China Glaze Cracked Medallion Crackle

Good morning, Dear Reader!

I have another China Glaze Metal Crackle on tap for today, this time Cracked Medallion, the bronze.  I was looking at what I'd like to pair it with, and I thought it might look cool with the glitter in OPI Merry Midnight.

Merry Midnight is a three coater, so I put that on and figured I'd take a new picture of it while it was drying.

OPI Merry Midnight Nail Polish, Three Coats

The addition of one coat of Cracked Medallion changed it a lot.

China Glaze Crackled Medallion Crackle Glaze over OPI Merry Midnight

On a sunny day, this is a good manicure to be wearing.  That's it for today, so until next time love and nail polish to you!

China Glaze Tarnished Gold Crackle

Good morning, Dear Reader!

I was looking at what to add to yesterday's Essie Trophy Wife to change it up a bit for another day, and decided to go with China Glaze Tarnished Gold Crackle Glaze, the gold from the Crackle Metals.  I'd narrowed it down to Tarnished Gold and Cracked Medallion, the bronze, but decided that Cracked Medallion might be a bit much and went with the gold.

I just used one quick coat of Tarnished Gold over Trophy Wife and added a coat of top coat to seal it, and I'd revived it for a new day.

China Glaze Tarnished Gold Crackle Glaze

I like these two together and do think that Cracked Medallion would have been too much, so I'm pleased with the outcome.  That's all there is to tell you about today, Dear Reader, so until next time, love and nail polish to you!

Models Own Utopia and Purple Smash Up

It's Pink Wednesday and after a few weeks since my last PW post I'm back with a brand new polish to show you!

I don't have very many light colours in my stash at all, and even fewer are pastel shades. I decided to pick up this colour from Models Own since the summer is coming and I want to wear some brighter, more jolly colours on my nails! I wasn't sure if I would like it but I really do and I've worn it quite a few times since I bought it.

The formula isn't great on this polish which I can only describe as pasty. There was a lot of dragging and splotchiness but it's such a pretty colour that I can put up with its pitfalls.

3 coats of Models Own Utopia
Top Coat of NYC

While I was in Boots I noticed a lone bottle of Purple Smash Up on the shelf so of course I grabbed it straight away. I was really surprised to see it as I didn't know the colour ones were released yet, let alone that you could buy them in store - I thought you'd only be able to get them online - so I think I was just in the right time at the right place but I'm still puzzled as to why it was there because this was at least a week ago and as far as I'm aware, they only launched online five days ago.

I think the Models Own Smash Up polishes are the first decent crackles that are readily available here in the UK, especially now that there are quite a few colours to choose from with more on the way. The Barry M Nail Effects just don't do it for me because the colours are so boring and basic.

3 coats of Models Own Utopia and NYC top coat
Coat of Models Own Purple Smash Up
2 top coats of NYC

If you enlarge the picture, you'll see that this polish is metallic. There are tiny pieces of blue, purple and even pink glitter.

China Glaze Oxidized Aqua Crackle

Good morning, Dear Reader!

I have a picture I haven't shown you yet of China Glaze Oxidized Aqua from the Metal Crackles, so that'll have to do for today.  I wanted to try it out over a contrasting base color, so I picked OPI Ate Berries in the Canaries, and this is what I came up with.

China Glaze Oxidized Aqua Crackle over OPI Ate Berries in the Canaries

Not my worst, not my best... I do think Oxidized Aqua is pretty cool though.

I'll have to scamper off and come up with something better for tomorrow, so until then, love and nail polish to you!

China Glaze Haute Metal over Hot Mess

Good morning, Dear Reader!

Today I'm wearing China Glaze Haute Metal, the pink from the China Glaze Crackle Glaze Metals I swatched for you yesterday.  I paired it with Man Glaze Hot Mess, which until I ran into it in my living room yesterday, I would have denied ever owning.  I just wandered around looking at some polishes I hadn't used in a while until I came across one that would go well with one of the Crackle Metals, and Hot Mess was the winner.

Hot Mess is a glittery whitish silver matte, and very pretty.  I used three coats over a completely dry base coat, and this is Hot Mess on its own.

