Destash and ILNP Ruby Sky!

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

HEEYYYYYY everybody!! Long time no see!! So I'm pretty embarrassed about not posting since February...I even missed my bloggiversary. :-( I guess this "school" thing is pretty distracting! But here I am, and I've done my nails! Everything is as it should be!

Before I show you my swatch, I just want to link to my destash sale! I realized that I was running out of room in my second Helmer, so I went through my whole collection and culled about 10% of it. (There's some non-nail stuff too.) You can find everything here for super cheap! Enjoy!

OK, on to the swatch! I caved and bought four polishes from the recent ILNP summer collection. My polish purchasing is much slower these days than it used to be, but I couldn't resist these! Here I have Ruby Sky, which is an indigo jelly with purple/red/gold shifting glass flecks! Ooof, just look at it...

ILNP Ruby Sky. Three coats with Out the Door topcoat.

Isn't it delightfully squishy and mysterious? I did need three coats to even out the color, but the formula was great. Love it.

Ruby Sky is available here for $10 (12 ml). I promise to post again soon! I have a lot of untrieds to go through!

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

August's Gimme That Polish!

Happy September everyone! Of course I have to start the month with my top five lemmings from last month! This time I have some "weird" colors on the list--they always seem to come out more in the fall, which is fine by me! Make sure to visit the original bloggers' posts for more info.

1. Frenzy Polish - All Magic Comes With a Price

Ooh, love this odd nude/glitter combo! It definitely evokes the supernatural. Plus, this one is inspired by Once Upon a Time, one of my favorite TV shows! (Frenzy Polish shop | swatch by The Mercurial Magpie)

2. Sindie Pop - Golden Raspberries

Mmmmm, this one looks good enough to eat! The added shimmer really makes it. (Sindie Pop shop | swatch by The Mercurial Magpie)

3. Femme Fatale - Always Tea-Time

Femme Fatale continues their streak of amazing collections! I love the contrast between dull and saturated here. (Femme Fatale shop | swatch by Very Emily)

4. I Love Nail Polish - Spiced Eggnog

Everyone else is probably going nuts over ILNP's amazing holos from their fall collection, but this is the one that jumped out at me. It does look just like eggnog, doesn't it? (ILNP shop | swatch by Very Emily)

5. Sayuri Nail Lacquer - Never Truly Lost

Let's just revel for a moment in this vampiness of this polish. I'm definitely getting in the mood for fall now! (Sayuri shop | swatch by Very Emily)


Honorable mention: Potion Polish - Rainy Day on the Couch

Today's mani: Watercolor stamping

Hi kids! Today I tried out a new nail art technique that I just discovered--it gives your mani a watercolor look using a stamper! I saw the tutorial at Chit Chat Nails, so go check out her post for the details!

I started with a white base and added the watercolor with ILNP A Twist of Lemon, ILNP Sniffany, Essie Vibrant Vibes, Essie First Timer and Essie Chillato. I did three applications on each nail for more depth. It's a very peaceful blend of colors!

Afterwards I decided to do a subtle accent nail by stamping on a flower design from MoYou Pro 08 using Bundle Monster Angelic White. I'm getting a lot of zen from this mani!

Have a great week!

August Gimme That Polish!

Happy Labor Day! Hope my fellow Americans have a relaxing day planned! I'm going to be mixing nail polish all day. :-D

Today I've got my top five polishes from my Pinterest wishlist board for August. It's a mix of summery and autumnal shades, since fall is indeed creeping up on us! Make sure to go visit the original bloggers' posts for more details!

