I was on a photoshoot earlier this month and while we were discussing possible lacquers, the on-set manicurist said she was tempted to carry only a bottle of Chanel’s Rouge Noir to work, since it would save her poor back from lugging around an entire spectrum of nail shades, when almost invariably every client she works with just plumps for the classic blackish, blood red shade anyway. It’s not hard to see why.
Rouge Noir (known as Vamp in the US, £18) was first seen in 1994, on Uma Thurman’s Mia Wallace in Pulp Fiction and has been a global bestseller ever since. With enough black to be neutral and cool, but with sufficient red as not to be too avant garde or gothic, it works with just about every outfit, on every nail length and age, and for every occasion, casual or smart.
Its newer formula has much better staying power than the original, though notably it has never been duped exactly in a long-lasting salon gel formulation (CND’s Fedora is beautiful but too brown; Port Wine from Biosculpture comes closer, but is a dot too red).
This prompted me to wonder why specific nail lacquers are so enduring in their appeal?
After Rouge Noir, my mind turns immediately to Essie Ballet Slippers (£5.99), a semi-sheer nude, milky, Park Avenue princess-style pink worn by everyone from Barbra Streisand to Meghan, Duchess of Sussex (including, it would appear, on her wedding day).
Clean, gentle and unobtrusive, it is the Grace Kelly to Rouge Noir’s Sophia Loren, but somehow remains modern-looking, especially now, when French manicures are back in vogue.
No nail wardrobe would be complete without OPI’s legendary I’m Not Really a Waitress ( £13.90), a rich, metallic, dark red paint the shade of a teenager’s fantasy sports car. It is so classic, so instantly glam, that it’s easy to assume this needs sharp talons to set it off, but in fact, it looks equally wonderful on a short mani.
There is nowhere I’m Not Really a Waitress can’t respectably go and, like Ballet Slippers, its availability in regular and gel formulations means you need never miss out on it.
Finally, special mention must go to Dior’s Nail Glow (£21), a polish that’s pretending to be nothing of the sort. This cult classic, clear raspberry glaze is a no-brainer to apply, and leaves nails shiny, healthy-looking and with just enough polish to feel posh.
