Whether you’re into getting spray tans, laying out in the sun (with an SPF, of course,) or prefer to go the self-tanner route, sometimes nothing feels better than adding a little boost of bronze to your complexion. However, if none of these are on your agenda this summer, and you’re one of the sad souls who will have to spend the warmer months stuck in a cubicle (I feel bad for you—that sucks), we’ve come up with a list of tricks to make you look tanner, including donning some of these bright-ass nail polish colors to make you look tan. At least your hands can look prettier as you’re clacking away on your keyboard while everyone else is out drinking rosé poolside.
You’ve probably noticed that getting a white manicure or pedicure can really accentuate your level of bronze, but there’s a shit ton of other non-basic bitch options that can do the exact same thing. Read on to find out which nail polishes you need to purchase if you’re tired of looking like a pasty white ghost.
1. côte No. 50
It’s not an easy task to make a nail polish cruelty-free, vegan, and free of serious toxins, but côte managed to do so with all of their polishes. What’s more? They made No. 50 their fiery orangey red, which combines two tan-enhancing shades to make you look that much more bronze.
2. Essie Good As Gold
Gold may not be one of your go-to nail polish colors to make you look tan, but it should be. It’s not only light colors that make your fingers look tanner. You’ve probably turned to Essie for your basic pastel, neutral shades, but the brand’s Good As Gold polish will have your fingers dripping in gold to match your newly golden hue.
3. China Glaze Always A Lady Nail Polish
Just because the psychos you work for your place of employment is strict about the nail polish colors that you wear, doesn’t mean you need to sacrifice looking tan. So we present to you: the more low-key, SFW option with China Glaze’s Always A Lady shade, for the betches who prefer to get ratchet on the weekends but need to present themselves as a lady during the work week.
4. Color Club Not-So-Mellow Yellow Nail Polish
Just as the name suggests, there is nothing mellow about this shade. If you’re brave AF and committed to making yourself look as tan as possible, try Color Club’s Not-So-Mellow Yellow hue this summer.
5. LeChat Perfect Match Nail Polish, Promiscuous
If you prefer gel manicures, LeChat Perfect Match’s Promiscuous neon purple shade will accentuate both your level of bronze and level of thottiness.
6. Orly Basket Case Nail Polish
What better way to embrace being a complete fucking basket case than with a Barbie pink nail color? Orly’s Basket Case polish looks like a hot pink shade on your nails to give the illusion that you’re cute and feminine (and super tan) while really on the inside you’re a big psycho mess who overanalyzes everything.
7. Zoya Tanzy Nail Polish
To round out our list, Zoya’s Tanzy shade looks like a sparkly, golden orange when applied because, if you can’t spend golden hour drinking margaritas on a rooftop every day of summer, at least your nails can look like a sunset.
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