History

Nail polish originated in China, and its use dates back to 3000 BC. Around 600 BC, during the Zhou dynasty, the royal house preferred the colors gold and silver. However, red and black eventually replaced these metallic colors as royal favourites. During the Ming dynasty, nail polish was often made from a mixture that included beeswax, egg whites, gelatin, vegetable dyes, and gum Arabic. In Egypt, the lower classes wore pale colors, whereas high society painted their nails red. By the turn of the 9th century, nails were tinted with scented red oils, and polished or buffed. In the 19th and early 20th centuries, people pursued a polished rather than a painted look by massaging tinted powders and creams into their nails, then buffing them shiny. One such polishing product sold around this time was Grafs Hyglo nail polish paste.