Malachite Marble nails tutorial

Today's tutorial will cover a technique that I am shocked I didn't cover earlier. In my roadmap, this one was definitely early on in the journey, but several different nail arts got in the way and, oh well, it's a great opportunity like any other. I will teach you how do I make marbles with regular nail polish and just a simple flat brush.

This technique is quite easy but can become quite bulky if you do it over all the nail. My inspiration this time was malachite, as its palette speaks to me personally, using polishes that are close together in hue, but this technique is highly customizable and you can put together your favourite polishes and get quite different results. My choices for this tutorial were:

 

You truly don't need expensive polishes for this technique to work well, as honestly you put them on a bit thick. These five polishes combined would have been around 10€ in total, you can even see the 2€ sticker on the first one!

• PS... Precious Jewels in Emerald
• Misdei's #203
• Misdei's #201 
• Deliplus Gel effect's Nº963
• Deliplus Gel effect's Nº107

I chose these five because they're cool toned greens, two crèmes and two different kind of shiny polishes. Emerald is a more fine shimmer, while Nº963 has a prominent silver flake that adds a special visual texture. Nº107 also has a very subtle shimmer, but it barely translates onto the nail. You can choose several different polishes in more contrasting colours but similar or the same formula for a different effect, too! I started with one coat of Emerald, to have a base on in case I miss a spot. Didn't go for full opacity as it just is not necessary, but if you're planning to not do this technique on the whole nail, I'd recommend building it up:

 

You will need a place to use as a palette. I personally use a yoghourt lid, as I just like eating these yoghourts so I can save several. I also only use a new, clean one if I need to do a tutorial, so my yoghourt lids can be used for months, using a little at a time and then using the other side. Is cleaning them possible? Yes. Is it worth to me? Personally... no. The acetone I'd use is more expensive than recycling the lids and using a new one. Place all your shades together on it, something like this:

You want to be able to pick them up scooping with your flat brush without mixing them up together too much. That's very important to get the effect. Place that fresh polish on top of the nail, wiggling to your liking to reveal the effect. The polish will be placed in an opaque way, but with an uneven surface. Refill your brush as needed, grabbing more of the polishes you'd like in those spots. If you work quickly, you'd be able to make the different passes blend together without making a harsh and noticeable line. My final result was this:

I'd recommend waiting for at least 10 to 15 minutes to let the polish set properly, as the layer is quite significant and can be really mushy before. You can do slight retouches in areas you don't like with more polish, but try to avoid piling up too much nail polish, as it will be very difficult to maneuver over the nail before it setting. After that, apply your top coat of choice, floating it to avoid smearing the polishes. Even after that time, the manicure can smear significantly. This technique is quite simple and effective, but has a learning curve to gauge the placement of the polishes and the thickness of the coat, so don't get discouraged and keep trying! The beauty is that every attempt, even with the same polishes, will be a different result!

Next week it will be our 20th tutorial and I have a big surprise for you, so please wait for it as I'm very excited to present you a bigger and better! If you follow me on Twitch you have a very good idea of what's to come!