Diamond Strength No Chip Nail Color

Sally Hansen Diamond Strength No Chip Nail Color [210 - Brilliant Blush] Review

By Maychiri's Thoughts - September 28, 2025

Yeah, another Sally Hansen... but I am close to finishing my collection so not much longer to go! This is the Sally Hansen Diamond Strength No Chip Nail Color, in the shade 210/Brilliant Blush!
 
 
“No chip, eh”? Well, we’ll see about that... if most of the previous Sally Hansens are anything to go by, this likely won’t be the case. But I shouldn’t be negative just yet. Anyways, why do I keep coming back to Sally Hansen despite being let down massively almost every single goddamn time? Because I am a naive twat? Could possibly be, but in actuality, I have decided to go on a side quest: try out one of each Sally Hansen nail polish range, to see which ones are good and which are bad. So far... yeah, it’s been more bad than good, like way more bad. And now, that quest brings me to the Diamond Strength No Chip Nail Color, which, supposedly, has real diamond powder in its formula? Well, synthetic diamonds – if there are any for real – but who cares really if they are synthetic or ‘real’. I’d much rather have synthetic ones, no chance of them being “blood diamonds” that way. Now, diamonds are of course, known as being the hardest material on Earth, so this should, in theory, help harden the nails. My nails are pretty healthy – touch wood – but everyone can use a little bit of help, right? Thing is, I wanted a completely different colour. I wanted a more taupey or mauvey blush colour but those were either sold out or much more expensive (gotta love it when each shade has its own separate price tag), so I went with one of the cheaper ones because I frankly don’t want to spend a lot of money on what could well be yet another disappointment. Oh well, maybe this colour ends up not looking that bad on me. Whatever. I am losing my patience with Sally Hansen tbh. But let’s find that little bit of strength inside and persevere and see what this nail polish is like!
 
 
 
Packaging: oh, this is a gorgeous bottle! From the front and back, it looks pretty standard, but take a look at the sides! It’s faceted like a real gemstone! Beautiful! It helps the shimmer in the polish really pop and it has a sort of underwater ripple effect, which I find fascinating. There is also a tiny crystal in the front, which is supposedly a real Swarovski crystal! I cannot get over how it sparkles so beautifully! The cap is weirdly elongated, which makes the bottle look like some sort of antique piece. It’s also reflective, so, of course, that means it is a fingerprint magnet. The cap closes very tightly; tightly enough that you won’t need to worry about the nail polish drying out too soon. 
 
 
 
 
 
The text is pale brown in the front, which is barely visible. It’s even less visible once you angle the bottle because the shimmer is way more intense than the colour of the text. The text in the back is white, which is moderately better, but it’s still difficult to read. Very intriguing shape; the bottle definitely stands out form all the others!
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Source: www.sallyhansen.com
 
Ingredients: nothing particularly nourishing but it does have a few interesting ingredients. It is 3-free (DBP, formaldehyde, toluene). So, hydrolysed red algae/rhodophycea extract, platinum powder and two forms of diamond: pure diamond powder and benzimidazole diamond amidoethyl urea carbamoyl propyl polymethylsilsequioxane. Oh that last one is a mouthful! Basically, it’s got real diamonds in the formula, allegedly. How true this is... eh, anybody’s guess. I am not that wowed with the ingredients list, having diamonds but no other nail hardening ingredients is not enough. Anyways, the scent is like most other nail polishes, though it does smell a bit more creamy. The expiration date is 30 months after opening.
 
 
 
This nail polish has a very long and extremely narrow brush, like some other Sally Hansens. It looks flat, but it’s got a circular cross-section. Although this thinness makes it more precise, it is just too small for my liking. It cannot cover the entire nail when splayed, so you need to use more brushstrokes to apply nail polish across the entire nail. However, it does apply the polish very evenly, and it doesn’t make a huge mess all around the nails. It picks up almost the ideal amount of nail polish; I found that I didn’t have to tap off the excess. The brush itself looks like it has good build quality, I just need it to be larger. I guess it could be worse.
 
 
 
 
Colour: oh, hmm, I don’t know what to think of this colour. It’s definitely not my favourite; I... I guess I like it a little bit? I mean, I don’t hate it. It certainly looks best with two coats, though. The base is a milky pink that looks very matronly, not my style. It also washes me out a bit. But I would be happy if it was just that pale, milky pink. But no, it has to have weird shimmer. The shimmer is a mix of coral and magenta; it looks almost completely orange with one coat, which is just weird and unflattering with the milky pink base. But that changes once you apply the second coat; then, the shimmer changes into a magenta colour, which makes much more sense. 
 
 
This actually fits somewhat with the milky pink base, though it still is way too harsh and intense. I don’t know, it just looks weird and I don’t like it much. :/
 
 
 
 
Why is this formula so thin and watery? It honestly feels cheap, even though it supposedly has diamonds in it. It is watery and thin, but it’s not runny somehow. Unfortunately, it also feels very plasticy. However, it applies fantastically evenly, so that’s something. I just don’t like it. It feels like a cheap plastic film on my nails. However, one good thing is that it doesn’t feel too goopy, even when you apply a very thick coat.
 
