A Twist on a Crackle Mani

 China Glaze Cha Cha Cha (2 thin coats)

over 1 coat China Glaze Crackle Glaze in Lightning Bolt

 

A few weeks back, I saw a neat "alligator skin mani" using a base of a crackle polish topped with an iridescent green. I thought I'd try to recreate it, and as most nail art-ish attempts go for me, it's somewhat of a fail, but still sort of cool.

 

Back when crackle was popular, I used it quite a few times as a topper on top of a base color. But I've never tried it this way, using the crackle as the base. It gives an interesting look, and although I'd don't believe my nails would pass for alligator skin, maybe it's October or Halloween appropriate?

 Both of these are old shades, back from the days when I was on China Glaze's PR sample list.

nails inc.: Special Effects and Nail Jewelry

1 coat of nails inc. Kings Cross (from the Special Effects Neon Top Crackle Top Coat line)

over 2 coats of nails inc. Floral Street

Although these are sold separately, the instructions on the crackle effect polish Kings Cross says to apply it over Floral Street, so that's exactly what I did. Floral Street needed two coats for complete coverage, and was sort of thick. Kings Cross was probably the easiest crackle polish I have ever worked it! It was so thin, it was easy to work it and crackled super-fast. It dried somewhat matte, so I applied a coat of topcoat before I took this pic.

 Next, I wanted to re-swatch Royal Arcade from the Nail Jewelry line. When I first swatched it a few weeks ago, I did it by itself and I really liked the coverage I got in two coats.

nails inc. Royal Arcade (Sapphire Nail Jewelry) from the Nail Jewelry line
2 coats

But I had seen several other bloggers swatch it over black, so I thought I'd give that a try.

1 coat of nails inc. Royal Arcade (Sapphire Nail Jewelry) from the Nail Jewelry line

over 1 coat of nails inc. Black Taxi

How pretty is that? I love that you can get two different looks from this Nail Jewelry polish, and I especially like that it has that much glitter in just one coat.

Disclosure: All four shades featured in this post were provided to me for review purposes.

Fun With Crackle

Yesterday I played around a bit with the mani I was about to take off- Revlon Craving Coral.

Revlon Craving Coral topped with

China Glaze Crackle Glaze in Lightning Bolt

Revlon Craving Coral topped with

China Glaze Crackle Glaze in Tarnished Gold

(side note: I have never taken swatch pics of my right hand before... it was quite an adventure! Is there another way to do it other than holding the camera upside down and pressing the shutter with your thumb?)

Disclosure: The China Glaze Crackle Glaze shades were sent to me for review purposes. The Revlon shade was purchased by me.

China Glaze Crackle Glaze: Tarnished Gold and Cracked Medallion

China Glaze Crackle Glaze over Revlon Perplex

left to right: (alternating)

Cracked Medallion and Tarnished Gold

I continue to be impressed by the Metallic Crackle Glazes. They are just so much easier to work with versus the cream crackles.

I think both these shades are gorgeous, but are pretty similar. I don't know if I think you need both.

Disclosure: The China Glaze crackles were sent to me for review purposes. I purchased Revlon Perplex.

NOTD: OPI DS Elegance topped w/ China Glaze Oxidized Aqua

OPI DS Elegance topped w/ China Glaze Oxidized Aqua

I had MUCH better luck with the metallic crackle than I did with the regular- it was very easy to work with. Elegance had been on for a few days, and I needed something to stretch my mani out another day, and this worked perfectly! I really liked the combo!

Disclosure: The OPI shade was purchased by me, and the China Glaze shade was sent to me for review purposes.

China Glaze Crackle

Sugar High
Fault Line Crackle
The generous peeps at China Glaze sent me these two lovelies for review. I have to admit that I have not been a fan of the crackle trend since it came out. After applying a base, 2 coats of Sugar High, a coat of the crackle glaze Fault Line, and then a top coat, I was quite impressed with the final look. For someone like myself, who loves the bright bold nail colors, this little trend is growing on me. I can't wait to try this crackle on top of some of my favorite colors!! China Glaze always seems to put a smile on my face!!

Come check out my blog, dot...dot...dot... on Tuesday, June 14th for an exciting Summer Beauty Tour launch ... you will not wanna miss this!!

China Glaze Crackle Glaze

You know the best thing about the new crackle/shatter polish trend?

It can save a bad mani!

On Monday, I painted my nails with Lancome's Violet Groove, and I hated it! The polish was thick and goopy, which no new polish should be, and the purple cream polish did nothing for my skin.

So I grabbed my bottle of China Glaze Fault Line (sent to me for review purposes) and volia! Much better!

Lancome Violet Groove topped with China Glaze Fault Line

And the same thing happened last night... I painted my nails with Avon's new Breast Cancer Awareness color, Pink Power, and yuck. It looked terrible on me!

But with a coat of China Glaze Cracked Concrete (sent to me for review purposes), it was instantly cooler!

Avon Pink Power topped with China Glaze Cracked Concrete

Have you gotten on board with the crackle/shatter trend?