Crackle me madly notdees

If you're tired of the crackle nail polish trend, you might want to turn away now. If you still enjoy playing with crackle polishes, these might interest you. When 17 cosmetics released their gold crackle, I was only midly interested. It was not bright and in-your-face gold enough for my liking and I happily skipped it. A little bit more recently 17 cosmetics came back with 2 new additions to their crackle family and released these 2 babies: a vibrant purple crackle and a really original crackle: a mixture of gold, glitter and black crackle.






I think I've already found my perfect purple crackle. It's BROKEN ARROW from MUA Cosmetics and it's perfect on every aspect. I like Broken Arrow so much that not only it's my favourite purple crackle but it might be my favourite crackle polish of all. So I didn't have much hope for the Boots 17 purple crackle to impress me.

I decided to use GAMMA from Illamasqua as a base  for my first play and I was really taken by surprise. The vibrancy of the purple is absolutely amazing. It is not as metallic intense as Broken Arrow (but this is turn makes it easier to photograph) but it has the most gorgeous blue undertone which comes to life when a powerful light hit it.




I love the way the crackle created this x shape on my middle finger





Application was easy, even though I have found the formula a bit thick. I like my crackle to be quite chunky so I had to make a point to load the brush to the max before applying the crackle polish onto my nails.

I have yet to ascertain if using a nail polish thinner would alter the crackle formulation or whether it would still crackle? Does anyone of you know?

I was quite excited to try the gold/black/and glitter polish. I decided to use a nude polish underneath: NUDE CHAMPAGNE by Gosh which I am absolutely obsessed with at the moment. This crackle is very unique. In fact, it's so different from any crackle polish that I've known that I would like NOT to call it crackle. Whilst the finished effect is gorgeous and give you ultimate party nails in an instant, the crackle effect is much more subtle. It doesn't crackle as much as 'normal crackles'. Could it be because of the chunky glitter inside it?







I couldn't stop looking at my nails whilst I was wearing this combo but I kept on wishing the glitter had been more fine. Removal as expected was quite laborious because of the chunky glitter. This polish presents the usual glitter dilemma for me. Is it gorgeous enough for me to put up with the removal process.

If you're expecting this polish to be a true crackle, you'll be disappointed. If you're in a rush, and have 2 minutes to jazz up your chipped nude nails before a party: you'll be in love with this and all eyes will be on you too.

I am lucky. I didn’t have to buy these 2 polishes as my friend from work bought them 2 days ago. Me thinks she should leave them in the office all the time :)

As far as I know, these crackle polishes don't have a name.
How would you call them?

What? 17 Cosmetics Nail Extras Crackle Top Coat
How much? £3.99
Where: any boots, even the 'crap' little ones :)

Related posts:
Mua Cosmetics Purple Crackle Nail Polish (Broken Arrow).
Gosh ohmygosh Nude Champagne Nail Polish.
Illamasqua Gamma Nail Polish.

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Early Green Nails and new releases from Gosh

Another day and another little trip to Superdrug. Today, I am taking you to the gosh corner of my little Superdrug to show you an amazing lime green polish by Gosh. This is Early Green, shade 606 (£4.99) It's bright, it's in your face and I love it.






Despite to what the noticeable booboos I've made on my index and middle finger might suggest, this polish was a delight to apply. All my photos show 2 coats of Early Green with no clean up whatsoever. Well, considering the massive gap I’ve left around the cuticle, it’s no wonder I didn’t need any clean up. I am working to reduce that gap. The amount of coverage delivered just after one coat really impressed me.










 




I leave you with some cheeky snapshots of the latest nail polishes from Gosh. Gosh released 4 gorgeous limited edition nail polishes (£4.99) with a very cute artwork on the bottle. You can hop along to Kelly’s aka Jellyminx Thinks Blog: she has some gorgeous swatches for you.  The 4th colour appears to be black on my dodgy bootleg quick_before_anyone_sees_me  photo but it turns out to be a very dark and elegant bottle green.








