History of nail polish

Through all history of nail polis, different shades of red, from pink to brownish, has been the most common color. Today, popular nail polish is made of nitrocellulose which is solved with color pigments. Many nail polishes contains toxic substances like formaldehyde and toluene which can harm both your health and the environment. To solve this problem, production of organic nail polish has started. The history of nail polish dates far back in time, all the way to the ancient Egypt and China. The use of nail polish and make up hasn't only been steadily increasing, but varied due to social circumstances and war for example.

One of the first record in the history of nail polish is from Egypt. Queen Cleopatra and Queen Nefertiti are thought to have used natural ingredients to paint their nails red. They mixed oil, Arabic gum, powder and henna and covered her nails with this. Nail polish in Egypt wasn't only for decoration, it also had a hierarchical function; the stronger shade of red (in China, see below, the same was applied for black), the more powerful the person. The Chinese Ming dynasty also take part in the history of nail polish as they discovered a mixture suiting for polishing nails; Arabic gum, albumin, colors from flowers, beeswax and gelatin. This original popular nail polish had to dry for several hours. Another very early Chinese dynasty, The Chou, was so rich that they could afford to wear gold and silver on their nails. Black was also a preferred color in ancient China. There were also other early cultures who decorated or painted their nails in different ways like the Inca Indians ans Native American tribes.

The history of nail polish is very long, there are records of the use of nail polish from practically every age. From the 15th century there is a text written by the Italian painter Cennino d'Andrea Cennini which tells about the use of make-up and during the 17th and 18th centuries painted portraits reveal shiny nails. In the early 1900's, just before the real popular nail polish was made, women used a wide range of polishing cloths and substances like mineral powders, creams, oils, tinted powders to make their nails bleached, smooth, shiny and maybe even shimmering in a transparent color. These original mixtures didn't have any added preservatives.

Popular nail polish of today is actually a variant of automobile polish from 1920. USA was first with a patent in 1919, and 1932 Revlon was founded and had a leading position in the popular nail polish market for some years.. During the 1930's celebrities from Hollywood used popular nail polish which soon came in every womans possession. After World War I, make-up use became common (earlier it was primarily used by prostitutes). The fluorescent effect which was popular in nail polish during the '80s has had a come back and can still be seen on many women's nails. Men wearing popular nail polish is no longer a taboo and famous icons like David Beckham, Freddie Mercury, Marc Bolan and Marilyn Manson wearing black nail polish has inspired many. When a new nail polish color comes, the “limited edition”-trick is successfully used by the brands. Big fashion houses has also started to make nail polish, Chanel has for example made “Vamp” and “Black satin”.

Some important years during the history of nail polish:
1000 B.C, China. The Chou dynasty paints nails with gold and silver.
50 B.C, Egypt. Cleopatra paints her nails red.
1400, China. The Ming dynasty uses natural substances as nail polish.
1500, Inka, Native Americans decorates nails.
1500, Italy. Nail polishing occurs.
1700-1800, Europe. Portraits with shiny finger nails.
1919, USA. The first nail polish patent.
1920, French. Nail polish is common.
1932, USA. Revlon is founded. Movie stars wear nail polish.
1980, USA. Fluorescent nail polish is popular.