The Hunger Games and China Glaze Capitol Colors: The Obscure featuring Electrify, Harvest Moon, and Foie Gras

As of this writing, I still haven't seen the movie, though by the time this post goes live, I would have so it's hard to gauge at this point how Jennifer Lawrence's Katniss Everdeen will measure up to the one my imagination conjured. I have heard lots of glowing reviews so I might have set the bar all the more higher before watching it. We'll see. At any rate, let's continue on with the third part of our Hunger Games and China Glaze Capitol Colors series. Out of the four, this installment will be the hardest to expound on. Simply because it is exactly what it is: Obscure. I suppose with 12 districts to play with, add to that the Capitol and District 13, it was probably difficult for Suzanne Collins to make sure all the districts were well represented. These three fell to the wayside but the colors that represent them still manage to make them shine:

Glitter, foil and creme. Not a trio to sneer at!

The Quick Take and Fun Facts

Token bottle shot.

Quick color swatch.

Labels with serials at the base.

Standard China Glaze brush.

Seen at: Nail Polish Canada, Sally Beauty, Trade Secrets, Spa Boutique, Transdesign and wherever China Glaze is sold.
Price: $7 CDN for 14mL
Note(s):

***All nail swatches were done with Orly Bonder Base Coat and two coats of China Glaze Electrify, China Glaze Harvest Moon, and China Glaze Foie Gras unless stated.

Brand/Name: China Glaze Electrify
Color: Gold glitter and hexagonal red glitter
Formula: Gold and red glitter in a clear base

Comprised of red hexagonal glitter and gold glitter in a clear base, Electrify is a glitter top coat that can be worn over an existing color or worn alone. Finding the glitter dense enough to cover the nail fairly well even at just two (medium) coats was a pleasant surprise. I know the one coat above looks ridiculously spare looking compared to the two coats, but I actually ended up applying a thin first coat (as is my norm) then a medium-thick coat for the second on the finger with two coats. I was actually trying to see if I can get it dense enough to wear alone, hence the thicker second coat and I was pleasantly surprised to find it was so.

No Top Coat

I'm pretty impressed that this glitter covered 90-100% of the nail with just two coats, albeit one medium to thick one. Unfortunately, getting an even distribution with this might probably require another coat at the very least. Notice how some areas are more sparse than others? While some might see that as a bad thing, I don't as I honestly don't think Electrify was meant to wear alone. It's more of a layering polish that can enhance any other color. Application wasn't an issue despite the thicker than usual formula. I've come to expect that from glitter polishes so it's really not a big deal. I would've appreciated if it came with a wider brush though, as I feel that would have made for a more even distribution of the glitter compared to the standard somewhat skinny China Glaze brush. I also have to mention that this one does dry gritty so extra layers of top coat will be needed to a super smooth surface.

With Top Coat

Grit? What Grit? As mentioned, top coat smooths out the surface beautifully. 

District 5: Power

While the books never actually mention what industry is related to District 5, the movie tie in fills in the blanks and tells us that it's power that it harnesses from electric, solar and nuclear sources. Apart from this, all the other characters that hail from District 5 remain nameless. Even the most prominent character, the female tribute during the 74th Hunger Games, is only called by a nickname that Katniss gave her: Foxface, which I'm sure is pretty self-explanatory. Any other tributes from this district mostly died early in the games like the alcoholic and morphling male tribute during the Quarter Quell who is the third to reach the Cornucopia and is subsequently killed by Finnick. Otherwise, they are only mentioned in passing. Because not much is known about everyone else, the only obvious character choice would be Foxface.

(Image Credits)

Despite only earning a score of 5 during training (another tidbit revealed by the movie though never mentioned in the books), Katniss immediately senses her intelligence and notes that if all of the tributes were given a quiz, she would have had the highest score. She played the games in a way that can only be described as passive. She avoided all possible confrontations, even skipping out on supplies from the Cornucopia and, instead, creating as much distance between herself and the others. She opted to play the defensive and kept herself hidden as much as possible. The only times she would emerge from hiding is to steal undetectable amounts of resources (mainly food) from various tributes, including the career alliance and Peeta. Because of her agility, stealth and avoidance of confrontation, she managed to claim the fourth spot, beating even the career tributes. After all, it is difficult to kill someone you can't find.

Her downfall comes when she ends up trusting her fellow tributes. Probably driven by hunger bordering on starvation (and we know she cannot live off the land and survives only by taking food and other resources that others have without them noticing),  she doesn't question the edibility of the berries Peeta is picking. Seeing as he himself didn't realize that they were poisonous, it was such an unwittingly good trap for Foxface. Katniss, who is well-versed in these things mostly because this knowledge helped keep her own family alive, luckily pointed out Peeta's folly before he could eat any. Unfortunately, Foxface had already eaten her stolen share.

Electrify is easily, and obviously, a shout out to the Power industry that District 5 is known for. The gold and red glitter remind me of sparks, the kind you see in huge fires or those you'll see coming from live wires. It can also be an allusion to Foxface's auburn hair with its mix of red and gold.

Hammie's Score:

 

7 Hammie Points! 

Brand/Name: China Glaze Harvest Moon
Color: Copper
Finish: Foil

This pretty copper foil reminds me so much of a shiny new penny! I really do enjoy how it looks all nice and glow-y as if it's lit from within, not just the ridiculous shine you normally get from a foil finish. It has this strange but wonderful aspect to it that makes the edges look darker while the part that the light hits directly becomes insanely reflective. Very pretty! This will make for a very season appropriate fall manicure.

