoat. However, the polishes are so similar that I think Nina Holographic Topcoat will be close enough for those of you lemming Butter London Tart With a Heart. Since Nina polishes retail for around $5 at Sally's and Butter London polishes retail for around $13, many of us will find the Nina Holographic to be an affordable way to satisfy a high end lemming!  Join me after the jump for a couple more pictures comparing this duo.

Quick NOTD: OPI I Don't Give a Rotterdam with Zoya Nyx

OPI I Don't Give a Rotterdam with Zoya Nyx accent nail

Here's a quick post sharing a recent look I wore. As I shared in my original post about Zoya Nyx, I got Nyx because I wanted a color like OPI I Have a Herring Problem or Zoya Skylar. So when I ran across OPI I Don't Give a Rotterdam at one of my local nail supply places, I didn't hesitate to purchase it. I added an accent nail of Zoya Nyx on the ring finger and topcoated it generously. I really like this dusty blue combination on my nails.

Valentine's NOTD: Skittle stamps over gradient!

Valentine's Day themed mani, left hand

I love this even though pink and red are typically so not me. Maybe part of the charm is that there's so much going on in this mani. Besides the pink and red gradient, I also used INM Northern Lights as a topcoat. The stamping is in white; Sinful Colors Snow Me White, specifically.  I will probably end up updating this post with more pics later, but wanted to post while it was still Valentine's Day.

Valentine's Day themed mani, right hand

Nail Art 4 Life~ OPI Metallic 4 Life with silver accent

OPI Metallic 4 Life with Wet n Wild Metallica based accent nail

Here's a manicure I sported recently with a couple of different techniques for the accent nail. I started with 3 coats of OPI Metallic 4 Life on most of my nails. I started with a  base of Wet n Wild Metallica on my two accent nails. Then, I added black accents with a different nail art technique for each middle finger. Because I wanted to have a similar glittery look on the accent nails, I topped it all off with a coat of Color Club Platinum Record, a silver hex glitter mix in a clear base. What were the 2 nail art techniques I used? To find out and find video tutorials for both, jump!

OPI Metallic 4 Life with black polish and silver glitter on the accent nail

Simple shimmer gradient

Gradient with OPI Congeniality is My Middle Name with Grape, Set, Match

Here's a quick post of a manicure I wore recently. I was trying to cover up the tipwear I had on OPI Congeniality is My Middle Name, a great berry pink shimmer. I thought about a few glitters, but ended up sponging the tips with OPI Grape, Set, Match, a purple shimmer.  I think the color combination works really well, although perhaps my pictures aren't the best.

Another view of the shimmery pink and purple gradient

Quick post: Lóreal He Red My Mind

Lóreal He Red My Mind, sun

Here´s a color I wore around Christmas with some cute stickers on it. Unfortunately, only these pictures turned out. I figure it can´t hurt to share, though.

Lóreal He Red My Mind is a nice candy red shimmer polish. I picked it up for a $1.00 at Big Lots a while ago, and think it was well worth the the price! ;)

Lóreal He Red My Mind