Adorned Nails: Herôme Ottawa



All right. This is a first for me. White nail polish. I'll put it simply. It's frosty white, it's a shimmer and hey, it's matte!

That matte part, I wasn't expecting. It isn't super matte though as it does have a dull sheen. You can probaby see that finish in these first two images. This is the other bottle of polish that the folks at KOH had kindly sent to me together with KOH Meditate a few weeks ago. Herôme is a sister brand of KOH, by the way.


Ottawa is part of Herôme's Winter Collection called Canada. All Herôme's coloured nail polishes are named after cities around the world (they are collectively called World Inspired Colours - W.I.C.). So, it follows that all six polishes in the Winter Collection are named after Canadian cities - Ottawa, Winnipeg, Vancouver, Québec, Surrey and Mississauga (Toronto and Montreal are already in the core collection, in case any Canadian is wondering).

Ottawa the polish and I didn't get on too well at first. Application went well but drying time was weirdly long. The following started a week and a half ago, when we had snowfall.


First attempt: Everything went perfectly but half an hour after applying two coats, I had a dent on one nail. Okay, perhaps I should have done thinner coats, I thought. So, I re-did that one nail and got the photos with the snow outside. I removed the polish later that day.

Second attempt: Again, all went well. This time, I was mindful to apply thin coats (three). Three hours later, I went to sleep. I woke up the next morning with some wrinkly dents on several nails. Bedsheet marks. Let's just say I wasn't a chirpy bird that morning. I didn't feel like re-doing all the nails, so I just applied a fourth coat on top. If you notice some covered up wrinkles/dents in the images, you know why.

I couldn't resist doing some adornment on this one. A kind of Ruffian, but just a skinny one. A Skruffian?! Also, it's not flat. A 3-D Skruffian, maybe? Or perhaps, put less elegantly, purple cuticles. I used Essence Nail Art Freestyle & Tip Painter: Metallics 4 Ever.

Okay, this is the part that amazed me. This (second attempt) manicure lasted from Sunday to Saturday. I was soooo not expecting this. Again, I deliberately avoided using a top coat: (a) to keep it matte, and (b) I'm reviewing the nail polish, not a top coat.


Monday



Thursday



Saturday


No visible chipping. In fact, it was the 'purple cuticle' that came off a bit. The moral of the story with Ottawa: once it's completely dry, it's pretty durable.

More information: Herôme website (it's in Dutch though)

23 comments:

The Preppy Student said...

what a pretty color, perfect for winter!

Anonymous said...

I love Monday's pic.. Fair of Face... Definitely not a skruffian. That's pretty impressive staying power! Pity the drying power isn't as impressive. I am VERY impatient with drying... :/ <3 xx

Gail said...

really like that polish actually! Matte works very nicely with that shade. xx Wonder if it's in UK (off to google...)

albastrikmik said...

nice colour,is very pretty

Anonymous said...

Love it! This is a very pretty winter look. The purple cuticles really stand out. You have great sense for colours and colour combinations. "KTee" x

Carine said...

I've never tried white eyepolish because I don't really like how it looks to be honest :/ I don't mind silver, but white is not my thing :p

BellasUnhaseCia said...

Good Morning Flower!
I liked this color, perfect!
kisses

Paulina said...

i love that colour! so snowy :)

Raey said...

i like d purple cuticles..!!

makeup merriment said...

Hi

I like that. I have a few pearly-white-ish tones in my stash but think they look so boring. I am going to try this soon.

The purple cuticles are unique, however on my nails (them being so stubby) it would look strange I think.

I mailed your prize last week (hopefully it arrives quickly) and I also tagged you with a blog award. http://www.makeupmerriment.com/2010/12/me-encanta-tu-blog-award.html x jeanie

Anonymous said...

It's just a simple white polish and still you managed to make something pretty and elegant out of it. ;)

I can feel the winter, just by looking at your pics. Great xmas look!

take care, Paula

DinaXYYan said...

The long lasting is pretty amazing although it took several attempts :D
I love the purple cuticles :)

Witoxicity said...

@Toesthattwinkle!
I'm pleased you like this. :)

@The Diva's Polish
Thank you! Urgh, I hate having to wait for nail polish to dry. I know there is Seche Vite, etc, to help with this, but I've just never gotten round to getting these. :)

@Gail
Hi, Gail! It's great to hear from you. As far as I know, Herôme (and KOH) are not yet available in the UK......but I could be wrong. :)

@albastrikmik
Thank you, my dear! :)

@KTee
Thank you so much, KTee. You're very kind. :)

@C.
Well, like I said, this is the first time I've got a white nail polish on. I don't gravitate towards whites either but I'm game to try different nail colours. :)

@BellasUnhaseCia
Thank you! :)

@Paulina
Yeah, it goes very well with this wintery season. :)

@raey
Thanks, raey! :D

@jv
Thank you, Jeanie! I'm glad this is to your liking. Perhaps you could try extending the 'purple cuticle' to both sides of the nail - creates the illusion of slimmer nails. Just a thought! :)

Hey, thanks for sending out the package and gosh, thank you so much for the award! I appreciate it a lot. :)

@Paula
Thank you so much for your kind comment. Haha, yes, bring on winter! :D You take care too, Paula.

@Dina
Thanks, Dina. Yup, this required some perseverance, but it was worth the effort in the end. :)

Shop N' Chomp said...

I've seen matte black polish but this is a first! Though it came off a bit, I love how you incorporated the "purple cuticle" in it. =D

Witoxicity said...

@Shop N' Chomp
Thank you! I'm glad you like the idea. :)

style me pretty said...

OMG I obsolutly love the white nail polsih color! I cannot never find the right "white" for me!!!!!

Witoxicity said...

@Mai Neng Lee
Hello, Mai! I'm so pleased you like this. :)

Anonymous said...

Haha! No way! I was just going to say. Hey Ottawa is like the capital of Canada.. and then you tell me it literally represents the city! Wow! Mississauga is on there?! I'm quite surprised!
The white polish looks really nice. It's the perfect white that doesn't look like you just put white-out on your nails!

Witoxicity said...

@Natalie Nguyen
Hi, Natalie! Yeah, Mississauga is actually among the six! Awesome, eh? :)

The Beautifier said...

Lovely manicure! Loving the pop of purple on ice white nails! lol 'Skruffian' nails!! xoxo

Witoxicity said...

@The Beautifier
Thank you, Sonali! It's great to have you back, by the way. :)

Nikki said...

I like the purple/white combination..looks very cool.

Is that an organza bag in the picture? I didn't get any when I bought my nailpolish.

Witoxicity said...

@Nikki
Thanks, Nikki! Yes, that's a small Herôme organza bag. It came with the bottle that they sent me. For the other Herôme polishes that I myself bought, I didn't get any organza bag with my purchase either. :(