Because of its very high concentration of nutritious components and waxes, shining once per week after wearing them few times is enough. Everyday if there is a mirror shine on the shoes, you can buff them with a pig hair brush or with a shining cloth. Just in case you has been through an extremely bad weather, water, snow, you should let them dry peacefully with a wooden shoetree away from any height and then you should shine them. (We advice to not wear your shoes everyday, in order to leave the leather time to dry and rest that way you would be able to extend their life time).

After buying nice shoes, you want them to keep their original shape to look as nice as the first day you bought them. By using wooden shoetrees, you will be able to do so.

The leather is flexible if you don’t use a shoetree, your shoes will naturally bent and wrinkle especially at the front part. The shoetree should put just right after you take off your shoes in order for them to get back to their original shape when the leather is still warm and humid.

You have different material and shape for shoetrees. The best one in most of the case would be the one recommended by your shoemaker because the shape usually perfectly match the shape of the shoes. You can easily by yourself find the proper shoetree for your shoes by putting the shoetree in your shoes and touching them, the wood should completely fill the shoe and you should have any empty space when you touch it. Always go for the full last shoetree and use only wooden shoetree for the shoe to be able to dry properly.

Some people don’t like to have shiny shoes, however the leather still needs to be nourished in order to prevent from cracking. Using a conditioning product will help to clean, condition and protect your shoes.

When taking care of a shoe that is made from a combination of suede and smooth leather, it is best to begin with the suede. You can follow our suede care routine and don’t have to worry so much about the smooth leather. Depending on the proportion of suede and smooth leather on your shoe, caring for the suede may be enough to clean the smooth leather at the same time. Alternatively, once the suede has been cared for, you can move on to the smooth leather and follow our smooth leather care routine.

Please note that unlike suede products, which can also be applied to smooth leather, it is important that no smooth leather product should touch the suede at any time.

In order to make that easier we recommend to use a cloth and carefully apply conditioners, creams and polish with your finger in the areas that are next to the suede.

Over time, it is natural for the wax to dry and crack as the solvents evaporate. This does not affect the product's performance—quite the opposite. As the solvent content decreases, the concentration of hard waxes increases, making it easier to achieve a high-gloss finish. However, if you wish to restore the wax to its original state, simply apply a few sprays of our Wax Softener. Learn more about the Wax Softener here.

The difference between these two products is that the Médaille d’Or Lotion is a product for conditioning smooth leathers with only little cleaning properties. It is capable of removing slight dirt on the surface but its main purpose is to nourish and polish the leather.

The Saphir Cleaning Lotion on the other hand is especially for cleaning the leather and removing stains or soiling but doing that in a gentle way. The Cleaning Lotion has only very little nourishing and polishing properties therefore. 

Basically these two products are developed for the same purpose which is to achieve a really high shine on your shoes as easy as possible. These two polishes don’t contain cleaning or nourishing ingredients but are merely designed to give your shoes a nice mirror shine as fast as possible. In order to achieve that they contain special hard waxes that create the shine. The difference between the Amiral Gloss and the Mirror Gloss lies in their formulation.

The Amiral Gloss is part of our Beauté du Cuir range and is a great product for high shines, the Mirror Gloss is part of our premium Médaille d’Or Range and has a special formula developed together with professional shoe shiners, and an even higher concentration of hard waxes. 

The Saphir Médaille d’Or Mirror Gloss is formulated with a high concentration of hard waxes, which distinguishes it from the Saphir Pâte de Luxe, known for its softer waxes. While the softer waxes make achieving a mirror shine more difficult, the harder waxes in Mirror Gloss tend to crack over time due to
their nature. However, these cracks do not affect the product’s performance.

In fact, the concentration of waxes increases as the product dries, making it easier to achieve a high shine. Many experts, including the Japanese master who won the 2024's shoe shine competition, Yoshihiro Nishigami, intentionally leave the Mirror Gloss to dry after purchasing, which naturally creates cracks.

If a crack-free appearance is preferred for aesthetic reasons, Saphir Pâte de Luxe
is a better option. However, for optimal shine, Mirror Gloss remains the superior choice. Please note that the use of Mirror Gloss is only on the toe
and counter and heel part of the shoe.

If the cracks make application challenging, you can use a product called Wax Softener to
soften the wax. This product is also effective for cleaning brushes—simply spray a small amount onto the brush and use a cloth to wipe away the wax.
Additionally, Wax Softener is 100% plant-based.

Generally speaking yes, but to take care of such a unique leather like Cordovan we highly recommend to use our Cordovan Cream which has been developed especially for that. While the Renovateur contains lanolin and mink oil, the Cordovan Cream contains neats-foot oil. This is important since Cordovan leather gets treated with neats-foot oil at the tannery to achieve the desired high oil content which gives the leather its waterproof qualities.

To maintain the oil content in the leather it is best to use the same kind of oil as used by the tannery and the Cordovan Cream has a formula that is developed to maintain the high oil content that Cordovan requires. The Renovateur Cream is developed for smooth leathers in general which require a lower amount of oil. Therefore it is best to use the Cordovan Cream for all Cordovan leathers. 

Yes, all conditioning Products like the Renovateur or our Lotions should be applied before the 1925 Pommadier Cream. This is because after you’ve cleaned the leathers the pores of the skin are free and ready to absorb all the nourishing ingredients of the Renovateur. If you’d apply the 1925 Cream before, the contained waxes which protect the leather will already make it harder to absorb all the ingredients of the Renovateur. Therefore, always follow this routine: clean, condition and then polish. 

We generally advise you to remove old waxes and polish before conditioning the leather so the skin can really absorb all the oils. It is enough though to do this once a month. If you prefer a Mirror Shine on your shoes, you can leave the wax buildup on the toe area so it will be easier to bring this part of the shoe back to high shine.

The vamp of the shoe, the area that flexes, should be cleaned properly though because it is important that leather stays hydrated here so it won’t crack over time. 

The Rénovateur Cream formula is based on mink oil, while the Rénovateur Macadamia formula, as its name suggests, is based on macadamia oil. In its ongoing quest to create eco-friendly formulas, the use of plant rather than animal-based ingredients is in line with the ecological and environmental aspirations at the heart of Saphir's concerns.

For sheepskin we recommend the Médaille d’Or Lotion. Since every skin is different we recommend to test it in a less visible area first, before applying it all over. 

Yes, our Renovateur Cream is completely colourless and safe to use on white leathers.