Twinsie Tuesday ~ Marching Orders ~ Water Spotted Mani

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Hey dolls! The theme for this week’s Twinsie Tuesday was to receive marching order from a fellow member. Heather of Peace, Love, Polish tasked me with creating a water spotted mani using fall colors. I’ve never attempted this type of mani, nor did I ever have any intentions of trying it. Water spotted manis are like water marbling’s little sister. You all already know that water marbling is not my thing, so I didn’t have very high hopes for this look.

I began with Cult Nails Afterglow, a coppery brown filled with pink shimmer. The formula was great and applied evenly in two coats. I’ve had this shade for awhile and I’m so glad I got around to wearing it. Next, I added an accent nail of Cult Nails Ay Poppy, a bright orange creme that was opaque in two easy coats.

I followed these tutorials (1, 2) to create the water spotted accent. I tried using Afterglow for the accent, but because of the sheer shimmery nature, it didn’t spread that well. I sprayed a small amount of perfume into the water, but the spots were rather large and not very cute. The first try was a definite fail. Luckily, I applied Ay Poppy as a double accent, so I had one more nail to practice on. For the second attempt, I used Cult Nails Lamestain, a deep oxblood creme. Lamestain spread over the water much easier. This time I flicked rubbing alcohol over the polish using a toothbrush to create the spots as mentioned in the second tutorial above. Here’s how it turned out!

While I do believe these colors compliment each other nicely, I’m not really a fan of the water spotted look. I’m just glad it worked on the second attempt because I was dreading having to start over. Looks like this are just way too messy for my tastes. My hubby joked that it looked like I was doing a science experiment in the kitchen. I’m thankful to Heather for pushing me out of my comfort zone so now I can say I tried this at least once. What are your thoughts on water spotted and water marble manis? Be sure to check out the assignments of the other Twinsies below.