Friday, May 10, 2013

Barry M Croc Effect Swatch Review


I have to say I am not a fan of crackle nail polish, I don't like that 80's graffiti look. It's far too messy and being very OCD I just can't handle it! That said when I saw a swatch for Barry M 'Croc Effect' I just had to have it. It is more of a cracked look and reminds me of either a broken window or lightening bolts. This is a very edgy look and the end result is a pretty cool piece of nailart.

Application:
The instructions are different to regular crackle, allow the base polish to become touch dry (not fully dry) before you apply. You will need to time it right or you won't get the effect, if the base is too wet it becomes gloppy and too dry it won't crack at all.

The application was easy, I only needed one coat to create the effect. An important thing to mention is the effect doesn't happen instantly. The cracking takes a little bit of time to develop, around 5-10 mins and dries to a matt finish.

What I used:
To create this look I applied 1 x Coat of Barry M 'Matt White', 1 x coat of Barry M 'Black Croc Effect' and finished with Seche Vite top coat, which smoothed it all out and gave a super shiny finish. The ring finger is Leighton Denny 'Pink Promenade'. 

Conclusion:
I am glad I made this purchase as it is a brilliant effect. I did notice it cracked differently over different polishes, sometimes you got big cracks like in this mani, and on other polish it was more of a hairline shatter look, probably due to the different drying times of each of the polishes. This polish also comes in burgandy, I am very tempted to get it! I think they also bought out a limited edition orange last Halloween which is called Web effect, I may go hunt that one down on ebay. In my opinion Barry M are leading the way in the UK and I cannot wait to see what they come up with next.

Comments:
Please let me know your thoughts on this manicure, or can you recommend another cool effect polish.

2 comments:

  1. I TOTALLY hear you on the not liking crackles because of the messiness!

    Like you, I like the croc though! The burgundy is really nice - it's on my blog, as is the orange one (NOT nice) under the 'croc' tag.

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    1. Thank you Elanor, after reading your blog post I am crossed the web from my list, however I am even more tempted to buy the burgundy! x

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