Stone Marble Nails

For about the past year, everywhere I look, I see stone marble nails!

I've seen this effect done in so many different ways and in any possible color combination.

Done with gel polish, sharpies and rubbing alcohol, acrylic paint, thinned out nail polish, decals (either ready ones or handmade), stamping (the Nailasaurus has a great tutorial for stamped on marble nails), using plastic wrap, topped with some foils for a more luxurious effect..And the list could probably go on and on..

I don't know about you guys, but I am in LOVE with this effect. I've been flirting with the idea of trying these out for such a long time and now that summer is finally here, it only felt right.

I was going for a classic white and greyish marble look, so I started off with a white nail polish as my base. It really helps if you have a reference picture to look at while you are doing this, so this is what I used.

As far as I know, marbles don't have a flat matte color, they always seem to have some shimmery particles. To give it a realistic look and some depth, I used two sheer shimmery polishes and some scrunched up plastic wrap to randomely dab them on my nails and then sealed it with a fast drying topcoat. One polish was almost clear with a yellow/green shimmer and the other one was a sheer grey with a pink/purple shimmer. Unfortunately, the camera couldn't pick up the shimmer and it seems as if I used a sheer light grey polish for the background.

When that was completely dry, I mixed up some white and black acrylic paint to get a nice grey color and thinned it out with water to a very thin consistency. With a thin nail art brush I made some squiggly lines here and there, some a bit darker than the others..And finally topped it with a fast drying topcoat.

Keep in mind that marbles are natural and like anything coming from nature, each piece is unique. So the more random the lines are, the better. And the little imperfections are what sometimes make it perfect!

I'm really loving stone marble nails and I'd like to experiment with more techniques and colors. I can't wait to find out what works best! If you have tried this effect, I'd love to know what's your favorite technique. :)


Polishes used:

Orly Bonder Rubberized Basecoat
Orly - White Tips
Erre Due - 147
Erre Due - 155
Orly Sec 'N Dry Quick-Dry Topcoat

International Children's Day Nail Art

November 20 is International Children's Day, a very important day, but for me it's even more special since it's my niece's birthday. So, to celebrate both I decided to take some of my niece's drawings (picture below) and use them to make a nail art design. I know I'm a day late, but life happens...And it's better late than never!

As most of you have probably noticed, children are very creative when drawing and have a crazy imagination. That's what I love about them! They can draw things that you would never imagine, not even in your dreams!

On to the nail design.. I present you my friends Princess Mermaid (Oops! I forgot her bow.), Turkey and Elephant. They are all one of a kind!! I know, this design might look crazy to you. But for this special day I had to see things from my little girlfriend's eyes and pretend I'm 6 years old. I suggest you do the same.. The more colors we use, the better! And we have to have some glitter, because let's face it, glitter is FUN! Oh! And of course, you can't be a princess without any glitter!!

PS: Letting your inner child come out, is very fun and creative. If we did it more often, we would smile more! Children have a very simple way of thinking which makes things very easy and as grown ups we tend to complicate everything. Remember..You don't need to over think everything all the time, just do what makes you happy!

 I had a great time creating this design and I hope you enjoy it. Feel free to leave comments. :)

Polishes used:

Essence Studio Nails  XXL Nail Thickener

Essence - Destination Sunshine

Essence - Circus Confetti

Essie - She's Picture Perfect

Essie - Butler Please

Erre Due - Heart Trick

Golden Rose Rich Color- 18

Seventeen - 103

Seventeen - 208

Seventeen - 110

Seventeen - 63

Sinful Colors - Hazard

Sinful Colors - Energetic Red

Tommy G - 467

Tommy G - 473

Essence Better Than Gel Nails Top Coat

Jo is in the House!

I originally didn't have a plan to start with, for this manicure. The only thing I knew for sure was that I was in the mood for something shiny and glittery. So...I lined up all my glitter polishes and decided to use "Jo is in the House" from H&M. I've had it for such a long time and was dying to give it a try and see how it looks in full coverage...
Everything else just came to me along the way and I ended up with a little party on my nails! Yay!

The nail polishes I used:

Beauty Secrets - Base Coat

Erre Due - Heart Trick (248)

Essie - Butler Please

H&M - Jo is in the House

H&M - Silver

Seventeen - 103

Essence - Better Than Gel Nails Top Coat

Well...I hope you like it!

Feel free to leave comments. :)