Monday 10 August 2015

Manicure Monday | Little Ondine - Love Letter

As you know, I do love my traditional nail polishes. By that, I mean the 'normal' formula ones that you can pick up in almost every chemist or drugstore. However, since I've recently been on a bit of an organic skincare kick, I thought I'd try my hand at more natural nail polishes too. Little Ondine is a brand that I've only recently heard of, and this Mani Monday I'm wearing Love Letter* from their collection.

Little Ondine - Love Letter

Love Letter is a beautiful deep coral shade, it's not too dissimilar to the Ciaté polish I wore a few weeks ago, and I love this one just as much if not more. This polish is slightly more orange-toned than its Ciaté counterpart and has less of a traditional red about it, so I feel fully justified in owning, and loving, the two of them.

If you haven't yet heard of Little Ondine, they're a relatively new nail polish brand whose formula is totally unique to me. All of their polishes are made from three simple ingredients; Water, natural resin and organic colourants, which means that they're obviously 10 (!!) free and safe for pregnant women to use too. Because they're water based and not chemical there's absolutely zero scent, which is really odd if you're used to regular nail polish, but something that I think a lot of people will be really happy about.

To use I first applied a thin coat of Little Ondine base and top coat, which is called Secret and can also be used as a clear polish just to add high shine and to strengthen the nails. Then I applied two thin coats of Love Letter, which amazed me at how quickly it dried. I've used some fast drying polishes in the past, but none compare to the speed of this. Before I'd finished painting my second hand my first one was completely dry, not just touch-dry, but totally set! If you don't have Secret I don't think you'd miss it as a top coat, the nail polish is just as glossy as a Barry M or China Glaze polish on its own, but with the addition of top coat it's incredibly shiny and smooth.

Once on my nails I could tell that the formula was different than I'm used to, usually once my nails are cured they'll be rock hard and if I tap them together there's a clicking noise. However, with the Little Ondine polish they felt kind of soft, not in a bad way, in fact, I really liked it. It's almost as if they were cushioned somehow, but the tips of my nails still felt firm and wouldn't bend. I hope that makes sense to you.

The wear time was just as good as I'd expect from a regular polish, and actually had less tip wear than most. As with any other polish formula, the better you prep your nails the better your manicure will last. With the Little Ondine polishes you do get instructions which tell you to make sure your nail beds are free from any oils or dust before applying, and to keep your hands dry for the first hour after application, if you do these things you shouldn't have any problems.

The real fun comes when you're ready to take the polish off. Instead of having to use smelly nail polish remover, all you have to do is peel it off. There are other methods of removal such as using rubbing alcohol or soaking your nails in warm water, but it's so satisfying to be able to peel off nail polish knowing that you're not destroying your nail beds. All ten fingers removed in one go, with minimal effort.

I've been a bit dubious about trying peel-off nail polishes in the past, thinking that they couldn't possibly last as long as regular polishes, but now I've tried and loved this one I wouldn't hesitate to try some more from the brand. I haven't been this impressed with a nail polish brand in a very long time, perhaps since I first tried Barry M.

You can find Little Ondine online, where Secret is £7.80 and Love Letter is £8.40.
Little Ondine is also available from Love Lula with free international delivery.

Have you ever used a natural nail polish before? I'd love to hear any experiences/recommendations in the comments.



*PR sample, you can read my full disclosure policy here.
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