Sally Hansen Pat On The Black + Antique Gold Crackle

I only painted my nails a couple of times last year, mostly using crackles.  Well...a crackle.  Sally Hansen Fractured Foil.  I got a navy OPI crackle (I think it's just called "Navy") at some point, but like too many of my polishes, I've never gotten around to trying it.  My recent semi-random drug store haul will be a topic of its own, but I picked up a bunch of Sally Hansen polishes.  I almost squealed when I saw Antique Gold for less than $2.  I'd almost caved and bought it for $5 just a few days before.  When I took off the Magnetix Instant Chemistry from the last review I knew my next one would be something with Antique Gold...but what?

I looked through all of my polishes to find a summery pairing...but I swerved and did something totally typical of me...and autumnal as fuck.  Habits, you know the saying.  I used last year's ('10 maybe even) Pat On The Black.  They still make this shade.  I haven't bought it, but it looks about the same in the new bottle as the stuff I have.  Because my go-to base/top coat is theirs too this wound up being unintentionally brand-loyal.

I've worn this color before and I have really mixed feelings about it.  It's beautiful, but the formula is thin.  It streaks a lot and takes three layers to not look weird.  Since I was putting a crackle over it I decided not to go for perfection.  Two layers were fine for this time, but see what I mean about the streaks?

Excuse the pre-cleanup grossness and stained knuckles.  This should be a predictable line by now, but there's a post (two?) about that coming.  I have lots of ideas...as you've probably noticed.

The Antique Gold crackle is an instant favorite, well once there's a layer of top coat to bring out its sparkle.  That's essential, since it looks a bit flat (like crinkled foil almost) without it.  It looks great over Pat On The Black's deep, vampy wine...and I SWEAR I have some summery plans for it too.  Get used to seeing this polish a *lot* on here.  I took a couple dozen photos this time.  It's so pretty in different lights...

As much as I wanted to change my nails over and over this week to try out more of my stuffs, that didn't happen.  Instead, I endurance tested.  Thrilling, I know.  I'll admit, it was partly because I was so smitten with this crackle, but I also wanted to see how it wore.  The photos above are from early (around 2am) Monday through mid-day Tuesday.  My index finger had some minor edge chipping by Tuesday, but it wore unbelievably well over-all.  This was just before I took it off, around 3am Friday.

Yes, it's chipped...BUT....this stuff has really been through it.  I repotted some herbs in my container garden and assembled a piece of Ikea furniture.  I hit my poor thumb with the hammer (ow!) and this stuff didn't even chip a little!  I also did all the standard day-to-day crap for four days.  I can't believe how well this handled the stress.  Sally, I'm impressed!