Indie, Indeed! Aliquid Lacquer Swatches & Review

Hey, guys! I’m back for another round (finally). This week I’m going to be sharing swatches from an indie nail polish company I’ve actually had my eye on for some time now, Aliquid Lacquer (mobile users click here). It was an exciting moment. It felt like divine intervention. I did a dance and everything.

We’ll start with the bad first (yes, there was bad…but to each their own); I was a little upset with how long it took for me to receive my order — to anyone who may want to place their own orders, Alison ships all orders placed during the week on Saturday…which means if you placed your order on Sunday morning at 3:30 a.m. (like I did), your order will not ship until the following Saturday — six days later. I found this disappointing to say the least. Had I known prior to ordering (there should be a disclosure, as I had to email her in order to find out about this), I would have definitely forced myself to choose and place my order the Friday before instead. In the end I received my package ten days after placing my order, which isn’t that bad, but considering I order with the intention of featuring it here on my blog the Friday following, I was just a bit miffed about it all. Ah, well.

Anyway, onto the good stuff and the main reason we’re all here — the nail polish. I ordered four polishes in total (all minis so as to not spend all my fun money in one place); two of the polishes are from her Silmarillian Collection which is inspired by J.R.R. Tolkien’s “The Silmarillion” (big LOTR fan right here) and the other two are crellies (:o) from her newest collection “Nail Polish is For the Birds”.

First of all, the mini size is super tiny. If the polishes themselves hadn’t been so damn pretty I would have never spent $5 each on them. They’re just a little bigger than China Glaze minis.

In comparison to the minis I ordered from Black Dahlia Lacquer for the same price, Aliquid’s minis leave a bit to be desired. But hey, I knew what I was buying when I bought them. I just wasn’t mentally prepared for the visual, I’m just saying.

Okay, so onto what’s most important, what’s on the inside — the swatches!!

We’ll start with the crellies since they are part of her newest collection (also I may have a huge soft spot for crellies). This collection is called “Nail Polish is For the Birds” and is inspired by American birds. There are seven polishes total in the collection but these two were by far my favorites looks-wise.

Up first is “Ruby-Throated Hummingbird”, a white crelly with red and green ultrachrome and metallic flakies, as well as gold shimmer. Woah! It’s the most expensive polish in the entire collection at $12.00 USD for a full-size bottle (15mg). I did three coats for this swatch.

Next is “Northern Flicker”, a sky blue crelly with white, grey, navy, yellow, and red matte glitter. I really hate how the picture came out. It was taken on a different day than the others under different lighting, and I was being impatient (I’m sorry!). All that aside, this is now the most attractive blue in my entire collection. I love it so much. It’s bright and it’s fun, something I’ve really been going for here lately. I definitely need to get my hands on a full-size bottle! I did three thin coats for this swatch but you could easily get away with two thicker coats.

Next is “Hidden City” from the Silmarillion Collection, an emerald green linear holo. This is the first holo I’ve owned that flashes rainbows even in some lower lighting! I’m too excited about this polish. The formula is amazing as well. While I don’t own “all the holos” (I find them pretty and all but they’re over-hyped), I do know them to be notorious for pulling and having streaky formulas. Not this baby! I had a slight bald spot or two on my pointer and middle, but they were invisible after I applied the second coat. I was able to get away with one smooth, opaque coat on my ring and pinky fingers (except I did add a second coat). For this swatch I finished in two coats, but with a careful hand you could easily get away with just one.

Bonus pic of "Hidden City" from Aliquid Lacquer in direct sunlight!

Also from the Silmarillion Collection is “Shores of Paradise”, a gold full-coverage glitter with blue, red and green glitter. This polish reminds me of gems in the sand, or piles of gold and gems. Either way, it’s beautiful and effective and everything I expected it to be upon first seeing the swatches on the website. For this swatch I applied one coat using the brush, then I went over each nail once with a sponge, and finished with a final coat using the brush to cover any spots I might have missed.

Overall I’m fairly happy with my purchase. Yes, the bottles are a bit small for my liking, but the shades are gorgeous and sort of make up for it.

Has anyone else ever tried this brand before? What did you buy and what were your thoughts?

That’s all I have for now and I hope you enjoyed the post! Until next time!

Follow me on Instagram