Summer is the perfect time to try out some of those nail art techniques you’ve seen on Pinterest! After spending three weeks in Rome surrounded by marble I was reminded of an easy DIY trick to marble my nails that I had seen a while ago.
All you need to accomplish this fail-proof look is two colors of nail polish and saran wrap.
I chose the colors I did because together they remind of the ocean water in those ads for breathtaking tropical resorts, and the pools you can find closer to home that are made to mimic that look.
I used Essie’s Naughty Nautical and Cult’s Point Dume. The latter came from one of those monthly nail polish boxes, so I don’t know if they still make it or if you can even buy it individually. I did find a few options that you can purchase in stores, though!
- Sinful Colors in Midnight Blue
- Essie in Midnight Cami
- OPI in Eurso Euro
Before I started I ripped off pieces of saran wrap and crumbled them up. I made five balls (two nails per each one), but you could also do 10 smaller ones.
After prepping my nails and using my go to base coat (Essie’s Ridge Filling Base Coat) I painted two coats of Essie’s turquoise color. Wait for it to dry. This is important or you’ll end up pulling more than you want to when you go to use the saran wrap.
For the fun marbling part, you’ll want to do each nail individually because the polish needs to be wet for this to work.
Put one semi-generous coat of the second color and immediately dab at your nails with a saran wrap ball. Creating this marble effect is where you get to be creative! You can take off as much or as little of the top color as you want, whatever suits your mood or your style.
The saran wrap makes this DIY a tad messy so once you’re done grab a few Q-tips and dip them in nail polish removed to clean up the edges.
The saran wrap also makes tiny little dents in the polish so if you want a smooth finish (and to increase how long it stays on your nails) you’ll want a topcoat. I use Seche Vite’s Dry Fast Top Coat .
Now your nails are marble-ready to go splash in the pool!