If you like to have nice nails but don’t want to spend more than £30 a month on them, you might want to look for a nail polish that doesn’t leave streaks and doesn’t chip easily.
A good nail polish will be your best friend whether you want to copy some of the most popular nail trends from 2026 or save money by not going to the salon as often. If you look at our beauty team’s nails from March 2026, you’ll see that we’ve stopped going to nail appointments and instead have been using our favourite nail polishes.
With that and decades of experience between us, we think we’re well qualified to share our tried-and-true favourite nail polish brands that work for all colours and budgets. We’re talking about everything from Chanel’s high-end nail polishes that cost £9 to Chanel’s top-of-the-line ones.
Top Nail Polish Recommendations
You might like a picture of the W&H Beauty Team Nail Polish Recommendations holding shot on a light beige background. Not gels, not BIAB; our beauty team thinks nail polish will come back in 2026, and these are the colours we’ve been using.
Best Nail Polish Gift Sets
There is a line of nail polish gift sets from OPI, Manucurist and Bio Sculpture on a cream and gold glitter background. There is also a pink shimmer nail polish spill and a burgundy nail polish spill around the sets.
Most Popular Nail Polish Brands
From one manicure-lover to another, these are the chic and versatile nail polish gift sets I’d love to find under the tree. A close-up of a hand with sheer, milky pink nails having used OPI’s Love is in the Bare gel nail colour, created by nail artist and digital content creator, Mateja Novakovic (@matejanova), alongside a product shot of the OPI gel colour and a stock image of a pink nail polish spill. on a template with grey and white marbling.
Our Favourite Nail Polish Brands
I tried to find the OPI nail colour that everyone is talking about, but I couldn’t. So, these are the colours I’m going to buy instead. The four brands of nail polish that our team uses for manicures at home.
Essie Nail Polish
You might be wondering which nail polish bottles are worth buying since they usually cost between a few pounds and £30 or more. Our beauty team has been putting polish on our nails for years, trying out a wide range of products from different brands, from cheap drugstore options to high-end formulas. So, we have all the information you need.
Essie, Manucurist, and Chanel
Essie is a cheap nail polish brand. Essie is a brand you probably already know if you’ve ever been to a drugstore. If we ever need to find a cheap nail polish, you can probably find us at the Essie counter looking through all of their colours.
Essie Nail Polish Options
The brand has made more than 1,000 colours since it started in 1981. These colours range from sheer pinks to deep reds, metallics to mattes, and everything in between. Essie’s best colours are Ballet Slippers, Mademoiselle, Salt Water Happy, and Blanc. They have a lot of different formulas, like Longwear, Enamel, and Quick Dry, as well as a great line of nail care products.
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Essie Nail Polish Prices
Essie Nail Polish in Ballet Slippers is £8.99 at LOOKFANTASTIC UK. Price: £8.99.
OPI Nail Polish
OPI is a brand of low- to mid-priced nail polish. If you know a thing or two about nail polish, you probably already know about OPI. OPI is one of the most famous and well-known nail care brands in the world, thanks to their collection of colourful nail lacquers that have become cult favourites in the beauty world.
Popular OPI Colours
We’ll wait while you name a more famous nail polish. People all over the world know about OPI’s Bubble Bath, and they should. This polish gives your nails a sheer wash of neutral pink for a stylish “your nails but better” look. You can also build it up for a clean neutral manicure. A lot of people also like to layer this popular nail polish with another one of the brand’s best-selling colours to make the Bubble Bath Funny Bunny combo manicure.
Big Apple Red
The name says it all: Big Apple Red is a bright red colour with a high gloss finish that looks like a juicy red apple. This famous colour has even gotten the thumbs up from A-list celebrities; Demi Moore wore it on her nails at the Met Gala in 2025.
Manucurist Nail Polish
Manucurist is a high-end nail polish brand. If you haven’t heard of Manucurist yet, this Parisian nail polish brand is known for its eco-friendly nail polish formulas. The brand started as a nail salon in the middle of Paris in 1996. Since then, it has become well-known for making the first green, clean alternative to gel polish and for its great tinted nail care products, like the Active treatment range.
Manucurist Popular Colours
Popular Manucurist nail polish colours are Mocha, Lava, Hortencia, and Milky White.
Chanel Nail Polish
Chanel is the brand of blowout nail polish. Our editors say that Chanel’s wide range of nail polishes are worth the money if you want to treat yourself. These nail polishes are very expensive, costing £30 a bottle. These pigmented, high-gloss formulas glide onto the nails thanks to their nourishing camellia eco-ceramides. People also love how long-lasting these nail polishes are.
Chanel Nail Colours
There are 35 colours of Chanel nail polish to choose from online right now. These colours range from simple neutrals to bright, colourful ones. The most well-known colours are Rouge Noir, Ballerina, and Particulière.
