I'm a big fan of autumn/winter in theory, where it's all roaring open fires and hot chocolate and cosying up with a good book after a stroll in the gorgeously cool, crisp sunshine wearing your perfect new winter boots and coat and warm yet fabulous outdoorsy accessories. Lovely. The reality, however, is that I've been making do with gas fires for years, don't really like hot chocolate, and tend to get drowned/frozen to the bone when I step outside into winter weather that tends towards the apocalyptic while wearing inappropriate wardrobe selections.
At least there are always the nice AW beauty bits to warm the cockles of my heart while the rest of me feckin' freezes.
One such beauty bit is Lancome Le Vernis Noir 29 from the brand's Saint Honore collection. A limited edition release, both this and the red Rouge Saint Honore polish are a wee bit smaller than other Lancome Le Vernis colours: they're usually 10ml but these are a little over half that, at 6ml apiece. Still, the smaller size is reflected in the lower price point of €16 instead of €20.50.
Advertised
In the bottle, Noir 29 is an exquisite proposition. It's a black creme densely packed with almost microscopically tiny golden and copper shimmer that puts me in mind of lights flickering on the Seine at night.
Application is fairly hassle-free: Noir 29 is thicker than average, almost a one coater, but two thinly applied coats give even coverage and maximum opacity. The end result is surprisingly smooth given that it's chock-full of shimmery bits, but unfortunately they're not quite as vibrant on the nail as in the bottle.
Even though the shimmer is so hard to see as to be nearly hidden, it still catches the light to give the black an expensive looking depth and transforms it into something more than a bit special. Lasting power's pretty good, too. Even without topcoat, it was several days before the first chip appeared.
