Here is the ultimate list of the most popular Shellac colors and its sister polish Vinylux colors used by nail technicians and loved by their clients.
I’ve selected 15 best Shellac colors and Vinylux colors for your perfect manicure and nail art palette.
What are the best Shellac colors?
Shellac, manufactured by CND, is the polish that revolutionized the nail industry in 2010.
It’s one of the first gel nail polishes that started the whole gel craze.
The main benefit of Shellac is that it usually stays on your nails for two weeks or more with no chips, according to CND.
And it looks really shiny and gorgeous!
It is also one of the highest quality and least toxic gel nail polishes on the market. It’s free of the 5 most harmful chemicals.
It’s pretty easy to remove Shellac without harming your nails because it’s soak off and doesn’t require filing.
Beautiful colors:
Shellac’s array of colors is huge. With new hues coming out every season.
While every color is gorgeous in its own right, there is a number of popular colors that are foolproof and are instant hits with nail salon clients and home hobbyists.
Shellac has a sister non-UV polish Vinylux that has gel-like qualities but air dries without a lamp. Vinylux has the same color palette as Shellac. The colors are absolutely identical.
Most popular Shellac Colors And CND Vinylux Colors
CND Vinylux Wildfire
CND Shellac and Vinylux Wildfire is a classic Ferrari red without shimmer.
There are so many shades of red on the market!
But Wildfire is the best one you can get!
And it complements any skin tone nicely.
It also looks good on any nail shape and length, even on very short nails.
This polish color is actually my firm favorite.
CND Wildfire adds a perfect pop of color when you dress up for a special occasion or for the holidays.
And it’s great for those who, like me, just love red nails.
Movie star manicure:
Red polish is a classic nail color associated with the old Hollywood glamour.
It’s bold and adventurous.
But you can wear it with a little black dress, an office suit or a t-shirt and jeans.
Red nail color is universal and livens up any outfit.
Classic red is so popular that I think it deserves the top spot on the list of 15 most popular Shellac colors and CND Vinylux colors.
CND Vinylux Negligee
This sheer light pink color with a slight blue shimmer is versatile.
I’d say CND Shellac and Vinylux Negligee is a pink-nude.
So it’s suitable for any season and any occasion.
But most people prefer to wear light pink polish in the summer.
So gorgeous!
Soft light pink is also a perfect wedding color.
It complements any style of gown.
It’s a great choice if you’re a guest too.
And, of course, CND Negligee looks amazing as the base color for a French manicure.
It’s so sheer that it may require three layers for better coverage.
It exists as a Shellac gel nail polish and as a Vinylux gel-like one.
CND Shellac Tropix
As the name suggests, CND Tropix is a perfect warm coral shade for the summer or for a tropical vacation.
Tropix exists in both Shellac and Vinylux collections.
It looks bold and beautiful.
Coral is such a pretty color!
No wonder it’s one of the hottest trends in recent years.
It’s one of the most popular Shellac colors for the warmer months.
A summer hit:
It’s an ideal match for a bathing suit, flip-flops or any summer frock.
CND Tropix also looks great together with gold glitter gel polish and with yellow or white polish.
For example, you can paint most of your nails coral, paint one nail on each hand white, and apply tropical-themed decals to the white nails.
It’s my second favorite color after Wildfire. One of the best Shellac colors ever!
And I wear it all year round. Not only in the summer.
CND Vinylux Field Fox
CND Field Fox is a beige color with mauve undertones that is made as a Shellac and as a Vinylux polish too.
Colors like that are also known as nudes.
This is a perfect neutral color for any time of day or any occasion.
It’s a beauty staple that never goes out of style.
And it looks especially good against darker skin tones.
How to choose a nude polish color?
In fact, when you choose a nude color for your nails, you shouldn’t match your natural skin color.
It’s more flattering and trendier to go a shade or two lighter or darker than your actual skin tone. CND Field Fox also matches any outfit.
And it’s a great low-key color if you can’t wear any bold hues because of an office dress code.
This nail polish is so classy!
A nude color just like Field Fox is one of the favorite colors of the women in the British Royal Family, who are limited in their choices by the royal protocol.
CND Vinylux Lobster Roll
CND Lobster Roll is another amazing looking shade of red. It comes as a Shellac polish and you can also find it as a Vinylux shade.
It’s a vibrant orange-red color, very bold and glamorous!
Bright red:
Close to coral, like CND Tropix, but more on the red side.
The color of this polish changes slightly under different light sources: from orange-red to a shade of salmon pink, to fuchsia.
Shellac Lobster Roll looks amazing against lighter skin tones.
It’s a perfect hue for a summer manicure or for a special occasion.
CND Shellac Pink Leggings
CND Pink Leggings is a classic vibrant hot pink, available under the Shellac and under the Vinylux brands
It’s a bright shade of fuchsia similar to the famous Barbie pink, but even bolder!
It’s perfect for summer and for wearing on a vacation.
Hot pink:
It’s actually the most popular summer nail color.
However, it also matches just about any outfit.
So you can wear it all year round if it suits your style.
Shellac and Vinylux Pink Leggings is a gorgeous girly color that will brighten up your day!
CND Vinylux Rose Bud
Pinks are a staple of any nail salon or a polish collection.
They are some of the most popular Shellac colors out there.
Shellac and Vinylux have a huge array of pinks.
Classy pink:
CND Rose Bud is a super cute soft shade of pink. Like the color of a delicate rose petal.
It’s not as bold as Pink Bikini.
Rose Bud a classic pink, a very feminine color that suits any style and occasion, and any skin tone.
It’s great for any special event, including weddings.
At the same time, you can wear it to work.
