21 Best Glitter Nail Polish Shades of 2021

A Little Lovely is a clear base with different sizes of highly reflective gold and pink hexes. The combination ends up looking almost your fingernails are covered in gorgeous rose gold. It works as a top coat to brighten up any shade and as a stand-alone polish for some serious shine.

It’s not going to give you dense coverage like some other glitters without several coats or sponging, but the glitter is so bright that you might not even see that the whole nail isn’t covered. This one dries to a textured finish which feels even more like having gold leaf on my fingers. It’s an eight-free polish so it’s not full of nasty stuff that can hurt your nails.

If you’re looking to stand out, try Kaleidoscope by Cirque Colors. It’s a clear base packed with the kind of glitter that makes you think of confetti being thrown at a parade.

You’ve got hexes, diamonds, and unique square glitters in several different sizes and in white, red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and purple. That’s the entire rainbow, plus some clouds I guess for the white.

Kaleidoscope looks amazing over dark colors and over light colors. If you wanted to wear it on its own, you’d want to sponge it on to save yourself the five layers it would probably take. 

Cirque Colors is an indie polish brand and their shades are made right in New York City. They’re four-free and cruelty-free. 

The only word I can think of when I see this polish is spangle. I got this for Christmas and I can tell you the pictures and video don’t do it justice. I’ve had someone over a skype call say, “Whoa! What’s on your nails?” because the sparkles were visible even over a video call.

When Hexy Bikini moves in the light, it looks like your nails are studded with rhinestones. Hexy Bikini is a clear base loaded down with silver micro-glitter and studded with small and medium holographic hexes of silver, pink, and teal. Because of the holographics, it looks like there are way more colors packed in there when the light hits it.

It is a textured polish so expect a slightly rough finish that can be smoothed over with a clear top coat. To be worn on its own without using a sponge method, I’ve needed two to three coats or it can be worn as a top coat over a base color. This is definitely one of my new favorites and one of the polishes that I get the most excited to wear.

Juliette is so crammed with sparkle that looking at the bottle you’d think it was a solid cream pigment or a heavy micro-glitter, but it isn’t. Juliette by ILNP is a clear base filled with irregular holographic flake glitter–a ton of it.

For a glitter nail polish, it’s very opaque and you can get full coverage with just two coats which is impressive for even non-glitter polish. The holographics used in this are so intense they twinkle like starlight. It dries to a surprisingly smooth finish and because it’s not traditional glitter it won’t be a struggle to remove. Juliette is three-free and cruelty-free.

Hologram Diamond is a stunning holographic lacquer that looks like it’s loaded down with glitter of all sizes but it’s hard to tell because it’s just so darn shiny! When they say diamond, they mean it. Sometimes diamond-like just means shiny, but this gets at that unique diamond quality to shoot out sparkles of light in all the colors of the rainbow.

This is disco ball levels of brilliance and maybe not for the easily distracted. For me, this is perfection. It doesn’t have as gritty a finish as some of the others and is opaque in two coats.

This one is a gel polish which needs to be cured under UV/LED light but it comes with the matching standard nail lacquer or you can buy the standard lacquer alone.

Salt Water Sassy is one of my favorite shades for spring.  This is a pastel robin’s egg blue crelly with white, aqua, yellow, lavender, and coral hex glitters in several sizes.

It goes on a like a dream and you don’t’ have to fish for glitters which is nice. The crelly formula allows you to see glimpses of the glitters on each layer of polish for a 3D effect. 

I got to test out a media sample of this shade and it’s just so bright, and springy, and cheerful. I look forward to wearing it each spring. 

Since it’s a sheer crelly formula, you’ll want two to three coats for good coverage. 

Turn it Up is a fun, non-reflective confetti glitter nail polish. It’s loaded with white micro-glitter and small and medium hexes in yellow, blue, purple, green, orange, and red. That’s the whole rainbow on your fingers.

At one coat, Turn it Up looks like party confetti. At two coats, it looks like candy.

