The best red nail polishes are not hard to find, they are hard to narrow down. Warm tomato, deep burgundy, bright cherry, translucent jelly: red covers serious ground, and picking the wrong one for your vibe or skin tone can take a great manicure and flatten it. Cosmopolitan beauty editor Jasmine Hyman tested a stack of reds and consulted nail artists John Avery and Ramon Duran to identify the picks that actually deliver. Here is what they rate.
The Best Red Nail Polishes You Need to Know About
OPI Big Apple Red is the consensus number one. Avery is unambiguous: ‘This is honestly the most iconic red of all time. Whenever someone asks me for a classic red, this is immediately what I think of.’ Duran agrees, calling it ‘bright, super clean, and one of those reds that truly looks good on everyone,’ and adding that the gel version takes the finish to another level. The sales data backs the hype: according to The Everygirl, OPI’s 2025 sales data shows a bottle of Big Apple Red is sold nearly every 45 seconds. That is not a polish with a following; that is a polish with a fanbase.
Runner-up goes to essie Forever Yummy, a true red that Duran describes as giving ‘that super chic, timeless manicure that literally never goes out of style.’ It spans seasons without effort, summer fruit or holiday scarlet, it handles both.
For anyone who wants to move off the traditional crimson, OPI’s Malaga Wine is the go-to burgundy. Deep, cool-toned, and wine-rich, it is the kind of shade that comes into its own once temperatures drop. Among the best red nail polishes for autumn and winter, this one consistently gets recommended.
Cherry, Tomato, Jelly: Covering Every Red Finish
Manucurist’s Red Cherry sits at £14 and pitches itself as a blue-leaning cherry red with an ultra-glassy formula. Highly pigmented, glossy enough to skip the top coat debate, and it lands somewhere between classic and current. If you want that just-left-the-salon look at home, this is a strong option.
Essie’s Tomato, Tomahto, from the Gourmet Grocery collection, leans warm. Golden undertones give it that sun-ripened quality that sits well with the food-influenced nail trends that have been running lately. Kylie Jenner wore the tomato manicure this summer, which pushed the shade back into the conversation if it had ever left it.
For a gel finish at home, Gelcare Rouge Cassis is the pick. A chip-resistant result matters more with bold colours (a peeling red polish is hard to miss) and this one is built for longevity without a salon visit.
At the top end of the price range, LE VERNIS Pompier from Chanel sits at $40. A deep red, timeless in the way that only a very considered shade can be, and the kind of bottle that earns its place on a shelf.
Finally, if the jelly finish is what you are after, Aprés Nail’s Enigmatic Jelly Collection gives you five red shades that layer up to your preferred depth. Hyman has been wearing the shade Broomfall and rates it as a strong transitional colour for late summer into early autumn. Sheer wash or stained-glass depth, you control the build.
OPI and essie both appear multiple times in this list, which tells you something about where the reliable classics live. Start there, then branch out once you know which end of the red spectrum suits you best.