Last but not least, Gosh has hopped on the crackle bandwagon and has released 4 shades of 'cracked' nail polishes. The shades looks very nice, the design on the bottle cap too and the promotional picture delicious and inviting. However, I feel that, personally they will struggle to sell their shades of crackled polish (£5.49) which is such a shame.




*cue uncontrolled rambling*



 



On average, each company which I have seen doing crackle polish sell the product for £1 more than the normal polish. Beautyuk usually sells their polishes at £1.99 so their shatter polish is sold at £2.99. Barry M would usually sell their traditional polishes at £2.99 and the crackle version at £3.99. Gosh, by contrast has only amped their prices by £0.50 which is really generous but the competition they're facing is too hard.

To give you an example, my tiny little Superdrug has a permanent table put out, with chairs and white towel on which could almost look like a nail technician work station. On this improvised station, 3 plaquettes displaying a multitude of nails, showcasing Barry M crackles and the various colour combinations you can get.


This workstation is there all the time, from the minute they open the store till 5.30pm when they close it. Client goes in, see the 'exhibition' and no one sees the MUA crackles, the Beautyuk nor the Gosh ones. I feel a bit sorry for the other brands really. Do you think, in the case of my shop, Barry M felt suddenly threatened and decided on this tactical approach? I was a bit rude one day. Shop assistant was demonstrating the Barry M polishes and I barged in and went: It's the gold crackle you want, it's better :) I am not sure which one she bought in the end.


I couldn't work in Superdrug, I'd be wanting to push the underdogs forward and would get fired for it... I am surprised they even let me in as a customer. I bet they think 'Oh that's the weirdo which comes in every Saturday...

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MUA Monday: Broken Arrow Nails

There is this brand of high street makeup making its resurgence on the scene: MUA, as in MakeUP Academy. MUA came to the Beauty Scene about a year ago, launching a makeup brand where every item costs only £1. They came back a few weeks ago, in full force, with the release of a Pro range.

One of the items I wanted to get my hands on is this little beauty of crackle polish called Nail Quake, Broken Arrow. I thought I had enough crackle polishes in my collection until I saw Broken Arrow. It's a gorgeous unique bright metallic purple crackle polish.





Here it is over a yellow nail polish (click here to see it worn on its own) with FLASH





Don’t ask me why but I feel like a radioactive mutant ninja turtle wearing this, which is cool, right?



 

I can’t fault this polish: the crackle effect is gorgeous, and the colour is simply stunning.






MUA Nail Quake polishes are part of the MUA Pro range and are available in Selected Superdrug Stores (please enquire before visiting the store to avoid tears, tantrum and splitting up with the boyfriend) They cost £2.99 for 10ml of product.

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Saturday Night Fever Nails featuring BeautyUK Gold Shatter

I was very excited when BeautyUK released their pink and silver shatter polishes a few weeks ago but part of me wished that they had released a gold shatter polish at the same time.  Well, I dreamt it and they did it. Introducing, hot from the BeautyUK oven, (Saturday) Night Fever, the gold shatter polish at only £2.99.


Ideally, I would wait till my nails are longer to showcase a manicure, but I really couldn't wait to play. There is another reason why I wanted to write about this as soon as possible (special offer which expires tomorrow, details at the bottom of the post) but for now, let's see it worn on the nail, shall we?


The first colour combination which I wanted to experiment was a red and gold one, reminding me of a Chinese Restaurant Take Away. So this is my 'imperial dragon' manicure. (Thank you @loulou699 on twitter for the name)





The red underneath is a red mini polish from Opi, a present from my friend Drew. I absolutely love the way it turned out. The shade of gold is spot on: much warmer and richer that the 17 gold crackle but less mustardy than the W7 equivalent. Perfecto! Hold on to your internet data allowance, let the cavalcade of pictures begin.










Next manicure is very predictable. This is night fever layered over BeautyUK black. How vibrant is that gold over the black. I am now wondering whether I prefer this over the Chinese takeaway manicure.












