(Updated!) Before & After: Never Say Never

Hello!

You've heard me say on this blog that I don't think I'll ever do a water marble manicure. They're incredibly pretty but...Messy. And time consuming. And messy. And tricksey. And messy.

Well...this is why you should never say never. I've recently seen several manicures done using an alcohol water-marble technique, where you only put one drop of polish in the water at a time, and it doesn't matter if it goes in a wonky shape, cause you're gonna spray it with alcohol and make it go all splotchy anyway. I figured that any technique that looks better the more you FAIL is a technique I have to try.

Because my Nail Challenge Collaborative theme this month is neon, and I also have a neon prompt for my Hobby Polish Bloggers group, I decided to do a neon alcohol mani. I started with a base of China Glaze Sun-Kissed, a green-tinged yellow neon:

China Glaze Sun-Kissed

China Glaze Sun-Kissed

Then for my 'marble' colors, I chose three no-name neons I found at Rite-Aid clearance after Halloween--they came in a set and have no name or brand:

For each color, I dropped a couple of drops into the water, tried to get it to spread out, and then sprayed it with alcohol to get a spotted/degraded effect. There was a learning curve, and I got better as I went along...Here is the final result:

Spotted Alcohol mani

It's kind of like someone gagged the 80s with a spoon, and they blew chunks on my nails...but in a good way!

I tried to get my camera to capture the full...glory?...of these colors, but they freaked it out, lol. Still, you get the idea, and you see how the technique works. Isn't it cool? So much easier to execute than a regular water marble, although still messy to clean up. But, no more messy than a splatter mani...in fact, I think it was honestly a little bit less messy to clean up that the dreaded splatter mani, lol.

UPDATE: In fact, one of my polish buddies (Michelle of the AMAZING Break Rules Not Nails--seriously, you have got to check out her freehand work, it is beyond superb) just shared with me a trick for easy clean-up with this technique. What she does is put chapstick on her skin and cuticles before dunking! She says clean-up this way is a breeze. I have to try this!

So what do you think? Do you like this technique? It's sort of like OPI spotted on crack...Would you like to see it again with different colors? I could see some really cool stuff with red on a nude color for a halloween mani, or gold and silver over red or green for Christmas...

Thanks for reading, and please don't forget to check out the other manicures linked below!

Peace, love and marbled manis,
M.

Neon Theme

1.	The Polish Playground	8.	Lacquer Or Leave Her!	15.	Sparkle & Shine Nails
2.	Nails for the Sake of Sanity	9.	Glamfiend	16.	Sam @ FingerFood
3.	The Small Things Neon #2	10.	The Blahg	17.	Kayono (Neues vom Kellerkind)
4.	Lit From Within - Neon #2	11.	A Little Polish	18.	Karine's Vernis Club
5.	Angie OurPaintedWorld	12.	Baroque fool	19.	colormesocrazy
6.	Creative Nail Design By Sue	13.	Light of the Moon Nails	20.	AGirlandHerPolish
7.	The Polished Fangirl	14.	Chester	21.	Victoria - manicurator

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Celebrating the beginning of summer!

1.	Glitter and Gloss Nails - Neon Pink Triangles	28.	The Polished Fangirl - Neon	55.	Fairly Charming - 3D
2.	The Bubbly Brunette - Skittle	29.	ProcrastiNails - Skittle	56.	Little Miss Nailpolish - Neon
3.	Glittery Summer Night Gradient Nails	30.	Be Happy and Buy Polish - Fruit	57.	The Polish Playground - Gradient
4.	Fairly Charming - Neon	31.	Lit From Within - Fruit	58.	ProcrastiNails - Fruit
5.	The Bubbly Brunette - 3D	32.	The Polish Playground - Favorite Summer Fruit	59.	Little Miss Nailpolish - Skittle
6.	Polished Prescription - Skittle	33.	The Polished Fangirl - Fruit	60.	Lit From Within - Pool Partay!
7.	Colorful Cupcake Cat - Skittle	34.	Lacquer Or Leave Her!--Fruit	61.	Lacquer or Leave Her!:
8.	Lacquer Or Leave Her!	35.	Vic and Her Nails - Gradient	62.	The Polished Fangirl - Bathing Suit
9.	The Polish Playground - Skittle	36.	Coloful Cupcake Cat - 3D	63.	The Polished Fangirl - Pool
10.	Fairly Charming - Skittle	37.	The Polish Playground - Bathing Suit	64.	Be Happy and Buy Polish - Gradient
11.	Polished Prescription - Neon	38.	Vic and Her Nails - Skittle	65.	Colorful Cupcake Cat - Gradient
12.	The Polish Playground - 3D	39.	The Polish Playground - Pool Inspired	66.	Vic and Her Nails - Pool
13.	Fairly Charming - Ombre	40.	Vic and Her Nails - 3D	67.	Vic and Her Nails - Bathing Suit
14.	The Bubbly Brunette - Neon	41.	Vic and Her Nails - Neon	68.	The Polished Fangirl - Gradient
15.	Lit From Within - Skittle	42.	Colorful Cupcake Cat - Bathing Suit	69.	Little Miss Nailpolish - 3D
16.	The Sparkle Queen - 3D	43.	Tori | GlassesAndGlitter	70.	Vic and Her Nails - Ice Cream
17.	The Polished Fangirl - Skittle	44.	Little Miss Nailpolish - Pool	71.	The Polish Playground - Ice Cream
18.	Colorful Cupcake Cat - Neon	45.	Vic and Her Nails - Summer Fruit	72.	Lit From Within - gradient
19.	Be Happy and Buy Polish - Pool	46.	The Bubbly Brunette - Gradient	73.	The Polished Fangirl - Ice Cream
20.	Be Happy and Buy Polish - Skittle/Neon	47.	Little Miss Nailpolish - Gradient	74.	Little Miss Nailpolish - Ice Cream
21.	Lit From Within - Neon	48.	Colorful Cupcake Cat - Summer Fruit	75.	ProcrastiNails - Bathing Suit
22.	Polished Prescription - Gradient	49.	The Bubbly Brunette - Ice Cream	76.	Colorful Cupcake Cat - Ice Cream
23.	The Polish Playground - Neon	50.	Lit From Within - Neon French Tip	77.	little Miss Nailpolish - Summer Fruit
24.	The Polished Fangirl - 3D	51.	Be Happy and Buy Polish - Ice Cream	78.	Little Miss Nailpolish - Bathing Suit
25.	ProcrastiNails - Pool	52.	Disasterpiece Polish- Skittle!	79.	Lit From Within - Ice Cream
26.	Be Happy and Buy Polish - Swimsuit	53.	Disasterpiece Polish- Neon
27.	Lit From Within - 3D	54.	Lit From Within - Swimsuit

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