Ah, the joy of seeing stunning acrylic nail art designs on your social media feed, let alone seeing them on our client's nails. Applying acrylic doesn't have to be complicated, right? But sometimes acrylic mishaps happen, and marbling is one of them.

Every nail tech wants the application of acrylic to be as smooth and enjoyable for them and their clients; it's a win-win situation for both parties. If you're having difficulty applying acrylic and marbling is getting in the way, here's your guide on how to combat your marbling woes.

What is Marbling?

Dissociation of pigments on your nails, known as marbling, causes your nails to have an uneven appearance. Unintentional marbling might be splotchy, unpolished, or just a strange-looking colored jumble.

What causes Marbling?

First things first, we have to know why marbling occurs. Marbling happens for several reasons, such as an incompatible monomer, forgetting to stir the powder well, or the wrong dip ratio. Before tackling the marbling dilemma, it's essential to know how to do acrylic nails; we have an in-depth guide you can read.

Main causes of Marbling:

1. Incompatible Monomer

 

Compatibility is essential to get the correct amount of bead to apply to your nails; you'll need to mix our dip with monomer.Try to choose a slow-setting monomer that fits the powder you intend to use.

Otherwise, you may end up spending more money than necessary if you try to find a match for your powder through trial and error and the purchase of several monomers. It would be best to find the exact powder that matches the monomer.

2.  Not getting the Dip-Monomer ratio right

 

Beginners often get the dip monomer ratio incorrect, and it's okay; there's room for you to learn. You can read our blog about acrylic common mishaps you should avoid making.

3. When the brush is too wet

 

If you use too much water on your brush, you'll get a watery, uneven mess of acrylic beads that lacks pigment. Your brush wouldn't have enough control over the highly diluted pigment if it were runnier.

 4. When the brush is too dry

 

When your brush is drenched sufficiently, your bead becomes stiff, dry, and difficult to work with, much like this. To produce a better bead, use a nearly saturated brush with monomer but not so saturated that it becomes runny.

Then, firmly pat the acrylic to get a good shape. While an overly wet situation might result in splotchy pigment, an uneven powder buildup can cause the pigment to become overly saturated and splotchy.

5. Improper blending

 

It's not enough to just mix and match the acrylic powders! Stir your powders when you're mixing them with monomer. During shipping, the Pareto rule may alter the acrylic powder's consistency (80-20 rule). This is just a fancy way of saying "sparseness." Most powders would cluster together, but only 20% would be close enough to interact with one another. 

How to prevent Marbling issues?

STEP 1: Prep your nails properly

 

We may sound like a broken record but prepping your nails sets the base for any nail design. You can read our nail prep guide to refresh your memory.

STEP 2: Create the right bead

 

Beads without marbling can be made by drizzling the brush with water and gently sliding it along the side of your dish (where you placed the monomer). Excess liquid from the brush can be loosened by squeezing it gently.

Ensure that your bead shape is not disrupted or the acrylic drags by patting it firmly on your nail afterward. Make sure your brush is still moist when you pat it down.

STEP 3: Use a clear Dip powder

 

We strongly recommend mixing our DP01 Clear Powder with the colors if they don't come through after the preparation, mixing, and application. With the DP01, you may quickly scatter the pigment particles and increase the production of your preferred pigment without changing the color, as it is a colorless powder.

STEP 4: Clean your brush

 

To avoid cross-contamination, make sure all powders from the previous design have been completely removed before using your brush. Because the pigments were not well incorporated into one another, you may see marbling in your pattern. It is a heterogeneous mixture that results when two different pigments are brought together without mingling.

 

 

 

Acrylic nail art designs are fun to do and gorgeous to wear! Don't let marbling ruin your masterpiece with practice and determination to learn; you can improve and give your clients breathtaking acrylic nails. If you want to learn more about acrylic nails and find acrylic nail art, join our iGel Beauty Facebook community!