The formula has a UV light inhibitor to keep sunlight from fading your color. I had this on for a week and I didn’t notice the colors dulling at all. This one works as a top coat and it can be worn alone. I personally like two coats over a black base.

I’ve found that the sponge trick with this polish affects its staying power, but the glitter is dense enough that you can get away with painting it on like a standard lacquer. 

I know I just said you can mix two polishes to get multi-dimensional shine, but Cosmo has all of that in one lacquer. This is a silver micro-glitter base with holographic hexes and it’s not for the faint of heart.

This is not a subtle glint on your fingertips; this is blinding, prismatic shine. The formula is a little on the thick side but that means you only need one or two coats for full glittery coverage.

It is a textured polish so there is a gritty feel to it once dried. If you’re not into that, a clear top coat will cover the grit. It’s also 10-free, so it’s free of 10 of the common but less desirable ingredients like formaldehyde. It’s Zoya so you know it has staying power. Expect this one to last chip-free for four days at least.

Paige is a linear holographic nail polish packed with micro-flakie glitter in a fun raspberry pink. I bought this one for myself because I couldn’t resist and it has quickly rocketed into my normal rotation.

This polish from ILNP’s Ultra Holo collection has lots of sparkle and the intense holographic formula gives it a color-changing rainbow sheen. Depending on the angle, Paige has magenta, blue, gold, and red flecks hidden inside.

The shimmery sunset pink pigment is very rich and smooth. It doesn’t feel like putting on a glitter polish. You only need one to two coats to be fully opaque ready to go. Three coats will give a little more punch to the holographic effect, but it doesn’t need it.

You’ll get an easy five days of wear out of this. When I had it on my toes it went two weeks before it started chipping. ILNP polish is three-free and it’s made in America which is always great. 

Fun nail art tip: paint one layer of Paige over black for a colorful, galaxy effect.

If you’re feeling the rose gold bug, this is for you. A Cut Above about perfectly matches the rose gold iPhone. It’s a clear base loaded with reflective pink quartz tinted gold hexes in all sorts of sizes.

Some polishes when they are full of these big hexes get glompy when you’re trying to put them on, but A Cut Above goes on very smooth. It’s a three-free polish, making an effort to reduce the harmful chemicals they use.

If you want to wear this glitter on its own without using the sponge trick, you’ll need two to three coats for full coverage which isn’t abnormal for a glitter polish. As a top coat, this one is protective and will last you around four days depending on how much you abuse your hands.

For those looking for a unique color combo, Glitter Up is here with a color palette of peach, dark blue, purple, sky blue, and black.

It’s a clear base packed to the brim with hexes in two different sizes. The black glitters are only in the smaller size to keep the polish from becoming too dark. All of the glitter colors are matte except for the dark blue hexes which are metallic for a surprise sparkle. 

It’s a very unusual combination that is going to catch some eyes. Glitter Up works best over lighter colors or layered or sponged on its own. 

Sashay My Way is a clear base with uniform gold holographic hexes and thin holographic gold bar glitter. It’s light on the bar glitter so it’s more an accent to contrast the shimmery hexes. The result is a top coat that looks like an expensive embroidered beading on a designer gown.

I’m not normally that into bar glitter, those little strips that I tend to think make you look like you got in a fight with a paper shredder. This is the first bar glitter lacquer that I am legitimately drooling over.

If you haven’t found something playful enough on this list, Upside Round is as playful as it gets. It’s a clear base loaded with small and matte neon confetti glitter. You’ve got neon purple, yellow, orange, pink, green, and blue.

The glitter is slightly translucent so you get a neat effect when they overlap. There is also a little bit of red micro-glitter floating around in there and that contrast makes these polka dots more visually interesting.

This is going to have a bumpy finish so a top coat is a must. The glitter load is heavy and they tend to stick to each other so you’ll need to do a little manipulating with the brush to get your confetti where you want it. I love this one for spring and summer wear. It makes me smile just looking at it.

