I did this mani that I really hated, but I didn't feel like taking it off and starting over. No matter what I layered over it, I still hated it... So I figured, why not add one more layer just to see what it looks like? I didn't necessarily love what I ended up with, but it was at least better. I photographed the evidence:


Here's me playing with China Glaze Fault Line and Broken Hearted. I don't remember everything it's layered over, but it included Milani Magenta Metal as the base and Sally Hansen HD in Byte on top of everything. I liked the subtle crackle effect of Fault Line with little glints of duochrome sparkle from Byte peeking through. Fault Line still doesn't crack as well as the other shades, but I did get it to crackle more this time by applying it over completely dry polish and waiting 5 minutes before applying topcoat.



This one I actually liked. It's China Glaze Lightning Bolt over the random pink polish mess. I love the way the glass fleck sparkles in Byte shine through the cracks of the white polish. White crackle is really neat. I want to do it over neon yellow... think I'll try that soon.


So, there's that. Just thought I'd share a few more layering combinations with the crackles. I'm still a bit obsessed with crackle. I don't think I've done more than one or two manis in the past month that haven't had crackle on them...

Playing with China Glaze Crackle Glaze again...

I was out scouring the drugstores this week looking for new 2011 beauty products and came across a bunch of nail art items that seem really awesome.

You might be familiar with nail appliques like Incoco or Inque (I'll be reviewing Inque appliques soon), and these are pretty much the same idea. I haven't tried any of them on yet- I have a lot of polish to swatch and I don't want to waste them because they're so cool! I'm so excited about these. I have a feeling we'll be seeing even more designs this year, too.

Here are the ones I grabbed:

Art Club Glam

Art Club Glam in Diamond Studded, Hearts of Gold and Vivid Zebra. These ones seem more like plastic full-nail sized decals more than stretchy vinyl-like or polish-like strips like the others. These had the best designs out of all of them- there were a bunch but I only grabbed these for now.

Diamond Studded. A clear base with black diagonal and chevron french tips and black leopard spots accented by pink hologram foil.

Hearts of Gold. A clear base with gold hologram foil in concentric rings, dots and hearts.


Vivid Zebra. Clear base with black and rainbow foil zebra stripes.

Gotta love Art Club!


Broadway Nail Dress

The Broadway Nail Dress ones were a little more expensive and came in only four designs. Two animal print styles and a silver fishnet style, nothing you couldn't do with Konad. These are the most intricate ones. They don't seem to have a name, just a number. This is what's inside the box:

Two sheets of stickers and a little emery board.


There's also a booklet of $1.00 off coupons on the display, so make sure to grab one!



Sally Hansen Salon Effects

The Sally Hansen Salon Effects had the biggest display but the least intricate designs. Half of them were just plain creme finish polish colors, a few were some decent glitters and the rest were nail art designs like this, but some of them could be duplicated with Konad. I almost got the Denim-print ones, but at $8.50 the Salon Effects appliques the least cost effective of the three brands. I don't understand why I'd pay $8.50- the price of a bottle of OPI at retail- for one manicure with a normal pink or blue polish like some of these Salon Effects... I would consider paying that much for the nail art ones as long as they were complicated enough designs. Anyway, this Laced Up style stood out to me, very sexy.

It comes just like the Incoco sets do; an emery board/buffer, a manicure stick, instruction sheer and sealed foil packets with nail polish strips.

Isn't this design pretty?

I can't wait to try these out on my nails. I think the Art Club Hearts of Gold might end up as my Valentine's Day mani this year.

New Drugstore Nail Appliques- Broadway, Art Club and Sally Hansen