 
 
 
 
One coat is totally useless. It doesn’t provide any coverage; I can see my nails underneath very clearly (and all the yellowness on my thumbs from... an accident... before), it just adds a lot of gelly gloss. Which would be nice if the gloss wasn’t aggressively coral-coloured. In fact, this coral shine emphasises the yellowness....not a vibe! It is completely evenly applied though, for what little it’s worth. Sigh... let’s see if adding a second coat changes anything but I doubt it will. Oh, well, I guess it did help a bit. It is still semi-opaque, but my nails aren’t as clearly visible anymore. It’s developed a more cloudy, milky appearance now, which is a tad more uneven than with just one coat. Not uneven per se, but a tiny bit patchy in places. 
 
 
 
It also changed the colour from colourless to a milky pink. Change for the better? To me... yes. Now it conceals the yellowness on my thumbs, which I needed so desperately. With 3 coats it might become opaque, but you know what? I don’t want it to become goopy, plus, I always test with two coats anyways. I wouldn’t recommend applying 3 anyways, as you need thick coats just to get to this medium level of coverage. So imagine how thick it would be with 3. Also, now that it is soft pink, the garish coral shine actually isn’t as aggressively in-your-face. It blends rather nicely with the soft pink now! The texture is, first and foremost, very glossy in a gelly kind of way. Like, very, very glossy. 
 
 
It’s also full of very fine shimmer, which gives it this softly grainy appearance. It’s actually nice, I think it might be growing on me.
 
  
No chip... no chip, they said. So... why does it chip, then? Okay, it took it 4 days until it started to chip, and the chipping wasn’t horrible, but the promise was no chipping. A few nails have pretty bad edge wear, where most of the nail polish chipped off and one nail has the same but on the cuticle side. Not really “diamond strength”, now is that? Real ones know that diamonds are not actually forever – as long as you know where to hit them, they will break very easily. Seems the same is true for this nail polish. Most of the damage came from washing my hair, as usual; that’s where all the edge chipping came from. I wasn’t careful with my nails, so it’s good that it stayed in this good of a condition, but still, I was expecting no chips per the name. 
 
 
 
 
However, the much bigger issue is the scratching. I woke up on the second day and my nails were covered in many, many scratches, some more prominent, some less. The thumbs got the worst of it, having these weird extremely deep cuts that ruin the high shine finish. All these scratches turned the lovely glossy finish into a more muted one, which isn’t good. Not at all. I hate it when nail polishes get this scratched up, it really ruins them. Sigh. And you know what is virtually immune to scratches? Diamonds... yeah, so the name is a complete fraud. Should have known...
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Well, at least this nail polish isn’t hard to remove. Just a little bit of rubbing and it’s already completely gone, without any pesky shimmer leftovers. Also, it doesn’t make my nails yellower. My nails don’t feel much stronger than before, though.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
In conclusion, well, I wish I could say I am surprised that this nail polish isn’t very good. I wish, but Sally Hansen has taught me not to expect much. Look, this nail polish promises too much. It’s even in the name... “No Chip”... is the lack of chipping in the room with us? Also, diamond strength, my foot! To be fair, diamonds aren’t really as indestructible as people make them out to be; otherwise, we wouldn’t be able to cut them into smaller pieces for jewellery. But usually, when something is named after diamonds, you do expect great durability... which is not what this nail polish offers. Okay, it doesn’t chip that badly, but it shouldn’t chip at all if that’s how they are marketing it, and it is. A hair wash lead to some pretty bad chipping on a few nails. But you know what’s worse? The scratches! This goes completely against the whole “diamond strength” thing because, as the defining Mohs scale rank 10 mineral (out of 10!), the only thing that can scratch a diamond is another diamond. Of course, this nail polish isn’t pure diamond in its composition, but it does – supposedly – include diamond powder. So don’t blame me for expecting it to be scratch resistant. Yet, I woke up and found some pretty freaking majestic deep scratches on some of my nails. Awesome, huh? The formula is watery and thin, and just feels like a cheap film on my nails. I should have known then that it wouldn’t be very durable. It applies pretty evenly, though, and it isn’t runny, so applying it isn’t the issue. I wish it was, and that the longevity was ideal; that’s a trade I’d be willing to make. But no. Bad formula, bad durability, hell, even bad colour. It being milky isn’t the issue, it’s the weird coral shimmer it’s got. It’s way too aggressive and gives an overall odd appearance to the nail polish, not elegant or sophisticated or whatever. Just weird. But in all fairness, the colour isn’t disgusting, I was just expecting something a little bit different, from all the pictures I saw of it. The brush is good, for whatever that’s worth. And okay, the bottle is quite stunning. But how much does that matter when everything else is meh at best, legitimately bad at worst? I... I am fed up with this nail polish. Just a few more Sally Hansens and then I will be free... just a few more. No, I won’t give this nail polish a recommendation; the “diamond strength” is a scam.
 
 
 
Rating: 4/10
 
 
Would buy again? NO
 






 




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