Guest post at Polish Those Nails!

Hi gang! Oh man, I'm such a terrible blogger. I've barely even done my own nails this month. It's been a combination of starting grad school, getting a HUGE response to my fall collection (which was awesome, but having to pour, pack and ship over 60 orders was a little scary!), and then getting stomach flu last weekend. Fun times!

I did do some fun Greece-inspired nail art that's featured today over at Polish Those Nails, so please go take a look! It was so nice for Marisa to ask me!

August's Museum-Worthy Manis!

Hi folks! Today was my first day of classes...very weird to be back in a classroom again, especially as the topics are completely new to me!

I finally have my favorite nail art from August to share with you. Lots of summery manis this month! Please make sure to visit the original artists' posts and leave a nice comment!

1. My Picture Polish by Glitterfingersss

Yep, those flowers are freehanded! I'm drooling over these nails. I love florals in unexpected colors--these have a very mermaid-y vibe to me.

2. Beach Landscape by PiggieLuv

Don't you want to be on that beach right now? Impeccable landscape as usual, right down to the tiny footprints!

3. Nails Literally on Fire by Simply Nailogical

Actually, I think a more accurate title for this mani would be "fire literally on nails", but I digress! Simply Nailogical always has something interesting going on with gradients. I can't stop staring at this one!

4. Park Guell Inspired by Nailbees

This mani reminds me of a really fancy swimming pool! This is one of those techniques that's relatively straightforward but turns out stunning (which means I have to try it at some point!).

5. Reverse Stamp Floral by Manicurator

These are some absolutely immaculate stamping decals! Love the abstract floral pattern. This mani also makes me appreciate how well the Zoya Island Fun collection goes together!


Honorable mention: Abstract Stained Glass by Fashion Polish

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!

July's Museum-Worthy Manis!

Happy Monday gang! We got our AC installed today, just in time (it's gonna be 90 degrees tomorrow)!

Here are my favorite manis from last month--I was really into florals again! Make sure to go visit the original artists' posts!

1. En Noir et Blanc by Marine Loves Polish

Sometimes you just have to appreciate a perfect stamping job, and this is one of those times. The stark color contrast really makes the pattern stand out!

2. Paint All the Nails Does Floral by Wondrously Polished

Once again Lindsey knocked it out of the park with her florals! I love the somewhat abstracted style and the inclusion of the black flowers alongside the colorful ones--it's just a lot of fun to look at.

3. Tear in the Fabric of Reality by PiggieLuv

Another amazing freehand job by Narmai--she's SO good at lighting and shadows. The moon over the lake is my favorite nail!

4. My Vacation Manicure by Coewless

This floral art is so different from the one above, yet I love both! This one reminds me of vintage wallpaper. The flowers are so delicate and nicely detailed.

5. Paint All the Nails Does Floral by Very Emily

Here's yet another gorgeous floral. This one would look great on a china set! So girly and romantic!


Honorable mention: Watercolour Mermaid Nails by Simply Nailogical

Today's mani: Stars and stripes

Happy Independence Day to my fellow Americans! I hope you get to relax and enjoy some fireworks, BBQ, or whatever floats your boat! We went into Boston for a few hours to walk around and get some burgers.

I did a quick mani to celebrate the occasion. I started with a base of KBShimmer Pimp My Pride, added stars to my middle finger with China Glaze Hanging in the Balance and a vinyl from the For the Love of Polish Box, and painted some flag stripes on my ring finger with Nailtini Bloody Mary and Sinful Colors Snow Me White. Simple!

June's Museum-Worthy Manis!

Hi folks! Yep, I'm a little late with this one, but we're actually in the process of moving! Our new place is only about 30-40 minutes away, so we've been taking a carload of stuff over almost every day. Long story short, I meant to do this post yesterday but ended up taking a nap on the couch. :-P

Anyway, here's my favorite nail art from last month. Please go check out the original posts to give props to the artists!

