I’m still not sure how I feel about the crackled nail polish sensation that made such a big splash this year with almost all nail polish collections. I think it’s a cute gimmicky idea, not sure if it’s something that will stand the test of time however.
That said, today I have the China Glaze’s Metals Crackled collection for your viewing pleasure. Honestly, unless you looove crackled polish, this collection is worth skipping.
I say that because for the swatches below I had to do two coats for the pigmentation to show up properly. Putting on two coats of crackled polish is not a good idea because it either makes the existing crackle look really deep and thick OR the second coat cracks differently and you end up with almost no visible cracks. It’s lose lose to me.
All crackle polish needs to be pigmented enough to apply with some level of opacity with one coat, that should be a general rule. Still, hope you enjoy the swatches below! Two coats, no top!
Cracked Medallion
A copper metallic shade, you can see on my ring finger what I meant by thick and deep cracks. I don’t find it to be particularly flattering, but maybe some do?
Haute Metal
A dusty pink metallic shade, prime example of what I meant by lack of cracks. Because the first layer cracked in different places to the second coat, so you can’t really see the cracks that well anymore.
Latticed Lilac
A dusty light purple metallic shade, cracks are too deep for my liking. The shade is okay though.
Oxidized Aqua
An aqua blue metallic shade, I’m kinda glad the blue shade is the one that didn’t disappoint me. Despite two coats, it still looks like a single coat and crackled very nicely! This is my favourite from the bunch <3
Platinum Pieces
A silver metallic shade, messy cracks and whilst the shade itself is lovely, the way it cracks isn’t.
Tarnished Gold
A true gold shade, and lucky last from the bunch. It didn’t do too bad a job.
Hope you enjoy the swatches, let me know if you happen to be a big fan of the crackle sensation~
<3 Perfect for the winter season.
Aren’t they? If only winter was coming for us Aussies! XD
The colors are pretty but I don’t really like the way they crack… I use Layla’s crackle polishes and I think they look prettier.. But thanks for the review and swatches.
Ooh I must give those a shot, I’m not a fan of the way CG’s is cracking 🙁
They are such pretty colours, I would much prefer them if they were just normal polishes and not the crackle kind.
I agree, I think they would be much better suited as normal polishes!
I really like the colours but the way these crack just makes them look like messy chipped nail polish. I’m never been into the crackle nail polish trend so I guess I’m biased against them already! But the colours are really pretty.
Agreed! I can’t admit to being the biggest fan of crackle either, maybe only on some occasions!
normally bloggers would do swatches of crackle polishes over a normal polish just to show the contrast and how it stands out. i believe if you did these swatches over perhaps a black (or any dark) polish, it wouldn’t need 2 coats and would crackle properly. from my personal experience, i found that crackle polishes work best over another polish rather than just by itself on the nail bed.
True, I normally do apply a creme shade underneath before I apply the crackle. I didn’t this one time because I really liked the way they looked on their own. But I agree that I may not need the 2 coats if I had a creme layer, once I manage to get through the backlog I have at the moment I’ll try and take some time to update this post with new photos 🙂