I think I'll try to do a couple more. Maybe I'll re-do that Illamasqua Heart mani that looks like saddle shoes, but this time do a better job. I think for my actual Valentine's Day manicure I'm going to use the Art Club Glam decals with the gold hearts, maybe over light pink or white.
I tried a different technique for applying Black Shatter this time, thanks so much everyone for the tips! You guys rock.
This was: Two coats of Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Night Lights over one coat of NYC Black (not a very good black polish, sadly) with OPI Black Shatter over two coats of Nicole OMB! on ring fingers and thumb. Night Lights is a nice chunky holo, sadly, this type of lighting is not good for capturing holo.On this hand I tried a zig-zag diagonal pattern for applying the crackle polish and I think it turned out great!
I forgot to take a picture of the other hand until I'd already been wearing this for a couple days:
On this hand I did the random-blobs-of-crackle technique, but I don't think I did it right, it didn't crackle enough cause I made the blobs too thick. Very different look from the other two methods, though! I got bad shrinkage on my thumb because I did two coats of Seche Vite instead of regular topcoat and then Seche. Lesson learned!Last night while I was out grocery shopping, I picked up some really cool Kiss decals that I think would make a good gothy Valentine's day design... Now I just have to think of a creative way to use them. I'll try to post a picture of them later.
Looks great!! I tried a similar crackle combo with Black Shatter layered over ChG Ahoy! and it was awesome! I looooove the black and pink combo!
ReplyDeleteI love these colors together, perfect vday mani!
ReplyDeletei like the idea of trying the illamasqua heart design, i think it's really cute
ReplyDeletethis is so wonderful :)
ReplyDeleteThis looks fantastic! I've also noticed with Black Shatter that it'll separate most from points the brush hits. So if you do the traditional bottom-up stroke, the shatters will be more vertical. If you start from the middle first, it'll look more like giraffe. And ironically, thicker coats are better if you want to see larger shatter chunks and less black color overall on the nail.
ReplyDeleteI love your blog! Have you received the China Glaze crackles to swatch yet? I ordered Cracked Candy and am anxiously awaiting its arrival. :)
Please could you explain the "zig-zag diagonal pattern" thing? How do you apply the black shatter?
ReplyDeleteLooks awesome! I love the red under the black - looks like lava.
ReplyDeleteNice mani! I never thought about applying crackle some other way!
ReplyDeleteLove what you've done here. It's cool to know that you can achieve a different crackle effect based on how you apply it.
ReplyDelete(Just pre-ordered the China Glaze Crackle collection last night. So excited to try it. Still can't find the OPI Katy Perry collection I really want!)
-Mary
Looks like an oozing wound! Haha! Maybe it's a broken heart. Love this manicure. Thanks for another way to apply the shatter. I just have to get a bottle.
ReplyDeleteI think they look great. I love how you did the horizontal crackle. It looks very different and another way to jazz up the manicure. I just bought my second bottle of Seche and I LOVE it. Thanks you for giving us the heads up on that one. It is the best top coat I have ever used. I thought "Out the door" was the best and surely I was wrong. Keep up the good work.
ReplyDeleteAh! Does applying a clear top coat and then a coat of Seche Vite really help stop shrinkage? I love my Seche but I can't stand the shrinkage I get (every god damn time I use it, I might add). Have you any other tips at all for avoiding it? I would really appreciate it if you could reply.
ReplyDeleteI love this combo. Night Lights over black resembles Color Club Revolution!
ReplyDeleteValerie_de_tiff, sure! Just sweep the brush side to side instead of straight up and down :)
ReplyDeleteAoifeO'C, it does! But the main things that help with Seche Shrinkage are keeping it thin (with Seche Restore), keeping the coats thin, and avoiding water until after it's fully cured.
Wow, the combo of the black and glitter looks like a starry night. :) So beautiful!
ReplyDelete