You may be able to narrate every last pun - y name in Essie ’s line of lacquers and know which shadiness is in drift ( Is it greige ? Marsala ? ) . But there is enough more to see about the makeup you swipe on your fingers and toes . Read on to forge in eight fun facts about nail polish .
1. Nail polish has a long history.
Painting one ’s nails work backas early as 3000 BCE . There isarchaeological evidenceof the Ancient Babylonians painting their nail before they went into battle — with a satisfying gold manicure set . In Ancient China , during the Ming Dynasty , citizenry would use formulas made from beeswax , testicle whites , jelly and vegetable dye .
2. Only the best could wear red …
The key has worn off , but we ’re going to go forwards and simulate Nefertiti was wearing red-faced //Flickr//CC BY - NC 2.0
In Ancient Egypt , nail polish was used to stand for class rankings . Those in the lower classes wore nude or light color while the more elite preferable ruby shades ( of course ) . Nefertiti is said to have painted hers ruby colors while Cleopatra dyed her steer a rusty hue with the juice of the henna plant .
3. Polish was developed from car paint!
Flickr//CC BY NC-2.0
In the 1920s , makeup artist Michelle Menard adapted the enamel used for cars to create a polish for nail . The normal she crafted was popular with flappers . Their preferred manner — dubbed the Moon Manicure — was to paint only the centre of the nail , go forth both the tip and the epidermis bare . At the fourth dimension , Menard work for a ship’s company called Charles Revson – you might know it today as Revlon ..
4. A dentist invented artificial nails.
In 1934 , dentist Maxwell Lappe came up with a merchandise he called Nu Nails — an contrived nail create specifically for nail biters . Dentists must have a affair for nail tutelage , because thefirst modern acrylic nailswere modernize by dentist Fred Slack .
5. Hollywood has always set the trends.
Miramax
With a piffling help from Technicolor , Rita Hayworth became known for her red nail in the 1940s . Five X later , Uma Thurman ’s Vamp polish ( which has since beenre - released by Chanel as Rouge Noir ) pull focus in the 1994 cult filmPulp Fiction . The shade became one of the company ’s most in - requirement Cartesian product .
6. French tips probably aren’t really French.
We have Hollywood to give thanks for more inert nail trends , too . In 1975 , as the story live on , Jeff Pink — founder of the nail polish brand Orly — created the French manicureto hasten the constitution process for actresses have multiple costume change . However , some saythe search does in fact escort back to 1930s Paris , when Max Factor develop the clean and polished look
7. Neon shades are actually illegal.
Well , sort of . sure colorants used in your pet day - glo shade have n’t yet been approved by the FDA . But OPI has launch a line using formulas that have been FDA - approved .
8. Today’s formulas are made with some weird stuff.
iStock
The main ingredient in regular nail polish is something called guncotton — originally have sex as guncotton , it ’s made of flora fiber and the stuff and nonsense that make TNT explode . ( Do n’t vex , it ’s also used in products such as ping niff balls . ) The nitrocellulose is dissolved in a result call ethyl acetate . Once the nail polish goes on your nail , the solvent vaporise bequeath the nitrocellulose to dry into a firm — and pretty!—film .
