China Glaze Crackle Polish

I was so excited when I heard that China Glaze would be releasing a crackle polish similar to the Shatter introduced earlier this year by OPI.  Shatter has been extremely difficult to find and has 1 major draw back, currently it's only available in black. 

China Glaze introduced their crackle line in not 1, but 6 different colors.  After too many trips to Ulta and even more to Sally's I was finally able to get my hands on some.  Trying to decide what colors to choose was a challenge, so what's a girl to do?  Buy them all, well half of them.  Black Mesh was sold out, but that was okay, because I just wasn't that excited about black.  Crackled Concrete wasn't calling to me. I just haven't gotten on board with the whole gray polish trend.  Lightening Bolt reminds me of White Out, so that was easy to skip.

So what did I get?  Crushed Candy...a pretty Tiffany blue, Broken Hearted...a bright Barbie Pink and of course Fault Line...a gorgeous shimmering purple.  For those of you really into polish Crushed Candy is a crackle dupe of China Glaze's popular color For Audrey.

Soon as I got home I couldn't wait to play, and Fault Line was first up. I quickly slapped on a single coat of OPI's Flashbulb Fuschia and let it dry completely.  Once dry I painted a very thin coat of the purple crackle and in seconds I was watching the magic happen.  The crackle polish is a different texture then traditional nail laquer, in fact it's a lot like the consistancy of White Out with about the same drying time.  It dries to a rather unattractive matt finish, but once you apply a top coat the finish was shimmery crackles.

Fault Line over Flashbulb Fuschia

                       


I loved the combo of the pink base coat and the purple crackle.  Everywhere I went people complimented me on my nails.  The wear was really good as well, but I can't comment on how long it lasts before it chipped, because I was so excited to try Crushed Candy.  I took it off after 3 days.

I applied Crushed Candy on top of China Glaze's Watermelon Rind, a lacquer with a green glittery jelly finish.  The Crushed Candy crackled more then the Fault Line, and while it doesn't have the shimmer of Fault Line, I think that the overall crackle is better.

Crushed Candy over Watermelon Rind



There is definately a learning curve with these crackle finishes.  They're not difficult to use, but you have to work quickly and apply a thin coat with as few strokes as possible.  The crackles start almost immediately and continue to form over several minutes.  The thinner the coat of polish, the better the crackle finish.

Overall I really like these polishes.  They are fun to wear and relatively easy to use.  I'm not sure that they are office ready, but they are definitely attention getters.  For a fun, easy and different look I really recommend these.  Like the OPI Shatter, they may be difficult to find.  I went back to Ulta the next day and they were completely sold out.  If you can get your hands on a bottle, grab it...you won't regret it.