Tag: crackle

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GLAM NAILS CHALLENGE OCTOBER 2025 — Spiderweb 🕸️

Good morning lovelies & happy Monday! I hope you’re having the most beautiful start to your day. Today, I’m sharing prompt # 4 from Glam Nails Challenge October for 2025: Spiderweb.

Spider’s are probably my least favourite thing, but a good spiderweb nail art look does fit the spooky Halloween vibes.

The polishes I used for this manicure are: 

  • Top Coat: Sally Hansen InstaDri Top Coat (red bottle) 
  • Base Coat: Essie Hard to Resist (purple)
  • Sally Hansen Triple Shine Wavy Blue
  • NailStuff.ca Essentials Raven
  • LA Colors Black Shatter
  • OPI I Cannoli Wear OPI
  • Sally Hansen Miracle Gel Make It N-Ice
  • NailStuff.ca 16mm Liner Brush

So I tried to do a cute black gradient at the tips of my nails, but it went kind of weird so I created a fun textured effect by adding the LA Colors Shatter at the tips as well — which I like even better than my original idea for a gradient. Then I hand drew my spiderwebs on the tips, with a little extra sparkle.

Is it similar to the same design I do every year? Yes.

Do I still love how it turned out? Also yes.

What do you think of this spiderweb design? Do you like how I created my fun textured gradient on my tips? Let me know your thoughts on this design, & don’t forget to check out #glamnailschallengeoct25 on Instagram to see all the other beautiful looks that have been created so far this month.

Happy Monday!

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SWATCH SUNDAY — L.A. Colors Color Craze Crackle Top Coat 🖤⚡️

Hello lovelies & happy Sunday! How is everyone enjoying these last few days of June? We’re currently gearing up for the last day of school (tomorrow) in our house, & the beginning of Summer vacation. It has come so quickly!

Today I’m sharing a throwback vibe — but a currently available polish. Any of my fellow millennials will probably remember the chokehold crackle nail polish had in the early 2010s — I had every colour. So I was super excited to see it is making a resurgence. I never stopped (unironically) loving it, so whenever I see it pop up again, I can’t help but buying a bottle.

& lucky for us, L.A. Colors is bringing back crackle for us to love & enjoy!

1 thick coat

So for those who don’t remember the crackle faze of nail polish, it is a specially design nail polish that when applied over a base shade, dries down & creates a crack effect, showing the shade underneath. Lots of different brands have come out with their versions, from OPI (the first I remember) to Zoya, to Sally Hansen & Claire’s.

L.A. Colors is bring back the fun with their two Crackle Top Coats — available in black & white. I purchased mine at my local Walmart for $3.99 CAD.

As you can see, the crack effect on this pretty thick & dramatic. Depending on how much polish you have on your brush, you can have bigger thick cracks (like this) or smaller thinner cracks like this. The black polish itself is opaque, which I like. It makes the effect even more dramatic. I haven’t picked up the bottle of white yet, but I’ve heard it also is pretty opaque— so I’m curious. I used the Sally Hansen which crackle years ago, but I found it very thin so it was kind of a disappointment.

Personally, I would love to see L.A. Colors release even more shades (& finishes — like shimmers) with this crackle line. For a very affordable mainstream brand, they have some out with some beautiful finishes & styles of nail polishes, & I hope they keep them coming!

What do you think of crackle nail polish returning as a trend in 2025? Are you a fan of this style?

Let me know all your thoughts down in the comments below, & if you would rock crackle again!

Happy Sunday

🖤

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Crackle & Vintage Roses 🌹

Hello lovelies & happy Friday! It’s a beautiful warm –albeit foggy — start to my Friday, but I’ve been enjoying the very Spring like weather so far. Finally, I’m able to break out all my favourite Spring dresses that have been waiting in the closet for me all Winter. Today, though, I have another floral design to share with you.

Maybe I should change the name of this blog to Coffee, Nail Polish & Floral?

I did do a little mini-vote on my Instagram to see what people wanted to see for my next blog post, & roses were the clear winner! I will say, when I wore this design I got so many compliments about them — including from a male cashier when I went to buy a slushy one night — so they definitely have been a favourite design I’ve recently worn.

The polishes I used for this manicure are: 

  • Base Coat: China Glaze Calcium Gel Fortifer
  • Top Coat: Seche Vive
  • Matte Top Coat: Sally Hansen Miracle Gel Matte Top Coat
  • Sally Hansen InstaDri Heather Hustle
  • Sally Hansen Crackle Overcoat Snow Blast
  • Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure Berry Fancy
  • Sally Hansen InstaDri Racing Rose
  • Sally Hansen Good. Kind. Pure.  Eco-Rose
  • Sally Hansen InstaDri SCRAM!
  • Sally Hansen I ❤️ Nail Art Pen in Green
  • Sally Hansen Miracle Gel Me, My Elf, & I
  • NailStuff.ca Dotting Tool Trio
    Nailstuff.ca Mermaid Tail 7mm liner brush

This design was definitely one of those take took a while but the end result just ends up being totally worth it! I started with a base of crackle over my pale purple because I wanted to give the effect of almost a lace background, then I added my vintage roses overtop. & the end result just looks so pretty, & a bit romantic. I love it!

