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​Okay, so we’ve already done the soft summer hair dye options — if you’re committing to your summer season palette, another cheap and easy way to do it is through soft summer nail colors. 

This post is going to attempt to give you summery nail colors from across our soft summer color palette, divided up by regular polish, gel, and dip. (I am a gel loyalist myself and I wrote about it here: How to Remove the Sticky Residue From Gel Nails FAST (2024) )

So, summer nail trends often run towards bright neons, but that’s just not part of our soft summer palette. 

I remember when I first determined that I was a soft summer, I was so disappointed — it seemed boring to me. Wallflower-y. Like it was designed to be overlooked in favor of brighter, more vibrant shades. 

But in reality — soft summer is sophisticated and refined. It took me a while to come around to appreciating the elegance of this palette, and even longer to identify with it. But I would say that 85% of my wardrobe is now in my soft summer colors, my overall look is cohesive and refined, and I barely miss those bright shades. 

What makes a soft summer nail color? 

A soft summer nail color will always be cool and muted, because all soft summers are cool and muted.

That means: 

• You’re always looking for a color with blue undertones, not yellow undertones.
• And, you’re always looking for a color with a little bit of grey mixed in. Soft summers, unlike other summers, can get away with a little bit of brown as well. 

The third quality that makes a soft summer is moderate contrast. This will vary for different soft summer skin tones — for white soft summers, this generally means a color of light to moderate depth, that will give some contrast against their skin tone. Soft summers of color can opt for colors that are 2-3 shades lighter or darker than their skin tones. Please note that I am showing soft summer nail colors in all depths of color because soft summers come in all races and ethnicities. 

If all of this sounds too hypothetical right now, just hang on. You’ll see in a moment what all these colors have in common and it’ll become clearer. 

Summer nail ideas for soft summers

Summer months make us want bright colors, and there are bright-for-soft-summer options that are going to work for you! We’re not opting for the hot pink nail polish colors that springs might go for, but we can pick brighter shades within our palette. (I’ll save the moody forest greens for the autumn nail post!) 

So your summer nails are a little more dreamy pastel than bright red, but staying in your seasonal color palettes helps your polish just look right! As soft summers, we know that that neon orange wears us, not the other way around. 

(Though, of course — sometimes you break the palette because that’s what you want! Sometimes your sister wants brown, earthy tones in the bridesmaid dress and you love your sister! Sometimes you love a bright orange for no real reason! And in those cases, wear the thing you want to wear. Summer is the perfect time to experiment! But if you’re looking for a go-to that’s always going to look right on you — these are them.)

It’s also possible to tweak an existing nail polish color to make it fit into the palette! I wrote up how I do that here: Holy Grail Soft Summer Polish – Adjust Any Color to Fit Your Season

Regular polish summer nail polish colors for soft summers

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I love this one to start — a cool, periwinkle or lilac with a creamy effect. Check out this photo from reddit of someone’s gorgeous manicure in this bright baby blue color. This color is actually a little less muted than most soft summers are going to reach for, but I like to have options that seem a little brighter for the summer! It makes it feel like a more versatile color. This contrast level is ideal for lighter skin tones. 

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Honestly OPI’s Taupe-Less beach is a year-round color for soft summers and offers that perfect refined muted shade. This taupe is a neutral nail for us! 

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​essie’s For the Twill of It has enough grey in it to read muted, if you like metallics. 

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similarly — the OPI Intentions are Rose Gold is pink enough to suit a soft summer (or really any summer season). It isn’t very muted! But it’s not clear either, and it will work when you want a little razzle dazzle. 

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And if you’re looking for a summery pink, this is a great soft summer option — clear for us, but still muted enough to look natural on you. If you’re looking for a bold colors but still soft summer look, this is it. 

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And if you saw red nail theory on TikTok – make space for this Chevron Trend polish. (the name is dated but the color is not!) This is absolutely on the bright side for us, and too bright for the most muted soft summers. But if you want a statement polish that isn’t going to wear you, try this one out. (It has gel in the name but it’s a regular nail polish that does not require UV!)

​Gel polish nail polish colors for soft summers

So I am a gel polish girl and would love to evangelize it to you. If you’re already a gel girl and never going back — here is the beauty content you came for. 

Gel polishes often come in sets, which is annoying when you’re sticking to a color scheme. There aren’t a lot of packs that are committed to only cool toned colors, but it’s also nice to have some variety when you do your own nails. 

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These are not all muted, but they’re very cool, and I particularly like the airy shades of blue for summer nails. (Some other time I’ll teach you how I adjust nail colors to get them perfect for the palette, but that’s another post.) For this set, the medium blue and lighter purple are home run colors for soft summers, and the darker blue and brighter purple can be rule-breaking colors if you like that particular shade enough. 

But mostly I stick to single polishes for that reason. 

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Here’s the soft summer pink glitter nail in gel! I love this color and think of it as my “nude plus”! It has a little bit of summer playfulness and is a perfect way to upgrade a pale pink or nude nail. 

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But if you want a gel color that’s a true nude, here it is. A nice sheer pink that will pick up cool tones and look so polished and refined. 

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Another set that’s quite good. Every color will suit your color analysis, though certainly not every color is summery! I would tuck some of the greys away for winter. 

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Cobalt is another bright but muted color that’s going to be a good summery compromise color, if you want one. It will be one of the brighter colors you can get away with!

And if you’re looking for a soft summer red in gel polish — it’s not available on Amazon, but try beetles Alicia Jam and report back!! 

Dip nail polish for soft summer nail polish ideas

I’m not too good at dip, but I know that the people who love dip really love it, so I pulled some color options for the dip girls too. (I tried dip and found it more difficult to get started than builder gel so I kind of gave up.) Of course, dip users can make custom colors so easily by combining products together! 

I’m less knowledgeable about brands here so there are fewer options but….

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Revel’s Queen is a perfect soft summer color — moderate depth, muted, and cool.

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A great starter set of soft summer dip colors. That brightest pink looks a little warm and wouldn’t work for a light summer or cool summer complexions, but we tend to run the warmest. 

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A pink glitter manicure for every soft summer! 

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I could take or leave the color change thing, but this is a classic soft summer denim blue and I love finding it in nail polish shades! 

So I’m planning to do a post like this for each season, and for all three types of summers! I love nails. Thanks for being on the color analysis journey with me.