With all the buzz over crackle polishes, you may be wondering how they look in real life vs. promotional images. I’ve heard through the grapevine that OPI’s Shatter range is the best, so I picked one up for testing. Black Shatter is an opaque black polish that dries to a semi-matte finish
Some people say that crackle polishes work best over slightly wet polish (I used China Glaze Sea Spray and let it dry for 5 minutes), but my experience wasn’t good. I found it hard to apply and the crackle didn’t look any better for all the trouble… in fact I think the texture was more bumpy than with the dry polish.
Applying over dry polish was much easier and resulted in nicer looking crackle. My favorite texture was the light coat with diagonal strokes because it looked more delicate. And on all of the nails, I prefer the diagonal pattern over the vertical one. It’s just more interesting to look at!
I painted over Black Shatter with CND Air Dry Top Coat and got good wear time from it. I didn’t notice any chipping (how could you?) after 4 days of wear, which is when I removed it.
Although this product isn’t my personal cup of tea, the quality is good so I can’t really fault it. If you like the crackle effect, keep an eye out for the new shades OPI is releasing soon.
Price: $8:50
Rating: A
Availability: Ulta
I’m with you; I definitely think it should be completely dry before you do the crackle. xP
My Mum used the Barry M Nail Effects over wet nail polish and it look awful!
I’ve tried vertical, diagonal and random strokes and still can’t quite make myself to like these “crackle” polishes. I liked them at first, but nah, I won’t be buying anymore!
Seems to be a very divisive issue!
Wow this is a great post, I’ve not seen anyone else do something like this. It’s good to know there are options with the shatter, I’m not keen on the black shatter but now that there are loads of new colours I’d like to try this look.
Annabella x
Thanks! I’ve seen some other comparisons but they’re always between different crackle polishes, and that doesn’t really reflect how each one can crackle in a number of different ways depending on application technique. Hope you post about it on your blog when you do try this look!
I like Black Shatter. With OPI Not like the Movies it looks great (Post on my Blog!) but with glitter nailpolish it looks amazing!
I need to try this! I wonder how the metallic crackles will look over glitter polishes….
My favourite is also the light coat with diagonal strokes <– I love it xx
Thanks! xx
Looks nice, I haven’t seen any pics of diagonal crackle before!