Hopefully you’re not getting tired of floral, because I’m definitely not going to be tired of it anytime soon — & I do have another floral coming up on my recently broken nails. But I also plan on sharing some non-floral nail designs as well, don’t worry!

What do you think about this crackle & vintage roses design? Are you a fan of this overall look? Let me know all your thoughts down in the comments below, & share what kind of designs you’d like to see coming up soon!

Happy Friday!

♥︎

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Embracing the Nostalgia with Crackle Nail Polish

Hello lovelies & happy Thursday. I decided to throw things back a bit (& embrace the crazy nostalgia taking over my life thanks to my very own mid-2006 emo playlist) with a fun look featuring a very nostalgic nail polish finish— crackle.

For anyone not around during the early 2010s, crackle nail polishes became huge around 2012, & by 2013 everyone & their mom was coming out with their own version of the crackle (or shatter) effect. Black was the beginning shade I remember being everywhere, followed by a whole assortment of different colours & finishes.

Recently I was going through my stash, & found a bottle of Avon Mosiac Effects Top Coat — aka their version of the crackle nail Polish — & decided to give it a little shake to see if it was still good. Sure enough, the formula is still perfect! So I had to give it a try to see how it looked after all this time.

The polishes I used for this manicure are: 

  • Base Coat: Essie Hard To Resist Glow & Shine 
  • Top Coat: Seche Vite Fast Dry Top Coat
  • Illamasqua Aorta
  • Avon Mosiac Effects Top Coat Black

I still have a couple crackle/shatter shades left in my stash, although most have long since dried up to be unusable. For this look, what you’re seeing is one rather thick coat over my base shade. I waited about 5 minutes for the cracked effect to set before applying my top coat, & I thought the end result was pretty perfect. I prefer my cracks to be larger so you can see more of the base shade underneath.

Is crackle/shatter nail polish going to make a comeback? I don’t know. I feel like these shades are so controversial, even 11 years later. You either love them, or hate them, & obviously I am firmly planted on the love side. I also think it’s a nostalgia thing, as I remember crackle being the first “nail art” trend I really feel in love with.

What do you think? Do you think crackle is due for its revival? Let me know all your thoughts down in the comments below.

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Blast from the Past — Crackle Nail Polish

I’m sure if you’ve been a part of the nail polish community for any amount of time, you’ve seen quite a few nail polish trends come & go: feather nail polish, magnetic nail polish, textured nail polish & of course… crackle nail polish.

For those who don’t know what crackle nail polish is, it was a kind of topper you would apply over already painted nails, that would crack as it dried, revealing the base colour underneath. I was first introduced to crackle nail polish back with the Katy Perry Teenage Dream collection from OPI, & though it was the most genius idea, so naturally my obsessive brain had to own as many crackle polishes as possible! Thankfully, even nail polish company & their friend seem to come out with their own version of crackle so it was easy to get my hands on a whole slew of brands, colours & finishes!

Most of my shades have long since dried up & are pretty much impossible to use, but every so often I get the urge to pull out one of my bottles still holding on & play around with it. Thank you nostalgia.

For this manicure, the polishes I used were:

  • Base Coat: Sally Hansen Bamboo & Green Tea Strengthener
  • Top Coat: Essie Gel Setter
  • My blues from my cobalt blue comparison post
  • Icing Shatter nail polish Electric Graffiti

As you can see, even though this polish is about 7 years old, it still works semi well in terms of the crackle effect (minus my pointer finger… I have no idea what happened there!) Like I said, I collected quite a few of these shades during the heigh of their popularity, but only a few of them still work to this degree. & now that my nail art techniques have improved over the years, I don’t really grab these shades like I once did.

& just for fun, I wanted to share the very first mani I ever did using this fun polish. Please excuse the awful quality in all regards (painting, photography, ect)

As you can see, the actual cracking abilities of Electric Graffiti has dwindled over the years, but for a polish way past prime, I’m impressed I can still get any crackle out of it. I feel like because the formula has thickened up a lot, that’s the reason the shatter is different. A thinner application would definitely give me a reaction much more like my throwback manicure… wondering if adding a bit of thinner to the bottle would revive it. I’m curious to find out.

what are your thoughts on the crackle/shatter nail polish trend from years past? I know some people have very strong feelings about these polishes (& how much they hate them). Let me know if you’re team crackle or hate it?