China Glaze Crackle Metals Collection Summer 2011 Swatches and Review

Just when I thought I was getting over the whole crackle thing, these come along and renew my interest. Previously, the only options for crackle topcoat were cremes, but recently there have been a few shimmer and foil crackle topcoats cropping up. These China Glaze Crackle Metal crackle glazes are some of the prettiest crackle topcoats I've seen; they're crackle FOILS. Crazy, sparkly, ethereal, shimmering metallic foils. Take a look!


China Glaze Cracked Medallion (over Essie Super Bossa Nova). This is a light brassy-bronze foil crackle topcoat. Extremely sparkly (as are all of these shades) yet light and airy looking as well. Not too dense, it doesn't drown out your base color.


China Glaze Haute Metal (over Wet n Wild Black). This shade is a light, rosy pink metallic foil crackle topcoat. Silver based.


China Glaze Latticed Lilac (over Ozotic 505, which itself is over Finger Paints Art of Theft). This one is a silver base pale purple/lilac foil crackle topcoat. This reminds me of an old China Glaze color. Trying to remember the name. Was it Barefoot In The Park? I know it was from that collection. The ones that came with little nail decals on the neck of the bottle. Anyway, I'm digging the way this looks with the teal side of Ozotic 505!


China Glaze Oxidized Aqua (over Essie Brazilliant). Oxidized Aqua is a silver based light aqua blue crackle topcoat. Foily finish. Light and pretty and oceany.



China Glaze Platinum Pieces (over Pure Ice All Night Long). This is a straight up silver foil crackle topcoat. No blue tones. It's more of a white-silver, or a light shade of silver. Compared to the other silver crackle topcoat I have, OPI Silver Shatter, this is lighter in color and less dense/more sheer and lets the base color peek through.


China Glaze Tarnished Gold (over Ozotic 505 which is over Finger Paints Art Of Theft). Saved the best for last. This is a less brassy shade than Cracked Medallion. It's a neutral and almost taupe-toned gold foil crackle topcoat. I think this looks amazing over the duochrome goodness of Ozotic 505. I didn't plan this combination! It happened by chance! I just put some of the new crackles over my existing mani to test them. As luck would have it, it turned out awesome so I took a picture of it. Seriously, try this over a duochrome if you have one handy.

The formula of these is good. It's much thinner than any other crackle topcoat I've used. These shades are a little watery and therefore rather sheer, but it all works out in the end. Once they crackle, they shrink up/bunch together a little which makes them more opaque. They dry very quickly, but if you try to apply topcoat too soon after applying, it can smudge the crackle so be careful of that. I've also noticed that these don't seem to dry in the neck of the bottle as quickly as other crackles.



Just for fun, I did a few more of the shades over black. The black base really shows how sparkly and jewel-encrusted they look and it gives great contrast. So pretty over black. Left to right (pinkie to index) is Cracked Medallion, Latticed Lilac, Tarnished Gold and Oxidized Aqua.

Two thumbs up from me. These are gorgeous. They apply easily and don't seem to dry out as fast. They add sparkle unlike any other crackle topcoats. I heartily approve.

On an unrelated note, I'm unable to reply to comments again. Blogger just eats them, they disappear without a trace. Until I have my other computer back and I can post comments again, hit me on Twitter if you have any urgent questions, it's much easier for me to respond quickly there. Thank you :)

(These were sent to me for review.)