Barry M Crackle Paint… How to

I have to admit to being quite taken with this new nail art trend. It’s cute, it’s novel and all the brands are doing it BUT I’m not sure it’s for adults? With that in mind, I bravely tested it out… on my 12 year old sister.

Crackle polish is available in a rainbow of colours – gold, green, WHITE you name it. For your first time I’d recommend a black, plus it goes with everything. Barry M’s crackle paint is available in black,white, pink and blue and priced at £3.99 it’s very reasonable.

How to…

Firstly paint your nails as you would normally. You can use any colour, any brand. I think black works well with bright colours, so we chose No7’s Foxglove – a hot pink. Apply one or two coats, BUT make sure they’re bone dry before you start with the crackle.

Then on top of your painted nails apply with the crackle varnish, BUT and here’s the tricky part, you cannot overlap the crackle, which is difficult because the brush isn’t wide enough to do just one stroke, yet it’s wider than half your nail meaning some overlapping is inevitable. The other difficulty is it DRIES  very quickly but once on you will be impressed by the instant crackling effect – it’s like magic. My only criticism with this Barry M version is it gets very glupey very quickly. Be careful not to apply too much.

I’d say practice makes perfect with this one, by the time I got to the last nails I felt like I was finding my stride, but for a first attempt, I’d say we didn’t do too bad…..

What’s amazing is, you get a different result everytime and can vary the effect by doing faster or slower strokes.

My sister was really happy with the results and her friends were green with envy, which I think answers the question, is it for adults? Probably not, unless your name is Lady GaGa.

The World’s gone shatter nail mad… Check out LCN Crackle Finish

The World has gone shatter nail mad! Everyone’s at it, and here’s a new one for you from hand, nail and footcare specialists LCN. 

Simply apply a base colour, the add a coat of LCN’s crackle polish and watch the magic happen. With names Like Blue Linda and Pink Jane, I can’t resist. Just £4.65 online at beauty concepts.

Coming soon: 17 Gold Shatter Nail Polish

They’re all at it, Barry M, OPI, China Glaze and now purse friendly 17 want us to shatter, crackle and smash our nails.

Granted, most of us over the age of 16 might want to give trendy nail art a wide berth, but the gold is very summery and less dramatic than the black ones on the market and with an estimated price tag of around £4, I’d say it’s worth a go. Although be careful not to be too heavy handed, in this picture taken from 17’s Facebook page, the product looks a little thicker than it’s pricier competitors.

Set for release later this month, have some fun creating weird and wonderful patterns.