Manicure Monday: Blanc and Cranberry Splash

A good friend of mine, Kalvin, gave me some inspiration with water marble that triggered today’s Manicure Monday, featuring Essie’s Blanc and China Glaze’s Cranberry Splash. In light of the holidays approaching very quickly, I wanted to try a water marble look that resembles peppermint candy and bark.

If you never heard of water marbling before, it is a beautiful and decorative way to wear your nail polishes. To start this look, I applied a base from Seche Clear and put two coats of Essie’s Blanc on my nails as the background color. After Blanc dried, I started to put scotch tape around my nails. This is crucial step, as you will be inserting your nail into water with the nail varnishes and the polish will get onto your nails. Thus the scotch tape will make the cleanup process easier.

You will then need an unwanted bowl or cup to fill with room temperature water. The nail polishes will damage the bowl or cup, so be sure not to use your favorite kitchenware. After I filled my unwanted cup with room temperature water, I started with China Glaze’s Cranberry Splash and allowed for the nail polish to drop in, across the water’s surface. Once the Cranberry Splash fell into the water, I quickly dropped in Essie’s Blanc. I chose to alternate the colors until I received at least 4 to 5 levels of colors.

Shortly after, using a toothpick, I divided the polish into eight symmetrical lines to resemble peppermint candy and bark. Then I inserted my nail into the water marble for 5 seconds for the design to hold. Be sure to use the toothpick to clear the outer nail polish that is remaining in your cup, and repeat for all of your nails.  There are a ton of tutorials of water marbling on youtube, so if you are a visual learner, be sure to check water marbling tutorials out there. A pro tip: if you have a big enough unwanted bowl or cup, you can insert an additional nail or two into the water marble, which then less nail polish and time will go to waste.

Thanks again, Kal for the inspiration and California misses you! For everyone else, I will see you again within the week for another look on the Crystal Avenue. Stay warm, dry and enjoy a cup of hot chocolate with a loved one!

Product Details:
Blanc by Essie
Cranberry Splash by China Glaze

Photography by Chelle Nguyen

Find me on twitter | instagram | youtube | bloglovin | tumblr