What is the latest 'Butter Nails' trend? How to achieve the manicure

Spring-summer energy exuding nails is a new manicure trend, dubbed the Butter Nails. Made viral by Selena Gomez's celebrity manicurist, Tom Bachik, the manicure is generating a buzz across social media platforms. Tom Bachik shared a photo of the glossy-looking manicure via Instagram with the caption “Trend alert: Butter manis for Spring.”

While mint and other milky pastel shades have been dominating spring manicures, the butter nails feature a soft yellow pastel hue which is easy to create and style with multiple outfits on various occasions. When one thinks of spring and summer, yellow is the most prominent colour that comes to mind, which is what the butter manicure trend is all about.

Moreover, this manicure makes use of shades of mellow yellows. Bachik shared that the Butter Nails were inspired by Selena Gomez, who suggested a happy shade for her manicure. He also added that the butter yellow manicure is going to be a hot manicure for spring.

---

Steps and products to achieve the Butter Nails trend

Tom Bachik has been manicurist to Jennifer Lopez and Selena Gomez for a long time. He is responsible for curating the viral fire chrome manicure for Selena’s 2023 VMAs appearance, and Camila Cabello’s icy nails at the Vanity Fair Oscars after-party 2024. Bachik suggests that the soft, round nail shape is ideal to curate the butter nails trend. However, beauty enthusiasts can also opt for oval, almond, or squoval shaped nails.

Before replicating trending manicures, it is important to prep the nails. Using a nail file, shape the nails and proceed to the cuticles. For a clean-looking, long-lasting manicure, it is important that the cuticles are pushed back. This can be done by applying a cuticle softener or cuticle oil at the base of the nails, and using a cuticle pusher to gently push the cuticle back. A tip to acing the same is pushing the cuticles in the opposite direction of nail growth.

While Tom Bachik hasn’t mentioned extensive details on the Instagram post of the butter manicure, he used the Tweezerman & Tom Bachik Nail Care Travel Set ($29) to perfectly shape the nails. The set comprises all essential tools to shape and prep the nails before a manicure. It consists of a toenail clipper, fingernail clipper, mini pushy and nail cleaner, mini cuticle nipper and a dual sided file.

Next, Tom Bachik used two coats of Mia Secret Gelux Gel Polish in the shade Butter ($12.50). The Gelux gel polish promises to last up to 21 days, and is peeling and chipping resistant.

Seal the manicure using a high-shine top coat to ensure the manicure is long-lasting and as glossy looking as real butter. The Sally Hansen Miracle Gel Top Coat ($16.48) could be the ideal option for this.

---

Some alternate nail polish shades for beauty enthusiasts wanting to create butter nails are: OPI's Nail Lacquer in the shade Blinded by the Ring Light ($11.99) — a pastel yellow creme shade, Chanel Le Vernis in the shade 129 Ovni ($38.45) — a milky yellow shade, and Gucci Glossy Nail Polish in the shade Cecilia Ivory ($35).