Nails have created a gigantic industry today as they have become a key part of hygiene and maintenance – the culture of nails has long surpassed just the idea of keeping them clean and trim as the aesthetic aspect of nails is just as important. Beauty aisles at stores and entire salons are stacked with a rainbow assortment of little glass bottles filled with liquids shiny and matte, opaque and sheer.
Nail polish is a staple piece in most vanities and a household item. However, it has a long and fascinating history. The idea of sporting colors on the fingernails dates back as early as 3200 BC.
Although nail polish has been considered to be exclusively for women for a large portion of modern time, it was used by both men and women in history. As the world of beauty and fashion becomes increasingly inclusive of all genders today, we can pay homage to nail polish’s role in historical eras.
In Babylonian society, nail color was associated with social class: black nails signified higher status while green nails meant low status. In 3000 BC, members of Chinese dynastic societies would associate royalty with deeply pigmented colors while regular people wore paler shades.
Warriors in Babylonia would actually dedicate a lot of time preparing for war through aesthetic processes, such as getting manicures. In the Chinese Dynasty era, the level of pigmentation on the nails was incredibly emphasized in the class system. Members of lower classes were prohibited from wearing the same colors as the high status or royal figures, and failure to obey this rule was punishable by death. The video below explains the history of nails in more detail and includes nail polish through other periods of time.
http://https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YXcasZc7UEs
https://www.timetoast.com/timelines/the-history-of-nail-polish displays a visual representation of the winding history of nails through a number of milestones and landmark events .
Today, most nail polish is made from a polymer called ‘nitrocellulose’. The very first nail polish was made from kohl, a black material made from grinding minerals. Later on, more natural ingredients were introduced to produce different colors and shades: vegetable dyes, gelatin, egg whites, Arabic gum, beeswax. Another popular natural nail color was henna, a dye prepared from the Lawsonia plant.
In ancient Egypt, henna was popular for nail pigmentation and was used by Cleopatra herself. Cleopatra used henna to dye her nails a deep red. Many mummified bodies of pharaohs were found with henna stains.
Honorable mentions for pioneers of nail design are Mary E. Cobbs, Michelle Menard, and Frederick Slacks. Cobbs opened Mrs. Pray’s Manicure in 1878, the first ever nail salon in the United States. Menard designed a glossy nail formula inspired by the shine on cars and founded the cosmetics line Revlon, both of which became very popular. Slacks was a dentist who was the first to design an acrylic nail after breaking his own at work.
Today, there are limitless options for length, color, and luster when it comes to nail aesthetics. Nail salons offer a variety of styles on their menus, and it can be overwhelming to sort through them all. This video explains some of the various choices for a trip to a modern nail salon.
It is always interesting to learn about where things come from, especially when they’re not what people would commonly wonder about, like nail polish. I found it fascinating that something like nail polish was used to differentiate between classes in Chinese and other cultures. I was also very surprised to learn that people were put to death over something as trivial as wearing nail polish. Overall a good read and I love that you include extra videos with more information if the reader would like to learn more. Nice work!
This was a really interesting post! I don’t think I have ever heard anything about the history of nail polish before, so this was really informative. I had no idea that it was such an important aspect of many ancient societies. I thought that it was particularly interesting that Babylonian warriors took manicures so seriously especially since our modern society widely considers them to be very feminine. It is also so crazy to think about how seriously other cultures took the standards that they set for nail polish based on social class. It is definitely really cool to think about how it got from its origin all those years ago to where it is today.