Famaco Deep Garnet Leather Cream 343 – 50ml Very Dark Blood Red

Description

Famaco Deep Garnet Leather Cream 343 – 50ml Very Dark Blood Red, a deep red carrying more saturation than anything else measured at this depth in the range, one glass pot, fifty millilitres to the brim and sealed under metal, for dark red leather that has gone dull and thin.

My brother in law borrowed these for a funeral and handed them back in a carrier bag, which is where they then stayed for a month. Nothing dramatic happened to them in there, but a month inside a plastic bag left the leather feeling clammy and the colour looking somehow thinner than it had before.

The listing calls 343 a dark red and the stored attribute calls it reddish black, which undersells it rather badly. The pot does read low on brightness, as both of those suggest, but the saturation is still very much intact. This is not a red that has faded to black; it is a full blooded garnet.

Famaco deep garnet shoe cream: £6.49 for one pot of fifty millilitres.

Why choose this deep garnet red?

• Reddish black is the wrong half of the description. The brightness reading is genuinely low, so the black part of it is fair, but the saturation comes back high and that is the part the name leaves out entirely. Under daylight this is unmistakably a red, and a rich one at that.
• It is a long way below the brick crimson. Shade 327 measures considerably brighter with slightly less colour strength behind it. If your boots are the colour of a good claret then this is your pot, and if they are closer to a red brick, 327 is the one to take.
• Dark reds age towards brown, never towards pink. The blue component in a wine red gives out first, which is why an old burgundy boot drifts quietly towards a tired chestnut. Putting the depth and that blue back together again is exactly what a garnet cream is for.
• Nothing in the jar is water, which is the whole point. This is a wax and solvent cream, so what goes onto the leather stays there as a film instead of evaporating and leaving a chalky residue behind it. On dark reds that difference shows up as sheer depth.
• Heavy pigment does the covering on a colour like this. A thin red will simply stain over the old surface and leave the scuffs showing straight through it; this one has enough loading to close them, which is why a single considered coat is usually all that it needs.
• Fifty millilitres of a shade you will not find easily. Deep reds are a specialist corner of the shelf and not many brands bother with them at all, so a jar of this size is worth keeping properly, with the lid clean and the thread wiped after use.

How to use the Famaco Deep Garnet Leather Cream 343 – 50ml Very Dark Blood Red

A dark red hides its dirt completely until the cream goes on, and then every missed patch shows up as a dull grey shadow. Take the cleaning stage seriously.

1. Undo the laces completely and coil them safely.
2. Brush the grit out of the welt and heel.
3. Damp cloth over the vamp and the quarters.
4. Stand the pair somewhere warm to dry off.
5. Lift a pea of cream with folded cotton.
6. Spread, leave five minutes, then brush firmly.

My tip as a shoe specialist

Push a little cream into the welt stitching with the tip of a finger, because a cloth simply bridges the stitch line and never reaches down inside it. On a dark red shoe the thread is usually a lighter red than the upper and it is the first thing to go grey, so a shoe with a good upper and a chalky welt still manages to look neglected. Ten seconds of fingertip work along each side does more for the look of the pair than a second coat on the panels ever will.

Specifications

At a glance

• You receive: 50ml glass jar, metal screw lid
• Depth recorded: Very dark red, strongly saturated
• Range number: 343, listed as dark red
• Built from: Bees and carnauba wax, shea
• Works best on: Smooth burgundy and oxblood calf
• Leave alone: Suede, nubuck, patent, painted trims
• Second item needed: Dark cloth and a soft brush
• Within: Famaco Creme de Beaute
• Origin and ticket price: France, £6.49

Frequently asked questions

Is 343 dark enough for oxblood boots?

It is right in the middle of that territory. Oxblood covers a wide range, running from a bright cherry down to something nearly brown, and this shade sits at the darker, richer end of it. On a true oxblood boot it matches closely; on a bright cherry pair it will read heavy.

Will it go on my burgundy brogues?

Yes, and burgundy is probably its best use of all. The saturation is high enough to restore a wine red that has drifted towards brown without turning the shoe into a flat dark panel.

Does a dark cream need buffing harder?

It does. Dark shades hold their shine in the wax rather than in the pigment, so give it a longer brushing than you would a pale cream and the gloss comes up properly.

Where can I buy the Famaco Deep Garnet Leather Cream 343 – 50ml Very Dark Blood Red in the UK?

You can order 343 from Shoespecialist.co.uk today. Baskets clearing £50 travel free of any carriage, orders in before five on a weekday leave the same working day, and returns stay open for a full sixty days.