In 1981, Suzi Weiss-Fischmann and George Schaeffer dropped a small kit at every nail salon on Ventura Boulevard in Los Angeles. It was a jar of acrylic powder, a bottle of liquid and a primer, held together with a rubber band. They called it the OPI rubber band special, and in Suzi's own words it gave OPI its start in the professional nail industry. The colour came later, and she was the one who named it.

That is the thing I keep coming back to with OPI. It began as a salon supplier, the brand says it was founded in 1980 as Odontorium Products, Inc., and its lacquers were named by the same woman who once handed out acrylic kits by hand. Names like Malaga Wine and Alpine Snow were the start of a habit: a colour should have a personality. OPI Black Cherry Chutney came along in 2008 as part of the India Collection, and OPI's own copy calls it a deliciously dark black-red with a pearl finish. It still sits on the shelf, which tells you more than any trend report.

The trick is to treat it like a very dark red, not a black. On short nails it reads as oxblood, a little glossy, very office-friendly. On long almonds it gets more dramatic. The first grid is the whole routine around it. Malaga Wine is the nearest relative, from the same maker and the same dark family, and leaning wine rather than cherry by name. The Nail Lacquer Top Coat and the Infinite Shine Gel-like Top Coat and Base Coat are how you make a polish look like a salon finish, and Nail Envy Original Nail Strengthener is the thing to wear underneath if your nails split.

Glow Up Nail & Cuticle Oil keeps the edges neat, and the xPRESS/ON Press-On Nails are there for the week you have no time to paint.

Hold the bottle up to a window, not a ceiling light. Dark reds change more than any other family, and daylight will tell you whether a shade leans cherry, wine or plum before you have painted a single nail.

Black Cherry Chutney sits at the dark end, so the shades in this grid are the neighbours. Nailberry's L'Oxygéné in Le Temps des Cerises is the wine red, a good second bottle for anyone who finds black-reds severe. Gelcare's Wild Blackberry Gel Nail Polish goes more purple, which suits cool undertones. Olive & June's Boysenberry Glass is the berry one, with a glass finish by name.

Chanel's Le Vernis in 151 Pirate is the clearest red of the grid, and Nailberry's Noirberry is the blackberry-dark one, close to black in the bottle. Manucurist's Green Flash LED Gel Nail Polish in Hollyhock and Dark Pansy are the two I would put side by side, because Hollyhock is a black-red and Dark Pansy is a glossy burgundy. Both are LED gels, so they need a lamp. If you would rather not paint at all, Never Have I Ever's Burgundy Cherub Press-On Nails are the statement set.

A pairing I like: a black-red on the hands with a soft, nearly bare lip. Dark nails do the talking and everything else can stay quiet. Cream knit, black leather and a dark red nail is about as good as autumn dressing gets.

What I would skip: a stark white top coat or cold neon tips on a dark cherry. The two fight each other, and a clear gloss is the better finish.

Most chipped polish starts at the free edge, so run the brush along the very tip of the nail on every coat. It takes two seconds and buys you days.

A dark shade shows every flaw, which makes the base and top coat matter more than the colour. Gitti's Vita Restore Base Coat is the one to look at if your nails feel tired. Gelcare's Base Coat and Top Coat Nail Polish are a matching pair that keep the routine in one family, handy if you like a gel-like look. Manucurist's Active Smooth Nail Polish Strengthener & Ridge Filler is the everyday base for uneven nails, and Chanel's Le Gel Coat is the gloss that makes a black-red look like fresh lacquer.

Two more if you want fewer bottles or longer wear. Nailberry's Bare Essentials 2 in 1 Base & Top Coat does both jobs in one bottle, which makes it the one to pack for a trip. Manucurist's Green Flash Long-Lasting Gel Vitaminized Base Coat is the base to use with the Green Flash LED shades in the grid above. Chanel's La Base Camélia Base Coat is the polished one of the grid, the layer that sits under the colour and never shows.

OPI's own advice for its lacquer is to start with a base coat, apply two thin coats, cap the free edge and finish with a top coat. I think that is the right order, and it holds for every shade in this edit.

What I would skip: a thick third coat because the second looks patchy. Thin coats and a good top layer get you further than more polish.

Put the cream on after the polish has fully dried, not before. Oily hands make a fresh manicure slide, and a dark colour with ragged cuticles looks unfinished no matter how well the colour is applied.

Chanel's L'Huile Camélia is the small, focused cuticle oil to keep on the desk. Caudalie's Hand and Nail Cream is a good bag cream for cold days. Soft Services' Theraplush Overnight Retinol Hand Repair Cream is the one for the nightstand, and Glossier's Hand Cream is the plain, minimal one. Rare Beauty's Find Comfort Niacinamide Hydrating Hand Cream brings niacinamide to a category that rarely has it.

L'Occitane's Shea Butter Hand Cream for Dry Skin is the classic, rich and familiar, and Kiehl's Ultimate Strength Protective & Soothing Hand Salve is the heavier one for the driest winter hands. Moroccanoil's Hand Cream is the one for people who like to keep a tube in every bag. I like a rich cream at night and a light one in the day, and the cuticle oil is what gets pushed in between.

A dark red manicure is at its best when the skin around it looks cared for. Nothing sets a deep cherry off like smooth hands.

What I would skip: heavy balm right before you paint. Wipe the nail with a little remover first so the polish has something clean to grip.

Is there an OPI Blackberry Chutney? I could not find a shade with that name. The one that comes up is Black Cherry Chutney, which OPI describes as a deliciously dark black-red with a pearl finish. If you were sent here for Blackberry Chutney, this is almost certainly the bottle.

 

Black Cherry Chutney vs Complimentary Wine: what is the difference? Black Cherry Chutney is a black-red with a pearl finish. Complimentary Wine is a burgundy that OPI calls a full velvet burgundy, listed as a dark creme. So one leans black with a glint, the other leans wine and sits flat and glossy.

 

Which OPI collection is Black Cherry Chutney from? Retailer listings put it in OPI's India collection from spring 2008, with the shade code I43. That matches the 2008 date in this edit.

 

How many coats does it need, and does it come as a gel? OPI's directions for the Nail Lacquer are a base coat, two thin coats of color, a capped free edge and a top coat. It also comes as a GelColor, which OPI lists as pro only, with two coats of color cured under a lamp. I could not confirm an Infinite Shine version, so I am not claiming one.

My pick for a first try is the simplest: OPI Black Cherry Chutney, a base coat, two thin coats, a glossy top coat, and a cuticle oil at night. It is a shade from 2008 that still behaves in October, which is more than most trends manage.

Wear it short, wear it with a leather jacket, and leave the tips alone. Suzi Weiss-Fischmann started with a rubber band and a boulevard of salons, and somewhere down the line she named a polish after a chutney. That is the whole charm of OPI. A serious colour with a small grin on the label, and a formula that still does what it says. If you want to keep browsing, I also put together Black Cherry Nail Polish and Red and Black Outfits to Try This Fall.