Crackle Time! with Sally Hansen and Sinful Colors

     Ok, so just like James Durbin wanted to "give metal a chance," I wanted to give crackle nail polish another chance. In the past, I've done black crackle over red, black crackle over pink, silver crackle over green, and while I think the concept is interesting, I usually get tired of the "crackle look" after a day. Yet, I still get sucked into trying out new crackle colors. I don't know, I think it's the novelty of it; I just love watching the polish "crack" on my nails. ☺
     So, I stopped at Walgreens to see what new nail polish goodies were on display (I've heard that Sinful Colors is coming out with a collection similar to the OPI Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides collection, and I can't wait to get my hands on them!). I picked up Sinful Colors Dream On, which is a darker, neon (contradictory, eh?) fuchsia and a Sally Hansen Crackle Overcoat Vintage Violet. I wanted to try a crackle combination that wasn't so in-your-face; I wanted two colors without so much contrast. So, I paired these two beauties together, and Voila!

My mom said I have Monster Nails, and that they look like cracked wounds! Yuck! However....

     I actually really like this combination together. It's more subtle, and inside you have to look really close to see that there is crackle polish on top. Outside, however, is a different and beautiful story. ☺ Outside in the sunlight, Dream On underneath turns into a juicy red grape/wine color that is just begging to peak out from the darker violet duo-chrome crackle on top. Love!!!
     Dream On took either two thick coats or three thin coats to be opaque, and it dried matte, which wasn't a problem after a top coat. I really, really love this color; it would look great even by itself.
    Vintage Violet was an interesting crackle polish, and on some nails it didn't crack as much as I would have liked, but that may be because I didn't wait long enough for Dream On to dry completely. I did have Vintage Violet chip on my thumb nail today, so that's a total of one whole day without a chip, which isn't very pleasant.

Overall, I love this crackle combo. What are some crackle combos you have tried and loved?

Haulage

Here is a haul I did a couple of months ago. The top row are all Sinful Colors, and they were all on sale for $0.99 each. A lot of dark, vampy colors that I can swatch closer to fall. (Or just whenever I'm craving a dark mani.) ☺ The bottom row is a pack of Color Club colors that actually did not have names on them individually, which was kind of frustrating. I think the whole pack of colors was around $6-7 at Ross Dress for Less. What hauls have you done lately?

I Only Wanted to See You Laughing in the Purple Rain

Here are a couple of bright purple and fuchsia nail colors that I thought looked really similar, so I thought I would share a picture of them side by side.

Left to Right:

Nina Ultra Pro Passion Pink - This was at Sally Beauty Supply for around $2.99
Sinful Colors Dream On - I don't care what anybody says, this brand is one of the best deals around. They are only $1.99 and they come in a ton of colors, and you can find them at Walgreens.
China Glaze Purple Panic - You can find China Glaze at different locations, such as Sally Beauty Supply and Ulta. They are around $5-6 each, and many times you can find them Buy 2, Get 1 Free.

Nina Ultra Pro Purple-Xing

     The other day, my nails were naked, and I just had to have some color on them before work, so I stopped at Sally Beauty Supply to pick up a couple of colors. When I saw Nina Ultra Pro Purple-Xing, I snatched it up before anyone else could get their grubby hands on it. Well, maybe it wasn't that dramatic. :) Purple-Xing is a medium purple with tons of very small, silver glitter. What makes this baby pop, though, is the larger, multi-colored holographic glitter. The holographic glitter is just too cool to look at because it looks like a bunch of little LED lights flickering on your nails. LOVE! This is the first polish I've tried from this brand, and honestly, I want to try more. I got this polish for around $4 and I've had it on my nails since Friday with only a chip on my other thumb. I just don't want to take it off! What do you think, is this your kindy of glam purple? By the way, I believe the neon Nina Ultra Pro nail lacquers are on sale for $2.99 at Sally Beauty Supply right now.

                                 

                                     

OPI Guy Meets Gal-veston

I'm sorry I haven't been able to update my blog as much as I would like, but I've been crazy-busy with wedding planning. Here is a quick picture of Guy Meets Gal-veston from the OPI Texas collection, and it is a strawberry-coral "sorbet." I didn't think I would like these sorbet polishes as much, but I ended up loving them! They are sheer, but still have tons of pigment, so they end up looking like rock candy. ☺

I absolutely LOVED this color; it's perfect for summer, and application was a breeze! You can find these for $8.50 at Ulta and JCPenney Salons, and sometimes JCP has them 'buy one, get one half off.' Love this color!

Sally Hansen Fractured Foil Crackle Polish

     I was pleasantly surprised when I stopped in Walgreens and found a whole display of freshly placed Sally Hansen Crackle Polish. I have a love/hate relationship with crackle polish, because when I see it and think of it on my nails, I think it looks so cool, and then after a day of wearing it, I get tired of it, yet for some reason I'm always interested in the different combinations and how it will look.
     One of the colors I bought was Fractured Foil, and I layered it over China Glaze Emerald Sparkle (one of my favorite nail polish colors EVER). One benefit of crackle polish is that it can extend the life of your manicure for one or two days. I found that if I got a whole brushful of polish, I was able to completely cover the nails and the cracks were wider and more noticeable. The color reminds me of melted silver. Fractured Foil was at Walgreens for $6.99. Others colors include Snow Blast, Vintage Violet, Fuchsia Shock, Distressed Denim, Antiqued Gold, Cherry Smash, and Ink Splatter. Will you be picking any of these up?