Sally Hansen Diamond Strength Diamonds and Rubies

Only one photo because the bottle shot color was inaccurate

I figured I had enough red cremes, and only purchased Diamonds and Rubies on clearance at Ulta as a Christmas present for a friend last year. A few days later, she complained to me about how a monthly subscribed cosmetics box had sent her "another red", which she was tired of. I thought, "Oh?" and went back to Ulta and bought her some snazzy Zoyas and kept Diamonds and Rubies for myself.

It's a nice red! A classic retro shade with a very easy formula. One coat for a bright and almost completely opaque color, two for deeper (but not deep) and full coverage. This is my first time using the Diamond Strength line, and I love the firm, skinny (that's what she said) brush. Normally while applying a red creme, the polish would run everywhere and stain my skin, but not so with this brush. It led to a very easy application.

The most similar red in my collection is Zoya Sooki; Diamonds and Rubies is darker, though perhaps not substantially. I may be the only person in the nail cult world who isn't a fan of Sooki despite its cool cherry tone, because my bottle has a jelly formula requiring three coats for an even color, and 2 coats versus 3 leads a very different shade, so god help you if you get your polish amount uneven nail to nail.

Diamonds and Rubies chipped during my second day of wear after two hours of book-handling at work. That job is often hard on nails (I make sure I keep them painted partially to protect them), though the OPI manicure featured in the last post held up strong against it. OPI is tuff.

In addition to this, my other favorite retro red creme is Zoya America, which is lighter and brighter.