Sorbet nails are summer's fresh spin on the ice cream manicure

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24 June 2025

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Is it even summer if you're not spending more time in the freezer aisle? Cue the ice cream manicure has been a major focus but now sorbet nails are making a splash with their summer holiday energy.

So what exactly are sorbet nails and how do they differ from our other favourite frozen treat? Sorbet nails are exactly as they sound: a manicure that evokes the look and feel of sorbet ice cream. Texture-wise, they also mimic the same composition as the dessert they're named after: while ice cream is made of churned milk, sorbet is water-based and has a lighter, icier feel.

Similarly, the traditional ice cream manicure seamlessly blends a creamy pastel base with a soft white tip (imagine a cloud of whipped cream). Sorbet nails, meanwhile, also feature pastel and fruity polishes but these read slightly translucent – and, if there's a tip, it's a sorbet hue topping a glassy nude nail.

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By Fiona Embleton

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Different types of sorbet nails

Some sorbet nails lean into the ombre nail trend with a burst of juicy colour on the tips, blurring into a sheer nude base, like this peach sorbet nail by celebrity manicurist Queenie Nguyen, who counts Florence Pugh and Jessica Alba as clients.

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Others are inspired by jelly nails and the watercolour manicure trend, keeping things fun and fresh for those who like a hint of colour without straying into block brights or neon territory in the warmer months. “It's not about neons this summer,” confirms celebrity manicurist Harriet Westmoreland, who tells me she is firmly on team pastel this season.

But perhaps the most wearable iteration of sorbet nails is a glassy, barely-there base paired with a soft, fruity shade of polish at the tip.

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Defined by their slightly watery finish, the beauty of sorbet nails is that they can also take their cue from the low-key princess nails and glass manicure trend that are flooding our FYPs right now.

Case in point: I recently attended an Hermès S/S nails event, where sorbet ice creams were served alongside sorbet manicures. At their core was a sheer milky shade called 02 Blanc Orage (pictured left on Harriet's Instagram carousel), with tiny shimmery particles that glisten in the light in the same way as ice. It instantly transformed every pastel hue into a sorbet nail.

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When Harriet did my manicure, she opted for two coats of 02 Blanc Orage across the whole of my nail, before adding a sorbet lemon micro-French tip. “People are still loving the French tip but they're pairing it with a milky polish and a pastel tip,” she says.