Questionwhat was nail polish made of long age?
AnswerWell Kaitlin, you had me stumped since we never studied the history of Nail Polish at the academy. But I found an answer!
The earliest reported use of nail polish appears to originate in early China (around 3000BC). Finger nails were a status symbol.
The ancient Chinese made nail polish using a mixture of:
Gum Arabic
Gelatin
Bees Wax
Egg Whites!
This base substance could then be used to create different varnishes and lacquers for the nail which could be dyed later.
Colour has always been used to represent social class. Gold and Silver were the colours worn by royalty in the Chou Dynasty (600 BC). After that the royals were usually seen to be wearing black or red on their nails.
Women of a lower rank were only allowed to wear pale tones on their nails. (I'm guessing this is because black and red indicate boldness, daring and strength - traits associated with royalty at that time). The paler colours would indicate weaker feeble people).
The Ancient Egyptians would also indulge in a spot of nail painting. Again royalty had their own colours that they used. Cleopatria, the most famous ruler of Egypt would always wear a rusty red colour on her nails. This colour was therefore reserved for her and her alone. Anyone else caught wearing this colour would have been executed!
Hope this helped!
Thanks!
Jeannie