1. Outlander by Wondrously Polished

Wondrously Polished is one of my favorite freehand artists, and this is a great example of why! This is a very romantic and mysterious scene to me, and also makes me think of stargazing on a summer evening!

2. Erin Condren Quatrefoil by Manicurator

Oof, LOVE this one! I think it's the contrast between the crisp, even print and the soft watercolor-style coloring. The color scheme is terrific too!

3. Geometric Right Angle Fun by Simply Nailogical

"Fun" is right! The patterns are leading my eyes in all sorts of directions until I start to feel a bit dizzy. :-D

4. Juicy by Didoline's Nails

This is a simple mani, but it just epitomizes summer to me. Wanna eat those oranges!

5. Blue Gradient Stamping by The Nailasaurus

Oh lordy...so subtle, yet crisp! It looks to me like the logo for some futuristic airline. Just me??


Honorable mention: Turquoise Floral by Lacquerstyle

Today's mani: Anniversary peacock nails

Heya gang! Yesterday was my and Mr. ALIQUID's second anniversary--it definitely doesn't feel like two years already! We celebrated with some big steaks at a nice restaurant (OK, I ate about a third of my steak and took the rest home). And of course I wanted to do a nice mani for the occasion!

The other day I watched this tutorial about how to make stamping "decals" without actually having to let them dry and peel them up. This kind of blew my mind (I'm probably the last person to discover this technique, right?). So I decided to try it out, and it actually works! Stamping decals without bubbles and wrinkles, hooray!!

I started with a base of Zoya Song and added a coat of Out the Door. While that was drying, I used the peacock feather stamp from MoYou Pro 03 with Julep Harley and colored in the spots with Zoya Ziv and Ivanka. I let the stamp dry on the stamper for a minute or so, then stamped it directly onto the nail. I guess the topcoat grabs the stamp even after it's mostly dry!

Today's mani: Bridesmaid's nails!

Happy Monday everyone! We had a great time this weekend celebrating my sister-in-law's wedding. She and her new husband are both amazing people, and Mr. ALIQUID and I were honored to be part of the wedding party. This was the first wedding we've been to since our own wedding two years ago, so it was nice to let someone else get all the attention while we got to enjoy the food!

Of course I did a mani for the occasion, and I made sure to grab a few pics for you! The wedding colors were navy blue and coral, and my bridesmaid's dress was navy, so I went with coral and silver for the mani.

I decided to do stamping decals over nude nails for a delicate look. I used an image from MoYou Pro 09 and stamped it with Julep Harley (the silver) onto a plastic bag. I colored in the flowers with OPI Sorry I'm Fizzy Today, and also removed parts of the image with acetone (the solid color flowers looked like fuzzy blobs, so I didn't want to keep them). Once the decals were on my nails, I added some silver dots to fill in some of the empty space.

This was one of those manis where you could see all the little bubbles and wrinkles up close, but it looked great from a normal viewing distance, so I was happy with it!

Here's a rare glimpse of Mr. ALIQUID with me--aren't the flowers beautiful?!

I was totally blown away by the job the hairstylist did on me, especially since I didn't give her much direction! I just told her "I want an updo, but not too high up," and she did the rest!

Last but not least, here's Trudy after we picked her up from the boarder's yesterday. She was pretty wiped out after the experience and has spent the entire day so far sleeping it off.

Today's mani: Gold on red stamping

Hiya folks! Today I decided to finally try out the squishy stamper I got last winter, as well as one of my newest MoYou stamping plates. And I was definitely impressed with both of them! Check it out...

The base polish is Cult Nails Iconic, and the stamping is done in Maybelline Bold Gold. The images come from the MoYou plate Doodles 03. I love this plate because it's entirely covered in lots of different circular patterns, so you can use any spot on the plate and get an interesting design. And my squishy stamper is sooooo much better than my old Konad one, I just can't believe it! The images came out almost perfectly!


I have to show you my other fingers too, since each one is different! (Wow, haven't posted my right hand in a while.)

