ALU’s 365 of Untrieds – China Glaze Oxidized Aqua Crackle Glaze Metal
365 of Untrieds is my personal challenge to weed through the polishes in the ALU stash that I’ve been wanting to try but just haven’t gotten around to.
By now you probably are aware that I’m not the biggest fan of the crackle nail polish trend. I’m not hating on it per se, I’m just not fully on board. Something about the first sets of crackles didn’t thrill me. They were chunky looking and felt dated. However, I find myself crying “UNCLE!” ever since the metallic crackles started to pop up. They are definitely a fun twist on an old look and, well, I usually give in to anything sparkly. Case in point, the China Glaze Crackle Glaze Metals. Foil metallic crackle polish that comes in six colors? Okay, okay I give. It does look pretty cool. See for yourself. |
Formula & Application: China Glaze Crackle Glaze nail polish is 4-Free (including Formaldehyde Resin) and free of camphor, which can be an irritant. The Crackle Glaze polishes come in the same bottles with the regular thin, round brush.
Unlike the first set of Crackle Glaze polishes, the Metals have a thinner formula which makes it easier to apply but still not perfect. The only downside is the brush doesn’t want to fan out in this formula so you need multiple strokes. Since crackle polish needs to be applied thin to get more cracks, it’s not as easy to get a really broken up pattern. I found myself trying to cover bald spots and I end up with too much polish in one spot and no cracks appeared. I know crackle polish is all about the randomness but that’s so against my nature. I want each nail to look uniform.
China Glaze Crackle Glaze Oxidized Aqua is a seafoam style blue that looks slightly greyed due to the silver metallic pieces intermixed with the blue. I layered it over a jet black matte, SpaRitual Mind, since mattes dry so fast and you have to apply crackle polishes over completely dry nails.
Bottom Line: Even though I wish it had cracked more, I love the metallic finish and the contrast with the black. If I played with it more or added just a drop or two of thinner I could probably achieve the look I desire. And yes, you can add a bit of thinner to crackle polishes to get rid of the goopy texture. Just add it very slowly and roll the polish a LOT before adding more.
365 of Untrieds Stash/Share Verdict: I dig the color and the finish so I’ll STASH this one.
China Glaze Crackle Glaze Metals should be launching in July 2011 though I don’t have a definite date. You can find China Glaze polishes at Sally Beauty and ULTA stores and online at SallyBeauty.com, TransDesign.com and Head2ToeBeauty.com. Nail polishes retail for $3.50-7/ea, depending on the retailer, for a .5oz bottle.
Thoughts on the metallic crackle polishes? Do you prefer the metallic, shimmer or creme crackles? If you are still anti-crackle, what’s keeping you from trying them?
Disclosure: A product sample was provided by China Glaze. For more info view my Disclosure Policy.
Lisa N.
Ms Meatballhead
Birdie
Spa pediccure chairs
I love this!! I’m not a big fan of crackle but I’m loving this color!
So pretty! I don’t really like crackle… but I love this color!
This crackle is gorgeous and I’m sucker for anything aqua, teal or turquoise and I know opi has a turquoise crackle too…. are you going to review that one too??? Cause I so want to see that one on your blog lol
GREAT IDEA on adding thinner to crackles! I always think they end up looking thick and goopy. Great tip, thanks:)
I passed on that color when I bought my stash of CG’s crackle polish. I went for the pink, purple, silver, and gold. So now my Black Mesh isn’t lonely anymore! You definitely have to be careful of how heavy a coat you use – the nails on my left hand have a much better crackle effect. But practice makes perfect!
I love the look of the aqua metal. Would the matte finish affect the way the polish crackles?
I’ve tried crackles over matte polishes several times and haven’t had an issue.
Good to know!
I won the Metal Crackles, and this one is my favourite! Perhaps Haute Metal could also be my favourite, but I haven’t tried her…
They are already out at several Sally’s. I picked up Aqua, Medallion & Gold and I’m loving them.
THANK YOU for the over matte & thinner ideas!!! i too am starting to like the crackle if it is done well.
I love OPI Silver Shatter, and the bronze China Glaze looks really cool.
I swear Silver Shatter cracks less over darker colors. Maybe that’s what’s going on with this one as well.
I am dying to get my hands on these! I’ll be wearing crackle till fall! lol
I wasn’t really on board with crackles either until the metallics came out. I have the silver one from Sally Hansen and love it. I am definitely going to be buying this one too.
I really find metallic crackles very exciting. Can’t wait to have one! and i didn’t even it’s OK to add thinner to crackles. Thanks for the tip. I love OPI Silver Shatter to bits, but the goopy formula is always a pain.
I love crackle polishes. I can’t wait for the new metallic collection to come out.
Usually I wouldn’t care for crackles other than black… but this looks great over a black base! n__n
I just really don’t like the crackles! I kind of want to like them because they’re everywhere, but I haven’t bought any and I don’t see myself ever trying it. I like the effect I see in your photographs, but I’ve seen them on a few people in real life, and it just always seems to look tacky and sloppy. Not for me!
That’s so strange. Whenever I’ve tried to layer cracker over matte finish polish, it’s made the matte base crack too.
I really love crackles I do sort of wonder if they look best on younger hands than mine….I guess I’ll have to try one and find out!
I love crackles, I can’t wait to try the metallic ones! I have two of the China Glaze creme ones and they’re too matte for me, I always have to add a top coat to make them shiny.
Gooorgeous. I’m trying to resist this collection but it’s proving me hard!
I don’t like it, looks like old polish.
Can you recommend a polish thinner? Or all they all kind of the same?
I haven’t compared ingredients but I imagine they are all the same.
The matte black is actually SpaRitual Body Matte (Mind Matte is the creamy beige color which is pretty blah by iteself, but stunning with a top coat, BTW).