China Glaze Stone Cold - Capitol Colours Hunger Games Collection

The color is unique and beautiful, and I got this polish for a great price on clearance at Sally's. But minutes after I paint this on the polish starts chipping. originally I thought 2 coats might have been too much for a few weeks later I tried it just using one coat, and the nail polish practically flew off my nails. I did my nails last night and I'm inserting a photo of what my nails look like, with my one intact accent nail being the exception on both hands. I have tried matte polish before and even use a top coat to make any polish matte, and I have never had this issue before. I'm going to see if with a nice base coat this polish will last but if not. I'' use it for nail art and forget about it as a nail color on its own.
Not happy about this.

I'm not interested in 'The Hunger Games', but I bought Stone Cold because my boyfriend likes dark grays and blacks on me. It's a beautiful shade---a neutral dark gray with slight shimmer, but a matte texture, just like real stone---but the formula makes it literally unusable for me. Honestly, I found it just plain impossible to apply nicely. It goes on patchily, yet if I try to fill in a bald spot, it drags at and removes the surrounding polish. If I wait for it to dry before attempting to touch up the patchy areas, the end result looks lumpy. The only way for me to get a somewhat even-looking (though noticeably streaky on some nails) application is to use 2 thick coats...which results in the whole thing chipping away the next day, with or without matte t/c. I actually tried 3 manicures with this before giving up. I usually "rehome" polishes I don't care for, but Stone Cold was so utterly hopeless that I poured the polish out onto a paper plate and threw the whole shebang away. I'm confident, however, that I can get a very similar, maybe even better, look with Zoya Freja (my favorite dark gray), a light coat of NYC Shimmer Blast t/c, and a matte t/c over that.

This is a stunning dark silver sparkle polish! When it dries it looks like glitter embedded in concrete! It's viscous and easy to apply, and it dries well. Like most China Glaze polishes, it's a little smelly, but it's worth it for the color payoff and precise application.

Wow, what an interesting nail polish. This is a dark grey with silvery microglitter, and it dries to a matte finish. I've never seen anything quite like it, though I've seen plenty of metallic greys and mattes. It really does look for all the world like graphite, although it might also be described as gunmetal grey.

I found the application to be very good, quite smooth, and I found I could get full opacity and coverage in just one coat (though I did two, because I think the manicure lasts longer that way).

You can finish this with a shiny top coat if you like, or use a matte top coat for extra protection. It looks good shiny; the glossy top coat brings out the silvery glitter. It also looks beautiful matte (which is how I prefer it).

After reading all the reviews on here that say it chips super easily, I tried an experiment. I used a basic, clear base coat (Poshe Quick Drying Base Coat), let that dry completely, then put on two coats of Stone Cold, and no top coat at all. I kept the polish on for four days, and in that time there was normal tip wear (the tips wore to an interesting silvery colour, actually, very pretty) and one nail had a surface scratch that could only be seen in certain light and if you were really looking, but there was no significant or even especially noticeable chipping. I do not baby my hands (I type constantly, do dishes, drive, cook, etc. etc.). Admittedly, I wasn't making pottery or digging bare-handed in the garden or using my nails to scratch wallpaper off or pry things open, etc., but I certainly was leading my normal life as a student and mum (i.e., medic, chauffeur, chef, laundress, tutor, seamstress, dispute arbitrator, typist, etc.), and not worrying about my nail polish. In fact, I was kind of hoping it would chip or something, just for interest's sake, but it didn't. I'll try it again some time and see if that was just a fluke, and if so, I'll amend this review, but I truly didn't have any chipping issues with this polish, even without any top coat.

Another thing I've noticed about this polish is that as you wear it longer, it becomes slightly less matte and more satiny, or perhaps it's just that the dark grey pigment slowly erodes leaving more of the silver microglitter visible. It's interesting to watch it evolve, I think.

Really novel polish, definitely in the "well, that's different" category. Love it enough that I bought a backup bottle.

UPDATE: I repeated the experiment with chipping, and, again, no top coat, four days, no chipping. I did get tip wear, and by the end of the fourth day the polish was starting to become somewhat satiny as opposed to matte, but still no chipping. I DO experience chipping with many polishes (sometimes more or less, depending on which base coat I use), but this polish seems pretty solid to me. I like it enough that I bought a backup bottle.

I had to have some of these polishes imported as they are not sold in my country, though I was so keen on a few of them. I settled for four, and paid through my teeth for them, but it was so worth it. I was so excited about this colour, and I was not wrong. The application is so nice and easy, not streaky, bubbly, thick or anything of the like, and the colour was absolutely gorgeous! It really does look like graphite on your fingers. A great plus about it (as with most matte polishes) is that is dries rapidly, so there is none of this waiting madness that frustrates me so.

The colour is a win on both fronts because even when you put a top coat on it is is simply stunning. Naturally, being a matte, it will chip a whole lot faster than the average polish, but this was not that bad (provided you aren't doing anything too rough). I am not even phased about the chipping because it is so quick and easy to apply/take off that even if I had to redo it every other night it wouldn't take me more than ten minutes.

I would definitely buy this one again when mine is finished.

It looks o.k but it wears off easily. Dries quickly and only needs one coat. I find it looks nicer with a shiny topcoat as it is Matte.

This is an absolutely beautiful nail polish and reminds me of granite (I know some people think more of graphite). If only this nail polish had more staying power! It started chipping within 24 hours of first application despite having used one coat of OPI natural nail base coat and 2 coats of stone cold for a solid colour. I touched up the next day and it chipped again within a few hours of the touch up despite the fact that I was at home the whole time not doing anything intensive using my hands. I'll have to give it a go with the Essie Matte About You topcoat once my order arrives in the mail as I don't want to sacrifice the matte effect for longer durability with a normal glossy topcoat. In terms of the actual application, I was so happy about the quick drying of the formula and didn't find it too hard to get an entire layer done on a nail before needing to dip back in again. I'm a little concerned about the hardiness of the nail polish over time though. I'm afraid that, because of the rapid drying, I'll get halfway through the bottle one day and find that the rest can't be used because it's dried out due to repeated exposure to air. I hope one day they consider bringing this out with a more durable, chip-resistant formula. Until then I wouldn't buy it again.

This is my second favourite colour off China Glaze! I bought them off ebay (since they dont sell them in Australia, and some australian websites sell them for 11$ each). They were 7$ each including shipping and I was amazed!
It was opaque from the first coat,considering how thin China Glaze's formula is.
and the matte finish just adds sophistication to the polish. AMAZING! just AMAZING for the price.

First off this is a wonderful color with quite a bit of depth to it. The subtle shimmer really reminded me of good graphite. I wore this with a base coat and had a few troubles getting a smooth first coat on. It was full opacity with one coat, but I went with two to even out some of my own user errors. Unfortunately chipping is a huge problem. I had to do a few touch-ups through out the week to keep it looking okay. By the end I added a glossy top coat and it still looks amazing color wise. I may have to test this out with a matte top coat instead. Removal took more elbow grease than I expected however.

The color is amazing and really really unique. The formula is a tad tricky because it dries so quickly...the finish can be kinda lumpy if you don't work fast enough. The matte finish is gorgeous and it looks amazing under a shiny top coat as well.

Unfortunately it chips. I used base coat and top coat of course, but nothing helps. You won't make it 24 hours without a chip, and that's just unacceptable to me. For that reason alone I wouldn't buy it again :( But it pains me because it's such a gorgeous color.