Scaly Fingers - Barry M Croc Nail Effects

Sorry for leaving you all lonely for a week...

You'll all be thrilled to know, I'm sure, that I spent my weekend pretty much immersed in nail polish and therefore have lots and lots of new manicures to show you! I picked up Barry M's Croc Nail Effects the other day, but wasn't really expecting to like the results. I thought it would be too subtle and a poor alternative to the crackle effects - I was proved wrong, however, and I actually really like the effect it has given!

You apply the polish just like a crackle polish, with the thickness of the layer determining the type of crackle you get. the thinner the layer, the smaller the cracks, the thicker the layer the bigger the cracks (within reason - don't go plooping loads of it onto your nail, it will just get messy!) I started with a base of Barry M Gold Foil Effects, and found the Croc Effect worked better over a "touch dry" base, rather than a completely dry coat! I applied a medium coat and it took about 2 minutes to crack fully, leaving tiny vein-like cracks in the black polish - just like crocodile skin!

index finger - moments after Barry M Croc Nail Effects application

Barry M Croc Effects 2 minutes after application

This polish also dries shiny (as opposed to the matte crackles), so this is with no topcoat. i'm two days later and I have to say it has worn pretty well, considering it's just 2 thinnish layers of polish! Nice one Barry M! As I said, I wasn't really expecting to like this effect all that much and it is very subtle to the naked eye, but its really grown on me and I've ended up loving my scaly fingers! Mmmm scaaallyyyy.



A different kind of scaly, crocodile fingers

Thanks everyone, let me know what you think on the comments!

(Did I make up the word "plooping"? I'm pretty sure I did. I'm Captain Dictionary, over here.)

The girliest you will ever see me!

Don't worry, these are MY nails, not those of Katie Price or any of the cast of The Only Way is Essex. I would never call myself a girly-girl (she says with a blog centred entirely around nail polish art and makeup), preferring to do more colourful, eyecatching and badass designs. This manicure is, however, the most trashy-fabulous you will ever see my nails haha. All that's missing is a giant 3D acrylic bow.

I've got exams coming up (BOOOO), so wanted something on my nails that would tempt me away from removing it and doing something else, to maximise revision time. Anyone whose ever had a full glitter manicure on, will know what an utter ARSE they are to remove. I am hoping that the fear of removal will make me concentrate harder on revision, and resist using nail polish as a distraction!

I started with two coats of Catrice Be My Millionaire, a silver polish, then added 4 coats of Models Own Juicy Jules. Juicy Jules is AMAZING, it's a holographic glitter, and catches the light beautifully - perfect for sunny days. I could have got away with 3 coats, but I wanted maximum glitter coverage. I had a hard time photographing the sheer awesomeness of this glitter, and I'm sure that if I had got it perfect, your eyes would have exploded anyway. I resorted to using a lamp directly over the nails, and using the macro setting (as opposed to the SUPERmacro setting) on my camera to blur the image sliiiighttly so you can see more of the holographic-ness. *gets a bit pic heavy from this point onwards...*

Juicy Jules on its own:

blurred so you can see the holographic sparkle

a sharper picture that doesnt show the colours as much! also sorry for my STUPID index finger that broke, I know it looks ridiculous!

I added a coat of Seche Vite to smooth it out and create a base for Barry M's new pink crackle polish Pink Fizz. I find the best way to use the Barry M crackles is to apply them thickly, as they crack better, with larger spaces between the pink bits. I hate it when you use a crackle and it barely cracks, so you can only just make out the base colour (I'm looking at you Boots 17!).

I added another coat of Seche Vite to top off the whole thing, and because the Barry M Instant Nail Effects dry Matte.

under the lamp

under the lamp

natural light

I tried my best to capture it, but imagine all that holographic glitter shining through! BLINGTASTIC! Now, this was somewhat of an experiment, but I took a video on my camera to see if I can better show you the sparkle. The quality is pretty poor, but it does give you a good idea of the shine. (bloody nicked my cuticle right before though didn't I?!)

 

Hopefully you get an idea! I actually tweeted this manicure at Amy Childs from The Only Way is Essex (a trashy reality TV show over here in the UK - IT'S BRILLIANT), she is yet to reply though haha :P

Let me know what you think everyone, was it worth it to include a video? I really wasn't sure about it, but thought I would get some feedback from you :) I realise this isn't strictly Nail Art, but that's what I love about crackles, they add instant interest to a Manicure with minimal effort. I know they've been around a while now, but I've not seen this combo before :D

Em x

Boots 17 Crackle Polish

Boots' exclusive cosmetic brand "17" have well and truly jumped on the crackle-wagon, launching their own goldy-silvery Crackle Polish. Oooooooh the elusive and rarely seen left hand: -

The larger looking patch of purple on my pinky isn't a crack...its a smudge...lolz

Looking at these photos, it's growing on me....

                              
I'm not quite sure what I make of it so far. I like that it's freely available, cheap and a different colour to the other crackle polishes out there, but I prefer to see more of the base colour showing through. I also wish it was more gold.
Underneath the Crackle is Barry M Boots Ltd Edition, and its such a gorgeous mid-purple that it upsets me that it cant be seen through that much! It doesn't seem it from the photos, but my nails literally just look like a Champagne colour from a distance. The application was a dream though, this is a thin coat (thick coat on the thumb - they kind of crackled the same though, regardless) and it's a really smooth polish with a lovely shimmer. It doesn't dry as matte as the Barry Ms, nor is it as gloopy and fast-drying. You can see Barry M Instant Nail Effects HERE for comparison. Barry M cracks more - same purpose, totally different effects! Jury is still out on which one I prefer, they are both very different.

I have a different topcoat on the other hand, which I can't wait to show you tomorrow - I love it! :D

Have you tried this new crackle? What do you think? 

My brother, who has recently discovered my blog, is hankering for a shout out, and threw a huge strop yesterday when I forgot to mention him! This makes him sound 10 years old. He is 18, but still has the mind of a child. :P

HELLO EDWARD!

And in keeping with the theme of this blog, here is a picture of the face-paint I did for him last Halloween. Face-painting is another would-be hobby of mine, had I more opportunity to practice it!

Scary Clown, why so serious?!

Tropical Crackle

Well it's looking like the sunshine is getting me in the mood for summer - I tried the sponging technique for the first time today, creating a gradient from pink to yellow through orange. Heres how it came out!

I did this late last night, so sorry for the shoddy photography and lack of clean up!
I was suprised just HOW EASY this was to create, and it takes no time at all. Firstly, I painted two coats of Barbara Daly for Tesco in Neon Pink, then cut a little bit of sponge off a pan scrubber. I painted a bit of Barbara Daly for Tesco in Salsa to about halfway down the nail. If I were do it again I think I'd sponge in white first, then over the top in orange, just to get a more pronounced effect. I then sponged the tips in Miss Sporty Taxi! to complete the gradient. I love how Beachy this looks :D like a Cosmo cocktail!!
I love the Barry M Nail Effects Crackle Polish, but because the crackles have been so relentlessy blogged about recently, I havent done a post. But...I added it to this look :D

It annoyed me that theres a big black patch of crackle on the middle finger, would've liked to see it crack up a bit more, but oh well. I would have loved to top it all off with a couple of coats of Seche Vite, just to smooth the whole thing out, but I don't yet own the holy grail of topcoats. This looks great from a distance, as it's a really neat fade out. I'd like to do this base and then freehand some black palm trees in, like a tropical sunset, but alas! I am still waiting for my nail art brushes from Evilbay.

CANNOT ACTUALLY WAIT for the Models Own Crackle range - I need that Plum and the Turqouise.

Stay safe homies x