And last but not least, this is Night Fever shatter over Eyeko Posh Polish. This colour combination reminds me of a delicate silky fabric you would use to cover cushions with. I didn't think this would work but I find the result quite elegant.  Apologies for the miserable photos. This is my right hand and I suck at applying polish on that hand and capturing it is even worse. You could drive a truck in that cuticle gap!







If you're anything like me, and have a small Superdrug, chances are you won't see them in your store, or any shatter polishes for that matter. But that's not a problem: BeautyUK is offering FREE postage if you place an order on the website, and if your order contains a shatter polish. This offer  will expire Sunday 10 July 2011 at midnight.


How much: £2.99
Where: Online, in the special effects section and in some Superdrug stores
Disclosure: This polish was kindly offered by BeautyUK for me to review. Yay!

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Quick: a golden opportunity!

Just giving you a quick heads up on a 2-day twitter competition which BeautyUK Cosmetics has just launched first thing this morning at breakfast time.



To celebrate the release of their latest shatter polish, the fantabulous gold shatter polish, Beautyuk are giving away a whole set of their shatter polishes to a lucky retweeter twitter fan of the brand. Colours include: pink, black, silver, and gold.

To enter, it's easy peasy:


1.Log on to twitter
2.Follow Beautyuk Cosmetics on twitter: http://www.twitter.com/beautyuktweets or @beautyuktweets
3.and tweet the following message:



RT & Follow @beautyuktweets to #win a set of shatter polishes (GOLD, pink, silver & black) Ends 08 July #competition


The twitter giveaway is ending tomorrow Friday 8 July so don't delay your entry.

Twitter is not your thing? You can also follow BeautyUK on Facebook to keep up to date with all their current competitions and giveaways.

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I predict a riot for ...

... the release of the new MUA Professional Range. When do I know about this? Today, after I went to a decent size Superdrug shop housing the brand on Saturday, and taking the train especially for that purpose! The range is huge and I am very excited to dip my big fat fingers into the shop testers and cover my whole arm with it.  



 


Pigmentation of the native range eyeshadows (every item at £1) was spectacular so no doubt the professional range will be as good or even better. I am particularly excited to try these below.
What are the chances for a £4 primer to impress me when so many other brands have released pricier primers and failed to wow me? You just never know.





I might have too many purple eyeshadows as it is, but I just can't help being attracted by the purple trio in the middle.






Tired of the crackle trend? Things are just starting for me, as more affordable brands are getting on the bandwagon and this purple is looking amazingly bright and metallic and is begging to land on my nails.





Anything catching your radar?

The MUA pro range is available online on the Superdrug website and in selected Superdrug Stores (ring to check availability before travelling!) Fantastic pictures of most products (this is where I pinched mine) are available on the MUA Facebook Page. MUA aka @MUAcosmetics has only just landed on twitter and wants to make new friends.

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Hop on the shatter shuttle ... for free

Please excuse the lame title. Just giving you a quick heads up on a 2-day twitter competition which BeautyUK Cosmetics has just launched literally minutes ago. Since it's Monday and the weather is horrible and you've ruined your diet already {any excuses, lol} Beautyuk are giving away a whole set of their shatter polishes to a lucky retweeter twitter fan of the brand.





To enter, it's easy peasy:

1. Log on to twitter
2. Follow Beautyuk Cosmetics on twitter: http://www.beautyuktweets or @beautyuktweets
3. and tweet the following message:

RT & Follow @beautyuktweets to win a set of shatter polishes (pink, silver & black) Ends 15 June #competition
 
 
The twitter giveaway is ending on Wednesday 15 June so don't delay your entry.
 




Twitter is not your thing? You can also follow BeautyUK on Facebook to keep up to date with all their current competitions and giveaways.
 
