Liquid Palisade by Kiesque

Press Sample 
Full disclosure - I am not the person to come to for nail art. I have very little patience, I have very little creativity. Anything I can use to make it easier, I am ALL for. That being said, when I first heard about Liquid Palisade by Kiesque back in 2013, I wanted to get some pretty badly. 

Think of it as painter's tape for nails. You brush on the purple liquid where you don't want polish, polish your nails, then remove the now dried protective barrier. Sounds great for gradients and water marbles, right?! However, as always, people smarter than I have even used it IN their nail art, painting designs on the nails with the Liquid Palisade, and painting, then removing the design. Think nail vinyls before we had nail vinyls.

Thankfully, this product is super easy to use - really doesn't take much effort or thought. I'm wearing Morgan Taylor Party At The Palace from the upcoming Cinderella collaboration collection and thought that I'd sponge over Morgan Taylor Watch Your Step, Sister! Now this is maybe the third gradient I've ever done so I'm still learning what colors go well together, how far up to sponge your gradient blah blah blah. My color theory isn't quite there yet - sorry art majors!

Krystal's mistake #1, not getting the Liquid Palisade isn't close enough to the cuticle. This winter I finally put together my new computer desk and monitor stand and then I had to replace my lamp. The lamp I replaced it with, is terrible. I simply do not have enough lighting anymore - and with a gloomy day outside, I don't have my natural light streaming in. I needed to get the Liquid Palisade a little closer to ensure that no polish was on the cuticles. As you can see, it paints on in a light purple and turns a darker purple (on the edges) as it dries. You should let it dry for about 30 seconds before starting your gradient or other nail art so that you don't get paint in your Liquid Palisade.

Now go crazy! I sponged my colors a total of three times and as you can see I got a little messy - should have probably added a bit more Liquid Palisade or been more careful around the edges.

Then just grab a corner of the dried purple Liquid Palisade using tweezers and peel cleanly off!

Enjoy your nail art!

So the bottle looks a little big, right? It's a 10 g/0.35 oz bottle of Liquid Palisade. To compare, Morgan Taylor has 0.50 fl oz in its bottle.

Basically it's tall but much skinnier. Think more of a striping brush. However, Kiesque says that you can get 50 manicures out of this one bottle. I'm not sure how they are measuring a manicure, but considering it's a little more than half of the Morgan Taylor bottle and I have never emptied a bottle of polish in my life from use, I'd say you have some wear time with this product.

The brush itself is quite thin, which is great for getting precise lines but less fun if you want to cover an entire area (like your entire first knuckle if you're doing a water marble. It is flexible enough to get into that little space between your nail and your cuticle but not so flexible that you're all over the place.

Additionally, the product is a bit stinky, being latex based. Make sure you use in a well ventilated area. Keep away from eyes and DO NOT USE if you have a latex allergy.

Now, I am fully aware that other bloggers have used Elmer's Glue, Liquid Latex (available online or at party supply stores) and even Sally's Hair Glue in place of Liquid Palisade. Indies are even getting into the mix like ellagee who is using a re-packaged material but in a familiar nail polish bottle and with a larger brush. Unfortunately, I have not tried any of them, so I can't confirm or deny any of the claims that they work just as well.

You can purchase Liquid Palisade directly from Kiesque on their website here for $22.00. It is also available on Gloss48 as well as a few international stockists too. Please see the Kiesque website for more. Join in the conversation with Liquid Palisade on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest and Google+.

Disclosure: The product[s] in this post was [were] provided to me by the company for consideration.  For more information, please read this post.