1. Dance Legend - Moorland

OK, you really have to click on the image so you can see the full glory of this polish! It has these tiny black flecks that give it an amazing smoky look! I always know a polish is well done when I start thinking about how I might be able to reproduce the effect! (Dance Legend store | swatch by Nail Polish Wars)

2. I Love Nail Polish - Black Orchid

I actually had a really hard time picking my favorite polish from the ILNP fall collection, but this deep winey/plummy holo kept calling to me! I'm such a sucker for vampy polishes! (ILNP store | swatch by ChrissyAI)

3. Dollish Polish - So Long and Thanks for All the Fish

Not only is this polish a tribute to an amazing book series (and an amazing author...RIP Douglas Adams!), but I absolutely love the glitter mix, especially those little pops of green! (Dollish Polish store | swatch by Accio Lacquer)

4. Lavish Polish - Short Shorts

This one is making me think of candy! I love the purple, of course, and I think those teal glitters really round out this polish in a perfect way. (Lavish Polish store | swatch by Lacquer: The Best Medicine)

5. KBShimmer - A Raisin to Live

OK, first off, I'm usually pretty sick of puns in nail polish names, but this one amused me! Love the deep vampy jelly with the pops of holo glitter! (KBShimmer store | swatch by The Mercurial Magpie)


Honorable mention goes to: OPI DS Titanium

The Neverending Pile Challenge: ILNP Washing Ashore

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

Happy Friday! Today's Neverending Pile Challenge theme is a random untried. I took this prompt literally and told Excel to pick a random number in my stash list, then I wore the polish it picked. Luckily it picked a really gorgeous one for me!

I Love Nail Polish Washing Ashore is a multichrome metallic that shifts from steel blue to a sort of mermaid teal to blue/indigo and even a little to purple at extreme angles. It also has some tiny blue and gold sparks! Mr. ALIQUID proclaimed, "It looks like a fly's eye." Wall of pictures incoming!

ILNP Washing Ashore. Two coats with Out the Door topcoat.

Here are some sunlight pictures:

The formula was easy to use, as usual for this brand. I haven't tried a single ILNP yet that I haven't loved! Since this is a metallic, I did get some brushstrokes, but not enough to make me grumpy. (I was too busy staring at the color shift!) I would also make sure to use a ridge-filling basecoat if you have deep ridges like I do.

Washing Ashore is available at I Love Nail Polish's shop ($12.50 for 12 ml). I have to agree with some of the reviews there that the bottle shots and swatch on that page are misleading--the polish is darker in real life than it appears there.

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

February's Gimme That Polish!

 
It's new feature time here at ALIQUID! If you follow me on Pinterest, you know that I'm constantly pinning swatches of polishes I'm lusting after. (My wishlist is currently about 50% larger than my actual stash...) I decided it would be fun, at the end of each month, to pick my top five lemmings from that month and share them with you! You can click on any of the images in the collage above or keep reading to find out about each polish. Make sure to give the original swatchers some love! Let's get started!

1. Emily de Molly - Turbulence

 

This isn't a new polish, but it's new to me. Why must these Australian indies keep torturing me with such amazing stuff?? Just look at it, a blue jelly (already +1 in my book) packed with sparkly holographic goodness. I have so many EdMs on my wishlist now! Check out the great swatches by It's All About the Polish and Emily de Molly's shop!

2. I Love Nail Polish - Nostalgia (H)

Yep, I'm still a sucker for those ILNP ultrachromes, despite owning two already. Nostalgia is a newer one, and this version has the added holographic finish. Unnnhhh, color shift... (Here are more swatches by Nailz Craze, and the ILNP shop.)

3. Zoya - Dillon

Zoya remains the master of the glass fleck. I want all of the glass flecks from the spring Awaken collection (except that yellow one, would NOT look good on me), but this seafoam green fellow is just calling my name. Polish Hound has gorgeous swatches of all of them!

4. Glam Polish - Spectral

OK let's be honest, I need the entire Supernatural collection from Glam Polish. Jewel tones with shimmer, flakies and holo glitter? GIMME GIMME GIMME. Another seductive Aussie brand!! Here are Work Play Polish's delicious swatches and Glam's shop (they ship to the US, it's just pricey!).

5. Nail Pattern Boldness - Intoxicated

When I wear glitter, I don't like mucking about with layering and all that nonsense. I want full coverage, dammit! Well, Nail Pattern Boldness' Parliament of Magpies collection gets my thumbs-up in that department. I just love the intricate pattern formed by those tiny glitters. I need, like, half this collection right now (despite the prospect of removing all that glitter). Check out Accio Lacquer's fabulous swatches and NPB's shop!


