My order from Head2Toe Beauty arrived! I am not a Hunger Games fan and what little I know about the series come from people talking about it on Twitter. Likewise it’s only due to other polish blogs that I had any idea China Glaze had made the odd (but lucrative) decision to release a line of nail polishes inspired by what turns out to be a dystopian story about children killing each other. That slight side-eye aside, I was really taken by a few of the colours. Whatever the inspiration, these polishes are stunning. In light of my lack of fandom interest, I’m only going to talk about the polishes in this (longer than usual) post including my final manicure and swatches.
The shades I had to have were Riveting, Stone Cold, Agro, Foie Gras and Dress Me Up. I’ve swatched them below, and then decided on a mani of the matte Stone Cold with shiny Riveting tips (inspired by the goth feel of Wednesday night’s Almighty Johnsons episode). Quite a few people have commented that Foie Gras and Dress Me Up don’t really fit with the rest of the shades in the Hunger Games collection. They are softer, more elegant cremes as opposed to the other striking shimmers and glitters. But because I was just buying based on whether I liked the colours or not, I’m happy with them.
Click all to enlarge.
(All are two coats over a base coat of Sally Hansen Double Duty. No top coat. In order of little finger to thumb.)
Dress Me Up: a dusty, slightly dirty pink creme. Puce’s prettier cousin. The formula was quite runny and the first coat goes on streaky (as is common with cremes) but the second evens it out. Self-levels well. I find China Glaze brushes easy to work with, but I did have to trim an extra long bristle. True to bottle colour.
Foie Gras: a rich, dark, dusty purpled-brown creme. Formula also runny but is glassy smooth in two coats. Dries a bit darker than it initially goes on the nail and shows in the bottle. Initially I thought it looked a bit like OPI Over The Taupe, but looking at my swatches it’s a shade or two darker and more purpled. Could be quite similar to You Don’t Know Jacques?
Stone Cold: I love this dark asphalt grey-black matte filled with silver micro glitter (and not just because of the name). It’s a Stone Cold Stunner. Yeah I went there. It looks lit from within while still having a really industrial feel. The formula is a bit difficult to apply — it dries very quickly and you have to work fast to avoid clumping. If careful, is a one coater. Lovely satin-feel finish, not chalky. My husband wants me to do his nails in this colour. (I’m a little sad about my broken-to-the-smile-line nub, incidentally.) Glossy top coat makes the glitter really pop.
Agro: an olive-green shimmer. Beautiful formula application and almost a one coater. Herbaceous green with a bit of an edge and a lot of depth. Slightly foil-like, lovely on.
Riveting: my favourite from the collection when I was looking online, and my favourite on the nail. A striking fiery orange jelly base filled with gold shimmer. Definitely a lit-from-within shade. Deeply saturated glowing embers. I love this. Further, it was a dream to apply. Only good things to say about this polish.
And finally, my finished mani. Sally Hansen Double Duty for my base coat, 1-2 coats of Stone Cold (I wasn’t quick enough on some nails to avoid streaks), 2 coats Riveting on the tips (the first applied with tape, the second free-handed), Poshe top coat on the tips (which doesn’t give me a headache like Seche Vite, yay!).
Overall the application on these was so, so much better than other (older) China Glaze polishes I own. Have they improved their polish formulas?
Out Damn Swatch! 