Calling It: This Juicy Nail Color Will Eclipse Every Other Shade This Summer
Every summer, there seems to be one specific nail color that leaves the rest of our favorite hues in the dust. Remember the Crayola-yellow craze? Slime green? And, of course, there are the predictable summer staples that will never be booted off the podium—electric corals, hot pinks, and fire-engine reds.
This season, however, there is a new Doja Cat–worthy nail color that's made a juicy appearance within almost every fresh collection we've seen—peach. In fact, Harry Styles recently sparked pandemonium when he sported a neon peachy-coral hue in the music video to accompany his hit single "Watermelon Sugar." (Leave it to Styles to be on top of a nail trend even before we beauty editors are.)
The perfect compromise between pink, coral, and red, peach, in our opinion, will be the nail color of the season, and frankly, we can't wait to start painting our tips with the fruity hue. Since there's a gradient of peach shades—some veer more orange; some are closer to red and pink—we're sharing our fave peach nail colors below to whet your appetite. Keep scrolling!
Okay, I'm not going to keep you waiting. Out of every peach nail color I've seen, swiped, and contemplated this season, this delicious hue from Olive & June is my absolute favorite. It's affordable, glossy, super-pigmented, and it just makes me stupid happy. It's been on repeat ever since I got my hands on it.
Anything bearing the chic Chanel name is bound to be an investment, but I deem this deeply ripened shade 100% splurge-worthy.
As a self-proclaimed nail polish fanatic, I have always counted Essie as one of my favorite brands. That said, I almost exclusively reach for its Gel Couture collection. A) I'm obsessed with the ridiculously shiny results, and B) I appreciate that the formula looks like a professionally executed job for almost a full two weeks. This peaches-and-cream shade is the one I have on my mind this summer.
Here it is—the exact nail color Harry Styles wore in his scintillating "Watermelon Sugar" music video. Think of this as the ultimate neon-peach nail color. It's only $4, so you absolutely have no excuse not to scoop it up before the shade (inevitably) sells out.
Base Coat is one of my favorite nontoxic nail brands. (It has two different collections—the OG, which is eight-free, and the Breathable, which is 10-free.) The range of color choices is off-the-charts mouthwatering, so it was hard to choose one single peach shade as my favorite. Alas, I've settled on this supremely flattering hue called Sorbet.
I would need 10 hands to count on my fingers the number of times this peachy keen shade has won me compliments. (My dad and a guy I was seeing included!) It's on the earthier, orangier end of the peach spectrum but tantalizing nonetheless. Himalayan Salt (described by the brand as an "ambient pink" is another very feasible peach option from the nontoxic, cruelty-free brand.
Lush and creamy, this light orangey-peach shade from OPI will easily rack in the compliments. (No fishin' needed as the name would suggest.)
Found: the ultimate peach nail color that's not too orange nor too pink. Plus, it comes in at $5, so you can snap up a few bottles in one go.
Technically, this fan-favorite color from luxe beauty brand Smith & Cult is described as an opaque dirty rose. But it's also the same tasty hue as a dreamy pink-almost-purple peach.
Zoya has over 400 nail colors. Thus, selecting just one shade of peach was challenging to say the least. That said, we knew we had to satisfy those who crave some shimmer with their manicure. Meet Meadow, a pretty spring hue the brand touts as a frosty, golden peach with a flash of shimmering copper.
Must-Have Mani Necessities:
The best clear topcoat to keep your chosen shade of peach vibrant and juicy for as long as possible (roughly two weeks, if we're going into particulars).
If you struggle to paint your own nails, you haven't lived until you've tried Olive & June's ingenious invention Poppy. It's the brand's patented universal polish bottle handle that makes painting your own nails easier, faster, and a heck of a lot less nerve-racking. All you have to do is pop it on top of your favorite polish, and you'll reap more control for more even, steady strokes.
We'd typically recommend you keep your cuticle-cutting to the professionals, but since we're all doing our manicures at home right now, this is the best tool to help you snip safely. (Just tread carefully, okay?)
And, of course, you'll need an A+ set of nail clippers. This is the set beauty editors keep in their kit.
Everyone deserves a seriously luxe hand cream. Right now, Team Who What Wear is infatuated with Glossier's dreamy formula, which transforms dry, cracked hands to silky velvet with fairy godmother–like finesse.
Nail polish remover is a nonnegotiable for at-home manicures. That said, some can have a downright terrifying effect on your nails. This nontoxic solution is enriched with beautiful ingredients like rose hip, aloe, vitamin E, and nail-strengthening horsetail leaf extract to lessen the potential havoc significantly.
Your manicure kit (or beauty kit, in general) simply isn't complete without a do-it-all balm-salve situation to alleviate everything from scales and dehydration to cracked cuticles. Dr. Pawpaw's balm is the beloved cult favorite among celebrities and beauty editors alike. (I own about 10 tubes!) Right now, this shea butter–infused version is my favorite.
Up next, 11 Simple At-Home Nail Designs That Mimic an Expensive Salon Job
Erin has been writing a mix of beauty and wellness content for Who What Wear for over four years. Prior to that, she spent two and half years writing for Byrdie. She now calls Santa Monica home but grew up in Minnetonka, Minnesota, and studied writing, rhetoric, and communication at University of Wisconsin, La Crosse. She studied abroad in Galway, Ireland, and spent a summer in L.A. interning with the Byrdie and Who What Wear family. After graduating from UW, she spent one year in San Francisco, where she worked as a writer for Pottery Barn Kids and PBteen before moving down to L.A. to begin her career as a beauty editor. She considers her day-to-day beauty aesthetic very low-maintenance and relies on staples like clear brow serum (from Kimiko!), Lawless's Lip Plumping Mask in Cherry Vanilla, and an eyelash curler. For special occasions or days when she's taking more meetings or has an event, she'll wear anything and everything from Charlotte Tilbury (the foundations are game-changing), some shimmer on her lids (Stila and Róen do it best), and a few coats of the best mascara-type product on earth, Surratt's Noir Lash Tint.
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