China Glaze Cracked Concrete and Couture Cupcakes: What I Did On My Saturday Night

Oh my dog, I had an absolutely wonderful Saturday night! First off, I finally seem to be reaching the end of my might-be-mono/glandular fever episode. This has made me absolutely euphoric. There just aren't enough words to describe how wonderful this is!

Then a couple of days ago I got a wonderful surprise in the mail- I got three China Glaze crackle polishes to review! This is wonderful, because as much as I wanted to experiment with these (and as excited as I've been about them) I've been on a no-buy with no end in sight. Getting these means I get to play with them and then share the finished results with you! I'm so happy with the three colors I received- Cracked Concrete (grey), Broken Hearted (pink), and Lightning Bolt (white). There's so much potential with these!!

For the look shown here, I first did a quick coat of Sally Hansen Color Quick Fast Dry Nail Color Pen in Silver Chrome. I love silver, so I thought this would make a fab base for Cracked Concrete.

Applying the crackle polish was so much fun! I'm going to need to experiment with it a bit more, but it seems like the amount of polish you apply affect the type of crackling you get. Thinner coats seem to give more crackling with almost feathery-looking cracks, while thicker coats end up with big chunky cracks. At least, so it seemed with my brief experience!

And of course, being the magpie I am I wasn't able to leave this alone. I applied a coat of topcoat of course (China Glaze Fast Forward, how I love you!), but later on that day I added a coat of Love My Nails Dazzling. Unfortunately, while Dazzling did give a bit of sparkle to the look, it also seems to have made the crackle less obvious. Ah well, live and learn, yes?

Still, the best part of my evening came after my manicure. My husband decided to take me and our son out for a bit of adventure! (Ok, we were jeans shopping at the mall for our son, but I was out of the house for the first time in what feels like AGES... humor me here!) We parked in front of the bookstore at the local mall, and as we were walking to the mall my husband made a detour to the most adorable little cupcake shop!

I'd wanted to visit Cupcake Couture ever since I'd noticed it was open, but it seems like every time we're there, the shop had already closed for the night. Saturday was perfect timing, though, because not only was the shop open but they were having buy two get one free special! How perfect is that- three of us, so one of us got a free cupcake!

I was absolutely amazed at the choices. I've seen all the special flavors you can get, but you're usually stuck with the usual same-old same-old here. But Cupcake Couture really did go above and beyond with their flavors. Although I have to admit- even with all the amazing choices, I still stuck with my favorite red velvet. I'm so uncreative!

Now, let me make this clear: cupcakes are a big deal to me. I absolutely love them, but I'm picky. I don't want your typical cupcake with a splodge of frosting smeared on top. To me, a cupcake should be an experience- it should be beautiful to look at (or cute, or adorable, or whatever... but special to look at), it should be moist and tasty. What's the point of going to a cupcake shop if I'm going to get the same old thing I can get from home? I want it to be special!

Honey, these cupcakes more than met my expectations! The shop was very sweet, with a gorgeous display of the various cupcakes. The design of the cupcakes was wonderful. I wish I'd gotten a shot of all the cakes with their little decorations. It truly was a visual feast. Unboxing the cupcakes made me giggle in excitement, and I couldn't wait to start nibbling.

Once I did, well... let's just say I was a happy girl. My cupcake was dense, extremely rich, with a creamy frosting that was crusted on the outside a bit. Absolutely perfect frosting, and while I'd prefer the cake to be a touch moister, they were end-of-the-day cupcakes that were on sale. I imagine that probably had a bit to do with it. Still, they were top-notch cupcakes that took me back to my childhood, or maybe back to the childhood I wish I'd had- you know, filled with awesome cupcakes!

They didn't last all that long. All too soon we were left with a scattering of crumbs and a few sad little wrappers. But let me tell you... the happy feelings lingered for quite some time!

If you're in the Baton Rouge area, I would absolutely recommend visiting Cupcake Couture. You can eat in the shop or you can step outside to eat in the open air at the tables outside Borders. If you do happen to stop by, tell them you read about them here!

Polishes were provided by the manufacturers for consideration.

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