Persistance Is Futile: Crackle Edition

I've been so busy!! I think the only time I was home the past couple weeks was to sleep. But I can't complain too much, since I spent the rest of the time either working or partying!

This past weekend I got to hit up Drunkie Bingo, Washington Ave, St. Arnold's Brewery, and the White Linen Festival. If you don't know what any of these things are and live in the Houston area, get your Google on and find out ASAP!

Last week at work was soooo slooooow. So I miiiiight have spent some time shopping on Amazon... But the results are awesome! I'll talk about one today. And hopefully I'll get the second one up and ready to talk about soon. Gotta buy some screws...

For the past few months, I've been attempting get the Shatter/Crackle nail look working. Unfortunately, if you put it on too thick it won't crack, but if you put it on too thin then it just looks weird. GAH! One of the things I bought last week was a 6-pack of China Glaze Crackle (confusing, since Sally Hansen also has a Crackle line). The colors are really cute - pink, blue, black, grey, white, and purple - and seem to be thicker color-wise than the Sally Hansen version. Plus I got 6 of them for $17, so it was a pretty sweet deal.

Step 1: Apply base color. The base polish I used for this is kind of a weirdo one. It dries really fast, but very unevenly. And it's not shiny. I hope you know what kind of polish I mean... it's hard to describe, but they're just cheapo ones. They work just fine if you add a clear topcoat pretty quick. But that's a tale for another day. Anyways, let your base coat dry. Like really dry. If it's a little wet, the Crackle layer will grab the bottom one and make it look really weird and clumpy.

Step 2: Don't use purple. I've tried 2 different brands of purple Crackle (one by each company) and neither one of them has looked good. They're too thin, plus they don't really crack. Not sure why, but I plan on figuring this sucker out, since I now own TWO duds.

Step 2b: Remove ugly polish and start over. This is the Sally Hansen one, btw.

Step 3: Apply Crackle! I wanted to test them all - so I did. Since I'm still not a pro at this, I'll just tell you what seems to be working. Apply Crackle in a medium-thickness layer - not a layer that you know you're going to add another to, but also not a really thick one that looks like it'll never dry. At first I was a little worried about using really even strokes, but apparently this didn't matter either. Actually, towards the end (fingers middle through pinky) I kinda just brushed sloppily and those actually turned out better, in my opinion.

Again, the purple one kinda looked weird. Also, I have to take pictures outside to make them look decent. Good thing it's 105 degrees out.

Step 4: Remove excess paint and apply clear coat once everything is dry. I actually didn't put a clear coat on mine yet. Mostly because I didn't want to wait for yet another layer to dry.

Just a heads-up, this week of work is looking a little IN-tense, but this weekend will be dull, so I'll be writing more soon. ;P

Polish Them Piggies

My (former) roommate, Maggie, and I like to fancy ourselves on the cutting edge of nail polish creations. I own every color imaginable and some that you would never guess in a million years (I have one that looks like a holographic card background. Fo rizzle.) Many people seem to pick really boring, neutral colors once they enter the workforce. But I am determined not to be one of those people.

OPI Shatter
One of the coolest things to come out in a long time is OPI's Shatter line. If you haven't seen these yet, get on that shit. Maggie and I were nagging the people at Ulta, asking when this would be in stores months before any of them had a clue what we were talking about.

Basically, you apply one color of whatever polish you like, allow this to dry completely, and then add a layer of Shatter. As the Shatter layer dries, it begins to shrink and crack. Why, I am not sure. Once that's dry, apply a clear top coat so that it doesn't look leathery. This also helps keep it all from flaking off really quickly. There's a bunch of videos on YouTube and the OPI site explaining how different brush strokes can create a variety of shatter effects. From my experience, Shatter seems to work best if the base color is also from OPI, which is kind of disappointing, since I have zillions of others. And OPI is expensive-ish.

Originally Shatter was available only in black, but now there are 6 colors: turquoise, navy, silver, blue, red, white, and black. It can be purchased at Ulta for sure, and I've seen it around at a few department stores, like JC Penney's. Although the demand isn't as crazy as it was a few months ago, you still might want to call ahead to see if they have the color you want in stock.

Sally Hansen Crackle Overcoat
One night at 1AM-ish, Maggie and I wandered around a Walgreen's in search of flip flops. A few hours before this, I had lost the only pair of shoes I had with me in the Guadalupe River. Shoe-less or not, I cannot enter a drugstore without passing by all of the nail polish, just in case they miraculously have a color I don't have yet. Although I usually end up buying something that's just a TINY bit different than one I already have, this time I found something totally new! Sally Hansen has already come out with Shatter-esque line called Crackle Overcoat! They had some pretty bright, neon colors, which is pretty sweet since the OPI ones are a bit tame. I bought an intense neon purple and intend to go back and get some more. Once I get a paycheck.

Sally Hansen Salon Effects
During a midnight snack run to CVS (yes, I do a lot of my shopping at drugstores) Maggie and I discovered Sally Hansen Salon Effects, which are basically flexible nail polish strips (stickers!). They look really intimidating to apply, but it's pretty simple. Even someone as challenged as me got it perfectly on the first attempt. What's cool about them is that they allow normal people to have crazy nail designs without having to pay an arm and a leg (or a pinky and a thumb) at some salon. Or if you're into solid colors, they have many shades that you can use if you just want a flawless-looking regular manicure. There are currently 23 different designs, which can be purchased in various drugstores and grocery stores as well as the usual Ulta, Sephora, and Sally Beauty Supply.

Del Sol Color-Change
During a spring break excursion on the Riverwalk in San Antonio, Maggie and I (sounds like I'm around Maggie too often...) discovered a store called Del Sol that sold things that changed colors in the sun - clothes, toys, sunglasses, and... nail polish! I was slightly skeptical about this, since I had been sold a glow-in-the-dark nail polish in the second grade that never quite worked right. But the store actually has UV lights all over, so you can see how the colors change for yourself! As soon as I walked out of the store I tried it immediately. And it was awesome! It still works really well if you apply a clear top coat, which I would suggest, since it's not shiny enough for my taste. There are currently 23 different colors, which can be purchased at the store or online.

Seche Vite Dry Fast Top Coat
This is the only thing so far that I haven't tried personally. I just heard about it today. Gimmie a break. From what I've heard, Seche Vite Dry Fast Top Coat is just a clear top coat that dries your nails really fast. Like 5 minutes. For someone like me, this sounds like an absolute necessity. I tend to spend a while painting awesome designs on my nails, get bored while they're drying, and then smudge them beyond repair. And then cry. I plan on heading over to Sally Beauty Supply to buy one ASAP.

**TIP**
I also just heard about this today, but I plan on testing it soon. Apparently if you stick your newly-polished fingers in very cold water for a bit they'll dry really fast. Sounds sketchy... but I will try almost anything that claims to dry nails faster.

I heard about this tip, and a few others, on HelloGiggles.com, a blog dedicated to comedy for women. Don't laugh just yet, it's actually pretty interesting and hilarious. One of the weekly posts is called Get Yo Nails Did by Molly McAller, one of the site's founders. I've liked all of the stuff she's done so far (although I've already been doing a couple of them for years). I think the site has only been around for 3 or 4 weeks, so you should hop on over and check them out!