Man Glaze Hot Mess Nail Polish, Three Coats, No Top Coat

As you may recall, I recently discovered with OPI Turquoise Shatter that the crackling happened oddly over a matte with no top coat, so even though the surface of Man Glaze mattes feel more like powder than that weird rubbery feeling of many mattes, I top coated it.  That made it sparkle a bit more and gave it some depth.  I'd wear this one alone easily (I wish I'd known I had it sooner!).

Man Glaze Hot Mess Nail Polish, Three Coats, with Top Coat

My original plan was to pair this with Oxidized Aqua, which I still think would look cool, but somehow the notion of Haute Metal, the pink, over this made me think "futuristic ice princess."  I don't know what that means either, but I ran with it.  I added Haute Metal and two coats of top coat to make it nice and glassy smooth.

China Glaze Haute Metal Crackle Glaze over Hot Mess

This one's odd and it's hard to see what's going on without looking carefully, but it's sparkly silver pink so I'm happy.  I like it a lot.

That's what I know this morning, Dear Reader.  Until next time, love and nail polish to you!

China Glaze Crackle Glaze Metals

Good afternoon, Dear Reader!

I'm back much sooner than I'd planned because I have swatches of the upcoming China Glaze Crackle Glaze Metals to show you.  China Glaze sent them for review and they arrived this morning, and once the bottles had cooled down to room temperature, I got to swatching.

I used them all over a charcoal shimmer - I figured charcoal would let them show up well and show us their opacity, and I thought shimmer would work better with the almost-chrome finish of all six Crackle Glaze Metals.  I did just single nail swatches for this preliminary test drive and look at them - in addition to the fact that I was racing predicted storms for sunlight and didn't want to change lighting conditions halfway through, all six are gorgeous and I'd rather put a little more thought and effort into full manicures with them than just pairing them with charcoal.

Since I used three colors on each hand I split them up as I figured you'd want to see them, putting the true metallics (silver, gold, bronze) one one hand and the others (teal, pink, lavender) on the other so you can see how they look relative to one another.  They all have top coat, and this is in good sunlight.

First, we'll look at the true metals.  They are, from the top down, Cracked Medallion (bronze), Tarnished Gold (gold) and Platinum Pieces (silver).

China Glaze Crackle Glaze Metals Swatches, Round I

I think you can see how well these apply, and the application was  the same for all six shades in the collection.  The consistency of the polish is like normal polish, and so it was easy to apply a thin coat.  With crackles, I pay no attention to how even or opaque the crackle is during application - when it splits up, the pieces become much more opaque and things even out.  When applied, these looked somewhat sheer, but you can see that all three broke up beautifully and are opaque enough to completely cover the charcoal base between cracks.  Here's the same picture with the polish names added - I find labels on pictures can be distracting, so I figured I'd let you get a first impression without them and tack on the labelled version for reference.

China Glaze Crackle Glaze Metals Swatches, More Round I

As for the colors, I really like them a lot.  I've always loved metals and chromes, but the fact is, a chrome finish isn't the most forgiving.  If there's one ridge in a nail, and I have many, a chrome finish pretty much places a neon sign flashing "RIDGES" on that nail.  These have the same overall effect as regular chromes without that shortcoming, and they are really solid renditions of each color.

For Round II, also from the top down, I have Oxidized Aqua (teal), Haute Metal (pink), and Latticed Lilac (lavender).

China Glaze Crackle Glaze Metals Swatches, Round II

Here, you can see that these three are as opaque as and broke up just as well as the first three, and the colors are stunning.  These three will require a little more thought to pair up with good bases.  Here's the labelled version of Round II.

China Glaze Crackle Glaze Metals Swatches, More Round II

All six swatches have just the one coat of top coat, and you can see that the crackle layer isn't terribly thick, which is nice.  I'm a huge fan of this collection, and I'll be trying them out individually this week.

That's really all I have for today, Dear Reader, so until tomorrow, love and nail polish to you!

OPI Simply Smash-ing & White Shatter

Good morning, Dear Reader!

I'm up bright and early so I can run off to a horrifying appointment with the dentist in just a bit.  In light of that start to the day, continuing with the sparkly shatter manicures seemed in order to counter it.

