Video Review: China Glaze Crackle Glaze
Check out how it crackles in real-time! That’s probably a few minutes in, so skip forward if that’s all you want to see 
china glaze crackle glaze
China Glaze Crackle Glaze: Crushed Candy, Fault Line, Broken Hearted
China Glaze Crackle Glaze: Part 2
China Glaze Crackle Collection ($6.49 for 0.50 fl. oz.) has three more shades, as featured here. Together, they feature one of my favorite combos — gotta love aqua and bright pink! All the shades dry to a matte finish, so if you want a shiny finish, just use a shiny top coat (I used Seche Vite for swatches).
- Crushed Candy is a matte aqua teal. It looks very much like For Audrey, actually. For me, this was the toughest shade to work; I could get it to splinter, but it was just very thick. I did a thinner (which looks fairly streaky when you apply it) coat to the middle nail, and it has a lot of cracks running through it with smaller pieces of color. I did thicker coats on the index and ring fingers and found wider cracks and large chunks of color.
- Fault Line is a matte, vibrant, royal purple with violet and fuchsia micro-shimmer. I thought this shade was so beautiful and surprisingly easy to work with. This one looked especially nice with a top coat on top.
- Broken Hearted is a bright, dark candy pink with a matte finish. This has a thicker consistency than Black Mesh but nowhere near as thick as Crushed Candy. I did a thinner coat on the ring finger, which resulted in more cracks and smaller pieces, while I did thicker coats on the index and middle fingers, and they had larger cracks but fewer of them.
Half of the fun of these Crackles is finding good base colors to layer underneath one of the Crackle Glazes. I can’t compare the formula to any other brands, past or present, as I really don’t have any experience with them. I vaguely remember CoverGirl Crackles, but I don’t think I owned any (I wasn’t allowed to wear nail polish until I was in my late teens). I like these, and they were easy enough to work with–hey, the look itself is edgy and a little messy, so minor mistakes are easily forgiven. Lightning Bolt might take one or two attempts, but I think I just went too thick.
Tips
- Do 2 coats maximum of your base color and let it dry completely.
- Apply the Crackle Glaze in one coat and as quickly as possible as it dries down very fast!
- Use a thicker coat of Crackle Glaze for more opaque color or thicker cracks (but less of them).
- Use a thinner coat of Crackle Claze if you want a very crackled, piece-y look.
P.S. — I’ll be posting a video later today showing the polish as it crackles, because I found it pretty cool.
If you want to know more about how products are evaluated, read out Rating System FAQ!
- Product: 27/30
- Value: 8/10
- Ease of Use: 4/5
- Packaging: 4/5
final thoughts: dd
where to buy: Sally’s
See more photos & swatches! Continue reading →
China Glaze Crackle Glaze: Black Mesh, Cracked Concrete, Lightning Bolt
China Glaze Crackle Glaze: Part 1
China Glaze Crackle Collection ($6.49 for 0.50 fl. oz.) consists of six shades, and I wanted to break it into two parts because of how many photos the collection ended up being. Crackle nail polish is just that, polish that cracks. It’s a layering polish, so it is something you apply after you have applied your base color/coat. All the shades dry to a matte finish, so if you want a shiny finish, just use a shiny top coat (I used Seche Vite for swatches).
- Black Mesh is a matte, deep black. This was the easiest shade to work with out of the six, and it cracks really well. The formula was thin but very pigmented.
- Cracked Concrete is a matte, medium-dark gray. It’s definitely the color of freshly poured concrete. The formula was thin but pigmented and cracked well without having to trial it.
- Lightning Bolt is a matte, bright white. I recommend using a medium-thick coat of this if you want it to look more opaque, as thinner coats, while they will show more splintering, also show a lot of the base coming through, so it has a streaky look to it. I used a a fairly thick coat for swatches, and while it splintered, it didn’t do as much as I’d like.
Half of the fun of these Crackles is finding good base colors to layer underneath one of the Crackle Glazes. I can’t compare the formula to any other brands, past or present, as I really don’t have any experience with them. I vaguely remember CoverGirl Crackles, but I don’t think I owned any (I wasn’t allowed to wear nail polish until I was in my late teens). I like these, and they were easy enough to work with–hey, the look itself is edgy and a little messy, so minor mistakes are easily forgiven. Lightning Bolt might take one or two attempts, but I think I just went too thick.
Tips
- Do 2 coats maximum of your base color and let it dry completely.
- Apply the Crackle Glaze in one coat and as quickly as possible as it dries down very fast!
- Use a thicker coat of Crackle Glaze for more opaque color or thicker cracks (but less of them).
- Use a thinner coat of Crackle Glaze if you want a very crackled, piece-y look.
P.S. — I’ll be posting a video later today showing the polish as it crackles, because I found it pretty cool.
If you want to know more about how products are evaluated, read out Rating System FAQ!
- Product: 27/30
- Value: 8/10
- Ease of Use: 4/5
- Packaging: 4/5
final thoughts: If you dig the effect, definitely worth picking up a couple of shades. I think Black Mesh performed the best out of the six, followed by Cracked Concrete.
where to buy: Sally’s
