Craquelure Manicure

This is one of those weird manicures that looks much better from afar, if that makes sense. On a recent trip to Germany I picked up the P2 Crackling Topcoat in Black Explosion because I'd seen the effect on other blogs and thought it was kind of cool.

How it works:

You first apply your base color of choice, here I'm sporting Models Own Pink Punch (a highlighter neon pink). Then you apply the black topcoat; you have to work very quickly and use a good amount of product if you have long nails like mine because this stuff starts cracking and drying up almost instantaneously. It must be some kind of chemical reaction that reacts with air because when you paint it on it just looks like black polish, but once it start drying it begins to crack and pull together, leaving a very edgy texture. When you zoom in really close like in the picture, it looks a bit odd, but when you just see your nails as you normally would, it does look really cool! The only thing is that it leaves the top of the nail feeling a bit bumpy, so I followed it with a coat of Seche Vite to smooth it out.

I can't wait to try this out with various base colors. I wish they made this crackling polish in lots of different colors too. P2 one has the black and a grey one as well. The black actually dries down to a matte finish without clear topcoat.

What do you think - love it or hate it? I think I'll try this with white next!