Hi everyone!
Sorry for the delay in posts. I'll try and be better about it, I've been busy! Anyway today I'm going to review the different brands of shatter polishes which I'm sure you've been hearing about. I personally have tried the OPI Shatter, China Glaze Crackle, Sally Hansen Crackle Overcoat, and Sephora by OPI Blasted polishes. My ranking?
1. OPI Shatter
2. Sephora by OPI Blasted
3. China Glaze Crackle
4. Sally Hansen Crackle Overcoat
OPI Shatter
Of the brands I've tried, this is the only one I've bothered to get a second color in and I would be willing to try even more colors by OPI. They came out with the original shatter back in February and I think they have the easiest formula to work with. This is a true
shatter in the sense that a thin to medium coat produces lots of tiny cracks and a very intricate effect. As with all the shatter polishes, it does get quite goopy over time so I'd recommend making sure you close the lid very tightly and not leaving the brush out any longer than you need to. Always give it a good roll before you paint - this morning I must not have mixed well because the shatter only shattered on 3/10 nails (yikes!). I have both the black and the bright blue, and they both make for interesting combinations. The formula is generally easy to work with and provides satisfying results. This usually retails around $9 and I get mine at Trade Secret or Beauty Brands.
**note, most shatters need a top coat or they dry matte and look dull.
Sephora by OPI Blasted
As it's by OPI, this has a similar formula that definitely provides lots of little cracks and an easy to work with formula. On the first try though (and subsequent tries thereafter) it's more goopy than the OPI which can be difficult to work with and leave you with thicker coats. The thicker the coat, the fewer cracks you get and it ends up being more like the result you get with a China Glaze. The brush on these isn't as good as the OPI one either, it's not as wide. Still, if you can get a Sephora one instead of an OPI one (if the OPI is sold out), go for it.
China Glaze Crackle
CG gives a very different formula that's a lot more difficult to work with - and I'm not the only one saying that! Below is one of my tries with the China Glaze crackle polish in white. Whites in general are harder to work with, but this formula is fussy and much thicker than the OPIs. When I use a thin coat, it just looks wimpy and you can see the underneath color. If I use a thick enough coat to give the color, you get very large cracks and only a few (as you can see) so it's definitely a different look than the "shatter" you get with both of the OPI formulas. If you're willing to work with a fussy formula it can be a different effect - and I have heard the newer CG crackles are a bit better formula wise. Beware of using too thick a coat otherwise you'll have drying problems.
Sally Hansen Crackle Overcoat
So this is my last pick for crackles. Initially I was willing to work with the thick goopy formula, but it's more fussy than the China Glaze in my opinion. The cracking was even less than the China Glaze, maybe two cracks per nail. But they had different colors available and I could pop in at Walgreens to find them. However, on my second attempt to use my crackle, I discovered the brush had gone all wonky and made the polish nearly impossible to use. The subsequent attempt at a crackle mani failed miserably because it was very difficult to control the amount of polish I was putting on. A fellow polish friend said her brushes all went wonky like this too. So, if you want a thicker crackle, definitely get the CG. You can see the higher quality in the brushes - definitely. Steer clear of this one if you can - it's a waste of $7 I think.
So I hope you have a better idea of shatters now! Tweet me (@katherinep) pics of your shatter manis! I'd love to see the colors you mix and match!
<3 Katherine
