Summer nails have one constraint the rest of the year does not: sun, salt water and chlorine all attack a manicure, and sunscreen is worse than any of them for lifting polish at the edges. A set that lasts three weeks in February will not last two on holiday.
Everything below is grouped by how much punishment it takes. If you are picking a shade rather than a design, summer nail colors breaks the palette down properly.
Chemical sunscreen softens polish and gel topcoats. Apply it, wait, then wash your hands rather than rubbing the residue into the nail edge.
Chlorine dulls a gloss finish within a few swims and bleaches bright shades slightly. If a holiday matters, choose a sheer or a nude rather than a bright, because fading is invisible on them.
Holiday-proof
Sheer coral wash
One coat of a translucent coral so the nail keeps depth without going opaque. Chips are almost invisible on a sheer, which is the whole point on holiday.
The single most practical summer manicure there is.
Skin-match nude
A nude matched to your own tone. Regrowth and small chips both disappear against it.
Match it against the back of your hand in daylight, not under salon light.
Short round white
Opaque off-white on a very short round shape. Nothing to catch, nothing to break, and it reads bright against a tan.
Short and round is the most durable combination available. Nothing else comes close on a beach.
Milky white gel
Sheer off-white in gel rather than polish, which survives salt water far better and holds its shine.
The set to book the week before a holiday.
Micro French in coral
A hairline tip in coral on a bare base. Because the design sits at the free edge it grows out invisibly across two weeks away.
Thin. Anything over a millimetre reads dated rather than current.
Bright and saturated
Tangerine
Saturated warm orange. It is the shade that looks best against a tan and worst against winter skin, which is why it belongs strictly to these months.
Two coats. Oranges are notoriously patchy in one.
Cobalt blue
Deep saturated blue. It carries better on short nails than long, because there is less of it.
Reads more expensive than a pastel blue and costs the same.
Lime sherbet
Soft yellow-green. The most divisive shade on this list and the one that gets the most compliments when it works.
Test it against the back of your hand. Green is the least forgiving family for undertone.
Neon pink tips
A French where the tip is a highlighter pink on a sheer base. The brightness is contained, so it works on people who would never wear a full neon.
Neons need a white base under them or they come out chalky.
Watermelon accent
Pink base, thin green line at the tip and a few black seeds on one or two nails. Literal, but it photographs extremely well.
Two nails, not ten. A full set of these is a costume.
Soft and beachy
Aura in coral
A blurred halo of coral in the centre of each nail over a nude base. The edges have to fade fully or it becomes a dot.
The prettiest summer design in the category and the one most worth paying for.
Ocean marble
Fine blue and white veining pulled through a milky base so it reads like water rather than tie-dye.
Two or three veins per nail. The instinct is always to add more.
Sunset ombre
A fade from soft yellow at the cuticle through peach into pink at the tip.
The gradient needs at least two thirds of the nail. Short fades look like a mistake.
Pearl chrome over pink
Iridescent powder buffed over a sheer pink, shifting between pearl and lilac. It reads expensive in any light.
Two passes of powder only.
Daisy dots
Five white dots in a ring with a yellow centre, on one or two nails over a sheer base.
Place the yellow centre while the petals are wet so they bleed together slightly.
Statement sets
Chrome mirror
Full mirror chrome. In bright sun it throws light in a way no other finish does.
Needs gel underneath and a no-wipe topcoat. Not an at-home finish.
Long coffin in white
Opaque white on a long coffin. The most photographed summer set there is, and the least practical.
White shows every speck of dirt. Not a gardening set.
Checkerboard in pastels
Small squares in two soft shades on one accent nail.
Small squares. Large ones read as a novelty at any distance.
Gold foil over nude
Torn gold leaf scattered near the cuticle, sealed under a thick topcoat.
Two topcoats or it snags on everything.
Cherry red gloss
Blue-toned cherry red at full opacity. It is not a summer shade specifically, which is exactly why it looks deliberate in August.
The one shade on this page you will still wear in November.
What to ask for before a holiday
Gel rather than polish, short rather than long, and sheer rather than bright. That combination survives two weeks of sun, sea and sunscreen with nothing visible going wrong. If you want one bright set for photographs, get it done the day before you fly rather than a week out.
For the pedicure half of the season, summer toe nails covers it, and vacation nails is built around the trip itself.
Questions people actually ask
What nail colors are best for summer?
Coral, tangerine, cobalt and any sheer white or nude. Coral is the one that suits the widest range of skin tones and looks best against a tan.
How do I stop summer nails from chipping on holiday?
Gel rather than regular polish, short rather than long, and wash your hands after sunscreen instead of rubbing the residue in. Sunscreen at the nail edge is the main culprit, not the water.
Do bright nail colors suit everyone?
Bright shades work on almost everyone at short lengths. It is length rather than skin tone that decides whether a neon reads fun or overwhelming.
Will chlorine ruin a gel manicure?
It dulls the gloss and slightly fades saturated shades over a week of daily swimming. It rarely causes lifting. Sheers and nudes hide both effects completely.
