Everyone may be talking about Hailey Bieber’s navy blue nails right now (a very cool choice for fall), but I’m not done swooning over her last buzzy mani moment. What can I say? The beauty mogul drops gem after gem, and I need ample time to give each design its proper due.
Just last month, Bieber posted her fresh set of warm, amber tips (created by none other than her longtime nail artist Zola Ganzorigt) on Instagram with the caption “ready for fall.” The teddy-brown hue definitely evokes the start of cozy season—I can practically smell the cinnamon through my screen!—but the yellow, orange undertones make it an even trendier choice for fall. Think pumpkin spice over hot cocoa.
Any polish that graces the hands of Ms. Bieber is bound to go viral, but then I saw celebrity manicurist and Chanel nail artist Betina Goldstein also sporting amber tips—and now I know the color has become a fall staple. Just yesterday, Goldstein posted an Instagram tutorial for her “tortoiseshell nails with black micro-French tips.” The base? A warm, honey-drenched amber. She used a darker shade of brown to create the scattered swirls in the tortoiseshell print, but I can’t stop looking at the jelly amber base so similar to Bieber’s.
“I used a mix of gel polishes,” Goldstein writes in the caption. While we don’t know exactly which shades she used, I’d wager they come from this set of six jelly brown hues Goldstein features in her Amazon storefront. Similarly, Ganzorigt says she “mixed five different colors” for Bieber’s amber mani, so it may take a blend of two or three polishes to achieve that rich, amber finish. This makes sense, when you think about it. Amber, after all, is an amalgamation of brown, gold, orange, and red—not unlike fall foliage.
You better believe I’ll be sporting the on-trend hue by my next mani, so I did some digging to find the best amber polishes to mix and match. Keep scrolling to find all the shades living rent-free in my mind for the next several weeks.
Shop the Best Amber Nail Polishes
GAOY
Jelly Brown Gel Nail Polish of 6
Here’s the exact gel kit listed in Goldstein’s storefront. You really can’t go wrong with any of these autumnal colors.
Olive & June
Nail Polish – JJ
While this polish has a touch more red in it, it provides a fabulous amber base.
OPI
Nail Lacquer – My Italian Is a Little Rusty
This honey-kissed shade is delicious.
OPI
Nail Lacquer – It’s a Piazza Cake
Layer it with this red-toned brown, and you’ll nail the amber hue.
Chanel
Le Vernis – Spirituelle
An amber polish from Chanel is a no-brainer.
CND
Shellac Gel Polish – Willow Talk
CND makes some of the most high-quality gel polishes in the game. You can’t go wrong with this yellow-toned brown.
Essie
Gel Couture Longwear Nail Polish – Fab Florals
This Essie number is probably as close to jelly amber as you’ll get with a single polish.
This latte-like lacquer is gorgeous on its own, or you could mix it with another red-tinged brown (such as the one below) for more of an amber finish.
Terracotta polish is my absolute failsafe for fall. For amber nails, it creates the perfect base.