Find the perfect shade for you with one of the 21 best polishes for pastel purple nails. Pastels are fresh, youthful, and fun so pastel purple nail polish is a must for any spring look. For more soft shades check out the top polishes for pastel green nails. Don’t forget you can extend the life of your mani with the best top coat brands around.
If periwinkle is your color, check out Dainty Daze by Londontown Lakur. This sweet light purple is on the blue side of the spectrum and perfect for people with cool-toned skin and people with darker skin.
I’ve tested out a few media samples of Londontown Lakurs and they have some of my favorite spring colors out there. In my experience, they can be a little sheer or streaky on the first coat but are pristine after the second coat. Plus, I love how long-lasting they are.
Londontown Lakurs are made in America, PETA-certified cruelty-free, and 16-free. Their polishes are enriched with Florium Complex, a blend of different botanicals like evening primrose oil, rapeseed oil, chamomile extract, cucumber extract, and garlic extract to nourish your nails and keep them strong.
Don’t Toot My Flute is part of OPI’s Peru Fall Collection so if you’re looking for a shade that’s less exclusive to spring colors, pick this one up. (I personally think you should wear whatever color you’re feeling in the moment and not worry about seasonal rules, but you do you.)
This shade is a light bluish lilac purple with just a hint of grey to tone it down. The formula is easy to work with though OPI tends to be thinner than some brands. It’s sheer and streaky on the first coat but full coverage on the second coat. OPI polishes are made in America.
Go Ginza is Essie’s iconic pastel purple shade and for good reason. It nails that springy, powdery true-purple color. It has a white-heavy base so that tint comes out bright and eye-catching. It’s a perfect spring and Easter shade.
Essie polishes are long-lasting and dry with a gel-like shine. It applies well and needs two to three coats depending on how thin you like your layers.
For those concerned about what we’re putting on our nails, check out Abby by Zoya, a company that was the first to start removing the most common nail polish toxins (like formaldehyde) and is now 10-free.
Abby is a light, creamy pastel lavender with a pinky tone depending on the light. It has a dreamy formula that’s great to work with and opaque in two coats. You can see what it looks like during and after application in this swatch video and review on YouTube.
You’ll get plenty of compliments on your gorgeous pastel lilac manicure with Ella + Mila’s Lilac Luster. The formula has loads of white in it so it’s a very bright shade that reminds me of Easter eggs. It’s a neutral purple and looks great on all skin tones.
Ella and Mila polishes are seven-free, vegan, PETA-certified cruelty-free, and made in America.
On the bluer side, High Line by is another gorgeous white-based cream polish from Cirque Colors. It’s a blue-tinted lavender that can shift between fully pastel purple and baby blue depending on the light. I love dynamic shades like this that seem to shift their colors on you.
Cirque Colors has a cream formula to die for so it’s a dream to apply which you can watch in this YouTube swatch video. High Line is opaque in two coats and a good shade to wear throughout spring and summer.
Their polishes are 10-free, cruelty-free, and handmade in Brooklyn, New York.
Lilac It by Heroine.NYC is the lightest shade on the list. It’s a white tinted with a lovely lilac purple for a polish that looks optimist, youthful, and delicate.
Heroine.NYC polishes are made in America, cruelty-free, vegan, and nine-free.
For a sweet pastel lavender, check out Polly Want a Lacquer? by OPI. I love this polish name. OPI has some of the best puns in the bis’.
Polly Want a Lacquer is from their spring Fiji Collection and perfect the pink undertones in this make it a perfect springtime, Easter shade. It goes on sheer and streaky but is fully opaque after the second coat.
For those who like to have options, go with LeChat’s Perfect Match in Magical Wings. It comes with a full-size bottle of gel polish and a full-size bottle of matching regular polish in the same color so you can decide what type of manicure you want.
Magical Wings is a lovely medium lavender that’s on the darker side for a pastel but a very all-year-round color. Keep in mind that gel polish will need an LED or UV nail lamp in order to properly dry.
Dream Pop by Duri is almost too dark to be called a pastel but sneaks on by so if you’re craving a pastel but not something that’s too light, Dream Pop is for you. It’s a sweet pastel lavender that’s wearable all through the spring and summer months.
Like all Duri polishes, Dream Pop is made in America, vegan, cruelty-free, and seven-free.
Cirque Color’s Sartorial is a pinky-lilac shade perfect for an Easter picnic. The formula is a dream to work with, not too thick and not too thin. It’s slightly sheer with one coat but covers completely in two coats.
Sartorial, which means anything to do with tailoring clothes, is a great shade for any skin tone but, being a warmer purple, it will tend to look pinker on cool-toned skin with pink-tones.
