If you’ve dabbled in Laura Mercier, you’re more likely to have been lured in by her powders than her polishes. And to be fair, her nail lacquers aren’t one of the brand’s cornerstones, with a solid but not expansive range of 16 shades – most of which are neutrals. But the recent launch of Mercier’s "Dark Spell" collection gave us the chance to try out "Bewitched" and "Forbidden." In the bottle, "Bewitched" does look like the bizarre marriage of a Henri Rousseau colour pallette and your teenage self’s nail polish collection. Yet once applied it’s all crushed emeralds swirled with gold. "Bewitched" is perfect for a DIY job, but you might want to take "Forbidden" to the nail salon, as its metallic hue means brush strokes do show up. This lacquer is a molten pewter tinged with green and honestly kind of resembles the unicorn’s blood in Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone (bear with me). Whilst both shades dried almost completely within minutes, "Forbidden" did stay a little tacky for a while which resulted in some unwanted imprints. But in terms of longevity it beats any nails-only brand I’ve ever tried. Five days on and there isn’t so much as a hint of a crack.