For today's mani, I figured I'd just look at stuff that's come out in the last few months and go with whatever refreshed my memory with an inspiration first.  That ended up being my first thought while wading through my disdain at Black Shatter over Simply Smash-ing, the first OPI Serena set, which I recall specifically noting upon my first proof read that my review contained the phrase "it's hideous" three times, so I spent a long time rewriting that one.  That thought was that Simply Smash-ing was like a sparkly tennis ball green, a favorite color with a favorite finish, and that with white shatter it might look cool.  I put that on the back burner until White Shatter was released, and lo and behold, that's my manicure for today.

I needed three coats of Simply Smash-ing, which would have been negotiable as a base color were it not for my one clear fake tip, then did a top coat to dry it, White Shatter, and more top coat to seal it.  This is how Simply Smash-ing with White Shatter looks.

OPI Simply Smash-ing with OPI White Shatter

You can get the whole tennis ball theme from that, right?  I don't think that one's too far a stretch.  Whether it's that or I've just warmed up to crackle polishes so much since the first time I used Black Shatter, I really love this one.

I'm having a blast with crackles lately - they're such an easy way to make a cool mani an over-the-top one.  That's what I know for now, Dear Reader, so until next time, love and nail polish to you!

China Glaze Fault Line & Absolutely Alice

Good morning, Dear Reader!

I'm still playing with Crackles this morning, and today's is China Glaze Fault Line, the purple shimmer, over OPI Absolutely Alice, the blue glitter.  It's base coat, two coats of Absolutely Alice, then top coat and a few minutes to dry before adding one coat of Fault Line and another top coat.

China Glaze Fault Line over OPI Absolutely Alice

I like this one a lot.  That's just about all I have to tell you about, so until next time, love and nail polish to you!

OPI Turquoise Shatter over Glam Rock

Good morning, Dear Reader!

Today I'm wearing OPI Turquoise Shatter over Orly Glam Rock, and I really like how it turned out.  It somehow reminds me of enameled jewelry of the 1970's.

Orly Glam Rock is their gold matte polish, and I picked that one both for the color and because it only needs one coat.  I actually had to take a do-over on this manicure - the first time, I did base coat, one of Glam Rock, let it dry, then Turquoise Shatter and top coat.  Turquoise Shatter didn't break up very much that way, but I thought the colors were really good together so I redid it, using top coat over Glam Rock the second time and it turned out much better.  Have a look.

OPI Turquoise Shatter over Orly Glam Rock

It's bright and it's fun.  I like it.

That's just about all I have to tell you about this morning, Dear Reader.  Until next time, love and nail polish to you!

OPI Simmer & Shimmer with Blue Crackle

Good morning, Dear Reader.

Today I have more glitter with crackle.  The glitter is OPI Simmer & Shimmer from the Burlesque Collection, which is a two coater.  Here's Simmer & Shimmer alone.

OPI Simmer & Shimmer Nail Polish, Two Coats

I added a coat of Blue Crackle and some top coat to it.

OPI Blue Shatter over OPI Simmer & Shimmer

That's just about all I know this morning, Dear Reader, so until next time, love and nail polish to you!

China Glaze Crushed Candy Crackle

Good morning, Dear Reader!

About a week or so ago I showed you Nfu Oh 40 over Misa Quirky Smile, but what I didn't show you was that I got an extra day out of it by topping it off with China Glaze Crushed Candy, the Crackle Glaze that's about the same shade as For Audrey.  I really just wasn't particularly excited about removing the flakies, and it didn't occur to me until after I'd added Crushed Candy that I'd succeeded in making the situation a little worse.  Since we know by now that I was able to remove all of it, all's well that ends well, and it was fun while I wore it.

China Glaze Crushed Candy Crackle over Nfu Oh 40 and Misa Quirky Smile

On this one, I really like how glowy the flakes are as they peek out of the kind of muted creme shade of Crushed Candy.  I think as long as a base polish and a crackle are pretty dramatically different from one another, I'll like them together.

That's what I have for you this morning, Dear Reader.  Until next time, love and nail polish to you!

OPI Red Shatter & Teenage Dream

Good morning, Dear Reader!

