Sunday, January 30, 2011

OPI Black Shatter: Tips and Tricks

I promised to make a special post about the Black Shatter polish. I am talking just about Black Shatter at the moment because I haven´t tried any other crackle polish. I hope you find this post helpful. If you think I forgot to mention something important, let me know in the comments. Thank you!


CHOOSE A BASE COLOR
The first thing you need to do is choose a nice base color polish. Black Shatter is made to go with another polish. You can play with different colors and finishes for hundreds of different combinations. For my post I used a bright pink neon color - OPI La Paz-itively Hot. When you choose a bright color like this the crackle effect will stand out more. On the other hand if you wear a dark base the effect will be less visible. One of my tips is using a holo polish as a base, it look great!


WAIT FOR THE BASE TO DRY!
This is the most important part. If you want to get a nice effect you MUST have the base color completely dry. For the best results let the polish dry by itself, do not use a fast drying top coat. On the pictures below you can see what an ugly mess you will get if you rush your mani and apply on a wet base. You really don´t want this on your nails!

HOW MUCH TO APPLY?
Once your base is dry, you apply the Black Shatter. Be quick and don´t care about minor imperfections. Once the polish crackles they will not be visible. You can play around with the amount of Black Shatter for different effects. Look at the picture below. On the top I used a very thin coat and then every nail added more and more. On the bottom was a thick coat. You can see that the thicker the coat is, the bigger crackles. It is up to you what effect you like more :)


FINISH WITH A TOP COAT
Once you apply the Black Shatter and it crackles finish the whole mani with a clear top coat. The polish dries matte, so you add the shine and your mani will last longer.

So as you can see Black Shatter is really easy to use if you follow these simple steps :) I love playing with it and hope you too. Hope I helped with this post. Would love to hear your thoughts on Black Shatter.
Vystavil AllYouDesire v 5:10 PM Štítky: , ,

41 komentářů:

  2. Finally someone who explained how to properly use cracking top coat. Thank you!

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  3. I use the BarryM one, with the same effect when the base color isn't dry.

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  4. I don't like the effect but I love the color base ♥

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  5. Thank you for all this!
    Very useful!

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  6. I'm glad to read Black Shatter seems to work over holo polish ! I use P2 Crackle and it doesn't work with Gosh Holo or others ;)

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  9. thanks! I really want black shatter, and now even more :D

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  10. Love the tips. I have been wearing a chrome or glitter base color than the black shatter. It looks amazing! I also prefer it with a tc on top.

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  11. In all your pictures I've been admiring how flawlessly you've applied your polishes, and note that you don't brush it down right to the cuticle. Do you also leave a bit of space on the sides, or do you brush it right down to the skin? I think where I've been going wrong - and creating a mess - is thinking I need to go right to the cuticle, but I LOVE the way yours look!!

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  12. Oh! That is so useful! Thanks so much for sharing! Now all I need is to get a cracking polish ... mmmm

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  14. Já už se tak těším, až ho budu mít doma, uplně si mě navnadila!

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  15. Great tips, thanks! I noticed that the effect is different dependent on how thick you apply the polish, but I can never decide which effect I like more! :)

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  16. thanks for the great tips! =]

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  17. everytime i go to my o.p.i they are sold out =__= uuurgh
    i can't wait to try this. i've tried a cheaper shatter and it was useless /grumble/
    thanks so much for the tips, saves time and effort ^^

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  18. this tips are very good...
    I'll hope someday I can buy black shatter!!
    its still out of stock...

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  19. I did OPI red under my shatter yesterday and it looks like lava. That is what my 11 daughter told me it looks pretty cool. So glad opi came out with it. Now they just need to make it all the time

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  20. what top coat do you use??

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  21. Tigraine: thank you :) on the sides I brush to the skin but without touching it. It is all about practise :) hope you do well

    jennifer: great idea. Today I have OPI Catch Me In Your Net with Black Shatter. Great combination :)

    Anonymous: on the pictures I used Seche Vite.

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  22. Will the Black Shatter work on natural nails because I herd it only works on acrylic and gel nails?

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  23. Anonymous: of course it will. Don´t worry about that. I have natural nails and it works just fine as you can see.

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  24. I LOVE IT!! I'm wearing it as we speak! I work in an executive office so I have to dress business professional and conservative....but I can still express outgoing personality with this polish. It's subtle yet everyone notices it and I've gotten so many compliments on it. :)

    NOTE: After I applied Black Shatter last night WITHOUT a top coat, I took a shower about 2 hours later. I think the hot water did something to the Black Shatter because it went from black to an ugly gray and it wouldn't change back to black no matter what I did. {Enter panic mode!} My last resort was to put a clear top coat on and that fixed it--the gray turned black again. Phew! So...lesson learned, I HIGHLY recommend using a clear top coat after Black Shatter is applied. :)

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  25. Thank You~ I was NOT going to waste my $$ on any krackle/shatter polish it was UGLY! Then I read your post - it takes A LOT to change my mind but you flipped me - kinda like looking at "the old lady" & then seeing "the young lady" it was that fast and I couldn't believe how I WAS going to pass on it - Now another thrill of the hunt for OPI and then CG (maybe all colors)
    THANKS!! Kimmer K

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  26. whats the best way to store black shatter? I absolutely love doing my nails with it, but i find it gets lumpy on the brush by the time i start other hand, it dries very quickly.

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  27. Anonymous: I also have to dress conservative but on my nail I can have everything and I am so happy about that :) and yes, it really is better with a top coat :)

    KimmerK: wow, so glad to hear that you will give this a try! I think you must, it really is very nice and you can play with so many combinations, you will love it.

    Anonymous: I store it normally in my Ikea helmer with all the other polishes. A cool, dry and dark place should be fine.

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  28. Fialko, nemáš pro srovnání i ten praskající lak od Barry M? Zajímalo by me srovnání. Jinak se mi to fakt moc líbí!

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  30. Blani, bohužel nemám :( moc ráda bych srovnala.

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  31. thx, nice sharing..cant wait to get my bottle of black shatter....

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  32. Thanks for the tips!
    I think it looks much better without a top coat and with thinner coats.

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  33. Thanks so much for all the helpful advice. I like both thin and thick coats. I didn't know that it dried matte.

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  34. very clear and helpful tips on how to use crackling polishes

    well done! :)

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  35. just had my nails done with this polish in my local salon in Penarth, they look fab!! light mint colour as my base coat! really pleased with end result.
    Karen, Cardiff.:D

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  36. Thanks for the post!! Love that pink, by the way! =)

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  37. Just bought black shatter but I was wondering if it only works on an opi base color. I have loads of nail polish that isn't opi and a few that are. I would hate to have to buy opi just to use this shatter.

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  38. Anonymous: yes, Black Shatter works on all polish brands, not just OPI :)

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  39. Wow! That looks soo cool! When I tried with red nail polish (not O.P.I)and navy blue shatter, it finally worked out right! Thanks so much for posting this! :)

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  40. I started using the shatter coats like this, but found that the only way you could get any effect at all was to apply a thin base coat of colour, wait for that to dry then apply a thick base coat of colour on all fingers then when it is only slightly dry to apply a thick-ish layer of the top coat (thicker so it dosent ruin the base coat underneath). I have found this the only way to get any effect from the crackle (although mine does have glitter in it) as the drying of the bottom coat makes the top coat shatter easier.
    Just my experience but I might try it this way again.

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  41. OH now I get it..so that's how I should do it. I'd like to mine to have a look like the dry type,with lots of cracks.

    Thanks for sharing! ^^

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