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Polishing time
N.A.
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Difficulty
Beginner
Introduction
Shoe polish will almost never exactly match the colour of your shoes. Even though your shoes are made and branded the colour ‘Cognac’ there are still many interpretations of what the colour needs to look like. This guide will mostly refer to Saphir Médaille d’Or Pommadier shoe creams, but also apply to Saphir Pate de Luxe shoe wax and Saphir crème Surfine since they all use the same colour numbering and naming.
Neutral or coloured polish?
The safest choice is to go for a neutral shoe cream and wax. This way you do not need to concern yourself with matching your shoe polish to your shoes. Also, using a neutral cream will prevent that your shoes are slowly coloured towards the shade of the shoe polish. Do mind that this is a very slow process and you would have to treat your shoes with a coloured shoe cream many times with the same colour shoe polish before you will actually notice any change in colour. On average we would say about 10% of the pigment that is in a shoe polish actually sticks to the leather. For black shoes you should exclusively use black coloured shoe polishes.
Getting rid of scratches
That said, to camouflage scratches or any deep cuts into the leather we do recommend using a coloured Saphir Médaille d'Or Pommadier shoe cream and Saphir Médaille d'Or Pate de Luxe wax. Also, using a neutral or colourless polish for a long period of time can cause the colour of your shoes to fade a bit so alternating between a neutral and a coloured shoe polish is best recommended. If you are doubting between two shades of for example brown we recommend picking the one that is slightly darker than the colour of your shoes. A Pommadier cream that is slightly darker than your shoes does a better job at masking scratches and bringing up faded colour.
Saphir colour guide
01. Black
For black shoes we recommend using only black colour shoe polishes (Saphir Renovateur excluded)
Almost all Saphir products are available in this colour. Among some of the the most popular products: Saphir Médaille d'Or Pommadier Cream, Pate de Luxe shoe wax and Mirror Gloss shoe wax
02. Neutral
Neutral shoe cream and shoe wax is suitable for all colour shoes except black shoes. A practical choice if you want to treat many different colour shoes.
Almost all Saphir products are available in this colour. Among some of the the most popular products: Saphir Médaille d'Or Pommadier Cream, Pate de Luxe shoe wax and Mirror Gloss shoe wax
03. Light brown
One of the lightest shade of brown in the Saphir Médaille d'Or assortment. Suited for light brown shoes, but sometimes also works for more yellow-ish shades of tan.
Almost all Saphir products are available in this colour. Among some of the the most popular products: Saphir Médaille d'Or Pommadier Cream, Pate de Luxe shoe wax and Mirror Gloss shoe wax
04. Brown
This colour is available for products:
• Saphir Médaille d'Or Pommadier Cream
A basic colour to have in your shoe shine set. Just a shade darker than 37 medium brown, but less warm therefore suitable for a wide range of brown coloured shoes.
05. Dark Brown
This is the darkest shade of brown in the Saphir Médaille d'Or colour range. Some shoe brands tend to call this colour espresso. In most cases this is the colour you want to use to give or maintain the dark brown patina on your toe caps.
Most Saphir products are available in this colour. Among some of the the most popular products: Saphir Médaille d'Or Pommadier Cream, Pate de Luxe shoe wax and Mirror Gloss shoe wax
06. Navy blue
A very dark blue which would almost make you think it is black when looking at it in the jar. Perfect to recolour your dark blue shoes with. The more creative among us sometimes use Pate de Luxe in this colour to create a dark blue glossy finish.
Almost all Saphir products are available in this colour. Among some of the the most popular products: Saphir Médaille d'Or Pommadier Cream, Pate de Luxe shoe wax and Mirror Gloss shoe wax
07. Saphir blue
A bright and playful shade of blue and Saphir's brand colour.
This colour is available for products:
08. Burgundy
A warm burgundy colour for all your burgundy coloured shoes.
Almost all Saphir products are available in this colour. Among some of the the most popular products: Saphir Médaille d'Or Pommadier Cream, Pate de Luxe shoe wax and Mirror Gloss shoe wax
09. Mahogany
A shade of brown that leans more towards red than any brown shade. The go to colour for all your mahogany coloured shoes.