This is definitely one of those manis that I can't stop staring at. Even Mr. ALIQUID noticed it!

Today's mani: Starry night (For the Love of Polish box)

Happy Monday everyone! Today I'm wearing a mani featuring the polishes from May's For the Love of Polish box! This is a new indie box by Illyrian Polish and Polished For Days, plus a different guest brand each month, and some nail vinyls to match the theme. The theme for May's box was "galaxy", and when I saw swatches, I fell in love with all three polishes!

So the polishes in the box were: Starrily Gravity (index and pinky), Illyrian Polish Orion Nebula (middle and ring fingers) and Polished For Days Out of This World (stars). The box also came with a sheet of star-shaped vinyls that I used on my ring finger. Love how all three polishes are holos, but they got such different effects for each one!

Unfortunately this box is now sold out, but definitely keep your eye out for the next one!

April's Museum-Worthy Manis!

Hey! I'm back, of course, with my favorite nail art from last month! Make sure to go give the original artists props on their posts!

1. Kenya Inspired Nail Art by The Nail Polish Challenge

I immediately knew I had to include this one because it reminds me of The Lion King, which is my favorite Disney movie (I even did some Lion King nail art a while back)! I love the messiness of the background gradient--it looks like clouds.

2. Round Gradient Cyclone by Simply Nailogical

Whoa, psychedelic! What a great idea to use a swirl decal over a radial gradient (which is a technique I really need to try someday).

3. Monochromatic by Lacquerstyle

This one actually has a very similar structure to the previous mani, but more elegant instead of in-your-face. And of course it's freehanded, which totally amazes me! I love the way the interlocked stripes draw your eyes in multiple directions.

4. Black/White by BibbediBabbediBeauty

I find it's very rare that a watermarble mani looks classy, but it absolutely does here. I mean, black makes everything classier! And the decal shapes look very modern.

5. Palm Leaves by Pshiiit

This mani looks like a fabric print to me. So soft and summery! And it looks like something I could possibly do myself!


Honorable mention: Wide Open Landscape by PiggieLuv

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!

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

Today's mani: Quick and dirty St. Patrick's chevrons

Happy St. Patrick's Day! I just realized I'm not wearing any green today...oops. I am 1/8 Irish, but I'm also 1/8 English, and I think those two cancel each other out. Oh well, I don't need an excuse to wear a green mani!

I started out with two coats of OPI Goldeneye, added quick-dry topcoat, and let that dry. Then I stuck down chevron decals (actually French tip guides, but I'm a rebel), painted two coats of Revlon Rain Forest on top, and immediately removed the decals. Simple!

If you're celebrating tonight, stay safe!

February's Museum-Worthy Manis!

 Hey gang! I'm on my game today, getting these posts out! Here are my favorite manis from my Pinterest board for last month. Please go visit the artists' original posts and give them some love!

1. Color-Blocking Chevrons by Simply Nailogical

These are just amazingly well-done chevrons/stripes. I like that each nail has a different pattern, which you don't immediately notice, but it makes the whole mani more interesting!

2. Heart to Heart by The Daily Nail

I had to have one Valentine's mani in here, didn't I? This is one of the best uses of nail vinyls I've seen. I love the brush-strokey appearance of the gradient--it looks more rustic than a standard gradient!

3. Floral Over Wood Grain by Wondrously Polished

Not surprising that I have a floral from Wondrously Polished! This is a great contrast of patterns and color.

4. Over the Tree Tops by Piggie Luv

Narmai is just the best at landscape manis! I like that this is an alternative way to go with the galaxy mani technique. Did I mention it glows in the dark?

5. Watercolor Florals by Lacquerstyle

I was kind of surprised that I ended up with two florals on the list this month, but these are a quite different style than the ones above--very delicate and pretty. I love that she painted them over a thermal, which gives you tons of different looks throughout the day!


Honorable mention: Teal & Chevron by Pshiiit