When you’re an eczema sufferer, wearing nail varnish can be problematic. Lots of nail varnishes contain various chemicals, often including formaldehyde, that can be triggers for eczema. It was one of the first things I cut out when trying to tackle my eczema, and despite my eczema being far more under control these days, I still like to be careful about what I put on my nails. So I was thrilled to discover Smith & Cult - a luxury nail varnish brand, whose formula doesn’t contain any of the usual chemicals: Dibutyl, Phthalate, Toluene, Formaldehyde, Formaldehyde Resin and Camphor. A perfect nail varnish for eczema sufferers!

I have to admit that the packaging caught my eye - the chunky bottle looks just fab on your dressing table, and the shiny, twisty lid just screams ‘luxury brand’. In terms of use, I do find the lid quite heavy and it does feel big in your hand, which I thought would be a problem when it came to application, but the brush itself is much thinner than others I’ve used, so you have a huge amount of control and precision. The formula, like most ‘no nasties’ nail varnishes, is more runny than, say, Essie, but it applies nice and evenly and dries within a reasonable time.

The formulation is really highly pigmented, and even for really bold colours I’ve not needed to apply more than 2 coats. I’m lazy and I don’t use a top coat and I find that this lasts a good week on me before I need to remove it.

I’ve used three shades so far - Dark Like Me (the perfect autumnal deep deep berry), City of Compton (a bubblegum pink), and Porn-a-thon (a muted peach), and all of the colours have been true to the bottle.

At £19 a pop, they’re not cheap, but not the most expensive nail varnish I’ve ever come across. And if you’re an eczema sufferer that’s probably a small price to pay to avoid a flare up.