The history of nail polish - part five

This is the last part of the history of nail polish. This part covers the modern time from the 20's until today.
If you have missed any part you can easily find them under "Nail polish history" in the Gallery to the left. Ok! Here we go! :)
 
Modern nail polish history
The introduction of Technicolor (colour movies) in 1922 affected more than just the film industry. Shades of gray became a thing of the past and moviegoers were able to see everything in color. As they enjoyed this amazing change in cinema, women suddenly saw a spectacular sight, their favourite actresses, like Rita Hayworth, had red and mauve lips and nails!

Now very woman wanted them! Revlon, always ahead of the game, realized this and created an extensive line of polishes to meet consumer needs.

It helped that it was relatively cheap as far as make-up goes. Painting your nails and buying the matching lipstick gave you a bit of that Hollywood glamour even if your clothes were cheap. Other cosmetic houses soon followed and added nail polish to their ranges too.

Ever since, the trends of the times have continued to mirror the styles seen in films and on TV.

The 1950s:  Red, red and more red. Scarlet nail polishes with matching lipsticks were all the rage.

 The 1960s: The focus moved away from reds and turned to paler, pastel shades to give a natural look that complemented the nude lipsticks that were in fashion then.

The 1970s: Stars like Goldie Hawn, Mia Farrow and Farrah Fawcett made a more natural shade modern. The lips were also naturally coloured.

 The 1980s: This was a time of bold, statement-making colours. Hit shows like Dynasty and Dallas emphasized bright reds and fuchsias while stars like Madonna made neon hot hot hot.

 This was also the time when cosmetic companies abandoned the idea of matching lips and nails and started producing blue nail polish, green nail polish and a vast array of other exotic colours - gold, silver, black, neon and so on.

The 1990s: This decade was perhaps defined by one single nail color, Chanel’s Rouge Noir/Vamp.

Referring to Nefertiti and the idea of colouring nails with blood, Vamp was created to look like the same color as dried blood. This dark red and black shade became a cult classic that is still highly sought after today. In addition, acrylic nails, nail art and numerous colours became the norm.

Uma Thurman in Pulp Fiction wearing Chanel's Vamp

 In 1911, less than 25% of the women in the U.S. used any manicure preparations on their nails — in beauty salons or at home. By 1939, 86% were using manicure products.

The formula for nail polish remains similar to the one invented by Michelle Menard at Revlon over 80 years ago. It's been changed a bit to make it longer lasting and to make it dry quicker, but essentially it's the same. About how many inventions can we say that…? ;)

Today nail polish has become a superstar by its own right. There are too many colours, finishes, textures, formulas and methods to count.

Have you enjoyed reading about the history of nail polish? 

Would you like to have more post of this kind, i.e fact posts?

Please leave a comment so that I know if it's worth all the hours I have put in, because there have been many! ;)

The history of nail polish - part four

Welcome to part four of the series of the history of nail polish! :D
You can ealisy find part one, two and three in the Gallery under "Nail polish history" to the left.
Now we're at when it all happens! When the modern nail polish is born!
Enjoy!

The first modern nail polish!

The catalyst for the coloured nail lacquer we use today was the creation of high-gloss car paint in 1920.

A French makeup-artist by the name of Michelle Manard had the ingenious idea of adapting these paints for use on nails. She played around with the formula and developed a glossy lacquer similar to the nail polish we use today. 

Her employer, The Charles Revson Company, saw what a goldmine she had going on and began working to perfect the formula. The owners partnered with chemist named Charles Lachman and, using Manard’s original idea, they created an opaque, non-streaking nail polish based on pigments.

The revolution was to abandon staining the actual nail, but instead to paint a hard-wearing enamel on top of it. Because their nail varnish was created from hard-wearing chemicals rather than from herbs, it had the advantage that it was easy to store and keep. As long as the bottle was sealed and the solvent could not evaporate, the varnish was as good as the day it was created.

In 1932, the company changed its name to Revlon (they changed the S the in the middle to an L for the other co-founder Lachman) and began selling the very first modern nail polish! It was initially sold in hair and beauty salons, and was then marketed in department stores and drug stores.

Once nail polish was refined, it was often used instead of gloves to cover up the grime underneath the nails.

The first modern manicure was known as the “moon manicure”. To achieve this look the cuticles were cut, free edges filed into points, and polish was applied to the nail but not to the moon and tip (see the ad below).

WOW! How do you like that? Nail polish was developed our of car paint?!?!
I guess we all laquer heads should thank the inventor of that car paint! ;)

Doesn't it make you angry though, that Revlon took all the credit for Michelle Manard's hard work??? She was "only" a woman and they were men... >:-(

Next time I will show you the nail polish trends from the 20's to modern time! It will be a feast for your eyes - and mind! ;)
So stay tuned! :)

The history of nail polish - part three

Time for part three of the history of nail polish!
If you missed part one and two you can find them easily in my gallery to the left under "Nail polish history".

Nail colouring during 1200 – ca 1930


The first few centuries during this period don’t cast much light on nail polish trends. 
Nevertheless, here are a few notable highlights:

The Inca’s (1200-1500s) are said to be the inventors of nail art. They decorated their fingertips with images of eagles. After this it’s unclear how the practice of colouring nails progressed for a while.

An Inca warrior

During 1500-1800s it’s suggested that nail polish of any sort remained petty throughout these centuries.

Portraits from the 1600s and 1700s include shiny nails, but not much else.

