I am only recently up to speed with this 'crackle effect' Nail varnish, sadly something I discovered when working on a TV show that featured fashionable tween and teenage girls! Watching through the footage from the shoot, one of the young girls was painting her little sister's nails and was talking about the "how cool the crackle one looks". Baffled, and feeling a bit past it, I endeavoured to find out more. And the effect? I have now succumbed (well and truly) to the trend, despite being 23 years old and not 12...
I can only recommend that everyone releases their inner child and tries this out, because no matter how silly you think it is, it is most definitely fun to do. Apparently, Katy Perry has long been on the trend - and surely this fact can only persuade you further.
Choose a normal nail varnish of a good bold colour, and paint your nails as you would normally. The magic part happens 20 minutes later after your colourful base coat is dry. This is when you apply the 'crackle' top coat. Apply it normally as you would any nail varnish and then watch it shrink and crack as it dries, revealing the colour underneath. Choosing your colour combinations can take ages, so if you are as indecisive as me, start off simple. (After much deliberation) I went with black and a silvery gold.
The method in action using Barry M black crackle over gold, as demonstrated by Mei-Lian.
My research informed me that there are many good brands selling various fun colours. You can find pricier ones by good brands like Opi, Models Co, Nails Inc and Sally Hensen. Or, perhaps if you are not yet a crackle convert, go with the cheap and cheerful brands that are no doubt equally as effective like Barry M and No.17 (Boots own brand) which are only about £3-4 each.
Having now tried and tested both the Barry M and No.17, there is a noticeable difference in the crackle effect. Which one you prefer is up to you!
A good friend has the Barry M crackle in black, which looks fantastic over a thick metallic gold - kind of a leopard print effect (with thanks again to Mei-Lian for being my hand model):
Now for the No.17 crackle in a silvery gold on thick black that I tried out for myself. It produces much more of a stripey effect. If we are sticking with the animal theme, I'd say more zebra like than the Barry M leopard print look. Although one guy in my office commented that the effect on my thumbnail looked like a graph of the stock market crash...
You can buy both nail varnishes that I've reviewed online of course. Happy Crackling!
I can only recommend that everyone releases their inner child and tries this out, because no matter how silly you think it is, it is most definitely fun to do. Apparently, Katy Perry has long been on the trend - and surely this fact can only persuade you further.
Choose a normal nail varnish of a good bold colour, and paint your nails as you would normally. The magic part happens 20 minutes later after your colourful base coat is dry. This is when you apply the 'crackle' top coat. Apply it normally as you would any nail varnish and then watch it shrink and crack as it dries, revealing the colour underneath. Choosing your colour combinations can take ages, so if you are as indecisive as me, start off simple. (After much deliberation) I went with black and a silvery gold.
My research informed me that there are many good brands selling various fun colours. You can find pricier ones by good brands like Opi, Models Co, Nails Inc and Sally Hensen. Or, perhaps if you are not yet a crackle convert, go with the cheap and cheerful brands that are no doubt equally as effective like Barry M and No.17 (Boots own brand) which are only about £3-4 each.
Having now tried and tested both the Barry M and No.17, there is a noticeable difference in the crackle effect. Which one you prefer is up to you!
A good friend has the Barry M crackle in black, which looks fantastic over a thick metallic gold - kind of a leopard print effect (with thanks again to Mei-Lian for being my hand model):
Now for the No.17 crackle in a silvery gold on thick black that I tried out for myself. It produces much more of a stripey effect. If we are sticking with the animal theme, I'd say more zebra like than the Barry M leopard print look. Although one guy in my office commented that the effect on my thumbnail looked like a graph of the stock market crash...
You can buy both nail varnishes that I've reviewed online of course. Happy Crackling!
