Today's nails are courtesy of the China Glaze Hunger Games collection. Dress me up is a dusty mauve/pink creme. I just finished reading the books, though I've been eying some of the polish colors for weeks. Before reading the book, I though this color was a little out of place, almost too mature for the rest of the collection. I mean, really? When was the last time you wore something mauve? Then I realized I recently purchased a top this color, and it actually works quite well with a lot of the muted and smoky colors we've been seeing through fall and winter. In fact, I put it next to some of the colors in Zoya's Smoke collection, and it fit right in. I stand corrected.
I digress.
I think the reason the color choice makes more sense after reading the books comes from the whole premise. The Capital chooses children from each district and essentially pits them against each other in a death match. It's a horrifying thought to do that to a child, so dressing the characters up to look older would make it more palatable for the citizens forced to watch. This probably makes little sense unless you know a little about the books. I recommend them. Not necessarily the greatest literary works to grace the shelves of Barnes & Noble, but they're well-written and send a better message than Twilight.
Without the back story, I did feel Dress Me Up was a little dull compared to my usual polish. The formula was smooth, and it only took two coats for opacity. Brushes allowed for easy application. Nice glossy finish. It just felt like something was missing...and, yes, I had more colors to play with. So I decided to give it a little edge.
I used Stone Cold, also from the Hunger Games set, for my very first half moon mani. Obviously, the manicure was not without flaw, but it was a fun look, and I was DYING to try out Stone Cold (separate post coming soon!).
To finish the whole thing off, I added a coat of Essie Matte About You to kill the gloss on Dress Me Up. I really liked the final result.