No Top Coat

Harvest Moon is as pigmented a polish as you'd expect from a foil finish. You can probably get away with just one coat, but I did two for more depth of color. The formula flowed well and with no application issues at all, though bordering on the thicker side of the spectrum. It dries fairly fast but not nearly as fast as a matte. I'd peg it at about a couple minutes or so, basically the time it takes for you to do one hand has the first nail already dry to the touch.

With Top Coat

Top coat impossibly adds more shine to this already shiny number but it's only mostly obvious when comparing the natural light/no flash photos.

District 9: Grain

Out of all the districts, the Grain District is the one that almost completely fades into obscurity. Like District 5, its industry was never mentioned in the books although the movie/tribute guide nicely fills in the blanks for us. The tribute guide calls it the Bread Bowl of Panem. As far as key characters go, this is the only district that I couldn't find anyone at all to represent it other than another obscure character who, by some happenstance, inadvertently saves Katniss.

(Image Credits)

Unnamed in both the books and the movie, the male tribute in the first Hunger Games featured in the trilogy isn't even described. Nor does he get more exposure as the plot unravels, like Foxface did, as he, as well as his female counterpart from District 9, both die during the bloodbath at the Cornucopia during the first day of the games. Before his death, he ends up fighting with Katniss over a backpack of supplies. Suddenly, he starts coughing up blood and it is revealed that the career female tribute from District 2, Clove, ruthlessly stabbed him in the back and was now after Katniss. In a way, his death signaled to Katniss just how important it was that she should immediately flee the Cornucopia like Haymitch adamantly advised her to do.

Seeing as there's very little to draw from any of the characters from this district, the copper color that evokes thoughts of fall and the season of harvest is the obvious connection to why this color was chosen to represent this district. However, it is mentioned that the unnamed male tribute had hazel eyes so it's also quite possible that this pretty foil is also a representation of that.

Hammie's Score:

10 Hammie Points! 

Brand/Name: China Glaze Foie Gras
Color: Taupe/Purple
Finish: Creme

Initially, I thought this to be another iteration of the taupe-y purples (or purple-y taupes) that we've seen in seasons past. Remember when practically every brand had a taupe with purple undertones? I honestly thought this would be a match to one of them but compared to Sally Hansen Commander in Chic (which is a comparable match to Essie Merino Cool, Sephora by OPI Metro Chic, etc), Foie Gras comes out shades darker and much richer looking. It's almost akin to comparing coffee with one milk compared to one that's double/double with Foie Gras being the former. Another gorgeous, uber shiny creme.

No Top Coat

As with the other cremes in this collection, I had no trouble at all with application. The consistency was a nice midway between thick and runny, giving you complete coverage in merely two coats. The first coat can be streaky but it builds up well and levels itself out upon drying. What astounds me the most is how crazy glossy the finish is. But then again, we've seen the same thing with the previous cremes in this collection so it's not that big of a surprise.

With Top Coat

Top coat feels most unnecessary with an innate shine like Foie Gras has but it does serve to protect your manicure so it's still definitely a must.

District 10: Livestock

Though the books only hint at the industry of District 10, the movie/tribute guide, again, tells us what wasn't explicitly said: that Livestock is what this district is known for. As for characters, we don't really know much of the tributes as they all die fairly soon into both of the games. It is, however, noted that during both games, the tributes wore cow herding related costumes during the chariot rides. The first set from the 74th games wore cowboy costumes. The next pair of tributes wore cows costumes with a belt of fire mimicking Cinna's design that, to Katniss, made them look as if they were being broiled. While not much is known about these four, we do meet a refugee from this district later on in the series.

Dalton, originally a cattle farmer whose job entailed ensuring the diversity of the cattle by implanting long frozen cow embryos into the animals at a beef ranch, reached District 13 years ahead of Katniss' rescue. He is suspicious about the "kindness" that District 13 has shown by harboring those who have fled their own districts. He reveals to Katniss that the population of District 13 was decimated by a pox that left most of the surviving populace infertile. It is the hope of their government that the influx of newcomers will add to the gene pool of their district, thus, sustaining their community. This, among others, plants the idea in Katniss' mind that in this war, District 13's leader, Alma Coin, was even more of an evil than President Snow ever was.

As for how Foie Gras ties in with all this, I think that it's Dalton's skepticism that it draws from. Mostly because it's the sort of color that makes you wonder. Is it more taupe or more purple? But for this color to pertain to livestock, well, that's an entirely different matter. Foie Gras, at least in our reality, is a pale yellowish color. Nothing at all like this taupe-y purple. So that, in itself, feels like such a misnomer. It makes me wonder if the polish namer was thinking more along the lines of caviar or truffles. At any rate, I've also never seen a taupe-y purple colored cow (but I'm not well-versed in these things, so feel free to correct me if I'm wrong) so this leaves me very confused, indeed. I think I'll go with the Dalton connection.

Hammie's Score:

9 Hammie Points! 

Another Monday, another week. Hope it's starting off right for you! Have you seen the movie yet? Who were your favorite actors? What did you think the movie did better than the books and vice versa?