I hope you're lusting after all of these now too! I'll be back tomorrow with my top nail art from February! Don't forget to follow me on Pinterest!

Swatch: I Love Nail Polish Birefringence (H)

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

It feels good to have a nice mani again! My nails have been acting as guinea pigs for my own polishes a lot lately, so I've had two or three different polishes on at once for the past few days. I trimmed my nails since they're starting to be affected by the dry weather. And I got to try on another new polish!

This is I Love Nail Polish Birefringence (H). It's the same as the earlier Birefringence from the Ultra Chrome collection except it's holographic! It's a metallic that shifts from orange-gold through purple to blue. Soooo mesmerizing... (Note: the blue shift is more green than my camera picked up.)

I Love Nail Polish Birefringence (H). Two coats with Out the Door topcoat.

Are you as dazzled as I am? This definitely matches Mutagen for color-shifting amazingness. The holo effect is linear, but the particles are relatively diffuse. I loved the formula as usual--no bubbles or streaks, and it was thin but not runny.

Grab Birefringence (H) at ilnp.com for $12.50 (12 ml)!


(Psst...have you checked out my shop yet??)

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

Swatch: I Love Nail Polish Indie Go

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

Yay new polish! I preordered some new releases from I Love Nail Polish a little while ago, and they arrived yesterday. Right now I'm wearing Indie Go, which is an indigo/purple-shifting linear holo with blue shimmer.

I Love Nail Polish Indie Go. Two coats with Out the Door topcoat.

Beautiful, right? The color is super saturated. (Note: as usual with blue polishes, the color here isn't completely accurate--it actually leans a bit more purple, like dark blue jeans.) The holo effect in Indie Go isn't the strongest I've ever seen, but it is stronger than it appears in my photos. I tried a sunlight shot but didn't get much better results:

In indoor light, you get more of the cyan shimmer which isn't apparent here. The color shift is more visible in the bottle than on the nail, but you can still catch it now and then (just not on camera, apparently!).

The formula on Indie Go was pretty much perfect; I didn't have any problems with dragging. You can see my nail ridges a little in the second picture, but they're no worse than with any other polish. Oh, and it dried quickly too! The one issue I had was cuticle staining, but that's normal with such a deep blue.

This is one of those polishes I keep staring at. My collection of blues keeps growing and growing, but I just can't stop! (I also have to thank ILNP for choosing not to use the word "blurple" in the name of this polish, as that word is an abomination that needs to be cast into a fiery chasm.)

Indie Go is available at www.ilnp.com for $10 (12 ml).

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

Swatch: I Love Nail Polish Mutagen

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

I got this polish in the mail today and had to try it on immediately. I said "oooooh" out loud as soon as I opened the package! Mutagen is from I Love Nail Polish's new Ultra Chrome collection; it's a metallic multichrome that -- well, I'll let the pictures speak for themselves.

(I apologize in advance for some weird angles in these pictures; some of the colors only show up when the main light source is hitting the nail from the side. I really need to make a new lightbox!)

The bottle shot shows almost every color in this polish...

I tried to capture as many nuances of the color shift as I could (I don't think I succeeded 100%). Prepare yourself for a wall of photos!

Uh. May. Zing. And you don't need a special lightbulb or anything to get these color shifts; I could see them all just by holding my hands at various angles in plain indoor lighting. (As you can tell by the bottle in the last pic, there's a red-orange shift that I wasn't even able to photograph.)

Just to make things even better, the formula was pretty much perfect. It didn't drag at all like I was expecting, and it was just the right thickness. You can see some brushstrokes and ridges just a little bit, but for a metallic polish that's not surprising. I only needed two coats with no base color.

Obviously I can't wear Mutagen very long on my left hand, thanks to the 31-Day Challenge, but I'm going to keep it on my right hand as long as I can!

Mutagen is currently available at I Love Nail Polish ($12.50 for 12 ml), but the collection has been very popular so it might go away quickly! ILNP is 3-free.

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