Realistic Stone Marble | Gel Polish Nail Art

This is quite a hard one to explain in words, I will try to break it down, step by step. I highly recommend checking out the video at the bottom of this post if my written instructions do not make this technique very clear.

Gel Polish Stone Marble Nail

Step 1 : Apply base colour, in my case 2 coats of white curing each layer completely.

Step 2 : Apply a coat of top coat. DO NOT CURE.

Step 3 : Using a fine detail brush draw in thin lines using a dark grey gel polish. DO NOT CURE.

Step 4 : Dip the same brush in a little bit of ispropyl alcohol and start to blend the lines in a wiggling motion, hard to describe, see video for visual demonstration. Once happy, cure.

Step 5: Repeat steps 2 to 4 using white gel polish instead of the grey. You can also add in a little extra grey if you want. Once happy, cure.

Step 6 : You can now repeat the steps again or topcoat and you are finished.

Check out the video for a better explanation of the technique.

3 Ways to use Glitter with Gel Nail Polish

3 types of Gl Polish Glitter Nails

All of these techniques can be varied by using different polish colours and glitter colours. You can choose to use the same colour polish and glitter or use a different coloured polish and glitter. This looks especially good with method 1 using your manicure colour as the base polish and adding a gold or silver on top. Also with method 2 a black base and silver glitter look nice together. I think I also need to add that the photos do these nails no justice, it is so difficult to get a good shot of glitter.

Sheer Gel Polish Glitter Nail

1. Sheer Glitter Nail
For this method start by applying your basecoat and two coats of colour polish curing between layers, if your colour is not opaque apply more layers. On a palette place a drop of top or base coat and add loose glitter of your desired colour and mix together. Then apply this mixture to the nail, I like to use a dabbing method as it gives more even coverage. Then cure the glitter layer. You can stop here and apply top coat or you can add another layer of the glitter mixture if you want more glitter. Once you have applied your final top coat check to make sure there are no rough areas, if there are then buff the nail and apply another layer of top coat.

Medium Coverage Gel Polish Glitter Nail

2. Medium Coverage Glitter Nail
For this method you want to start the same way as the first method, apply your basecoat and 2 colour coats curing between layers. Get your glitter on a fluffy brush and press the glitter into the sticky inhibition layer. Then cure in your lamp. Now gently dust off ant loose glitter and apply a top coat. Remove the sticky layer and buff the nail before applying a final top coat.

Full Coverage Gel Polish Glitter Nail

3. Full Coverage Glitter Nail
For this method apply your base coat and one coat of colour polish and cure between layers. Next add a second coat of colour but before curing pour on your glitter until it covers the whole nail, shake off any excess and cure in you lamp. Now brush off any loose glitter, apply a top coat and cure. Next remove the sticky layer and buff the nail before applying a final top coat.








Gel Polish Glitter Nails are so easy to do and add such a great accent to any manicure. The colour combinations are endless. I hope these steps made sense, if anyone would like me to elaborate or make a video tutorial please let me know.

Nail Art Practise

I had a bit of spare time and decided to try a new nail art design. I recreated a design by All Nails Everything. I  used  Gel Nail Polish colours but you could absolutely use regular nail polish for this design. Here is how I recreated the design.

Step by Step Nail Design

Step 1: After applying your basecoat apply a couple of coats of white polish until opaque.

Step 2: Fill in the top corners near the cuticle with black polish as pictured. For this I used a small detailing brush.

Step 3: Paint in five lines roughly then thicken them to be more like elongated triangles as pictured. I used the same detailing brush for this step. These do not have to be perfect, we can fix any mistakes in the next step. My black lines are thicker than the original design, if you want finer lines you can do so. This step could also be done by taping off the areas you want left white but I do not like this method because it can be quite fiddly and does not always give crisp lines.

Step 4: Now go in with your detailing brush and white polish to perfect the lines and make sure the black triangles come to a point at the top of the nail.

Step 5: Time for a second coat on all the black areas. If you make any mistakes or you are not happy with your lines keep switching between the black and white polishes perfecting your lines, making sure to cure the colours between each layer. If I had been doing this design on a real nail I would have continued perfecting my lines because as you can see they are not perfect.

Step 6: Apply a colour of your choice, I chose this coral/ peach shade, in a V shaped french covering the ends of your black triangles. Repeat this step until the colour is opaque.

Step 7: Attach a nail stud to the top of the nail in the white area, I used a gold square stud because I have no triangle studs like the original design. I used clear top coat to attach the stud.

Step 8: Remove the tacky layer and add striping tape in a V shape where the coral/peach shade overlaps the rest of the nail.

Step 9:Apply top coat over the striping tape to help it stay on longer.

Step 10: Top coat the entire nail and you are done.

I hope to try out some of the other designs in the original manicure soon.