For more springy vibes, we gathered the best polishes for pastel purple nails.

For something fun and cheeky, go for Color Club’s Nailmoji Collection. This polish is called Omg and it’s a clear base filled with neon pink matte confetti glitter, white hearts, yellow smiley faces, white ghosts, red lips, and brown smiling poop emoji glitter.

Yup, there are little emoji poops in there and you can wear them on your nails. It’s funny, it’s cute, and it’s undeniably unique in a glitter.

The formula is great like you expect from Color Club, but you do have to do a little fishing to get out the glitter pieces that you want. That’s not unusual for this type of polish and it’s worth it for the finished manicure.

Brilliance is a unique flake glitter in a clear base. It’s hard to tell you exactly what color it is because the multi-chrome effect has it constantly shifting. There are certainly green, gold, pink, bronze, and blue tones.

It has a look of mermaid tails, tropical fish scales, or the shiny metallic backs of jewel beetles. The irregular flakes remind me of gold leaf and since it’s not a traditional glitter, this one will be much easier to remove.

It’s not so much a polish you would wear alone and it looks best over dark colors. Static pictures really don’t do it justice.

From their Crushed Diamonds collection, Butter London’s 24K is a gorgeous gold flake polish. I love the irregular shapes that really look like you’ve used gold leaf on your nails.

For that extra sparkle, the polishes in this collection contain real diamond powder which helps to create an illuminating shine.

Butter London polishes use an eight-free formula and are infused with botanicals to strengthen nails.

If you’re looking for a playful glitter that looks like a birthday party, Lots of Dots delivers. It looks like you could find it in a tall glass jar along the wall in a sweets shop.

This is a mix of colorful micro-glitter hexes in several shapes in a clear base. This isn’t a reflective lacquer and instead looks like confetti. Or funfetti.

It’s definitely one that you’ll want to use the sponge method for or use as a topper. Like all Morgan Taylor, it’s a three-free polish.

Alloy Matey, besides having an awesomely punny name, contains dense micro-glitter with small holographic glitter that sparkles with tiny rainbows at every movement. This one works as a top coat or on its own for a glittery diamond look.

It will need two or more likely three coats to get full coverage on this one though. Like most micro-glitters, it has a gritty texture when dry, but a top coat can smooth that out and make the holographics even more brilliant.

If you like a good holographic sparkle, check out Piece Out by Color Club. It’s part of their Halo Hues collection so you know it’s going to be flashy.

Piece Out is a slightly tinted blue base with blue holographic hex glitter. It takes two to three coats but it creates a scattered holographic effect that looks like sunlight sparkling on the ocean. 

This lacquer is three-free, vegan-friendly, and cruelty-free.

Pop the Bubbles is part of L’Oreal Paris’ Gold Dust collection and it’s chock full of micro-glitter and silver glitter that is just a little bit too big to be called micro-glitter.

What you get is a really gorgeous continuous shimmer like sunlight on water. It has a textured finish which feels a little sandy so if that’s not your jam, grab a top coat. This is definitely a polish you’d wear alone.

You get full coverage with one coat but two coats gets you the full shimmery effect. It dries extremely fast and has good staying power.

My partner has said he thinks this is the brightest glitter I own. Carnivalesque is a clear base filled with hexes, squares, and diamonds of all sizes in all the colors you can name as well as a sprinkling of micro-glitter.

Most of the glitter pieces are reflective but many are holographic as well adding in that extra bit of color. I love the sparkle in this one and the variety of shapes like glitter at a carnival. This can be worn as a top coat or on its own, but you’ll want to use a sponge to apply it if you’re using it on its own.

Adesse was kind enough to send me a sample of this shade to try but with no guarantee of any review at all. Adesse New York’s lacquers are 12 free, cruelty-free, GMO-free, vegan-friendly, and made in New York. Carnivalesque has organic bamboo extract, argan oil, and shea oil for healthier nails.