it didn't come with any directions. i immediately tried to layer it over my day old manicure and an awful thing happened--it began to curl at the edges and flake off as soon as it'd dried! that was frustrating. i knew "Black Shatter" needed to be applied over completely dry nail polish, but "Crackle" is a completely different polish.
so after figuring out how to use this stuff, i decided to write a tutorial.
step 1: (optional) this is if you are applying it over an existing dry manicure. buff the polish so that it is rough.
step 2: start at this step if you have just applied your final coat of polish (before top coat) on a fresh manicure. if you are applying this over an existing dry manicure, add another coat of the polish.
step 3: after the polish has set (but not dried completely), apply a THICK coat of the "Crackle" polish. try not to get it on your cuticles or skin as it is difficult to remove, even with acetone.
step 4: allow the "Crackle" polish to dry until it BEGINS to crackle at the edges.
step 5: grab your hair dryer (or heat gun) and turn it on low blow/high heat setting and start drying your nails.
step 6: the heat should cause your nails to immediately finish crackling. they'll have a satin finish.
step 7: apply a top coat to seal them, clean up the edges, and moisturize.
ta da!
CoverGirl "Crackle" has a very different pattern from OPI "Black Shatter". you won't get as much space in the gaps with "Crackle", but you will get a nice smooth scale-like pattern. as i mentioned earlier, it is really annoying to remove if you get it on your skin...it's easier to scrape it off after its dried.
hope this helps anyone who has been struggling!
this looks cool, i'm not really in to the whole, crackle,/shatter, whatever you wanna call it lol. I love how the bottle looks :)
ReplyDeleteyeah the handles of these crackle polishes are always so cool looking. doesn't translate to the nail though, that's for sure!
ReplyDeleteGosh that seems like a lot of work! HAHA!
ReplyDeleteSo, am I insane, or didn't this whole crackle train chug on by in the late 80s/early 90s too? I swore I had polish like this when I was a kid.
ReplyDelete