I thought I'd give OPI Red Shatter a try over OPI Teenage Dream, and I really like how it turned out.  I used base coat, two coats of Teenage Dream, and top coat, waited a few minutes for it to dry, then added Red Shatter and another coat of top coat.  I'm finally adjusting to Shatters not being totally smooth, so I didn't load it up with a lot of top coat to make it that way.

OPI Red Shatter over OPI Teenage Dream

The sun wasn't glaring when I took this picture, just bright enough to make the colors show well, so the Teenage Dream glitter isn't sparkling away here like it is on my hands.  I've discovered that I especially like tons of glitter under some of the Shatters, and Red Shatter is one of them.

That's the update for today, Dear Reader.  Until next time, love and nail polish to you!

OPI Shatters: Navy, Blue, Turquoise

Good morning, Dear Reader!

Today I thought I'd show you three of OPI's new Shatters: Navy Shatter, Blue Shatter, and Turquoise Shatter, which I swatched together so you can see how they compare.

I swatched them over OPI Spark de Triomphe.  Navy Shatter is more of a jelly, like Red Shatter, than a creme. You can see in the picture that the brush overlapped in the middle of my nail, and the color is built up a lot more there.  Blue Shatter and Turquoise Shatter are shimmers and went on very evenly.  All three are easy to apply and to control the thickness of the coat.

OPI Shatters: Navy Shatter, Blue Shatter, Turquoise Shatter

From the top down, they're Navy Shatter, Blue Shatter, and Turquoise Shatter.  All three broke up nicely, and I have no complaints about any of them.

That's the scoop for today, Dear Reader.  Until next time, love and nail polish to you!

Sally Hansen Crackle Overcoats

Good morning, Dear Reader!

On the off chance you're not weary of crackle nail polish yet, I have two from the Sally Hansen Crackle Overcoat release to show you today, Antiqued Gold and Distressed Denim.  These are the only two I have from Sally Hansen - the others seemed close enough to OPI or China Glaze ones to me.  The biggest thing the two of these have in common is a long, skinny, floppy brush that make them very difficult to apply thinly, which puts a huge damper on how much I like them.

I'll start with the one that was a letdown, Antiqued Gold.  The shade is pretty, a nice shimmery pale gold, but the polish is a little thick like the China Glaze Fault Line, the tricky purple shimmer, and the floppy brush in Antiqued Gold made it impossible for me to use the same technique to successfully apply it as I did the China Glaze.  The manicure here is Illamasqua Scarab with one thicker-than-I-wanted-it coat of Antiqued Gold, the thinnest I was able to apply, then top coat.

Sally Hansen Antiqued Gold Crackle Overcoat over Illamasqua Scarab

I like look of the polish, it's that there are so few cracks that I don't care for.  Applying it more thinly would fix that, but the long, skinny, floppy brush makes that a challenging feat.

Distressed Denim is much thinner, so I had a little more success with this one since I was able to apply a thinner coat.  It's a bright blue jelly, so I paired it with OPI Last Friday Night to let the glitter sparkle through.  It worked out well.

Sally Hansen Distressed Denim Crackle Overcoat over OPI Last Friday Night

I hadn't used Last Friday Night before, so I took a picture of it to show you before adding the crackle.  The color of it builds slowly, and on my hands I think it makes me look like I'm really, really cold.  This is three coats.

OPI Last Friday Night Nail Polish, Three Coats

That's what I know about Sally Hansen Crackle Overcoats.  Most likely, I'll return them because I really hate the brush a whole lot.  I considered decanting them into another bottle with a workable brush, which I've never done before, but partway through the process of picturing what it would take to do that I lost interest, which pretty much gave me my answer on whether that's something I want to do.
That's it for today, Dear Reader, and until next time, love and nail polish to you!

OPI Serena Glam Slam France

Good morning, Dear Reader!

I swatched the two new OPI Serena Glam Slam Duos coming out for the French Open for you, so that's what's on tap today.  I only tried out the Shatters over the color each was packaged with, which really aren't what I'd put them with on my own, so there will be more to come with those.

Spark de Triomphe is tons of glitter, sort of white gold overall with specks of black, in a clear base.  The glitter is very dense but still pretty smooth, and this one is good in two coats.  It looks a little bit like I got some poppy seeds on my nails, but I really like Spark de Triomphe just the same.

