Do you know about Sally Magpies yet? If you haven't, you really should! This UK online shop sells all sorts of fancy overseas nail polish brands that we can't otherwise get in the UK, and at really good prices too.
One of the big hits of last year was OPI Black Spotted, which was a limited release in France only, as far as I can tell. This is Layla's Bubbly Effect, which is essentially the same thing, at half the price. The Layla range is also available in several colours, which the OPI isn't. This is Black Forest.
I splodged lots of different colours on my nails (there's a mix of Barry M Satsuma, Blood Orange and Bright Purple, plus China Glaze Escaping Reality and Creative Fantasy) and then added Black Forest over the top. You have to add a very VERY thin layer, or the polish floods your nails completely. It's a very watery finish, and if it's applied thinly enough, it then bubbles all over to show your base colour.
After trying this glossy, I also tried it matte, which I think I prefer.
What do you think? Matte or glossy?
Yes, despite me saying I hate crackle, I really am posting crackle nail varnish two posts running! I've gone mad.
This is two coats of Germani-cure-by-OPI (see post here) with a coat of Barry M's gold crackle over the top.
The gold crackle has a very thick formula, and dries ridiculously quickly - so much so that it starts drying in clumps round the neck of the bottle as you wipe the overloaded brush on it! It's a pretty, pale gold crackle effect, with tiny sparkles. It dries very matte, so this definitely needs topcoat to bring out the shine and the sparkle. I do really like how these two colours go together though.
These were two polishes that I acquired a couple of weeks ago from my friend Squeakymom's swap pile. This is OPI's Fiercely Fiona and Barry M's Purple Crackle.
Fiercely Fiona was part of OPI's 2010 Shrek collection. It wasn't one I'd considered, not being much of a fan of yellow or green. However, when I saw it in the bottle I found myself quite drawn to it. It's a yellow with a greenish tinge - next to other yellows it looks very green (although next to greens, it looks pure yellow). Formula is very thin and watery, so this is three coats. If I was wearing this on its own, I'd add a fourth for even consistency. I suspect that I wouldn't want to wear this on its own though, as it's a bit of an odd colour...
I then added Barry M's purple crackle over the top. As you may know if you read my blog regularly, I am not a fan of crackle at all. I bought several when they first came out, and didn't like them. Too messy, too uneven, not neat enough or tidy enough for me. But then... I don't know, I found myself liking this. Purple and yellow shouldn't go together. But somehow... I like it!
The crackle goes on quite thick and lumpy, and dries incredibly quickly so that it looks shocking! However, it very quickly cracks apart to give these uneven, unpredictable rough shapes. It dries matte, so I have a good thick coat of topcoat here to make my nails shinier.
You may be able to see some shimmery particles in the purple in the bottle - these do not translate to the nail at all, as far as I can see.
Still - what do you think? Hideous monstrosity, or oddly ok?
