Quick swatch: KBShimmer Funky Cold Patina

The product in this post was purchased by me. All opinions are my own.

Hey guys! Just a quick pic of what I'm wearing right now--KBShimmer Funky Cold Patina. It's no surprise that I LOVE this color! Even though there's a lot of blue in the polish, it still feels very cheerful and springlike to me.

KBShimmer Funky Cold Patina. Two coats with Out the Door topcoat.

My polish collection on my phone: Snupps!

Hi gang! I'm sorry I've been so MIA lately! I've been working on a bunch of new polishes that will be released over the summer, so I think that's a good excuse, right?

I just heard about an app for iOS/Android called Snupps that lets you take pictures of things you own and organize them into categories. I thought it would be nice to keep my polish collection in there, because every time I go shopping and see a polish I like, I have to stop and think about whether I have a similar color already. I'm sure you know what I'm talking about!

So I spent a few hours today uploading all the swatches I've done to my phone and putting them in the app. (Of course, you can also easily snap a bottle shot or swatch photo and drop it straight into the app from your camera.) I organized them into "shelves" by finish, and then sorted them by color, as you can see:

I discovered in the process of doing this that I only have about 1/6 of my collection swatched, so I need to get on that!

In Snupps you can also look at other people's public collections and favorite their pictures. If you want to follow me, my username is aliquidlacquer!

Today's mani: Spring watercolor gradient

Hi all! Have you entered my bloggiversary giveaway yet??

Today I decided to retry the watercolor gradient method that I learned from Nailasaurus (my first attempt is here). This time I was thinking about "April showers bring May flowers" for the color scheme and picked four teal/green colors: Revlon Trendy, Zoya Wednesday, Illamasqua Nomad and Essie Mojito Madness. I also mixed the polishes together to get more colors in the gradient. What do you think?

I really like the painterly look you can get from this method, and it's almost impossible to mess up!

Happy weekend!

Swatch: Femme Fatale In His House He Waits Dreaming

The product in this post was purchased by me. All opinions are my own.

Happy Hump Day everyone! (Are your tax returns done??) Today I want to show you a polish that I was really excited to get my hands on, because it's exactly my style!

Femme Fatale In His House He Waits Dreaming is a red-brown (mahogany?) jelly with teal shimmer and teal holo microglitter (and I think also tiny silver holo glitter). First, I LOVE the combo of brown and teal. It seems to creep into some of the polishes I make! I also love the Cthulhu reference in the name of the polish. The shimmer definitely gives it a creepy, otherworldly vibe, don't you think?

Femme Fatale In His House He Waits Dreaming. Three coats with Out the Door topcoat.

The formula was thick, like most jellies, but went on like butter and was very easy to control. My one criticism would be that I think the base could use more pigmentation. Even at three coats, it still looks a bit patchy (which you can see in my photos), and my tips look naked even though I wrapped them.

Still, I feel like even brown polish haters might be able to get into this one. It's like a galaxy in a bottle!

I bought this polish at Color4Nails, although it's not currently in stock there. You can also check Femme Fatale's site for restocks and other stockists!

The product in this post was purchased by me. All opinions are my own.

Swatch: Ninja Polish Pacific Coral

The product in this post was purchased by me. All opinions are my own.

Happy Friday everyone! Today I decided to encourage spring to come a little faster by wearing a super cheery polish, Ninja Polish Pacific Coral.

As you probably know, Ninja Polish was both an indie brand and an international stockist, but she closed down a while back. She recently reopened her shop to clear out her old stock, so I took the opportunity to grab a couple polishes off my wishlist while I still could. I was happy to get Pacific Coral in particular, because it's kind of like the platonic ideal of "coral" that I've been questing after for a while! Does anyone else know what I'm talking about?

Anyway, Pacific Coral is a bright coral crelly with Fantasy-Fire-type shimmer that shifts orange-gold-green. I tried to capture the shift in my photos, but I didn't get the whole range. I just love how in-your-face it is! I don't even care that orange looks bad on me!

Ninja Polish Pacific Coral. Two coats with Out the Door topcoat.

I had no complaints with the formula. You can sort of see my nail line at two coats, but I didn't feel the need to do a third.

