Oxblood is a dark red-brown color. It is an excellent choice for leather shoes and polishing deepens the richness of the shade. Oxblood is suitable for casual and dress shoes, with labels famous for their oxblood footwear including Lanvin, Christian Louboutin and Doc Martins. Polishing shoes regularly nourishes the leather and helps waterproof it so your shoes will last longer and keep their intense color.

Clean mud or any solid dirt from your shoes with a stiff brush or damp cloth.

Massage a dab of shoe cream on to the leather, using your fingers wrapped in an old rag. Use the light-textured cream shoe polish, which usually comes in a jar or tub, and smooth on a thin, even layer. If the oxblood color is starting to fade or has become extremely scuffed, use an oxblood tint shoe cream.

Leave the polish to dry for a few minutes; usually the time it takes to apply cream to the other shoe.

Buff the shoes to a smooth sheen with a shoe brush. Finish by shining with a clean polishing cloth.

Clean shoes carefully with a damp cloth.

Smooth a dab of waxy shoe polish over leather and rub in with a cloth. Wax polish is more solid than cream, and usually comes in a flat tin. When layered the wax can completely cover up scratches in the leather. This is ideal for colors like oxblood, which show damage more obviously than black.

Leave the polish to dry for at least 10 minutes.

Buff shoes to a high shine, using a smooth, soft cloth wound around your fingertips. You need to press hard and move fingers in small circular movements to get a good shine.

Repeat the wax polish application, drying and buffing as many times as you need to get shiny shoes. Oxblood looks best when the color is strong and the leather well maintained, so it is worth taking time to do this properly.