"Say crack again" "crack"

Around a year or so ago it seemed the world and his brother were obsessed with crackle top coats. I loved wearing a black or purple crackle polish over the top of a bright base. 

I hadn't worn a crackle polish for months so decided to dust off my Barry M fav for this mid-week manicure.

Here we have two coats of Barry M's Strawberry Ice Cream and two coats of Blue Moon, again by Barry M. 

Some people have trouble with crackle top coats, my advice is to make sure your base coat is totally dry. If you are too impatient and put the crackle on when the base is still tacky it won't work as well. I always put a top coat on over crackle polishes to restore the glossy finish. 

Simply Done

Using another no named Colour Club polish and Barry M black crackle I came out with this simple manicure:

I have already mentioned in a previous post about my nameless Color Club polishes. I contacted CC about this as I bought a set from TK Max (UK) and they said this was normal for their polishes not to have a bottom name sticker.

I really like how this black crackle looks over this green polish,the green is so vibrant I think the black compliments it well.

Yellow and Purple Crackle Crash

I bought a pack of Color Club polishes which I had found in a TK Max recently, although on closer inspection I found there are no names on the bottles. Has anyone come across this before with Color Club? I have a few other bottles which I was given in swaps with Noir Lacquer (posted from USA) and these always have names on stickers on the bottom.

I contacted Color Club about the nameless polishes, this is what they had to say:

"Yes - this is completely normal. The collections that TJ Max UK take in do not have bottom labels. If you attach a picture I can try to help you identify them! Hope this helps!"

I sent the team a private message via their facebook page and was surprised to see they had responded within an hour an half. I am always pleased they offered to help me identify the polishes. For me that is great customer service, going that extra step to help the customer.

Onto the manicure I have been wearing the last couple of days:

So this is two coats of a nameless yellow from Color Club followed by one coat of purple crackle by Saffron London and a top coat of SV.

Alternating with crackle

I hope everyone is doing well? I haven't blogged in a few days, the longest since I first set up my blog a little over a year ago. Work has been hectic, I have been staying late, this coupled with a cold has meant I have felt a little run down. I am back now though and feeling better.

Here is a mani I wore recently.

Using Lemon Ice Cream from Barry M and essie's Geranium on alternating nails, and Barry M's black crackle as well as Rimmel's Matte finish top coat.

Pelican Grey with Purple Crackle

I hadn't used my one and only grey polish in a while so I dusted off my China Glaze Pelican Grey and painted Saffron London's purple crackle over the top.

I bought the purple crackle from my local pannier market a few months ago and this is only the second time I have used it. It makes a nice change from my usual black crackle and was really cheap.

A quick half n half with crackle

For the last couple of days I have been down in Exeter on a training course (local government) leaving the house at 07:15 each day and not getting home till late is taking its toll. Have learned lots though so it is all worth it. 

Since I haven't had much time to do my nails over the last few days I did this quick and simple manicure.

I used Accessorize in Electric Purple and Barry M in Block Orange followed by Andrea Fulerton's Mock Crock crackle polish. I didn't use my usual scotch tape but I figured since the crackle was going over the top it would hide any mistakes.

To finish I used China Glaze Fast Forward top coat.

My nails are quite short now after having trimmed them down, hopefully they will grow quickly, they seemed to last time.

I am contemplating getting a Shellac manicure. I love the idea of having a manicure which won't chip for a fortnight. What do you think? If you have had Shellac manicure what did you think, is it worth it?

It's My Turn with Black Crackle

Using my latest holographic polish, It's My Turn from the Kaleidoscope collection by China Glaze and Andrea Fullerton's Mock Croc shatter polish.

I do love this polish, but it is so sheer, it took three coats to build it up, but on its own it is stunning. 

Sorry, I didn't realise the second picture was so blurry until after I loaded it! As I mentioned in a previous post about this polish, some of the black text on the bottle has worn off, but I heard this is quite common for older CG polishes.

Such a wonderful polish on its own, but I wanted to see how it look under black crackle, here is Andrea Fullerton's Mock Croc without a top coat. 

Crackle tends to dry to a mat finish, but I prefer it shiny, so one coat of Seche Vite to complete the look.

I normally wear a bright colour as a base for black crackle (just so it doesn't look like just black nail polish that has chipped!) but I quite like the way the holographic gold shimmers underneath.

An Evergreen Plum

I was browsing the local pannier market and came across a lady selling makeup and lots of nail polish. She had lots of brands, some well known and others I hadn't heard of before. I picked up a Revlon (I will do another post on that) and a plum crackle polish by Saffron London. 

Here is the plum crackle polish over Models Own in Evergreen:

I am a big fan of Models Own nail polishes and Evergreen is one of my fav greens in my polish collection, it applies so well and is eye catching and bright.

I had said before that I probably wouldn't buy crackle polishes in different colours but this plum colour just grabbed my attention on the market stall and I hadn't heard of the brand before so thought I would give it a try. I actually quite like the plum and green combination.

Saffron London crackle polish does shatter really well, the breaks show off the base colour just enough.

Jack Wills do nail polish

Before Christmas I went into Exeter shopping with one of my oldest friends, she persuaded me to go into the shop Jack Wills. Jack Wills, a university outfitters shop full of lounge tracksuits, hoodie and jumpers. They also do dresses and accessories. However, the shop is so flippin expensive. A body warmer in there was over £100. Their tracksuit bottoms are £40 or £50 depending on the style. Anyway I skipped the clothing and went on to the nail polish. 

Electric pink £6

This much brighter in real life I just don't know why I couldn't capture this.

Just to add something extra I applied some black crackle over the top, this one is by Andrea Fullerton.

I know crackle polishes have been done to death, but I quite like having a black crackle over a vibrant base. 

The polish itself applied well, this is two coats, I think I will pop a white base on underneath next time to make the colour pop more. I don't think I will ever see the fascination with Jack Wills clothing but for £6 the nail polishes are very nice. 

Meteor Match - Leighton Denny

The second nail polish I was sent to try from Leighton Denny's Atmospheric collection is Meteor Match, a shimmery, very pale, sheer blue laced with a slight pinkish duochrome as well as silver glitter. I wasn't as keen on this polish, I definitely prefer Your Planet Or Mine. (My earlier review here)

This polish is still pretty, but it took four coats to achieve an opaque look, I found this polish very sheer. However, it is a good polish if you would like to paint your nails with a subtle colour, nothing too obvious, good for the office.

I found the duochrome subtle, it is barely noticeable on the nail at all, which is a shame, but I do like the soft twinkle the silver glitter particles give. The glitter within the polish felt slightly gritty once dry, but that wasn't really an issue as for this manicure I wanted to add some black crackle polish over the top anyway.

I used the black crackle polish from the Andrea Fulterton Mock Crock double ended duo, then I applied Seche Vite fast dry coat. I really like this combination, the light blue of Meteor Match with the glitter peaking through the black crackle. 

I still have some more LD polishes to try, so many polishes, so little time.