Fun-Friday Mani: LaRosa Crackle - Hot Purple over Essie - Status Symbol w/ OPI Silver Shatter (5/27/2011)

This weekend I will be going to the Purple One's concert so I did a funky fresh mani for the occasion and I am lovin' me some Hot Purple crackle right about now!  For an added Purple Reign effect, I added a faint layer of glitter over top; for this I used L.A. Colors Glistening Purple and then a little Silver Shatter on my tips to "ice it up" a bit - lol.

Color Description:  As mentioned in my previous review, Status Symbol, is a flamingo pink, however LaRosa Hot Purple is a shimmering dark purple that is muy, muy caliente, my friends and the crackle effect is awesome with a capital 'A'.  

Photo by Cooper Griggs (via Flickr)

L.A. Colors Glistening Purple is a very sparse magenta glitter in a clear base that will not detract from your mani, it will only enhance it; a very nice layering glitter.  As you see, the Silver Shatter didn't shatter much, but I still like the look.

Similar To:  Hot Purple isn't similar to anything that I know of - a purple crackle with hidden shimmer?  This crackle is TDF (to die for) and although the Glistening Purple glitter was a disappointment when I first swatched it alone, over a crackle is definitely the way to go with this sparse glitter, and again, I own nothing else like this.  Silver Shatter is also in a stand-alone category for the gorgeous shimmer effect it gives.

This Look:  One thin coat of Hot Purple over a 3-day old mani after surface was prepped with a nail primer, one coat of Glistening Purple, tipped with Silver Shatter and one coat of Shine & Hold top coat.

Outside during Sunset :)

Crackle Application: LaRosa crackle works best on completely dry lacquer, I mean completely dry, like an hour or so (or a day or so when creating a new look), unlike Kleancolor which works best over freshly painted nails and I'm still on the fence about OPI's crackle lacquers, they're a bit thick and inconsistent, in my book.  Of all of the crackles on the market I ♥ LaRosa the best.

Price Point/Availability: LaRosa Hot Purple crackle is retailing online for about $4.00 a bottle and I picked mine up from a beauty supply store while on vacation last week.  L.A. Colors Glistening Purple was found at the Dollar Tree and was, of course $1.00 and I purchased OPI Silver Shatter in the JC Penney Salon a few weeks ago for regular retail.  All are fairly new to the market and should be readily available online.

Well, this should be a fun weekend!  I've never been to a Prince concert for various reasons, but today is a new day; not only has he cleaned up his act, per say, he's lowered his ticket prices to a mere $25 a seat.  If just only for curiousity's sake, I'm going and I can't wait to see what he has in store for the last weekend of his 21 Night Stand concert.  

So far he's had guests ranging from Whitney Houston to Chaka Khan and Mint Condition to Nicole Scherzinger.  I've also heard that Janelle Monae performed one night and then on another night grammy-award winning Esperanz Spalding was in full effect and you can be sure that Sheila E. will be on the drums.  So, yeah, I'm a little geeked right now...  Hope you enjoyed this look and TTYS!

Fun-Friday Mani: Kleancolor Crack - Red Crackle over Sally Hansen - Tipsey Toesey Rose (5/13/2011)

A Fun-Friday Mani is usually on for no more than 24 hours and this one is no exception!  It was inspired by Colour Coated (her mani was awesome, by the way).   I polled some friends and family and they loved it, which made me feel a bit better, after I had chalked this up to a fail.  Well, on to the review:

Color Description:  Underneath this new, bright candy apple red, Kleancolor Crack in Red Crackle, I have on a bright pink from Sally Hansen called Tipsey Toesey Rose, which was part of a weird "Just Feet" collection that ended up at the Dollar Tree (wonder why? - lol). 

Similar To:  There are a few other red crackles on the market but I don't think any are this bright and have this crackle pattern.

This Look:  Veeerrry difficult (see disclaimer below)!  One coat of Miss Marion's Superbase, two coats of Tipsey Toesey Rose, one coat of Red Crackle and one coat of Shine and Hold topcoat.

Disclaimer (Application):  KC's Crack is very fickle and must be painted over freshly painted nails.  It can't be too fresh, though, (i.e. one coat coat of wet polish) or it will crack and take the polish right along with it leaving your bare nail showing.  So I suggest two coats of color, letting the 1st coat dry completely, add the second, let it semi dry (still sticky to the touch) and then add the crackle.  If applied over yesterday's mani, however, it will just dry and blow away in the wind.  You will literally be able to wipe it off with your finger; not nice and very messy.

