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Color Trends

Butter Nails Are Back: Yellow Manicures Steal the Spotlight

5 min to read
Butter nails, or pastel yellow nails, are THE nail trend of the season. Spotted on top style icons like Selena Gomez and Hailey Bieber, these soft, luminous yellow nail polishes lit up the Spring-Summer Fashion Week runways. How can you wear the Butter nails trend? Which polish should you choose for your skin tone? What nail art ideas should you try? Here is everything you need to know:)

Butter nails: the new trend

What are we talking about?

After soap nails, it’s time for Butter nails to put yellow polish in the spotlight. But not just any yellow. Forget neon yellow or bold mustard: we’re all about butter yellow, a delicate, sunny, almost creamy pastel yellow. A subtle, fresh and refined polish shade that captures the clean girl aesthetic and quiet luxury spirit.

Where did it all start? A manicure created by celebrity nail artist Tom Bachik for Selena Gomez. Then Hailey Bieber embraced the trend, pairing her butter nails with the iconic butter skin look from her skincare brand, Rhode. The result: glowing, perfectly hydrated skin with matching nails. A winning combination.

Selena Gomez's Butter nails by
@tombachik.

 

Pastel yellow takes center stage on the runways

It is one of the standout shades of the Spring-Summer 2025 Fashion Week runways. From Jacquemus to Balenciaga and Coperni, every major fashion house showcased its take on this yellow hue. The trend is now taking over the nails of beauty insiders looking for luminous manicures just like their favorite fashion icons.

Variations on pastel yellow by Jacquemus and Balenciaga for Spring-Summer 2025.
(@tagwalk)

 

How to wear yellow nail polish?

Yellow can feel intimidating. And yet, when done right, this sunny shade flatters all skin tones and adds an ultra-modern touch to your look. Here are our favorite ways to wear Butter nails to suit your every mood.

Yellow in color-block style

Nothing beats a solid shade to let yellow shine in all its glory. Great news: our Green™ and Green Flash™ ranges offer a gorgeous palette of yellow polishes to make this new nail trend your own.

Looking for a yellow shade that shines without going over the top? Mimosa is a soft pastel yellow, smooth as butter and fresh as a lemon! Gorgeous on short, rounded nails, it particularly flatters fair skin. To wear Mimosa, Lemonade and the whole palette with long-lasting results, explore our selection of yellow semi-permanent polishes to cure under an LED lamp.

Looking for a more sparkling shade? Try Lemonade, a zesty pale yellow polish flecked with glitter, like the bubbles in an icy sorbet. The perfect shade for medium to deep skin tones.

Try Butter nails in an opaque or pearlescent finish with Mimosa and Lemonade.

 

With Shell, the yellow softens a little to make way for a nuanced, minimalist white. Both understated and refined, this soft shade flatters fair and tanned skin alike. For a barely-there manicure!

For a more festive look, Gold is a velvety glittering gold with a jewel-like effect, like a shower of light on your nails. Perfect for bright nails day or night, in any season! Wear it on long, almond-shaped nails to play up its ultra-glam side.

To show your amour for yellow, nothing beats Gold Button (available only as a Green™ polish): sunshine at your fingertips, joyful, bold and decidedly summery. We love wearing this bright yellow shade on short nails with tanned skin!

Golden, white, or bright: play with every shade of yellow.

Get creative with nail art

Yellow nail polish shades are perfect for creating delicate, graphic nail art designs. Here are a few ideas spotted on social media and in our favorite nail artists' studios:

Butter glazed nails : fall for these Butter nails with an irresistible icy finish. They’re super easy to create: apply a coat of Green Mimosa polish, dust it with a veil of White Glazed Effect powder, then seal it all with Top Coat Sunshine.

Your exclusive Glazed Butter nails tutorial!
(@griffegriffegriffe)

Mimosa & Lisa Lilas gradient : this colour gradient subtly blends the soft yellow of Mimosa with the gentle lilac of Lisa Lilas, taking inspiration from the flower fields of the South for a delightfully summery look.

Opt for a yellow and purple pastel gradient, a fresh and ultra-trendy duo.
(@m.o.n.a.j)

Flower nail art: yellow floral designs drawn with a dotting tool over a base of Pale Rose polish for a thoroughly springtime bohemian feel.

Sunny floral nail art over a Pale Rose base: the perfect match.

Pearl nail art : pearly shimmer against a pale yellow backdrop for a precious, textured and one-of-a-kind touch. A pretty mix of the pearly white of Moon and the iridescent yellow of Lemonade.

 

Caring for your yellow manicure

While yellow brightens nails, it can also highlight imperfections if the application is not neat. Three golden rules: prep, protect, hydrate.

Prepping the nail

A good manicure always starts with clean, healthy nails, thanks to careful prep. Start by gently filing your nails into your desired shape. Apply a little Effective Cuticle Softener to soften your cuticles, then push them back with a cuticle pusher for a clean, neat outline. Finally, gently buff your nails with the Prep File to smooth the surface and help the polish layers adhere.

Find everything you need to prep your nails in this complete kit.

 

Applying Base Coat and Top Coat

Base coat and top coat are your best allies for making your yellow manicure last longer, whether you’ve chosen regular polish or semi-permanent polish. A coat of Base Coat Green™ (if you’ve chosen Green™ polish) or Vitamin-Enriched Base Coat Green Flash™ (if you’ve chosen Green Flash™ polish) evens out the nail surface and makes polish easier to apply. As for Top Coat Sunshine (for Green™ polishes) and Top Coat Green Flash™ (for Green Flash™ polishes), they add radiance and shine to your manicure while sealing in the colour.

The Base Coat and Top Coat duo for a long-lasting yellow manicure.

 

Hydrate, always and forever

Massage your nails every day, even when you’re wearing polish, with a drop of Green Oil and/or a little Perfecting Concentrate to hydrate your nails and nourish your cuticles.

A quick daily massage for nourished, deeply hydrated nails.

 

Balancing tangy freshness and milky softness, butter nails mark the return of soft, luminous, and resolutely modern shades of yellow. Whether pastel, iridescent, or glittery, yellow brings sunshine to your manicure ☀️ Pick your shade based on your mood, nail shape, skin tone, and even your current playlist! Ready to “butter up” your nails?