Don’t miss out on this year’s jelly nails trend, but not any sheer polish will do. Show off your own with the best jelly nail polish shades on Amazon. I’m including crelly shades as well which fall between a cream and a jelly because they still build a layered effect. You can also find jelly formulas in solid cream gel polish.
This is my personal top pick for the best jelly nails.
I Got a Crush on Blue is a blue jelly packed with different sizes of holographic hexes from micro-glitter size to absolutely huge. It’s a very translucent formula, giving it that juicy look, so opaqueness shouldn’t be your goal. I can see my nail line in some bright lighting after three coats but I don’t care.
If it were any less translucent you wouldn’t get the 3D effect of holo glitter “floating” in the different polish layers. Because it’s so sheer, light can filter down to the glitter from earlier coats and spark that holographic rainbow shine. I was able to get my hands on a media sample of this shade and I love it.
The polish applies well and I haven’t found myself fishing for glitter particles at all. You get plenty by giving the bottle a good shake or a few minutes to sit upside before using it. Plus it dries extremely fast so needing three layers isn’t a huge hassle. Plus you get to support a cruelty-free indie brand.
You’ll want a top coat for this as the glitter does have a little bit of texture. Not nearly as textured as some glitter polishes which I featured in my Best Glitter Nail Polish like Hexy Bikini but enough that you can feel it.
This is a true, no-distractions jelly that builds to this gelatin effect and comes in a wide range of colors.
Also, can we talk about how great of a name Nectarous Blue Strawberry Jelly is?
It’s extremely sheer. No amount of coats will get this to be opaque. The polish keeps its transparent, glass-like quality which is perfect for this summer’s trends.
Each polish is handmade by independent artisans in the United States. They’re cruelty-free and seven free.
It’s not easy to find a true black jelly polish and Cityscape nailed it.
Cityscape is a pure black jelly base full of holographic flakies. It has a gorgeous 3D night sky effect that holds it’s black color without fading out into a dull grey in the light.
It’s nearly opaque in two coat which seems impossible with how sheer it goes on at first but it’s true. Check out this swatch video on YouTube to see how it applies.
Garnet is part of their Facets Collection which is inspired by precious gemstones.
It’s a deep-red tinted jelly base with a heavy load of holographic flakies. The color is a little light on the first coat but is opaque on the second coat and darkens to a gorgeous vampy red. The jelly formula lets those holographic flakies really shine, even if they were applied on the first coat, which gives it that cut gemstone effect.
You can watch how it applies in this swatch and review video on YouTube.
If you like how this sounds but aren’t looking for a fall red, the facet collection is full of other brighter jellies like citrine, rose quartz, and zircon.
Confection Affection is from Essie’s Glazed line of colorful true jellies.
The collection has a very transparent appearance that gives that see-through effect that makes it very clear why these polishes are called jellies. It looks like a smoothed out portion of fruit jelly.
Confection Affection is fairly pigmented with a fun, cheery orange so it’s nearly opaque in three coats while maintaining a squishy, jelly look.
I got my hands on a sample of this cobalt jelly shade when it came out and it’s featured in my Best Summer Nails article.
Deep End has a gorgeous open-ocean-blue tint that builds to near opacity at three coats. It’s filled with small holographic flakies that settle at different heights as you build up your layers creating a captivating display of sparkles when the light hits it. Lab Muffin has a neat post about how holographic glitter works.
In addition to flakies, the jelly itself has a color-changing shimmer to it so depending on the angle of the light, the cobalt blue can flash rose and then gold.
ILNP is one of my favorite brands around and their colors always pop and their holographics are nearly traffic-stopping. I like supporting indie brands like ILNP and their polish has some serious staying power.
If you’re looking for an unconventional jelly, check out Frida by Zoya.
Friday is a dark jelly that’s on the green side of teal until you get it into the light. Once the light hits it and you can see the translucent layers, it takes on a bluer tint.
You can’t have a jelly nails list without talking about Snow Much Fun.
Snow Much Fun is as wintry as a polish can get with a very transparent light blue jelly base and high glitter load of micro and small holographic hexes, light blue holo hexes, micro and large matte white dot glitter, and matte white snowflakes.
