Marker Pen + Alcohol Nails! Orange Blend...

Recently I've seen quite a few people posting 'sharpie' nails, or 'alcohol ink' nails, and have really liked the blended, watercoloury look of them. The various posts I've seen have described a few different ways to achieve this, but the clearest set of instructions I've seen, and the ones I decided to try, was this tutorial by Chelsea: How To Sharpie Nails  She makes it look so easy! I also referred to these gorgeous nails by Jema: Sharpie Watercolour Nails which is essentially the same technique, but blended in a dish instead of on the nail.

I started with a base of white (Barry M Pearl) and the doodled with some marker pens in orange, pink, red and yellow. I then used surgical spirit (it took me a while to realise that this is what the non-British blogs mean when they talk about 'rubbing alcohol'!) and a small brush to dab and blend the ink to a more marbled sort of finish.

I found this technique a bit easier to manage than Jema's method, as it wasn't as liquid or messy. It is still a bit messy though, and I'm glad I covered all my cuticles with liquid latex first as a barrier. 

I really like how this came out - it's such a pretty effect. I enjoy the surgical spirit smell too, which made me feel all nostalgic for my childhood!  It wears off when you wash your hands and add topcoat though thankfully, as I don't fancy spending a day smelling of surgical spirit!  

I'd love to know what you think of these! I'm currently thinking they'd look good with a fine gold filigree/lace pattern stamped over the top too.