Turquoise Stone Mani

This manicure is based on one done by Michelle of All Lacquered Up. You can see her original version here. I love turquoise, both the stone and the color, so since I'm also into crackles, this was right up my alley. Michelle used Models Own Moody Grey, which she described as "a green-based, wet cement type grey creme." I decided to go for a browner tone, and ended up with Sally Hansen  Xtreme Wear Grey Area. This polish is a muddy, dark taupe. It went on smoothly and was very easy to control. The brush isn't very flexible, but the polish flowed easily enough that it wasn't really a problem. Alone, the color of Grey Area was a good balance of warm brown tones and cool greys.

On top of Grey Area, I added a layer of China Glaze Crushed Candy. I tried to use the same technique that Michelle describes in her post: I applied Crushed Candy in short strokes from the edge toward the middle working in a circle around my nail. Crushed Candy didn't dry quite as quickly as CG Fault Line; in that respect it was more similar to Broken Hearted and Cracked Concrete. I still needed to work quickly, and it was gooey enough that it was inclined to lay down in a thick coat.

The cracks are a little thicker than the veins in turquoise, but it's still a pretty nice approximation. It was harder to apply the polish consistently on my left hand (I'm left handed), so the cracks are more random and thinner. I think this looks even more like turquoise.

Once Crushed Candy was added, Grey Area looked a lot warmer. I really like the idea of using crackles to mimic textures and patterns from nature. For example, I'm thinking of putting a green crackle over another green to make leaves (I'm still thinking about how to create the pattern). Anybody have any other ideas?