Price Point/Availability:  Red Crackle retails on the Kleancolor website for $3.99 (+ tax) with a whopping $8.00 for shipping.  So if you can find these in a local beauty supply that's your best bet; they can get as low as $1.99.  The Sally Hansen Just Feet lacquer in Tipsey Toesey Rose is discontinued and can be found randomly at your local Dollar Tree.

Well, off to go have dinner with the hubsters.  I'm in the mood for an Island's margarita (yum!).  I like Fun-Fridays, how about you?

Kleancolor Crack - Green Crackle (5/4/2011)

Left Hand

The market has been flooded with all sorts for crackle collections for every budget and I wanted to try a few colors from the Kleancolor Crack line, so I picked up Green Crackle, Red Crackle, Brown Crackle and Purple Crackle.  


Color Description:  Green crackle is deep green like the color of school bus seats in the 80's - lol!  Oh and the crackle pattern reminds me of a tortoise shell.


Similar To:  Is there another green crackle on the market yet?  If you know of one please fill me in, but for now I know of nothing similar.

Right Hand

This Look:  Two coats of Miss Marion's Super Base (white), one coat of Green Crackle, and one coat of Z Super Fast Dry topcoat.  Please note that a good base is imperative.  I painted my bare nail and 1st it didn't crackle and second, as I was blowing it dry, it literally blew off my nails like powder.  So, strange!


As you can see from my pics, the left hand (thin layer) crackled a finer than my right hand (thick layer).  I prefer the look of the right hand, myself. 


Price Point/Availability:  I believe these were released within the last week, or so, however, they are not available online yet but will retail for $3.99 (+ tax) with a whopping $8.00 for shipping.  So if you can find these in a local beauty supply that's your best bet; they can get as low as $1.99.


Well, today's my day off so I will wear this for a few hours tops!  Have you seen these around yet?  There are a few other Kleancolors that I'd like to get my hands on and for this price you can't go wrong.  As always, stay well-polished and talk to you a bit later.

LaRosa Shatter Crackle - Sea Weed (4/26/2011)

Behold LaRosa's Crackle Shatter lacquer in Sea Weed.  My beauty supply store highly recommended this over  Black Shatter.  So I put Black Shatter back and picked up four of these babies: Hot Red, Maroon Red, Deep Black and Sea Weed.


Color Description:  Fine crackle pattern that looks great on short nails in a pure turquoise blue that dries matte.  

Similar To:  Reminds me of China Glaze's For Audrey (can you believe I don't own this color?).  I have no other color in my collection like this.

This Look:  One thin coat of Sea Weed over OPI's Not Like The Movies (second version) with two coats of Sally Hansen Mega Shine.

Price Point/Availability:  I found this at my beauty supply store, however, there are a few etailers that carry LaRosa Crackle Shatter lacquers.

Have you ever heard of this brand?  I hadn't until a few weeks ago. Overall, I think this was a nice find!  Thanks for stopping by...

Fun-Friday Mani: OPI/China Glaze - Teenage Dream Layered with Black Mesh

I know, I know!  You may have seen this combo a hundred times, but I finally broke down and purchased a crackle nail lacquer.  Crackles are not necessarily my cup of tea but I wanted to try out China Glaze Black Mesh, so here's my review.  Oh, and my friend highly recommended OPI's Teenage Dream from the Katy Perry Collection, so I'm giving that a whirl, as well.


Color Description:  
Black Mesh goes on nice and thin, dries to a deep matte black and crackles thin and fast.  OPI's Teenage Dream is very sparkly and girly with various types of glitter including larger round holographic sparkles.  I actually used Black Mesh to calm down Teenage Dream.


Similar To: 
OPI's Black Shatter is very close to Black Mesh from China Glaze's CRACKLEglaze Collection , however, the OPI version has a thicker consistency and may dry a bit slower.  Teenage Dream has been compared as a pinker/prettier version to Sally Hansen's Strobe Light by Addicted To All Things Pretty.  I've now tried both and totally agree!

This Look:  
I based two coats Teenage Dream with Chameleon's Calypso and then added one thin coat of Black Mesh.  Topped that off with my Shine & Hold Top Coat.


Price Point/Availability:  
Chameleons Calypso is readily available at drugstores nationwide (i.e. Rite Aid); Black Mesh and Teenage Dream, not so much.  These two are both Limited Edition I picked mine up with in the last week at JC Penney (Teenage Dream) and Sally Beauty Supply (Black Mesh).  Right now JC Penney is having a BOGO50% for their OPI in the Salon section of the store and Sally's has their China Glaze priced at $4.99.


Have you gotten into the crackled effect?  It took me a long time but like I said I fell for it and though it's not LOVE, it's not HATE either - IT'S JUST PLAIN FUN...  Would love to hear you well-polished thought down below!