Portrait from the 1600s

Although largely unconfirmed, it’s rumoured that the French manicure made its first appearance in 1700s in Paris. Color wasn’t around so much, and people went more for the simple manicure. You could, however, find nail polish recipes in cookbooks. :D

Portrait from the 1700s

In the 1800s and early 1900s, people pursued a polished rather than painted look by massaging tinted powders and creams into their nails, then buffing them shiny. One such polishing product sold around this time was Graf's Hyglo nail polish paste. 

Ad for Graf's Hyglo Paste

Some people during this period painted their nails with an air brush.

Cuticle remover came in 1911. The remover eliminated most of the tedious and difficult cutting of the cuticles. This made home-manicuring easier, but strangely enough, beauty salon manicures increased immediately. The promotion of cuticle remover had made women (and men!) more conscious of their hands.

Ad from 1909 for a clear nail polish. Notice it's a man getting his nails done!

By the end of the 1800s, nails were often tinted red with scented oils before being polished and buffed with a chamois cloth, rather than simply polished.

The focus eventually shifted away from tinted nails to a clean, polished nail that remained the trend through the 1930s.

But then someting happened that would change it all!!

Stay tuned for part four of the history of nail polish to find out what happened next! ;) 

Next part will also be full of beautiful vintage nail polish ads! :D

The history of nail polish - part two

Now we're in ancient Egypt on our way through of the history of nail polish from 5000 years ago until today.
Hope you enjoy it! (If you missed part one you can find it here!)

Nail colouring in ancient Egypt

Nefertiti and Cleopatra are remembered, among other things, as two of the most beautiful women of their time. They were actually the first to make the iconic red nail polish famous!

During their respective reigns, societal hierarchy was indicated by the specific colour worn. The stronger the shade of red, the more power the person possessed.

Although the practice likely existed earlier, it’s said that Nefertiti, Queen of Egypt (14th century BC) coloured her fingernails (and apparently also her toenails) a ruby-red colour. Nefertiti and her royal court used henna (and sometimes even blood) to colour their nails. Could this the origin of the phrase "blood-red nail polish...? ;)

Nefertiti (ca. 1370 BC – ca. 1330 BC)

Cleopatra, the last pharaoh of Ancient Egypt, continued this trend into the first century BC. Unlike Nefertiti, it’s believed that she favoured a striking crimson shade. During her reign women of lower rank were permitted only pale colours as red was reserved for royalty alone.

Cleopatra (69 BC - 30 BC)

Cleopatra’s nail colour came from the juice of the henna plant, producing deep rusty shades with an undertone of gold. Henna on the nails was limited by a strict social code. Only a brave woman dared to colour her nails above her “station”. Moving on up the social scale, nail shades grew deeper and deeper. The most brilliant colours, as red, appeared only on the royal fingertips of the queen.

Imagine beeing able to se a persons "social status" today just by looking at the colour of her nail polish! ;)


As always feel free to comment on this post below! Is it interesting? Are you looking forward to part three?

The next post in this series will be about the nail colouring during 1200 - ca 1930.
We start with the Incas and end with Lustr-ite, a nail enamel cake! :D

Hope you'll come back to read that part!

The history of nail polish - part one

Today I will start my series of posts of the history of nail polish. There will be five short posts and this is the first part which starts from the very beginning in India over 5000 years ago!

We laquer heads use polishes almost every day and wears them all the time so I thought it could be fun to know how it all started and how polishes have evolved from over 5000 years ago up until today. It's been quite a ride I can tell you! ;) Are you ready to hear about it? Let's start! :)

Nail colouring in the very beginning

The concept of the manicure began in India well over 5000 years ago with the use of henna as nail paint. This practice spread and was adopted by other cultures.

 

At one time black was the favourite colour applied to fingernails, and men, not women, wore it. (Here I immediately picture Marilyn Manson in my head :-)) A warrior of Babylon who was about to go to war often spent several hours having his hair lacquered and curled, his nails manicured and coloured, and his lips tinted to match.
 
Excavations of the royal tombs at Ur in Southern Babylonia revealed an engraved, solid gold manicure set. The gold set and the nail colouring, called kohl, were well preserved. Experts say it was used in 3200 B.C. The kohl is green and black. The use of colour indicated your status. Black was for the important people and green for people of the lower classes. This status symbol prevailed for many years.

A Babylon warrior

Now, let’s go to 3,000 BC in China. The Chinese viewed nail color as a way to indicate wealth and social status. They did not use henna or gold, but instead they created a base mixture of egg whites, gelatine, beeswax and gum Arabic. 
The shades were created by adding rose, orchid and impatiens petals. It wasn’t an easy process and the nails had to be soaked in this mixture for a few hours for the color to set. According to a 15th century Ming manuscript the colours used most often were different shades of red and black.

As the years passed, the Chinese began painting their nails with the colours of the ruling dynasty. During the Chou Dynasty (ca 600 BC), gold and silver dust was used to create the colours worn by the upper class. The nail was also decorated with precious stones and complex cloisonné designs. Nail colour was strictly reserved for royalty in those days. It’s said that if a member of the lower class was caught wearing nail polish they would be sentenced to the death penalty.

Imagine if only presidents and royals and such were allowed to wear nail polish today?! What a bummer that would have been!? ;)

Exampel of cloisonné work

Hope you found this at least a tiny bit interesting! :)
Please feel free to leave a comment with your thoughts!

Stay tuned for part two of the history of nail polish! :)
Part two will be about the nail colouring in ancient Egypt and the birth of the iconic blood red nail polish ;)