Summer shade choice is really a question about contrast. Skin gets warmer and darker through the season, so a colour picked in May can look completely different in August on the same hands.
These are grouped by family and ordered from the safest inside each one. Where a shade behaves differently against a tan, it says so.
Every retail and salon light is warm, which pushes shades towards flattering. Step outside with the bottle against the back of your hand before you commit to a full set.
If you are going somewhere sunny, remember you will be several shades darker by day four. A colour chosen against pale skin can vanish against a tan.
Corals and oranges
Classic coral
Pink-leaning orange. The single most flattering summer shade across the widest range of skin tones, and the one that looks best against a tan.
If you buy one summer shade, this is it.
Sheer coral
The same family at a third of the opacity. Chips are invisible on it, which makes it the holiday version.
One coat. Two starts creeping towards opaque.
Tangerine
Saturated warm orange with no pink in it. Excellent against a tan, difficult against very pale winter skin.
Two coats minimum. Oranges are the patchiest family in one.
Terracotta
A dusty clay orange. It behaves like a neutral while still reading as a colour, which makes it the most wearable orange there is.
The shade that carries from August straight into September.
Pinks
Strawberry milk
Sheer warm pink with a white cast. It suits more hands than anything else in this list and works in every season.
Three thin coats to keep the translucency.
Hot pink
Saturated blue-pink. Best on short nails, where the brightness is contained.
Looks strongest against a tan and can read harsh against very pale skin.
Watermelon
Warm pink with a hint of red. Softer than a hot pink and brighter than a ballet pink.
The middle option when hot pink is too much and pale pink is not enough.
Blues and greens
Cobalt
Deep saturated blue. It reads expensive rather than novelty, which most bright blues do not.
Short lengths only if you want it wearable rather than costume.
Sky blue
Soft pale blue. Very good against pale skin and it fades visually against a deep tan.
A May and June shade more than an August one.
Sea glass
Translucent blue-green. Almost a treatment rather than a colour, and it looks like exactly what it is named after.
The subtlest way to wear a colour in summer.
Lime sherbet
Soft yellow-green. The most divisive shade in the list and a favourite of the people it suits.
Green is the least forgiving family for undertone. Test it properly.
Neutrals and whites
Milky white
Off-white at partial opacity with the nail line showing through. The most forgiving colour for a home manicure in any season.
Reads bright against a tan without the harshness of an opaque white.
Opaque white
Full white. Against a tan it is the highest-contrast option there is, which is why it dominates summer photographs.
Three thin coats. Thick white dries with brush lines.
Skin-match nude
Matched to your own tone. It extends the finger visually and hides regrowth for weeks.
Your summer nude and your winter nude are different bottles. Skin tone moves.
Sand
Warm pale beige with a hint of gold. It reads as a colour on pale skin and as a neutral on a tan.
The most useful bottle to pack, because it works either way through the trip.
Pearl chrome
Iridescent powder over a sheer base, shifting in sunlight in a way no flat colour does.
A salon finish. Two passes of powder, no more.
What to pack
Two bottles cover a fortnight: a sheer coral and a sand. Both hide chips, both work against changing skin tone, and both suit whatever you happen to be wearing. Add an opaque white if you want one high-contrast set for photographs.
For the designs these shades sit under, summer nails has the full list, and trending nail colors covers the year-round palette.
Questions people actually ask
What is the best nail color for summer?
Coral. It suits the widest range of skin tones, looks best against a tan, and works as both an opaque and a sheer.
What nail color looks best with a tan?
Opaque white, coral and tangerine, because all three are high contrast against warm darker skin. Pale blues and pastels tend to disappear.
Which summer nail colors hide chips best?
Any sheer, and any nude close to your own tone. Chips on a bright opaque shade are visible from across a room.
Do I need a different nude in summer?
Yes, if you tan. A nude matched in March will read too pale by August. It is the one shade worth owning twice.
