Sally Hansen Crackle Overcoat in Fractured Foil Review

For those of you who are still following my blog in hopes of some nail related update, here we go. It’s not Konad, but it’s kinda cute I picked up a bottle of the new Sally Hansen Crackle in Fractured Foil (which looks very similar to Zoya Trixie BTW and decided to give it a go. I got mine at Rite-Aid for $6.99, but I have seen them at Walgreens and Ulta as well. The instructions says “Do not apply to bare nails. Apply two coats of your favorite Sally Hansen nail color. Once dried, add a thin or thick coat (depending on desired effect) of any Crackle Overcoat shade. Do not leave the bottle open, close tightly when not in use. Allow it to dry and seal with any Sally Hansen top coat.” Obviously, you don’t need to use your favorite Sally Hansen nail color under the Crackle Overcoat nor do you need a Sally Hansen top coat to seal it off. I’m sure most of you know that, but I figured I’d throw that out there.

My sandwich is as follows:

1. Base coat: American Classics Gelous Nail Gel
2. Base color: One coat of Barry M Cobalt Blue
3. Crackle color: One coat of SH Crackle Overcoat Fractured Foil (more on this below)
4. Top coat: One coat of Seche Vite

I didn’t wait until my base color (Barry M Cobalt Blue) to dry completely before I applied the Crackle and it seemed to have cracked just fine. I basically painted my 10 nails with the Cobalt Blue then went over it with the Crackle. No problems. The application method is a bit different with the crackle. If you want a bolder look, then you need to start with a big glob of crackle, making sure that you don’t make a huge mess. It didn’t really want to crack when I quickly applied two thin coats of Crackle. I think that a one-swipe motion worked better for me.

Enough with the gabbing: here is the result:

Barry M Cobalt Blue with Sally Hansen Crackle Overcoat Fractured Foil

The lasting power is pretty much the same as any other Sally Hansen color that I own. It held up pretty well over the weekend where I did a lot of cleaning, sticker picking (I know I know), etc. By the way, for those of you who has owned the CoverGirl Crackles back when they had those in the mid 90s, this is a million times better!

Bottom line: it’s pretty neat! I would give it a 4 out of 5. I knocked off a point because of the globbing method you need to do to achieve a more opaque look over dark colors. It’s not that big of a deal though.

Happy March

Hey All Y’All,

Hope everyone’s been well My blog posts have been way past due, I know. However, my nails have had no love for the past few months. I decided to finally kick off March with some green (no Konad though)! Here’s a quick cell phone shot. My cuticles are horrible

China Glaze Turned Up Turquoise

Thanks for looking!

Shellac Adventures

First of all, thank you for all your support! When I finish my previous post, I thought that you guys would desert me, but thank you to your wonderful comments and support, I feel much more comfortable blogging about random stuff.

This post, however, will be nail related (and somewhat ‘nad related too). For those of you who don’t know what Shellac is, it’s made by CND and they advertise it as “the mani that will last up to 14 days”. It applies just like nail polish and you use a UV lamp to “cure” it.

Photo Courtesy of CND

There are a few tutorials out there on how to do it, but I figured I would give you the most simple, 10 step, least amount of investment possible method.

What you need: as far as buying the stuff, all you need is a UV lamp (my 36watt eBay one works just fine), Shellac Base Coat, Shellac Top Coat, Shellac Color, and rubbing alcohol. Click on the image below if you want to see a bigger version!

As you can see, it’s not extremely difficult. After step 10, it really is rock solid and there’s no way you can dent it.

A couple things to keep in mind: make sure you wrap the tips but that seems pretty much impossible when my nails were short, but wrap if you can. Try to not let the stuff reach your nail bed and/or cuticles because after it cures, it’ll be more likely to peel after a couple showers when the stuff has washed off your skin, and lifting the polish from the nail.

To remove: I just soak a small square that I cut from felt with acetone and let it “sit” on my nail for about 3-4 minutes per nail and it just all flakes off.

As far as ‘nadding: I haven’t tried it yet because I’m skeptical. While I think that it’s thick enough to ‘nad with, the Shellac Top Coat is a bit on the thick ‘n draggy side. I’m worried that the design will smear.

In conclusion: Don’t be discouraged if it looks like crap or that it peels after you try Shellac the first time. It took me a couple tries until I got the “feel” of Shellac but once I got it down, it works good. I wouldn’t say that I could get it to last for 14 days, but I could definitely get a solid week in and have it look flawless.