I got this one as a Christmas present one year and the transparent jelly gives a perfect 3D look, creating a foreground and background of glitter. It’s so much fun and is very eye-catching. You do need a fair number of layers with this one and there’s a little bit of glitter fishing when you want a snowflake but it’s not a huge deal and so worth it for the end result.
This boutique, handmade nail polish looks like a magical potion.
The minty teal jelly base is packed with shimmer, holographic micro-glitter, and different sizes of iridescent unicorn skin dot glitter. These dots are what gives the polish its unique bubbly look.
Lynnderella is about as indie as you can get with the polishes being handmade by a single person (I’m guessing someone named Lynn) and the labels are even handwritten.
Love your neons in summer? This one is a hot neon pink jelly.
You Drive Me Coconuts by China Glaze is that’s opaque in three coats and has that squishy Jello look to it in the sun. It’s a bright, fun color for warm days with something a little more interesting than a simple cream polish.
Have fun with pastels with this very springy crelly from Black Dahlia.
It’s a cream crelly base packed with different sizes of matte pastel hexes and large teal dot glitter. Rain Daisy can hide your nail line in two to three coats without losing the layered effect of being able to see the glitter from the initial layers.
Black Dahlia is a small indie brand of handmade, small-batch lacquers that are vegan and five free.
Aegean is part of Cirque Colors’ Resort Collection and is inspired by the sparkling waters of the Aegean Sea.
This is a much more opaque jelly base than most of the others and is more like an emerald teal crelly. It’s opaque in two coats and is just translucent enough to allow you to see the metallic gold flakies that are mixed into the polish.
The formula on this is perfect and is extremely smooth to apply. This Cirque Colors collection is cruelty-free and four free.
Pink Glove Service is the type of jelly that’s perfect for a French manicure at one or two coats and builds to more opacity that looks like a scrumptious glazed French pastry.
This jelly isn’t as transparent as some and has a creamier look to it without moving over into crelly territory. It’s a beautiful peachy pink that’s very versatile and can be dressed up or down.
Salt Water Sassy is my favorite crelly in existence.
It’s a perfect creamy aqua pastel filled with matte hex glitter is all different colors and sizes. It works as a bird’s egg color for spring and a beachy color for summer.
I have a sample of this as well and I’m in love with it. The formula is opaque in three coats but you can still see the layering of the glitter hexes. Despite having a high glitter load, the polish is easy to work with and applies well with nice glitter distribution. I didn’t feel like I had to fiddle with the glitter to get it looking right.
KBShimmer polishes are vegan, cruelty-free, and three free.
I don’t tend to be a huge fan of Sally Hansen fan but sometimes they get it just right.
Strawberry Cheesecake is a fun crelly color from their collaboration with Jelly Belly. The crelly base is a milky pink which perfectly matches the colors you think of when you think of a Strawberry Cheesecake jelly bean. It’s filled with different size of reflective magenta hex glitter for that strawberry seed look.
The shade builds up well to be just nearly opaque in three coats with good depth to the different layers of glitter. It’s a very neutrally pink so if you have a very pink complexion, this might not look as great with your skin tone as those who are paler or more melanated.
If you’re looking for value for your money, check out this jelly set from Nicole Diary.
It includes four different mini-bottles of different colors of translucent nail polish in the colors Caramel Milk (sheer taupe), Crystal Phoenix (sheer aqua), Firefly Sylvia (sheer green), and Wonderland (sheer lavender).
They are true jellies that allow light to pass through them even after several coats making them great for glass nails. Just keep in mind that shipping times for Nicole Diary can be a little slow.
If it’s a patriotic crelly you’re in the mood for, Nail Hoot has you covered.
Nail Hoot is a small indie brand out of Missouri where all their polishes are handmade and hand-labeled.
Stars and Stripes Forever is a cream-colored crelly with blue star glitter, red and blue dot glitter, and red and blue bar glitter to represent the American flag. It’s literally got stars and bars–I love it.
You’ll want about two to three coats for that layered effect and to get the white base nearly opaque.
Jelly nails are super trendy right now but it's easy to pick up a dud. These are the 17 best jelly nail polish shades for juicy colors with a layered effect.