At £46, This Is Probably the World's Most Luxurious Nail Polish—Here's My Hot Take
Our beauty editor puts Les Mains Hermès Nail Enamel to the test to see if it's worth its £46 price tag.
One of my favourite parts of being a beauty editor is testing nail polishes. From OPI and Manucurist to Chanel and Essie, I've become somewhat obsessed with finding the chicest nail polish shades and the best nail polish formulas to rival a gel manicure.
However, one nail polish brand that I have yet to try is Hermès. I've tried a handful of Hermès beauty products, from its perfumes to its makeup, and I've had my eye on the nail enamels ever since they launched. And finally, I've got my hands on a couple of the shades.
It's safe to say this may be the most luxurious nail polish that has ever graced my nails. But at £46 per bottle, I wanted to really put it through its paces, because for that price, I have very high standards. I put some of the nail polish shades, including the base coat and top coat, to the test over the past week to find out how they fare. Scroll ahead for my honest thoughts.
Hermès Les Mains Hermès Nail Enamel Review
Pros
- Luxe packaging
- Chic range of shades
- Applies evenly with a glossy lacquer
Cons
- It's eye-wateringly expensive for a nail polish
- Can chip quickly without the top coat
The Packaging
The first port of call is the packaging. We have to talk about it. The Les Mains Hermès Nail Enamels are, without question, the chicest nail polishes I've ever seen. They even come in their own orange Hermès box, which makes them a particularly great gift for an Hermès lover or anyone who dreams of one day owning a Birkin and wants to own a small piece of the luxury brand.
When you open the box, the nail polishes themselves are a thing of beauty, too. With brushed gold accents and the Hermès emblem embossed on the brush lid, everything looks and feels incredibly premium. A great first impression.
The Formula
For £46, I was surprised to find that Hermès doesn't particularly tout any nail-enhancing or strengthening ingredients in the formula for either its Nail Enamels or the Top Coat. However, the Base Coat contains resins from the mastic tree to strengthen nails within its milky-white consistency to help prep the nails.
That being said, these nail polishes basically apply like a silk Hermès twilly—glossy and satiny to the touch. The consistency of the polish is just right. It's not too thin and watery, nor too thick and gloopy. Instead, it applies evenly onto the nails. The brush is thoughtfully designed with a rounded shape that fits snugly into the base of your nail bed, so you can easily cover your nails in a thin veil of pigment in one or two strokes.
Some shades, like some of the lighter pinks, are sheer polishes, so depending on your preferences, you may prefer to wear two or three coats here. Other shades that are more opaque look perfect with two coats. The formula is really glossy, and I found that it dries quickly. However, if you're layering up some of the sheerer shades, I'd recommend waiting a little longer for them to fully dry in between, as I did smudge my nails on a few occasions. That being said, I didn't experience it with the more opaque colours that only needed one or two coats. These dried a lot faster.
I tested the shades Rose Porcelaine, a sheer light pink and Brun Bistre, a dark chocolate brown, and prepped both manis with the Base Coat and finished with the Top Coat. I'm quite heavy-handed, and I found these held up pretty well over three or four days before they started to chip. However, I noticed that it chipped a lot faster without the top coat.
The Shades
The shades are all named after the shades you see on Hermès enamel bracelets. Naturally, being Hermès, they're all as beautiful as the next. But what's brilliant is that out of the 24 shades (a nod to Hermès' historic address, 24 Faubourg Saint-Honoré, in Paris), there's something for everyone.
There are sheer pinks to suit minimalists and classic reds to suit traditionalists, but there are also a handful of playful colours too. I'm fond of Brun Bistre, a brown nail colour that's perfect for the colder seasons, while Rose Porcelaine is a pretty sheer pink nail polish that adds just a touch of colour to the nails, but can be layered for a more milky consistency. However, you can also find more playful shades, such as Vert Écossais with its luxe, dark green tones or Orange Boîte, a bright Hermès orange.
The Verdict
Having tried Hermès Les Mains Hermès Nail Enamels and put a handful of the shades through their paces over the past week or so, I have some thoughts. Of course, it would be remiss of me not to address the price tag. At £46, these are premium, super-luxurious nail polishes. I do feel the overall experience of the packaging and application is a fair reflection of the price point. They're ultra-luxe to hold, look at and use, with a silky formula that dries into a glossy lacquer. Have I tried other drugstore nail polishes that last just as long (Essie's Gel Couture Nail Polishes, I'm looking at you)? Yes. But do they set my heart racing as much as Hermès' nail polishes do? Probably not. And I think that's part of the thrill.
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