‘Coconut milk’ nails will magically boost the look of your summer tan

White out.

23 June 2025

Image may contain Body Part Finger Hand Person Nail Skin Electronics and Hardware

Recently, the surest indicator of a manicure going viral is if it has the word ‘milk’ in the name. The new iteration to have on rotation? ‘Coconut milk' nails, a trend we predict will dominate over the summer months.

Coconut milk nails have the ability to look edgy while still appearing chic. They're also a great alternative if you're now tiring of the lavender milk manicure – and they're trending just in time to inject life into our tans.

What are coconut milk nails?

Like coconut milk itself, the polish is an opaque milky-white hue that works on every skin tone. And while the colour flashes off your nails, it's glossier than old-school, matte ‘Tipp-Ex’ nails. But it also lacks the pearlescent glimmer of white chrome nails.

It's versatile, too. If you're leaning more towards princess nails and BB cream nails this summer, you can also sheer out the colour.

‘Princess nails’ are the barely-there manis taking over your FYPs

Short but sweet.

By Fiona Embleton

Image may contain: Person, Skin, Body Part, Finger, and Hand

Ultimately, the goal for coconut milk nails is to hit the sweet spot between a bold lacquer and the type of neutral mani that instantly elongates your fingers and makes the tips look brighter.

You don't have to worry about matching your nails to your outfit, either, as white goes with everything. Case in point: Heidi Klum recently worked the look, pairing it with a denim jacket and white bikini.

How to get coconut milk nails

The cherry on top is that coconut milk nails don't require pro level skills or complicated nail art – rather, they can easily be created at home. Two coats of polish finished with a glossy top coat yields a punchy pop of white; mixing the polish and top coat together allows you to choose how opaque you want to go.

Here is our edit of the best white polishes so you can get busy recreating the look – Max Factor even has a nail polish called ‘Coconut Milk’ so you can get the exact colour match.