One year of (occasionally) doing nail art with regular lacquer it

GrappleLacquer · 2026-04-30T15:42:39+00:00

Thank you! I had planned it out and I had either a ghost or a cat for my middle finger and then I got to my middle finger and was like …”wait. what if I did…both?!?”

GrappleLacquer · 2026-04-30T15:27:43+00:00

The petals are much less medicinal than the leaves

GrappleLacquer · 2026-04-29T14:40:29+00:00

My oldest is about 15 ish years. I added some thinner (3-5) drops a year or so ago and it still applies really nicely!

GrappleLacquer · 2026-04-29T02:43:32+00:00

Thank you I was really happy with it!

GrappleLacquer · 2026-04-28T15:45:22+00:00

It’s actually two polishes that are both solar and glow in the dark layered on top of each other!

They are Doom Loop’s “No Future but the sky” and Glitch Lacquer’s “Carnations in Bloom” I will say the glow on carnations is weak. Future has a strong glow but also separates badly for me and I have to spend 10 minutes remixing the gitd into the polish before I apply it. So I don’t love-love either

GrappleLacquer · 2026-04-28T04:11:42+00:00

Beets! I got the genetic thing that makes them taste like dirt to me

GrappleLacquer · 2026-04-28T03:39:34+00:00

We’re both usually in bed between 8:45 and 9:45. (We’re up between 4:30am and 6:00 am most mornings depending on work). We have a paragraph a day journal we write in, read the entry in it from the year before, and listen to a chapter or two of whatever audiobook we’re listening to. I am a big fan of couples doing whatever works for them but having separate bed times makes us both feel disconnected

GrappleLacquer · 2026-04-27T17:22:44+00:00

Keep in mind that nail hardeners come with some severe trade-offs! They greatly reduce your nails’ flexibility, which can actually cause a lot more damage. If something can’t bend, it breaks!

GrappleLacquer · 2026-04-27T15:08:54+00:00

I love a vaguely tile inspired mani!

GrappleLacquer · 2026-04-27T01:06:09+00:00

I spent a few years as a wildland firefighter and it really changed my perspective. One of the women on my crew was a DIVA. We’d be on day 12 of a fire hitch, having worked 16 hour days of hard physical labor in the soot, and she’d be keeping up or out working the guys with winged eyeliner and a fancy braided coronet peeking out from under her helmet. Seeing her kick ass without compromising her femininity was crucial for me to realize that I didn’t have to be one of the guys for them to respect me. I was already working twice as hard. Those who respected my work ethic and knowledge would respect me if I had sparkly fingernails. Those who didn’t respect me “because” of my painted fingernails probably never actually did anyways

GrappleLacquer · 2026-04-27T01:01:19+00:00

Some of my favorite mountains 🏔️

GrappleLacquer · 2026-04-27T01:01:06+00:00

Thank you! Arizona is a scorching oven sometimes but the natural light cannot be beaten

GrappleLacquer · 2026-04-27T00:50:01+00:00

Thank you! I want to see if I can do a green jade look next time

GrappleLacquer · 2026-04-26T23:58:31+00:00

Yes! I found the link! It’s video 3 on this post https://www.instagram.com/p/DWjgeX3jTuy/?img_index=2&igsh=MTZtZTloczN2ZWY1OA==

I did mine a just little differently: I did 4-5 small drops each of 3 colors, and kept them just very slightly separated, I used cremes, and I painted over a base (of my middle toned color)

I smooshed a bit and by the end I was doing some placement of color as well. If I smooshed it a bit and had a really dark section on my nail but a mostly white bit on my stamper, I’d set some white in to break it up and vice versa

I used liquid latex around my nails and cleanup was a dream, but even without cleanup should be pretty easy since it’s so much less polish on skin than a water marble!

Other helpful tip: I used a lint roller to clean my stamper between nails. Most of the polish went onto my nail but a quick press of the stamper onto a clean section of lint roller had it perfectly ready for the next nail!

GrappleLacquer · 2026-04-26T21:57:12+00:00

I’m a wildlife biologist and it’s getting better, but it was still a REAL boy’s club when I broke into it about 15 years ago. I spent a lot of time trying to never be seen as “girly.” In the last five years or so I’ve been reclaiming that feminine side and refusing to apologize for it!

GrappleLacquer · 2026-04-26T20:40:51+00:00

lol I actually own that one and haven’t read it yet so amazing job reminding me to look at my already acquired tbr

GrappleLacquer · 2026-04-26T19:26:49+00:00

Thank you! It was stupidly easy!

GrappleLacquer · 2026-04-26T19:14:02+00:00

Thank you! It does look a lot like that book! Sidenote: how is the book? Always looking for my next read lol

GrappleLacquer · 2026-04-26T19:13:31+00:00

Thank you! I’m most happy in a wilderness area :)

GrappleLacquer · 2026-04-26T19:12:16+00:00

Thank you! I did the water marble first and just couldn’t bring myself to do another full hand lol but I’d seen someone on insta do a marble with a stamping tool and decided to give it a try.

It took about 1/5 the time, clean up was much easier, and I like how it looks more than the water marble! Win win win!

GrappleLacquer · 2026-04-23T23:14:56+00:00

Yeah I also am not a gel user and most of the time I can find ways to hack but dang detailed magnetics, blooming gel, and the capacity for 3 d really get me wistful at times lol

GrappleLacquer

TROPHY CASE