Nail Polish Obsession

If you've been following my YouTube videos, then you may know that I recently spent 10 days in Germany, Austria and Switzerland.  My husband teaches high school and every few years, we take a group of students with us to Europe and we go at a discounted price.  This time, one of my husband's students had this beautiful manicure of creamy white undercoat and a baby blue crackle polish on top, with a clear silver glitter topcoat.  I became obsessed!  It was so beautiful and unique and instantly I needed to find some crackle polish!  I looked in every store in Europe that sold makeup but the only thing I found was a black crackle coat from Essence.  Not really what I wanted.  When I got back from Europe, I went on a mission to find some crackle polish in either light blue or hot pink.  I couldn't find it anywhere and then suddenly, I found both!  Anyways, this was my attempt to recreate the nail look.  My thoughts on the finished look are below the pictures.

My nails, up close

Another shot of my nails up close

Republic Nail Crackle in Blue; Essence Color to Go in White Secret

Used Sally Hansen Insta-Grip Fast Dry Base Coat and Seche Vite Top Coat

My thoughts on how it all turned out... It really didn't look like what I had hoped but I still like it.  I think I'll be getting a different white nail polish, as I feel like the White Secret was really transparent.  I put on three coats of it and it still looked really milky and sheer.  I wanted a bright, opaque white.  Anyone have suggestions?  I'm thinking I'm going to try a Sinful Colors white shade.  They run around $1.99 at Walgreens but I think they are pretty good quality.

As far as the actual crackle shade, I think it just put it on way too thick, as I didn't really know how much to put on.  It comes out of the bottle very thick and kind of heavy.  Next time I would try to apply a thinner coat.  After all the layers of polish, it seems this manicure will not last very long, as it rubbed and chipped a bit just from using my hands a few hours after painting.  I think it's due to too much polish.

Overall, I still like the way it looks and I'm hoping with the crackle effect, you won't be able to tell as easily that it's already chipped and imperfect.  I also purchased a hot pink crackle and a black polish for underneath so maybe I'll try that next and see how it goes.  Has anyone else tried this crackle polishes and have some advice on how to get it to look really good?  I am definitely up for advice!