This colour is available in the following products:Saphir Médaille d'Or Pommadier Cream, Pate de Luxe shoe wax
10. Cognac
Possibly one of the most loved and most loosely used in terms of naming a shoe's colour. Light cognac might be better matched with 03 light brown instead. A nice warm shade of cognac.
This colour is available in the following products: Saphir Médaille d'Or Pommadier Cream, Pate de Luxe shoe wax
11. Red
This bright red colour by Saphir Médaille d'Or is similar to the shade of red Christian Laboutin uses for their leather soles. Suited for the more playfull shoes.
This colour is available in the following products: Saphir Médaille d'Or Pommadier Cream, Pate de Luxe shoe wax
12. Hermes red
A more distinguished shade of red available only in the Pommadier shoe cream. Also suited for oxblood shoes.
This colour is available in the following products:Saphir Médaille d'Or Pommadier Cream
14. Grey
A versatile shade of grey by Saphir Médaille d'Or. Perfect for all your light grey shoes.
This colour is available in the following products: Saphir Médaille d'Or Pommadier Cream, Pate de Luxe shoe wax
15. Dark grey
A versatile shade of grey by Saphir Médaille d'Or. Perfect for all your dark grey shoes.
This colour is available in the following products:Saphir Médaille d'Or Pommadier Cream
16. Beige
16. beige is suitable for all your beige and camel coloured leather shoes. Leathers in these lighter shades are suseptible to staining so be sure to do a little test on the shoes first. This colour makes it possible to recolour even these lighter coloured leathers.
This colour is available in the following products:Saphir Médaille d'Or Pommadier Cream
20. Dark Green
A beautiful dark green shade also often referred to as forest green or bottle green.
This colour is available in the following products:Saphir Médaille d'Or Pommadier Cream
21. White
With this white shoe cream you can colour yellowed leather white(r). Please note that shoe cream isn't a paint or a dye and will only colour the leather slightly per application. Perfect to maintain a pair of white leather sneakers with.
This colour is available in the following products:Saphir Médaille d'Or Pommadier Cream
34. Tobacco brown
Tobacco brown AKA Havane by Saphir Médaille d'Or is most suited for shoes labeled as dark brown. This shade of brown is less dark and a little warmer than 05. Dark brown.
This colour is available in the following products: Saphir Médaille d'Or Pommadier Cream, Pate de Luxe shoe wax
37. Medium brown
This shade of brown is availablefor almost all products. The colour probably makes you think of milk chocolate the most.
Almost all Saphir products are available in this colour. Among some of the the most popular products: Saphir Médaille d'Or Pommadier Cream, Pate de Luxe shoe wax and Mirror Gloss shoe wax
38. Hazelnut
A beautiful shade of brown suited for hazelnut brown shoes. A colour often used to dye shoes with.
This colour is available in the following products:Saphir Médaille d'Or Pommadier Cream
39. Natural leather
The natural colour of vegetable tanned leather.
This colour is available in the following products:Saphir Médaille d'Or Pommadier Cream
46. Petrol blue
A pretty shade of dark blue that reminds us of a dark blue pair of jeans.
This colour is available in the following products:Saphir Médaille d'Or Pommadier Cream
87. Plum
This colour is similar to 08 Burgundy, but has more purple mixed in than red.
This colour is available in the following products:Saphir Médaille d'Or Pommadier Cream
89. Cherry red
A slightly more grown up version of 11 Red. Less bright and outspoken and therefore also has more usecases.
This colour is available in the following products:Saphir Médaille d'Or Pommadier Cream
910. Parisian brown
Slightly darker than 34 Tobacco brown, but slightly lighter than 05 dark brown this colour falls right in between. Parisian brown is slightly cooler in colour almost like it contains just a splash of grey.
This colour is available in the following products:Saphir Médaille d'Or Pommadier Cream
917. Light hazelnut
A light hazelnut colour. Close to 10 cognac, but less saturated in it's colour. (Less orange)
This colour is available in the following products:Saphir Médaille d'Or Pommadier Cream
Video
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