China Glaze Stone Cold - Capitol Colours Hunger Games Collection

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.

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.

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.

I'm torn about this polish, it's so gorgeous! A deep graphite grey with tonnes of silver glitter through it. It only needs one coat, too! But as mentioned by others it does chip like crazy after about a day, which is sad because I would love to wear this polish forever! Over all, so pretty but I wouldn't buy it again, I'll be on the look out for something similar with better sticking power.

Normally... I stay away from China Glaze, I have a few of their products but I'm an Essie girl. THIS collection, not just this nail polish but this entire collection is AH-MAZING! Only two coats for each polish (excluding the glitters of course) and you have an opaque nail, they last forever and eeeek! Just love love love all around. I'm definitely happy I bought some of these :)

As for Stone Cold, I originally didn't want to purchase it because it was a matte, but it's so awesome because you can wear it either way, matte or shiny and you can wear glitter over it or Luxe & Lush and spice it up :D Definitely a keeper!

i was so excited about this color. i love the hunger games. and i loved this color...for the first five minutes. it dries matte. lovely. but after about five, it's nothing but chip, chip, chip. ugh. so, i forsook the matte and coated it. it lasted most of the day...but then chip, chip, chip. i'm trying it with a base coat this time, but my hopes are not high. i'll be going back to my opi... very sad... :(