Hi there. I had to do some business travel last week, and always being alert for crackle polish, this is one part I absolutely love about traveling in the summer [ok almost fall] is the chance to check out not only nail polish, but the latest trends I see in airports with toenail polish as well.
I try and be a bit discrete, as otherwise women may wonder why I am staring at their toes all the time [unless of course they know I am the world famous Talia doing research for my world famous nail polish blog!].
So – I didn’t see as much crackle this trip as I would have liked. Lots of red nail polish on fingers and toes, a really awful shade of green polish on toes, and a beige polish tone that I’m not sure I liked. Would probably have to see it somewhere else other than an escalator up to ticketing to be sure.
Crackle polish, to me, is still a hot trend, and offers endless experimentation. While I haven’t been successful in finding a Chanel crackle [maybe because they don't make one...or they figure women paying that much for nail polish aren't interested in crackle? Kind of like some kind of class distinction maybe...rubbish.
Cracked Nail Polish
Some of my friends still refer to Crackle as "that Cracked Nail Polish Look". I hate this characterization - cracked nail polish to me is what happens after 1-2 weeks of using a cheap nail polish that starts to chip and crack. But hey - if you want to call the distinctive, beautiful nail effect of crackle using this term - so be it.
The Katy Perry OPI Crackle is still one of my favorites...Black Shatter remains a high quality and very vibrant, noticeable, and fairly long lasting crackle polish. One of the easiest places to get it remains amazon of course, as you can always find the best polish price and selection from multiple sellers [and not have to change out of your bathrobe to go shopping].
I’ve written so many other articles on Crackle Polish it’s hard to know what new things to say [to be honest]. I love it, you can use glitter polish as a base coat with black shatter on top for a stunning effect. I haven’t noticed any remarkable effects from spending more money on the base coat such as Chanel for example…I tend to stick to my OPI and lately some China Glaze for both the base coat and the crackle top coat.
OPI nail polish colors still seem to me to have the best variety to use for my base coat, and the OPI crackle collection is one of the best out there in my opinion – whether you’re using the black shatter and like the black nail effect or not. If you haven’t tried OPI polishes check out this great OPI Polish Article to see why you should.
Zoya Nail Polish – No Cracked Nail Polish Here
I don’t think Zoya makes a crackle polish to be honest [email me if you find one]. I have, however, read tons of reviews of women that really like using a Zoya base coat with China Glaze crackle. One reason might be due to the fact that Zoya polishes are often included in discussions about organic or safe nail polishes, due to being free of toluene, camphor, formaldehyde, resin, and dibutyl phthalate (DBP). So while I wouldn’t characterize these as non-toxic, they are definitely positioned as safer nail polishes due to removing some of the chemicals widely regarded as somewhat toxic and possibly harmful.
This makes sense I guess – the polish closest to your nails is a quality, safe and possibly organic polish, while the crackle coat that goes over top isn’t in direct contact with your nail surface. Never really occurred to me to think this way, as I don’t worry too much about the chemicals in nail polish – but if you are, and want something considered to be a safe nail polish, then this would make sense.
Along with the OPI Fall 2011 Collection, Zoya has also announce their fall 2011 nail polish collection:
Zoya Smoke Nail Polish Collection – Fall 2011
- Jana – smoky mauve quartz cream
- Petra – smoky eggplant mauve cream
- Codie – smoky brown taupe cream
- Anja – smoky palatinate purple cream
- Cynthia – smoky Prussian blue cream
- Dree – smoky camouflage green cream
Zoya Mirrors Nail Polish Collection – Fall 2011
- Nimue – rich thistle metallic
- Marina – steel blue metallic
- Tao – slate gray metallic
- Yara – sparkly olive green metallic
- Neeka – sparkly amethyst purple metallic
- Jem – sparkly fandango pink metallic
I haven’t tried any of these Zoya collections yet, but if they aren’t going to make a Zoya Crackle Polish, then I am a bit excited by the metallic nail polish set – especially am a bit eager to try the Neeka polish…stay tuned.
Crackle Nail Polish Opi?
Yes of course. OPI remains, IMO, the queen of crackle nail polishes. A close second is China Glaze which I also have used quite a bit in the past. With an awesome color like the Neon Flying Dragon how could you not love this brand? [ok, so this one isn't so much a crackle, but still love the color]. One of the best places to buy China Glaze Nail Polish is Sally Beauty. However, they don’t carry a large collection of OPI polish so amazon is still a great bet in terms of online shopping for OPI.
OPI crackle polish for me is just one of the best quality crackles – it goes on smooth, isn’t too runny or clumpy like some other polishes I won’t name, and the cracked nail polish look is always random and doesn’t look like fault lines on your nails.
If you haven’t tried OPI crackle, I would of course start with what I consider one of their flagship polishes already mentioned earlier – the Black Shatter is simply superb.
Ok – I have the Crackle bug out of my system for tonight. Remember – I have lots of other articles on specific crackle colors, approaches to beautiful nail designs, and specific tips and tricks to using crackle polish - check them out. This article was just a little teaser after not seeing enough crackle on my business trip!