Cirque Colors polishes are 10-free, cruelty-free, vegan, and handmade in New York City. Check out this YouTube swatch video to see the polish in action.
Lilacism from Essie is a classic pastel purple shade. It leans toward the periwinkle side for a more blueish lilac, which helps it stand out from all the pinky-purple options.
For being as light as it is, the formula isn’t as packed with white as you might think. It applies very sheer and streaky on the first coat but is completely transformed and opaque at two coats as you can see in this YouTube swatch video.
Strappy Sandals by Karma Hues is a beautiful pastel periwinkle shade that can be worn year-round. It has a great formula that’s easy to work with. As a mid-tone pastel, it works with nearly any skin tone.
Karma Hues polishes are seven-free, cruelty-free, and vegan. They’re made in America and contain strengthening botanicals like coffee extract to leave your nails feeling healthier.
Want something a little more muted? Harmonious Mess by Orly is a pastel heather shade that is pastel enough to fit in at an Easter gathering but also wouldn’t be looked at strangely out and about any time of year.
It was part of Orly’s Mash Up Collection that was a little less pristine, hence the slightly greyish tone of this one. It’s a two-coater but you could almost squeak by on one depending on your application.
I love Orly, partly for their rubberized caps which make it so much easier to open their bottles, and also because their bottles are three milliliters more than standard nail polish and are still more affordable than some.
Be bright and bold with Diggin the Dancing Queen by Color Club because not all pastels are soft and dainty. The shade is part of their Neon Pastel Collection so expect the color to stand out. A base coat of white polish will really help to bring out the best in your neon nails but Color Club’s neon shades tend to do well on their own so it’s not required.
Diggin the Dancing Queen rides the light between purple and pink and can shift depending on the lighting.
Color Club polishes are cruelty-free, vegan, and made in America.
Jakarta by 786 is a more muted pastel that has a dusty violet look to it. It’s soft but not so pastel that it would look out of place in seasons other than spring. The muted greyer tone is suited to any season.
786 polishes are 11-free, vegan, and cruetly-free. They are also halal and Wudu-friendly and do not contain alcohol. The formula is designed to be breathable and water-permeable.
Heather by ILNP brings a little extra fun to dress up the typical plain cream pastel polish. It’s a pastel purple crelly base (halfway between a cream and a translucent jelly base) with metallic purple flakies. It’s from ILNP’s Hatched Collection so it’s no coincidence that it looks a little bit like a speckled bird’s egg.
It’s such a gentle lilac and the flakes really set it apart from all the rest. As a crelly, it’s not immediately opaque and can go one a little streaky at first but you can get full coverage in two to three coats depending on your application. Watch this YouTube swatch video to see what the polish looks like at one and two coats.
ILNP is one of my favorite brands for anything sparkly and I love the choice of these flakies because they add a different look than a typical glitter would and they’re also so much easier to remove than glitter. Just keep in mind that because flakies might not sit completely flat on the nail, they could leave a little bit of texturing after the polish dries but a good top coat should cover that up completely.
For those who also like to rock gel nail polish pick up this Crocus Lavender Duo Set by DND DC. It comes with two bottles of the pastel lavender shade Crocus, one in regular nail polish and one as a gel nail polish.
This shade isn’t too pink and it isn’t too blue. It’s just a stunning purple and you two bottles for what you’d normally pay for one. Keep in mind, gel nail polish will only dry (cure) under a LED or UV nail lamp.
Part of their 2020 spring Still Life Collection, A Fiori by Cirque Colors is a creamy pastel lilac purple. The shade has lots of white in it allowing the light pigment to really pop.
“A Fiori” is Italian for flowery and the color captures the delicate colors of early spring flowers. It has a flawless formula that applies well and is opaque in two coats. You can see it swatched in this YouTube polish review video.
Cirque Colors polishes are handmade in New York City and are cruelty-free, vegan, and 10-free.
All the Queen’s Bling by Gelish offers a little extra sparkle along with their pastel pinky lavender shade. It’s packed with silver micro-glitter to give the pastel purple a pearlescent finish that stands out from the rest.
Get your sparkle on with Soft Serve, a lavender crelly with micro holographic flakies. The holographic effect is subtle in neutral lighting is stunning in the sunlight. Because it’s a crelly (somewhere between a cream polish and a translucent jelly polish) don’t expect it to be fully opaque in only a couple of layers. When I wear my ILNP colors, they tend to need three layers until I feel good but it’s up to your preference.
I love how much this shade looks like some delicious, fruity sorbet you might order, but with holographic flakies which is even better. Flakies are great because they’re easier to remove than glitter.
ILNP shades are vegan, cruelty-free, and five-free.
We've collected 21 polishes for perfect pastel purple nails with cute spring vibes. Discover the best of your favorite brands and others you've never heard of.
