There aren’t enough days in the summer to try on all of these vivid colors.Because it’s already 80 degrees in half of the country, my entire mani aesthetic has flipped to summer manicure colors. Hello, vivid manicure colors, cool nail designs, and almond nail shapes; goodbye, naked nail polishes and short nails. When summer arrives, I’m all about showing off the hottest summer manicure trends, whether I go to the salon, DIY, or use a press-on nail kit. So you could say I had a lot of options for summer nail colors this year.
According to nail artists Julie Kandalec, Syreeta Aaron, and Thuy Nguyen, neons, pastels, creamy nudes, and light tints are poised to dominate everyone’s fingers and toes this fall. So I handpicked the top summer nail colors to try this year, as well as what to use to paint them yourself at home and tips to make the process a little easier.
Yes, the long-awaited Barbie film is finally coming to theaters this summer, which means it’s going to be a Barbie Girl Summer—hey, I don’t write the rules. Celebrate the occasion with a bright-pink manicure (and, if you’re feeling particularly special, a pedicure). The best Barbie-pink nail paints, in my opinion, are LaPierre Pretti-N-Pink and Expressie Mall Crawler.
I literally simply took this nail inspiration to an appointment because I wanted “mermaidcore” nails (which ended out fantastic, tyvm). My nail artist created the watercolor impression by combining many sheer, jelly paints, then applying a couple different iridescent top coats to achieve a sparkly, underwater appearance.
Consider this the summer 2023 version of glazed-donut nails, according to nail artist Miki Higuchi. For a multi-chrome appearance, combine a milky, sheer nail polish with iridescent pearly chrome powder and pink, blue, and purple shimmers.
Hello, this is your local queer reminding you that the greatest way to celebrate Pride Month is with Pride nails, such as this pastel-rainbow gradient. Make it yourself with a makeup sponge and a bunch of pastel nail polishes by swiping each colour of color in a line on the tip of the sponge, then dotting it on each nail. Apply a top coat to blend it all together.
This hue not only blew out on the runways (think Givenchy, Michael Kors, and Elie Saab), but it also had its manicure premiere on Hailey Bieber, who has literally sparked every major nail trend of the last year. For Coachella, she paired hers with a gold-chrome accent, which felt completely appropriate. However, you can use this color as an accent nail to dip your toes and fingers in.