As of right now, Pacific Coral is still available at Ninja Polish's site ($12 for 15 ml), so if you want it, now's the time!

The product in this post was purchased by me. All opinions are my own.

ALIQUID's Second Bloggiversary (& GIVEAWAY!)

Hi everyone! Today I suddenly realized that this is my second bloggiversary! (Good thing I decided to check the date today!) Can you believe it? This is the definitely the longest I've ever kept up a blog. I've made it through 334 posts, the 31-Day Challenge, a marriage, an interstate move, and the start of my own indie brand!

I've really come a long way, especially in my swatching abilities. Just look at a swatch from my very first blog post (that's Indigo Bananas Anansi):

I really had no idea how to pose consistently back then (or how to crop photos!). For comparison, here's the mani I did today. I decided to try a blobbicure for the first time. I obviously need more practice!

The base polish is Femme Fatale Fatal Attraction, and the blobs are Sephora by OPI What Aura Gonna Wear? I thought this color combo would look nice and festive!


Thank you to everyone who reads and comments on this blog! I feel honored that anyone would want to read my ramblings. :-D

And of course I am giving something back to you with a giveaway! Obviously I was too disorganized to get multiple people to contribute, so I'm giving away a gift certificate to ALIQUID Lacquer. This giveaway is open internationally until 11:59 PM EST on April 21. Only the first entry is mandatory. The winner will have 48 hours to claim their prize.

Good luck!!


a Rafflecopter giveaway

March's Museum-Worthy Manis!

Happy Friday everyone! Today I've finally got my favorite nail art from last month. Apparently I'm really into florals right now! Check it out, then go read the original artists' posts!

1. Tory Burch with Zoya by Manicurator

Not only do I love the color scheme here (it's very calming!), but I love the juxtaposition of the delicate flowers with the bold stripes, especially the way they merge together on the index and pinky!

2. Galaxy Wolf Twin Nails by PiggieLuv

Now this is just kickass. I'd wear this mani on a t-shirt, wouldn't you?

3. Emmy Rossum Oscar de la Renta by Manicurator

Manicurator was on a roll last month! These flowers are so delicate and vintage-looking, but they're in super bright colors, which makes them fresh!

4. Squash Vine by Will Paint Nails for Food

Meghan took this design from one of those old-timey botanical illustrations, and I think she nailed it! Love the realism.

5. OPI Hawaiian Collection Tropical Nail Art by Work Play Polish

These flowers are making me wish I was in Hawaii! Love the bright colors against the nude base.


Honorable mention: Freehand Tulips by Manicurator

March's Gimme That Polish!

Hi gang! I've been a bad blogger this week. In fact, I haven't even done my nails! I've been slightly absorbed with getting ready for my newest collection (which is out now!). But I promise to do better in April!

So of course I have to show you my top five lemmings from my Pinterest board for last month. As always, go visit the original swatchers for more photos and info!

1. Dance Legend - Sub Zero

Yes, this is a thermal, but what really interests me is the contrast between the teal base and flakies and the red-gold shimmer. Love it when different elements of a polish come together like this! (Dance Legend shop | swatch by More Nail Polish)

2. Femme Fatale - Mirror, Mirror, On the Wall...

This seriously looks like the nail polish (hoof polish?) that a unicorn would wear. Freaking magical! (Femme Fatale shop | swatch by Very Emily)

3. Glam Polish - Lehua

I don't normally go for reds, but this one has enough purple in it to make me like it, plus the blue-green flakies really pop (it's kind of the same reason why I like Sub Zero up above!). (Glam Polish shop | swatch by Royal Milk Tea)

4. Literary Lacquers - Avada Kedavra

Ooh, love the way those green glitters lurk under the brown base! It's a shame we don't see more glitter polishes with matte bases. (Literary Lacquers shop | swatch by The Mercurial Magpie)

5. Serum No. 5 - March 2015

So much depth with just one color! I continue to be impressed with Serum No. 5's glitter mixes. Too bad this one was LE! (Serum No. 5 shop | swatch by The Mercurial Magpie)


Honorable mention: Picture Polish - Desire