One of the newest art effects to enhance your nails is crackle or shatter nail polish.  The concept is quite simple.  By applying the innovative new polish over an existing base coat of normal polish you create a stunning crackled or antiqued like effect on your nails.  The base coat color shows through the cracks creating an eye catching contrast in color and shading.  It’s really easy, but it makes it look as if you spent hours on your nails!  And with all the color options you can create and endless number of color combinations depending on the season, your clothes, your mood or even the time of day.

What Are The Best Brands Of Crackle Nail Polish?

Once you get hooked on crackle or shatter polish you’ll soon learn that there are a variety of companies offering crackle nail polish in a variety of colors and shades.  You’ll have to experiment to find your favourite brand, but here are some suggestions:

• Sally Hansen Crackle Polish: Sally Hansen is well known for their quality polishes at affordable prices.  They have jumped into the crackle fray with a line of 8 different colors, you won’t be disappointed.

• Mia Secret Crackle Nail Polish: Professional quality nail polish in a wide variety of bright colors.  Mia Secret crackle polish is one of the hot brands and you can learn more from us.

• OPI Black Shatter topcoat: While crackle and shatter topcoats have been around since the late 90′s they lost favor for the past decade until OPI revived these artsy nail creations in September.  Black Shatter topcoat was the first, but OPI now carries a large variety of colors.

These three polishes are professional quality and designed to give the best crackle patterns without streaking or globing together. In addition to the three brands listed above there’s also great products available from Nails inc., China Glaze, a Katy Perry line and a Sephora branded crackle polish.  You can get more great ideas by searching here and reading our reviews.

Is There A Secret To Crackle Varnish?

Some people think there is some special trade secret that makes the polish crackle and others think it simply works by magic!  Neither is actually true.  Normally nail polishes are formulated so that they dry evenly on your nails, this is what you want from a typical polish.  Crackle polish has solvents added to it so that it actually dries unevenly, creating the cracked effect.  Because of this uneven drying the crackle coat of polish won’t last as long as normal polishes, which is why you should apply a clear top coat over the crackle coat to preserve the appearance for longer.

Is  The Secret In The Applying It Thin?

Actually no, you don’t have to apply it thin, but you do seem to get a more crackled appearance when the crackle overcoat is applied in a thin coat.  Using a thicker coat gives you a more textured appearance due to the thickness of the polish and the smaller amount of cracking.  Most people do seem to prefer the effect when the crackle polish is applied thin though.

Hopefully that clears up for you what crackle nail polish is, what are some of the top brands, where you can get it and how to apply it for the best results.  To get more detailed information about each brand as well as other great nail care tips read some of our other articles.