Making crackle work for you

So I'm seeing a lot of complaints about crackles/shatters. I've never had a problem with them and I've bought three different brands. But, being from the crackle generation, I've used them when they were even worse to get a nice coat on. Bottomline is that crackle works you just have to work with it. With texture being all the rage it'd be tragic to miss this trend:

Step one: ALL CRACKLES NEED SOMETHING TO ADHERE TO! A regular coat of polish to crackle is as base coat is to polish. So if you don't want a ton of layers on you nails pick your color wisely and go with something super pigmented like this Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear (one coat was all it took). If you want a naked nail look pick a "nude" color - something made for a french tips job is perfect.
Step two: Wait till that coat of color is close to completely dry. 10 minutes should do it.
Step three: Load up your brush - this is crucial. Leave a lot on for a thick coat and cavernous cracks (like mine) or brush some off on the rim to get a thinner coat with crackles instead of full-on cracks.
Step four: Crackle dries FAST. One brush up the center of the nail, one on each side and be done. BE DONE. Going back over will "cake" the polish and keep it from cracking. One coat means one coat so do it quickly and consistently.
Step five: Sit back and watch the magic! Be sure to wait about 10 minutes to allow it to fully crack before topping it off with top coat and you are done. It takes a little work but it is soooooo worth it.

 I did my daughter's with a variety of thickness' and you can see the crackle difference. Especially on the pointer finger and ring fingers.