Like it or Not, Crackle Nail Polish Is Making a Comeback

There are a lot of trends from my youth that I’m cool with revisiting. Indie sleaze? Hell yeah, that was hot. Lower waterliner? Very cool, very Avril 2023. Capri pants? Sure, whatever; I’m not going there, but you should! Crackle nail polish? Absolutely not. But alas, my wish never to see a crackle manicure again seem to be futile, as the exceptionally controversial topcoat is back once again. (Cue James Kennedy from Vanderpump Rules yelling, “Whyyyyyyyyyy?”) 

Before I spin out in shame and regret, why don’t we take a trip down memory lane and revisit the crackle nail polish trend of the 2010s—and how it has (hopefully) evolved for a more modern manicure?

The Trend

Let’s hit the rewind button and time travel all the way back to 2011. Nail polish is huge. I read nail polish blogs religiously (yes, blogs), drive all over the Minneapolis-St. Paul area in search of certain coveted shades and keep my ever-growing collection housed in a shoebox under my bed. Lately, I’ve seen a new trend emerging, and it’s called crackle. Bloggers are painting their nails pretty shades of robin’s egg blue or magenta, then layering a black topcoat that literally crackles and shatters atop for a peekaboo effect that feels completely brand new to my twentysomething eyes. I am obsessed.

It doesn’t take long until every brand is making their own version of the polish. OPI releases their crackle topcoat as part of their Katy Perry collab and, knowing that OPI makes superior polishes to many drugstore rivals, I enter a JCPenney for the first time in a decade to find a bottle, it’s that serious. My friend swipes my bottle to do her nails for a music performance, giving her baby blue mani an extra edge that looks so good with her American Apparel minidress. We are living… until one day I look at the crackle polish and think it’s the ugliest thing I’ve ever seen in my life.

Much like American Apparel itself, crackle topcoats are one of those things I thought would die with the 2010s. But at least according to a TikTok with over 5 million views from beauty brand Essence, it's seemingly ready to claw its way back from the indie sleaze grave, and those of us who used it the first go-round are, understandably, wincing at the memory.

“At the time, crackle nail polish was unique and innovative—there truly wasn't anything like it,” says Mazz Hanna, celebrity nail artist and CEO of Nailing Hollywood. “Nail art hadn't peaked yet, so nail designs were typically limited to French manicures, rhinestones and a few daisies and florals to choose from at your local salon. For those reasons, crackle nail polish was empowering. It allowed nail art enthusiasts to take matters into their own hands and experiment with something new at home.” It was also at the forefront of easy at-home products to take your at-home manicure to the next level of interesting. “Dare I say it even set the stage for the advent of nail strips, velvet nails, holographic glitters and other ‘novelty’ polishes that have since gone mainstream? Perhaps it did.” 

How to Get the Look

I won’t judge you for wanting to give crackle polish a try; it is kinda fun to watch the polish do its things on the nail. It also requires absolutely zero nail polish expertise, given that you just paint a thin layer of the crackle polish atop your base, whether that’s a metallic, glitter, baby pink or milk bath neutral. TikTokers have also created “lava nails” with a bright orange or red base coat with the shatter polish on top, which is a fun twist, especially for Halloween. 

While many of the big brands have yet to bring back their crackle polishes—though OPI did jokingly threaten to bring their Black Shatter polish back in a TIkTok video from early 2023— Essence’s Cracking Magic Nail Top Coat is currently sold out, and nail brand Kiki World offers a crackle pen, which means the polishes are ready for their comeback. Hey, I guess the old adage is true: Everything old is new again. Even if it makes me cringe.