Shatter manicure: Barry M Croc Effect Nails 323

Yellow is a colour I can never pull off, be it on my nails, eyes, lips or outfit. Possibly because my skin has yellow undertones - using the shade always makes me look ill.
The only way I can pull off yellow on my nails is if I cover it up almost completely, so that very little of the shade peeps through - and that is why shatter polish is the best solution. The only yellow polish I own is the Bourjois So Laque Ultra Shine in 39 Jaune Trendy.
I picked up Barry M. Croc Effect from Boots Dubai - they have a nice collection of Barry M polishes, lipsticks and other makeup. They had two shades in this range - 323, which is black, and 343, which is red.

More photos and thoughts on the Barry M Croc Effect polish in 323 below.

Croc Effects is thicker and shinier than any other shatter polish I have seen so far. It also takes longer to begin to crackle up, and a thicker coat will make no difference to how it shatters, whereas other shatter polishes have larger "islands" if you apply a thicker coat. It has a very vinyl look to it before it crackles, as you can see below. You can also see tiny lines beginning to form at the bed.

I actually wished the crackle would stop at this stage - this looks like the cilia on microorganisms, doesn't it?

Finally, it shatters out into... um spider-webs? Now had I done this in white and yellow and painted a spider on the accent nail, this would have been a Hallowe'en mani!

Unless you wear a top coat, this happens. Once the Barry M polish dries, you can just scrape off the shatter with a nail, without any effort.

But if you use topcoat, the manicure stays on for four days - that is my limit and I change my nail polish after four days tops. I love the Croc Effects Nail Paints and wish Barry M would come out with more colours!

This is my submission to the "Yellow" edition of the Blogger Bragger  Autumn Nail Art Challenge. You can check out the other entries here. Next week's entry has been ruined by horrible finger damage from an eyebrow  razor, but I did manage to get pictures of pre-nail art swatches, which I will share then, along with details of the carnage.