Hope this helped someone!

Shellacin’

Hope everyone had a great summer. Tomorrow is officially the first day of autumn! This summer really flew by and can you believe that Sasse Stamping Stampede has been around for more than a year?! Crazy!

My dear friend Gab from The Edge Of Sanity sent me this (sorry for the cell phone picture. I got way too excited about this):

Thank you so much Gab! Yes, I’m the proud owner of the Hello Kitty Fauxnad plate

Unforunately, I will not be able to show off Hello Kitty for a couple weeks because because I’m trying out CND Shellac. I’m going to eventually try to ‘nad with Shellac but I’m thinking it might not be successful because their top coat is quite thick. I’ll try to post a little tutorial of just the Shellac part with pictures if you guys are interested!

Thanks for looking!

Nubar Innocent Whispers Fauxnad

A while back I was raving about the Gelous base coat. Yes, it has worked wonders for me about consistent use. Before my nails break, I’ll have to do a few Funky French fauxnads! LOL

Nubar Innocent Whispers with Bundle Monster M18

I love these lacey designs with white and soft shades. It’s fun but keeps the traditional French Mani theme!

Thanks for looking!

Misa Touch of Violet Fauxnad

Hope everyone had a good Labor Day weekend! I would do a Labor Day-themed ‘nad but then I would have no idea how to do it (haha). Apparently I’ve been in a purple/white mood lately. Here’s another one of those patterns that looked boring on the plate but stunning on the nail:

Misa Touch of Violet and Sally Hansen Hidden Treasure with Bundle Monster BM12 and Sally Hansen Royal Purple Chrome

Thanks for looking!

Nails Inc Charlotte Street Fauxnad

It’s been a while since I’ve worn gray so I figured that would be a nice little change. I just love Nails Inc: they apply so well! Too bad they’re a) in the UK and b) way too expensive

Nails Inc Charlotte Street with Bundle Monster BM19 and OPI Parlez-Vous OPI?

Thanks for looking!

Revlon Cotton Candy Fauxnad

This fauxnad pattern definitely looks much better on the nail than it did on the plate. I was a little sketched about the honeycomb pattern but it turned out really nice with with Cotton Candy. By the way, the Revlon Cotton Candy is scented! It’s even scented through the topcoat! So cool! I kept catching myself sniffing my nails. Hahaha!

Revlon Cotton Candy and Creative Nail Designs Blue Ice Shimmer and Bundle Monster BM21

Sorry if my cuticles look a little more beat up than normal. These are nails after 4 days of camping! Thanks for looking!

American Apparel Peacock Fauxnad

Lately I’ve been on a Sally Hansen Hidden Treasure kick. I’ve been trying to layering it over any color that I think might look good. That’s good and bad at the same time. Good: it’s beautiful. Bad: it’s very hard to find a ‘nad that won’t look to busy with it. Here’s a Funky French that worked out okay (though I think it looks way more busy in real life).

American Apparel Peacock and Sally Hansen Hidden Treasure with Bundle Monster M18 and Revlon Petal Chrome

Thanks for looking!

Sally Hansen Garnet Lapis Layering Fauxnad

Quick housekeeping update: I slightly changed the look of the blog but I tried to keep everything close to what it was before. I tried to take a stab at my banner and I think it’s okay, but it might change again. Let me know what you think!

Another thing I love to do with my polish is layering. There are just endless possibilities! In fact, if I ever divert on this blog (which I’m still contemplating on doing), it would be layering because the colors you can accomplish is amazing. With that said, I’m going to post a very cool layering combo with a holographic polish (Color Club Revvvolution) and Sally Hansen Garnet Lapis (from the Prisms collection). It shifts from blue to purple indoors/indirect sunlight and sports major bling/holo in direct sunlight. How cool!

Sally Hansen Garnet Lapis with Color Club Revvvolution

If you can track it down and if you love to layer your polish, try to find any of the Prisms collection from Sally Hansen. I found mine on eBay at a decent enough price a year ago. I’m not sure if they still have an inventory around in the land of the evil.

To top things off, I added a holo ‘nad with it! Talk about bling overload:

Sally Hansen Garnet Lapis with Color Club Revvvolution with Bundle Monster BM20

Thanks for looking!