I'll take Kylie Jenner's insect nails or Haley Bieber's Farmer's Market manicure over a plain, pale pink polish any day. But if there's one thing my beauty past has taught me, it's that sweet little treats inspire the most lasting summer nail polish trends. Glazed donuts, strawberry shortcake, and even blueberry milk have been considered the most popular shades and color combinations of the decade.

At the core of these labels are new names for chrome, pink, and pale blue, which are just basic summer nail colors. I am not mad at them, but I want something more exciting. Something fresh. Something fun. Something a little different, an out-of-the-box shade that I can spread on my fingertips. If you haven't caught on to my pun yet, I want butter yellow nail polish.

Luckily, it's the hottest shade this summer. Butter yellow is trending this year because it's the new nude," says Priscilla Nguyen, Apps Nail Educator and Manicurist. It's a shade that's not so bright and pops." Butter yellow, which is a light shade and can be worn with any outfit, is a nail polish trend. The trend, which has turned from condiment to color, has doubled in Google search volume in recent months. At my New York nail salon, Essie's Buttercup and OPI's Blind by the Ring Light were out of stock for weeks.

Meanwhile, beauty insiders have been championing butter yellow as the it-girl mani color since April. Rare Beauty founder Selena Gomez, Lord Beauty founder Hailey Bieber, and CoverGirl ambassador Kelsea Ballerini have all Instagrammed snaps of their nails painted in their favorite accessory shade of bread.

Kendall Jenner also joined the trend this weekend, sharing a photo of her "butter nails" on Instagram Stories. Her nails are short and naturally squovalent (aka square with rounded corners) and painted a soft yellow, reminiscent of whipped butter found at upscale steakhouses.

If you can't believe that butter (yellow) isn't already coating your nails, I'm happy to report that it's incredibly easy to get the look. For a complete breakdown of the butter yellow nail trend for summer, then proceed, take a screenshot, and schedule your next nail appointment.

It's no exaggeration to say that the butter yellow nail trend has taken the world by storm. For proof, check out your "For You" page: butter yellow has been hashtagged over 2,000 times on TikTok and each video has millions of total views.

Butter yellow was the earliest manicure to be used on Sandy Liang's Fall 2024 runway last February. (The shade also appeared in dozens of clothing collections the season before that as a trending spring color.) But it wasn't until nail artist Tom Bacik shared a photo of Selena Gomez's nails painted in this cheerful shade that the shade really took off in 2024.

Now, scrolling through social media without seeing butter yellow used as an accent in a French manicure (like Gigi Hadid's Met Gala manicure) or as a pop of color in otherwise status quo nail art is near impossible.

"I love adding butter yellow daisies to any shade, from nude colors to bright coral pink," says celebrity nail artist Miss Pop. 'It's instantly uplifting and almost any nail artist can do it.'

Butter yellow nails are exploding this summer, but finding your best shade can feel like a journey. Says Miss Pop, "One of the most important things to look for in a butter yellow shade is opacity." 'You need a highly pigmented, soft shade. Otherwise, you may end up with a dud that requires three or more coats."

Miss Popp says.

It is also important to consider skin tone. You want to make slight adjustments to the shade of the mold to match your skin tone. "Butter yellow can be unforgiving on many skin tones, but if you reach for a pale yellow shade with shimmer that catches the light a little or add pearl chrome powder to a special shimmer nail polish topcoat or gel, it is the most difficult shade to subtly tone," Miss Pop advises.

With these tips in mind, choose the following butter-yellow nail polishes.