‘Rose Water Nails’ Are Going to Be Everywhere This Summer

Spritzing a rose water face mist with abandon comes with the territory in a heat wave. But beyond a refreshing veil of moisture, rose water nails are also having a moment.

Characterized by its translucent, rosy pink flush, rose water nails are a sheer, tinted manicure that boosts your natural nail color. While sharing some of the hallmarks of blush nails and jelly nails, they involve pink shades in varying intensities, watery-thin layers of polish and a high-gloss finish.

Imagine Benefit’s iconic Benetint Blush—but for nails. Or your stained fingertips after eating a raspberry popsicle.

Why are rose water nails going viral?

Rose water nails aren’t exactly new. They’ve enjoyed spikes in popularity ever since Canadian nail brand Gelcare gave birth to the trend with a polish of the same name. “A delicate, jelly pink that enhances the natural beauty of your nail while giving them a glow 💗” is how the brand described its Rose Water gel polish in an Instagram post.

But rose water nails are currently enjoying a revival and flooding our FYPs for a couple of very good reasons.

The first—and perhaps the most obvious reason—is that Gelcare’s Rose Water Gel Polish has been pushed to the top of the “trending” shades category on its website.

Then there are the current rising temperatures. Creams and milks no longer feel fit for purpose in the heat and we’re leaning more into watery textures, from our moisturizers to the new raft of gel-like blushes that have launched in recent years. So it’s perhaps unsurprising that we’re stepping away from milk nails to embrace something lighter manicure-wise, too.

Low-maintenance nails in neutral shades, a.k.a the antithesis of vacation nails in neon shades, are also the current zeitgeist. Princess nails and Dakota Johnson’s glass French manicure, for example, have both gone viral; rose water nails share a similar DNA with both of these manicure trends but are just that little bit juicier and pink tinted.