 

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Gold earthquake nails {quick look}

I  was only meant to twitpic about this so I hope you will excuse the briefness of this post. Call it express review or sneak peak ;) I was a TJ Hughes today. As usual, I am not sure what appalled me the most: The bootleg music or the sorry state of the displays. I arrived in the middle of a clean up session, where a poor girl had to clean a gooey mess of polishes. Not such a bad thing for me as it allowed me test the gold crackle from W7. Its official name is 'Earthquake' Crackle Polish, which is a bit ironic as the state of the display looks like it had actually been ravaged by an earthquake.






First impressions after a quick swatch on on finger? It's ok. In most lighting situations, the polish would look more like a shade of mustard yellow rather than a true true gold which is I would want from a gold crackle polish. Only bright sunshine and strong flash will make it vibrant. I suppose it's ok considering the £1.99 price tag.

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Shattered but happy ^_^

Earlier on this week, BeautyUK proudly celebrated the launch of their range of shatter polishes. It came out a little later than expected but boy it was worth the wait. Here they are in their full glory, from left to right: PUNK (bright neon pink shatter) GLAM ROCK (bright shimmery metallic silver shatter) and GOTH (well, the black one).


 


When BeautyUK contacted me and asked me if I wanted to play with them and give my thoughts on them, it was a no brainer and I was thrilled to bits to accept the privilege. And so I played, played and played some more.

First off, we have 'Punk' a neon pink so bright you could almost incarnate the lollipop lady on the zebra crossing without having to wear the lollipop and the light reflecting jacket. The consistency feels so weird but it gives you a strong, powerful and bright shatter. I personally prefer to apply a thick coat of shatter to see a bigger shatter pattern on my nail. Let's have a look at on the nails, shall we? 


This is Beautyuk Punk Shatter applied over Beautyuk Black (I am going to have to do a separate little post for this bad boy. I bought it especially to pair it with my shatter polishes and I just couldn't be happier with it. wow, and that was only £1.99)








This is Beautyuk Punk Shatter applied over one of my favourite polishes at the moment, Pulsating from Rimmel. You can see it on its own here. The picture on the black background was taken indoors, with flash lighting.  My flash, I think, is pretty chuffing great :) Thank you flash x






Try to imagine the setting of this photo: It’s sunny outside, blowing gale, I am in the park and the homeless are stopping me to ask why the hell I am waving a my hand in the air and taking photos of my hand. ‘It’s for a project’ I always say. ‘Are you at Uni’. ‘Yeah, that’s right, it’s for my university project’. I would look so much better if I had a proper king kong dlslrlslrlr camera. Alas I look like a muppet with a small digital camera. Hey Ho, such is the life of a girl with blogging about beauty as a hobby.


Where was I?


And last but not least, this is Punk shatter over Beautyuk Yellow Peril (see it worn on its own here) on my wrinkly hand. I love the sunlight around 6pm. It’s gorgeous.





Glam Rock (the silver shatter) gives you a more subtle shatter but it's beautiful nonetheless. I was a bit worried, it would take a bit longer to dry, given its thicker consistency but I was proven wrong. Like its pink brother, it dries in an instant. I did a manicure on black covering most of the nail, but I prefer to leave more of the black showing. What do you mean some of the pink from earlier manicure are showing? *cough* I can’t see anything











I think that the best time to play with shatter/crackle polishes is when you have already an old manicure on which starts chipping. There is nothing quite like a shatter to quickly transform your manicure, when you’ve been invited on a night out last minute and your nails look a state.  If you want  your shattered manicure to last, it's best to apply to a top coat but I don't bother with that, I much prefer the rough texture and look of it.


Can you shatter a shatter polish? It would be rude not to try :) Here's my glam rock shattered manicure with some punk shattered tips on top.









I think BeautyUK has done an amazing job with these. The packaging, the labels, the vibrancy of the silver (sorry 17 cosmetics) is superb. My only regret is that the range doesn't include a gold shatter. If you wait till the 6 July, you can purchase the shatter range (£2.99 each, can any other company beat that?) from your local Superdrug. Otherwise, you can get your paws on it from the website, in the special effects section) Thank you very much again Beautyuk for letting me play with these all week end. I am truly shattered but I am happy :)

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