What Are Soap Nails—and How to Get the Look

Let’s not sugarcoat the low undercurrent of stress that bubbles up when you start thinking about your next manicure. What color are you supposed to pick? And are you going to like it enough to look at for the next few weeks? Is it going to look good with your skin tone and all your outfits? Soap nails cuts through the decision paralysis and says: Girl, just choose something neutral, chic, and easy. 

What Are Soap Nails? 

True to their name, soap nails are a super clean high-gloss manicure with a sheer, neutral tone that perfectly complements your complexion. 

“The nails look freshly washed, well hydrated, and perfectly manicured,” says Tom Bachik, celebrity manicurist and ambassador for imPRESS. “This look tends to be a shorter length with a well kept, well manicured, and ‘barely there’ color.” 

“[Soap nails] certainly connect with the ‘clean girl’ aesthetic we’re seeing a lot of—minimalistic, polished looks with sheer pinks and other subtle shades,” adds celebrity manicurist Julie Kandalec.  

They’re a close cousin to bubble bath nails—which also fall into the minimalist ‘clean girl trend’—but those tend to have a more pinkish tone while soap nails are more opaque and meld seamlessly with your skin tone, Bachik says. 

How to Get Soap Nails in 3 Easy Steps

This might just be the easiest manicure ever, which is part of its beauty. Here’s the full soap nails tutorial. 

Step 1: Shape and Clean Your Nails

Like any good manicure, it’s important to shape, file, and tidy up your nail beds. Take care of any rough-looking cuticles and make sure all your nails are the same length and shape. 

“I personally love this look on a shorter nail,” Bachik says. “It could definitely have a medium length as well, but once you hit a longer length it changes the overall vibe of the look. This is supposed to be an effortless beauty look, so shorter nails make sense.” 

Step 2: Pick the Perfect Soapy Hue 

The shades that lean to this trend are the semi-sheer light milky white or cream hue. Basically, colors that remind you of liquid soap, hence the name. 

“When choosing a nail look, either complement or slightly contrast your skin tone,” Bachik instructs. “This specific look should ideally be tonal, finding a color that is just one shade lighter or just one shade darker than your skin tone.” The hue should feel very natural and effortless against your skin, but still deliberate—slightly off from your actual skin tone.

Step 3: Finish with a High-Gloss Top Coat 

After applying one or two coats of your base color, follow up with a high-gloss topcoat to complete the look.