Don’t get me wrong, I love a bold nail moment. Especially during scorching summer weather, a juicy watermelon or citrus lacquer sets my heart aflutter. Just one slight issue: My at-home manis are atrocious. I’m not being dramatic—with my shaky fingers and general lack of patience, I often wind up with more polish spilling over my cuticles than on the nail plates themselves.
That being said, I’m ecstatic that minimal, pearl-coated digits are one of summer’s hottest nail trends (thank you, Mrs. Bieber), since the super-sheer polish makes it easy to hide any errant strokes. But this nail color is so much more than a simple clear coat: How do you master that slightly shimmery, pearly-pink hue?
Friends, allow me to introduce you to Olive & June’s new Nail Brightener—it will not only make your at-home manis an absolute breeze (trust me!) but also enhance the health of your tips long-term.
Why Olive & June’s Nail Brightener is perfect for pearl nails.
Consider pearl nails (or “glazed donut nails,” as Bieber’s nail artist Zola Ganzorigt calls them) an elevated version of the summer nude—it adds a little bit of oomph with the extra shimmer, yet it still appears quite natural and even makes your fingers look longer. Essentially, they look like cool, white pearls with a chrome dust finish, and they have practically exploded in popularity; “pearl nail” videos have hit a whopping 57.2 million views on TikTok.
And if you ask Ganzorigt, it takes a combination of four polish colors to achieve the perfect shimmery yet opaque lacquer. However, Olive & June’s Nail Brightener offers a pearlescent finish with a single stroke: It immediately covers up nail stains and discoloration without adding any actual color to your nails, resulting in vibrant, natural-looking tips with the perfect coat of pearl.
Plus, the formula comes with UV filters that reflect the sun’s rays—this is not only a stellar choice for overall nail health (because, yes, your digits can experience sun damage), but as the light bounces off the surface, it also lends the prettiest shimmer. Talk about a polish that plays double duty.
As soon as I applied a thin layer of Nail Brightener, I was floored by how much it illuminated the natural color of my nails. I didn’t think my nails were even that stained—yet with the brightener on, they were noticeably more clear. If you’re gunning for just a teeny bit of shimmer, one coat is likely all you’ll need; however, if you want to go full-on opaque pearl, two coats will do just the trick.
But the Nail Brightener goes a step further.
Yes, the Nail Brightener is top notch for pearly, Hailey Bieber-esque tips. But what makes this formula so unique is how it buffs up your nails long-term. See, it not only contains illuminating ingredients (like lemon peel and lemon extract) that conceal and lighten stains in the moment, but it also helps prevent those stains from even forming in the first place.
The polish essentially acts as a shield for your nails, protecting it from environmental aggressors (like pollutants and sun exposure) that can result in stains or ridges. Along with those UV filters I mentioned, the formula can help keep your nails from yellowing over time. So this Olive & June number doesn’t just give you a pearly coat of polish—it also keeps your bare nails thriving.
Pearlescent nails are all the rage right now, but at the risk of sounding cheesy, nail health is always on-trend. Grab a polish that can master both goals, like Olive & June’s Nail Brightener. A couple coats of the $14 formula, and your tips will gleam immediately and over time (with just one product, I should add!). And if you want to brush on a bit of chrome powder á la Bieber, go right ahead. Your nails will stay protected underneath the illuminating polish.