Cover Girl "Hunger Games" polish swatches

"Tawny Flame" value packs with "Black Heat" and "Seared Bronze" Glosstini polishes

Browsing the clearance section in Walmart, I happened upon these Cover Girl Hunger Games polish value packs.  Each included one of the Glosstini polishes and 16 nail art stickers, themed "Flamed Out" for the fire design on the decals.

The movie "Catching Fire" released in theaters November of last year, but the polishes can still be found on drugstore shelves today, three months later.  This is a huge contrast from the polish release by China Glaze for the first Hunger Games movie.  The much larger polishes sold out well before the film went to DVD.

I had been eyeing these polishes since I'm a sucker for movie-inspired collections, but I couldn't justify the $4.99 retail price tag for 3.5 mL of product.  The China Glaze polishes came with 14 mL of product for $6.99. 

However, the Walmart clearance find definitely swayed me to finally buy from the Cover Girl Capitol Collection.  The glosstini at $4.99 plus the nail decals (retail at $9.99) all for the price of... $3! 

 Cover Girl Catching Fire glosstini "Seared Bronze" next to China Glaze Hunger Games "Smoke and Ashes"

But enough about prices, time for some swatch fun!



I had originally set my sights on "Black Heat" when the collection first released.  The polish is a glossy black with golden flecks.  It immediately reminded me of China Glaze's "Smoke and Ashes", but the glitter in the polishes make it two different colors in the light.

"Black Heat" in a blurred lens, in an attempt to capture how shiny the polish is in the light.  While the glitter adds extra fun in an otherwise black polish, the color overall falls flat to me.  Two coats are enough for full coverage, three to be thorough, but the addition of so many layers dulls the glitter. 

Comparison of "Black Heat" (top) to "Smoke and Ashes" (bottom)

"Black Heat" pulls more gold on the black base, which "Smoke and Ashes" pulls green.  

Cover Girl glosstini "Seared Bronze"

"Seared Bronze" was a huge surprise hit for me.  It didn't really pique my interest at first, but when I put it on my nails, I instantly fell in love!  The color is a warm gold with micro-glitter, but in the light, it sparkles with a red hue...just like the bronze of a sword.  The gold is flattering to my skin tone and, honestly, distracts me with its sparkles!  It's not quite a holo, but the way it shifts in color is quite mesmerizing.

The value pack came with a sheet of 16 nail appliques.  Like others, you peel the sticker off, place it on your finger nail, fold over the excess sticker and file off to fit.  The only difference between this and other nail applique kits is the Cover Girl pack did not provide a nail file to do so.  Although any lacquerista should have their own nail file in their polish arsenal, I can't assume for everyone.

 "Tawny Flame" nail appliques

The applique looks great against darker polishes, like "Black Heat", but I don't think it would show up very well against a lighter color like "Seared Bronze".  I did not bother to apply them to my nails because, as you can see, the fire design extends well past my nail length.  I have short nail beds and don't grow my nails very long, so the design is slightly too big to wear.  I think I'm going to save these for manicures for my friends.

Cover Girl Capitol Collection glosstinis are available at drug stores and the Cover Girl website