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The newest
nail craze is Shatter or Crackle polish, first brought out
in the spring of 2011 with OPI's Katy Perry nail color
collection and Black Shatter™. Now, almost every nail polish
company is making some type of crackle top coat and you'll
find it in many different colors.
It's great for
everyday wear, to give your manicure an edgy look. It also
will be great for Halloween since Black is the most
prevalent color of Crackle or Shatter polish to be found.
Just use it over orange nails and you've got an instant,
easy Halloween look that people will be complimenting you
on!
Start
off with a fresh manicure, artificial nails if desired, and two coats of clear nail polish. Make sure it's nice and dry!
You'll also need these things:
- OPI Black Shatter™ or any brand Crackle polish
- Purple, Orange or
bright Red Crackle polish (shade of your choice)
- Orange, red, purple, green or black nail polish (shade of your choice)
And here's what you do:
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After applying long nails, having it done for you or just using your
own nails, apply two coats or clear base polish. Allow to dry and
top with the color of your choice. Orange is a good base coat for
Halloween but you can also go with blood red, lime green or bright
purple. You can even use black polish as a base as long as you
have a contrasting Crackle polish like orange. You need only apply
two coats of color polish. |
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You have to wait until the base color is completely dry to use most
brands of Crackle polish. Using one brushful of crackle coat, paint
a line down the center of your nail, then do the sides. DO NOT
re-dip the brush, load it with enough for one nail at a time. It
sets up VERY fast and you'll ruin it if you try to dip and re-paint. |
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| Watch it as it "shatters".
pulling the color into pieces and leaving open spaces for the base
polish to show through! It's actually pretty fun to watch. When it's
dry, apply a glossy top coat to seal it in. |
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This is a great look for
everyday wear, too. I like to use hot pink with black
Shatter or lime green with pink crackle. You can also get a
very classy look using red polish and gold crackle.
TIPS:
When applying the crackle coat, make sure that your brush is
loaded with a good amount of color. You can't go back for
more once you start painting it on a nail. Make three brush
strokes, center, then each side. A thin layer gives a
very thin cracked line, a heavier layer gives a more chunky
crackle. Do this on every nail
and you'll have a great look. Experiment with the amount you
use. A heavier coat of crackle gives a more defined look to
the shattered pieces. A thin coat will shatter nicely but
break into much smaller pieces.
article by Dawn de la Morte'
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