Blog · 8 September 2026
The Shades People Actually Buy: 13 Months of Our Own Order Data
Most articles about popular nail colours are guesswork dressed as authority, usually recycled from other articles. We can do something more useful: publish what our own customers actually bought. Below is a straight read of our order data, including the parts that are unremarkable and the sample size, which is smaller than any headline would suggest.
The ten best selling designs
Each design's share of every unit we shipped over the 13 months. For context, we carry more than 280 active designs, so an evenly spread catalogue would give each one about 0.4%.
| Design | Share of units shipped | Type |
|---|---|---|
| Classic French Tip | 2.8% | Gel strips |
| Pink Pulse | 2.0% | Gel strips |
| Deep Merlot Burgundy | 2.0% | Gel strips |
| Nude Ombre | 1.6% | Gel strips |
| Rosy Glow | 1.6% | Gel strips |
| Leopard | 1.2% | Gel strips |
| Rose Pearl | 1.2% | Gel strips |
| Gingerbread Swirl | 1.2% | Gel strips |
| Petal Ombre | 1.2% | Gel strips |
| Pretty in Pink | 1.2% | Gel strips |
The top design shipped nearly eight times its even share of the catalogue, so preference here is genuinely concentrated rather than evenly spread across the range.
The most interesting line is the first one. A French tip is not a colour, it is a shape of design, and it beat every single solid shade we sell. That matches what we hear from customers: the tip line is the thing people cannot paint neatly themselves, so it is the thing they are most pleased to have done for them.
Colour families, ranked
| Colour | Share of colour tags |
|---|---|
| Pink | 27% |
| Nude and brown | 13% |
| Multicolour | 12% |
| Red | 8% |
| White | 8% |
| Purple | 7% |
| Blue | 6% |
| Gold | 4% |
| Orange | 3% |
| Silver | 3% |
The autumn shift is real, but modest
Splitting the same data into the warm half of the year (March to September) and the cold half (October to February) shows a consistent movement rather than a dramatic one:
| Colour | March to September | October to February |
|---|---|---|
| Pink | 29% | 24% |
| Nude and brown | 12% | 15% |
| Multicolour | 13% | 11% |
| Red | 7% | 11% |
| White | 8% | 7% |
| Blue | 6% | 6% |
Not every family moves, which is worth stating: blue holds steady at about 6% in both halves of the year, and white barely budges. Red is the clearest mover: its share of colour tags rises by about half again once October arrives. Nude and brown gain steadily too, which is the earth-tone trend showing up in real baskets rather than on a trend board. Pink drops five points but is still comfortably first, which is worth saying because the seasonal-colour genre tends to imply everyone abandons pink in October. They do not.
What people buy together
The average paid order contained 2.5 items and came to £29.04. That is the single most useful number here for anyone choosing: people rarely buy one set. They buy two or three, usually one safe neutral and one they actually fancy, which is also the most sensible way to buy strips, because leftover sizes from two sets cover accent nails and single-nail repairs.
By format, gel strips took 79% of the units shipped across strips, pedicure sets and bundles, no-lamp polish strips 17%, pedicure sets 3% and bundles 1%. So the £5 no-lamp option sells, but the £11.99 lamp-cured sets outsell it roughly five to one, despite costing more than double. Longer wear wins over lower price, which is the opposite of what you might assume at those price points.
The shades behind the data
1. Classic French Tip
Our best selling design across the whole period, and the one that explains itself: nobody can paint that line freehand. See Classic French Tip.
2. Deep Merlot Burgundy
Joint second overall, and the shade driving red's autumn rise in the seasonal split above. See Deep Merlot Burgundy.
3. Nude Ombre
Representative of the nude and brown family that gains share every autumn. See Nude Ombre.
Quick answers
What is the most popular nail colour in the UK?
In our own order data across 13 months, pink accounted for 27% of colour tags on the sets we shipped, well ahead of nude and brown at 13%. That is our customer base rather than a national sample.
Do nail colour preferences change with the seasons?
Yes, but less dramatically than trend pieces suggest. In our data, red rises from 7% of colour tags in March to September to 11% from October to February, and nude and brown rise from 12% to 15%, while pink falls from 29% to 24% and stays the most popular family.
Are French tips more popular than solid colours?
In our data, yes: Classic French Tip took a larger share of units than any individual solid shade, nearly eight times what an even spread across our range would give it. The likely reason is that the tip line is the hardest thing to paint by hand.
How many sets do people buy at once?
Our average paid order contained 2.5 items at £29.04, so people rarely buy just one. Buying two or three together also means spare sizes for accent nails and single-nail repairs.
Do people prefer gel strips or no-lamp polish strips?
Gel strips outsold polish strips by roughly five to one in our data, taking about 79% of units against 17%, despite costing more than double. Longer wear appears to matter more than the lower price.
Velvora makes semi-cured gel nail strips, nail polish strips and nail care in the UK. Gel sets are £11.99 for 20 strips, formulated TPO and HEMA free, and orders over £35 ship free anywhere in the UK. Browse the gel nail strips collection or start with the beginner guide.
Related reading: every type of manicure compared and the 2026 colour trends guide.
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