OPI Spark de Triomphe Nail Polish, Two Coats

Spark de Triomphe is packaged with White Shatter, which is as thick as and about the same to apply as Black Shatter.  It's opaque white when dry.  Since I know some prefer no top coat over Shatters, I took pictures without it as well as with top coat.  I think it has a definite sidewalk chalk look to it without.

OPI White Shatter over Spark de Triomphe, No Top Coat

OPI White Shatter over Spark de Triomphe with Top Coat

That's it for the white one.  Red Shatter came with Rally Pretty Pink, which is indeed rally pretty.  It's that pigment from last year again, and it was difficult to get a good picture of it in artificial light.  Depending on the angle, the color shifts around a good bit, and my camera kept picking up more purple than really shows, but this gives you an idea of it.  It's not so much the pinky-pink I've seen in some promo pictures.  It could have used at least a third coat - this is two.

OPI Rally Pretty Pink Nail Polish, Two Coats

I added Red Shatter, which is more of a jelly than a creme.  It's also much thinner than White Shatter and easier to apply.

OPI Red Shatter over Rally Pretty Pink, No Top Coat

OPI Red Shatter over Rally Pretty Pink with Top Coat

On the package for the pink and red set, I noticed something I see as good - Serena's sporting some serious nails.



That's the update for today, Dear Reader. Until next time, love and nail polish to you!

OPI Silver Shatter & Navy Baby

Good morning, Dear Reader!

I'm wearing OPI Silver Shatter over Sally Hansen Salon Navy Baby today, and so I have pictures of it for you.  I did something a little different this time, I forgot to leave one nail the usual way so we could see whether it made a difference.  I'll tell you about it when that step fits in.

I started out with base coat, then two coats of Navy Baby followed by quick dry top coat to dry it.  What I liked about the Silver Shatter over Dragon manicure was the bigger cracks in it, but I thought the pieces of silver drifted a little far apart.  The idea I had to try to let the thicker coat of Silver Shatter break up nicely but not have the pieces run away from each other was to use a coat of sticky base coat (I had Nubar Foundation handy and used that) over the quick dry top coat just before applying Silver Shatter.  So once the whole Navy Baby manicure was dry, I added a thin coat of Foundation, gave it about two minutes to dry, then added a thick coat of Silver Shatter and two coats of quick dry top coat to smooth it out.  The plan was to add Foundation to nine nails so we could see a clear With and Without to tell if it made a difference, but I was watching a movie when I did the manicure, and it was a creepy part when I was applying Foundation and I got distracted, so we'll know if it made a difference another time... Here's the manicure.

OPI Silver Shatter over Sally Hansen Salon Navy Baby in Sunlight

I really like this one a lot too, and I think Foundation may have changed the continental drift I didn't care for over the red, so I'll have to do a decent test to find out.  With all the China Glaze Crackles and Black Shatter, the polish is so thick to start that applying a thick coat of it never came up, but Silver Shatter isn't anywhere near as thick, which leaves more room for how you want to apply it.  I'm not trying to make up extra rules for it or to complicate it any further, I really just want to see the ways the final outcome using it can be manipulated and how since it's kind of nice to have a manicure turn out exactly as the idea was pictured.

That's the update for today, Dear Reader.  Until next time, love and nail polish to you!

OPI Silver Shatter & Chanel Dragon

Good morning, Dear Reader!

I'd mentioned that I wanted to try OPI Silver Shatter over Chanel Dragon, so I did.  Dragon is just the shade of red I wanted to pair with Silver Shatter, and it really does give completely opaque coverage in one coat, so it seemed like a good choice.  I still think it was.  Since it was a single coat, I didn't top coat it, I just let it air dry, which only took a few minutes.  Then I added a kind of thick coat of Silver Shatter (I wanted the cracks to be big) and two coats of Diamont to smooth it out.  Here it is in the morning sun.

OPI Silver Shatter over Chanel Dragon Nail Polish, One Coat Each

This is much more what I had in mind for Silver Shatter, and I like it, especially how it cracked across near the tips.  I want to give it a go over a navy blue soon, too.

That's what I know this morning, Dear Reader!  Until next time, love and nail polish to you!