When my nails are done, I feel polished (no pun intended). My cousin, Brooke, considers nail polish an essential accessory and always paints her nails before going out or attending an event. For me, painting my nails is an event. First, I have to find a good chunk of time where I don’t need my hands. So no makeup, no blogging, no answering emails, no picking anything up. No wonder I only end up polishing my nails a few times a year…
My other nail gripe is chipping. Even with high quality polishes, it’s usually only a matter of days (sometimes hours) before I’ve destroyed my manicure. Chipped nails (on me) drive me nuts, but when it happens mid-day and there’s no remover in sight, I have to deal with it. When that happens, all I can see every time I look at my hands–which is often, as they double as makeup palettes–is (up to) ten areas of imperfection. And because my hands are always making their way into “behind the scenes” or pre-wedding getting ready photos, I’m painfully aware of how my nails look.
Up until recently, my solution to my issues with nail polish was to avoid painting my nails entirely. (Ironically, my toenails are always painted. And always red.) But starting last spring, I tried three new(ish) nail products. And loved them all.
Crackle/Shatter Polishes
There are a bunch of different brands that carry this type of polish, all with different names, but I’m going to refer to it as crackle. For those who don’t know about crackle nail polishes, they’re polishes that you paint over an already dry coat of nail polish. As the top layer dries, the color “cracks”, allowing sections of the base color to show through. Crackle nail polish isn’t new–I remember using it in the 90s–but it disappeared and made somewhat of a comeback in the last couple of years.
Out of the three nail products that I tried, crackle was the only one I didn’t intend to try. I was buying something else at Sally’s Beauty Supply while they had a crackle polish promotion going on. To reward me for spending whatever ridiculous amount I spent, I was given a choice of one free bottle of China Glaze Crackle Glaze in a few different colors. I of course chose black, because black is slimming.
I carved out a portion of my day–which happened to be my birthday, so I felt okay taking some time off to self-induldge–to crackle my nails.
I decided to use gold as a base coat. After that dried, I applied a coat of the black Crackle Glaze. It dried quickly and gave the exact effect it claimed to. The black cracked in random patterns, showing slivers of the gold.
I enjoy playing with different textures, so I loved having textured nails. Best of all, when the inevitable chipping occurred, it was barely noticeable. The polish came off easily with regular polish remover. I found this to be a great, affordable, easy and low-maintenance option.
Stay tuned for Nailed It: Part 2 to find out about the other nail products that I adore.
Have a beautiful day 🙂
A Pretty Addiction 