Crackle Topcoat

First of all, welcome to my new layout! There are still a lot of tweaks I need to make, but it’s miles better now than how my blog looked 24hrs ago! (Please let me know if you all hate it, lol!)

You may remember Barry M Croc Effects in black, released last autumn. They announced the release of their new Burgundy Croc Effects four days ago on their Twitter page, followed by a picture of it over Barry M Silver Foil – I think a lot of us were sold on it! I picked it up in Superdrug on Saturday.

Read More »

So guys, how come when the old crackle nail polish came around everyone went so crazy about it, despite it’s flaws (dried matte, too lumpy, a bit tatty etc.) and now when this lovely croc effects (i.e. improved crackle) comes out, no-ones talking about it?

I layered it over Barbara Daly Starlight.

For me, this hands-down wins over all the shatter/crackle polishes we’ve been seeing lately. As far as I can think of, you can break it down into these points:

• Glossy – doesn’t need a topcoat
• Looks amazing with a light/bright colour underneath, particularly one which sparkles
• Takes a long time to dry – about 10 mins
• If you smudge it you can go over it and it won’t make much of a difference
• The polish underneath has to be touch-dry, not totally dry or it wont work (the best thing I found for this when my polish underneath was already dry was to use a quick-drying topcoat, and applying it over that)
• The black is quite thick, hence the little mess in my cuticles
• £3.99 at Superdrug
• It’s very similar to Kelier Crackle

To me, this is a little bit of a hassle as I only ever use crackle polish to brighten up an existing manicure without spending time on it. However, this gives a rather more sophisticated, I’ve-tried-hard kind of look and will garner many compliments! The polish is much more pleasing to the eye. Bonus points for still being glossy!

My lovely Mum gave me this for Christmas. 🙂

What do you think of it? Have you bought it? Let me know in the comments!

x

Disclaimer: Everything mentioned in this blog post was either bought by myself with my own money, or given to me as a gift from friends/relatives. All opinions expressed here are my own.

Hello girlies (and guys… any guys other than my boyfriend read this?), I saw this in Boots and absolutely HAD to get it, no question. Aesthetically a wonderful idea.

• It looks best over a light colour such as white, silver, pale blue, pale pink, mint green or neon pink etc. – the gold glitter drowns out darker colours so the crackle effect isn’t as noticeable. Hopefully I’ll get a few pics up to demonstrate the light colours thing.
• It doesn’t crackle as much as other polishes – I find the thinner you spread it, the more it crackles… but then you lose some of the glitter. It takes a bit of getting used to.
• The glitter tends to all stay at the base of the nail (or wherever you start painting from) and I’ve gone over some areas with more than one stroke, which may account for less crackling.
• It crackles more if you blow on it as it dries!
• It dries matte, which can dull the contrast between the crackle and the base so it’s worth putting a topcoat on.
• It is a typical glitter, it will take that extra bit of rubbing with the remover to get it off!

I was lucky enough to win the Models Own Twitter competition, celebrating the release of the black and the silver Smash Up polishes. I can’t tell you how excited I was to receive the silver crackle as I’ve been eyeing it up ever since I first heard about it. These two polishes were released on Monday 11th April. The polishes arrived super duper fast, and in a well protected package.
I’ve decided to do a series of posts on the silver shatter over different coloured nail polishes, as I always find it can be a bit hit and miss with certain polishes as to whether or not it will look alright. Today I’m starting with blues/turquoises.

Disclaimer: I won this polish in a competition from the brand owner. Despite this, I maintain that I will only publish my own personal views and opinions as I would hate to mislead any one of you, particularly as a student I know just how precious money can be.

BeautyUK Glam Nails in Slate. This is a gorgeous deep grey. You know how slate tiles have that hint of purple in them? This polish has that, I love it 😀 Perfect name for this colour. One thing I’ve noticed is that it dries slightly darker than its bottle colour, so watch out for that.

This is opaque in 3 coats, which is a little more than I’d like but I’ll let this one off as it dries so fast the 3rd coat is on in the same time as a 2nd would be with any other polish. Perfect glossy finish, I can’t fault this one. Formulation was a little draggy, but if you’re quick it flows perfectly.

Hope you’re all well, hopefull I’ll have the Models Own Smash-Up post up by tomorrow!
Emma xxx