DIY Cool Crackle Finish Nail Art for Halloween/Twilight Inspired Looks

This Halloween I decided to try out a really neat new Manicure/Pedicure so I can look all cool and stuff for when I pass out Halloween Candy to the Trick-or-Treaters Tonight in my costume.  I have been seeing a lot of trendy looking nail art looks this year using all different kinds of funky colors and textures.  I have a really cool Halloween Inspired look for you that is really easy to do yourself ,but yet looks like you went to a lot of trouble.  For those of you who like the Twilight Books and Movies, the colors I used (shades of twilight, like black, purples, gray glitters, etc) combined with the crackle finish, did remind me of bare trees/branches at night.  Maybe that is just my creative eye, or maybe you will see it too…

I did a different look on the toes and nails {I like to “play” with my “paints” and plus variety is the spice of life, right?!} So first I will start with the toes…

My favorite Halloween color combination is black & purple {probably because purple is one of my favorite colors}.  So what I did was paint the base layer a lilac color  {you don’t want to go with too dark of a purple or it won’t show up against the black crackle finish.  Pale purple or bright purple would work}.  I got this nail polish online a few years ago at Yves Rocher.  (Another one of those websites that gives you lots of freebies and has super good prices in case you want to check it out).  I am not sure if they still make the color, but it’s called “Lilac Romantique”.   Because it is a pale color, I applied 2 coats and let it mostly dry.

The next step is what causes the cool crackle effect.  I added a special black top coat from Avon called “Mosaic Effects”.  Just so you know they make these mosaic effects top coats in many colors now and you can currently get them from any Avon Rep or at youravon.com.

Ok so now you have a sneak peak of the finger nails 😉 .  When you go to apply the black top coat, it works best if you quickly apply a semi thin layer.  If you cake the color on too thickly it won’t crackle right.  After I put on the black top coat, I let the toes dry and then followed up with a quick drying clear top coat which I also got from Avon.  I like adding the clear top coat because the black dries kind of matte and it looks much prettier and more professional with a clear coat on.

Here are how my toes turned out :

Pretty brave of me to put an up close shot of my pale feet on here, don’t ya think ? 🙂 For some reason this look makes me think of animal print.

Ok, Now for the Manicure {my fav.}!  For the manicure I wanted to try the look of black and glitter {love that combo}.  Glitter polish is also very “in” right now.  I applied one coat of this thick glitter polish that came from a store called “Meijer”.  I think it is Meijer brand because it’s called “Studio M nail lacquer”.  Meijer is like a WalMart , but isn’t available everywhere.  I am not sure if you can buy it online, but if not, I am sure any thick glitter polish will work.  Because I wanted a sort of “Twilight” looking shade, I used this color called ” Magic Attraction”.  It’s a purple-y gray nail polish with multicolored flecks of silvers, reds, & greens in it.

I just followed the base color up with the same black Mosaic top coat and then a clear coat.  It all dried pretty quickly.  Here is the full look:  Tada!!

Super easy and super cheap {I got all the polish on sale and paid $2.50 or less a bottle} but gives a designer look.  This look doesn’t have to be for Halloween only of course, I just thought it went perfectly with the whole festive look I was trying to achieve for later!  If you want, you can add some fingerless gloves like I did for a cool, fashionable look.

Which color combo do you like best?  I bet there are lots of other color combos that would look cool also! 

Wishing you a fun filled magical night this Halloween! ~ Rebekah

linked @ Transformation Thursdays, Cure for the Common Monday, Be Simply Better , Truly Lovely

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