According to Barry M Croc Effects is a 'stunning development following the best selling crackle range.' I was never a huge fan of the crackle polishes, although I did try them out. I just always thought they looked a bit tacky and a little bit like chipped nail polish rather than the intended crackle effect. I did find it fascinating watching the cracks appear though.
I'm always one to get excited over new beauty products though so I had to have a go of this. Everyone else seemed to have the same idea though - both the Boots stores I tried were sold out so I had to buy it online. I wasn't best pleased with this because I'm so impatient and wanted to try it out that very second.
It's a bit different from the crackle polishes in that you have to apply it over a coat of tacky nail polish rather than applying over completely dry polish. You also have to apply a really thin layer to get the best results. The cracks appear a lot more slowly than the original crackle polish but it was quite entertaining watching them appear (one of those 'wowwww, how do they do that' moments). It took about three minutes in all for the pattern to form.
I do like the pattern it creates but I still can't get over my issues with tacky crackle polish. I think that's because I used Barry M Bright Red as a base colour and I just don't like the black against red. I think it would look better over a gold perhaps or over neutral colours as that would give a more animalistic effect. I think I've got some experimenting to do.
A slide downside is that this seems to chip really easily, I've had it on my nails for about two hours and there's already a chip in my thumb. Maybe a top coat would've prevented that though. Another issue is that you have to get your application just right if you want the cracks to appear in the same way on all your nails. You can see on my middle finger in the photo that the cracks haven't appeared as nicely as they have on the other nails. Very annoying, especially for someone like me who likes her nails perfect.
I do much prefer this to the original crackle effects polishes and I hope they bring out a few more colours. Not the usual pinks and blues though, perhaps a dark brown or a grey. Something that will really bring out the animal effect because let's face it, you don't get pink crocodiles.
Speak soon x