CND Rose Bud looks so lovely on nails!
CND Vinylux Masquerade
CND Shellac and Vinylux Masquerade is a deep rich shade of red, like the color of red wine, almost burgundy.
It makes your nails look glamorous. No matter what nail length you have.
A fall/winter hit:
CND Masquerade is a perfect choice for the fall and winter months, and especially for the holiday season, it feels festive.
But you can wear dark polish colors all year round. Deep red looks really elegant and classy.
In fact, I’m wearing this CND color right now, while I’m typing this article.
It’s one of the best Shellac and Vinylux colors on the market.
I also like to use burgundy polish for painting my toes.
CND Vinylux Rock Royalty
CND Rock Royalty is a deep regal purple color, like that of a nice ripe eggplant. It exists as a Shellac color and as a Vinylux shade.
It’s bold, daring and eye-catching.
It’s one of the most popular Shellac colors with salon clients for the fall and winter season.
Super glamorous:
A dark purple manicure is the epitome of glamour.
And it looks amazing against all skin tones.
CND Rock Royalty is a perfect match for an elegant outfit for a special occasion.
At the same time, it’s surprisingly versatile.
It’s even suitable for office wear.
CND Vinylux Indigo Frock
CND Shellac and Vinylux Indigo Frock is super-popular with the salon clientele too.
It’s a shiny dark indigo shade of blue, close to black. A very strong and bold hue.
It would look nice with white stamping.
A winter hit:
This color is an amazing choice for the cooler months and, of course, for the holiday season.
CND Indigo Frock looks stunning under warm artificial lighting.
So it’s perfect for evening wear and for special occasions.
CND Shellac Peacock Plume
CND Shellac Peacock Plume is a deep shimmery shade of blue, but lighter than Shellac Indigo Frock.
Classic blue is actually Pantone’s color of the year.
So it’s bound to be one of the most popular Shellac colors this year.
Just like CND Indigo Frock, Peacock Plume is best for the cooler months, holiday season, and special occasions.
It’s a beautiful and elegant color.
CND Vinylux Rubble
CND Shellac and Vinylux Rubble is an earthy brownish-gray tone.
It’s a deeper variation of nude. According to many nail technicians, it’s one of the most popular Shellac colors they use at their salons.
As a dark neutral color, Rubble is a great choice for the cooler months.
But it’s warmer than gray, and it looks amazing against darker skin tones.
Elegant minimalism:
CND Rubble doesn’t match a natural skin tone, but it’s very stylish and modern.
A nice polish color if you like minimalism.
And it’s so versatile! It doesn’t clash with any color in your wardrobe.
CND Vinulyx Cream Puff
Cream Puff is CND’s opaque super-white color.
A common use for white nail polish is painting the tips of French manicure nails.
CND Shellac and Vinulyx Cream Puff is also one of the most popular Shellac colors for summer.
And of course, white is classy and never goes out of style. It matches any outfit and complements any skin tone.
A great base for nail art:
Like a white sheet of paper for drawing, Cream Puff is a great basic color for nail art, stamping, and nail decals.
And if you add some unicorn nail dust over the CND Cream Puff polish you’ll get an amazing holographic sheen on your nails.
You can also paint some of your nails white and add other colors to the rest of your fingers.
CND Shellac Black Pool
CND Vinylux Black Pool is a glossy classic black gel polish. You can find it as a Shellac color also manufactured by CND.
Black manicure has been a steady trend in recent years, originally brought to the runway by Gucci.
Some people think it’s a controversial trend, a rebellion, mostly popular with teenagers and Goths.
But if CND Black Pool matches your style or a monochrome outfit, then you won’t go unnoticed.
Rock star nails:
Some of the most notable wearers of black manicure were Freddie Mercury and David Bowie. So black nails are also associated with rock music.
In any case, it’s a fashion statement.
The best Shellac colors: how do you apply them?
Shellac is a gel polish, which requires a special application method for it to stay on your nails for two weeks or more.
How To Apply CND Shellac?
Shellac must be applied on top of a base coat and covered with a top coat.
The base and the top coat are also available under the Shellac brand from CND.
Each layer of Shellac, including the base and the top coat, must be cured in a UV lamp for about 1 minute (10 seconds for the base).
So the polish dries very quickly.
No need to wait for it to dry like you have to do when you paint your nails with ordinary nail polishes.
CND manufactures lamps for curing Shellac as well.
Base Coat
Shellac base coat application must be done after you’ve performed a manicure, removed any contaminants and prepared your nail plate by purifying it and removing oil and debris with CND’s ScrubFresh and a lint-free wipe.
Apply the base coat in one thin layer.
Color Polish: use most popular Shellac Colors
Two layers of Shellac color polish over the base are usually enough before you apply the top coat.
If you select a sheer color you can use three layers for a better look.
Nail art and embellishments:
You can add embellishments, decals, unicorn powder, glitter, and nail art on top of the second layer of colored Shellac polish. Apply the top coat after that.
Top Coat
After adding one thin layer of the top coat and drying it with the lamp you need to remove the top film with 99% Isopropyl Alcohol, again using a lint-free wipe.
And you’re done!
Use only two coats of color polish and one layer of the special Vinylux top coat if you are applying Vinylux. No base coat or lamp needed with this polish. Simply air dry each layer.
Remover
Shellac can be removed by wrapping each nail in a piece of foil that contains a cotton ball with acetone-based remover and waiting for 5 minutes for the polish to soak off.
Remove Vinylix by simply wiping it off with nail polish remover, no need to soak this polish off.
Recommended reading:
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Best Gel Base And Top Coat: The Updated List Of The Best Gel Nail Base And Top Coat Sets
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