In the modern world, few women do not care about the beauty of their hands. Even men resort to the services of beauty salons to bring their nails in order.
But when doing such everyday things, few people think about who invented the manicure and what secrets this familiar procedure conceals. However, many striking facts may surprise even the most well-read person.
History of
People have long cared for the beauty of their hands. Even the ancient Egyptians attached great importance to manicure, which is confirmed by scientists studying the Egyptian mummies. It has long been proven that Cleopatra and Nefertiti stained the nail plates with henna, which has a far resemblance to the varnish coating.
The oldest manicure set was found in the territory of ancient Babylon. According to studies, Babylonian women of fashion cared for the condition of nails with only gold tools.
But in ancient China, ladies painted their hands and nails using a mixture consisting of wax, egg whites, Arabic jam and flower petals. As a result, a certain color was formed, which determines the woman’s belonging to this or that class.
Also of great importance was the length of the nail plates. Only wealthy and noble women had the right to grow long nails.
Manicure in the usual sense was discovered only in the 30s of the XIX century.
The French king Louis complained of a burr appearing on his finger. Several doctors were called to remove it, but only one doctor was able to fix the problem, and they are credited with opening a manicure.
Subsequently, this doctor invented a special manicure set consisting of a suede nail file, powder and an orange stick. And in a fairly short period of time such a set gained popularity and appeared on the bedside shelves of many fashionistas.
The spread of nail art
At the end of the 19th century, information about a manicure set created by a French doctor was distributed to all developed countries. Thanks to this, many American women began to follow the beauty of their hands in this way. At the beginning of the last century created the first nail polish, which consisted of glitter, but did not stay more than a day.
In 1917, a tool was introduced in the United States to quickly and painlessly remove the cuticle. At the same time, nail salons appeared in large American cities, which saved many women from having to put their hands in order themselves.
In 1925, they created tools not only for coloring nails, but also for cleansing them from varnish. The coating itself had a pinkish shade and was intended for application to the central part of the plate.
Not all coatings produced in those days, received deserved recognition. For example, the red color caused rejection in the majority of women of fashion, as it immediately began to be associated with accessibility and lightheadedness.
Thanks to the Frenchwoman Juliet Marlene in the mid-20th century, women were able to repair damaged nail plates using pieces of silk tissue or paper. In the same period dyes appeared, allowing to obtain different shades of varnishes.
At the end of the 20th century, women stopped covering their nails with varnished varnishes, starting to focus on naturalness. To this day, many women of fashion adhere to this rule and pay great attention to the health of the nail plates.
Interesting Facts
At first glance, it seems that manicure is an everyday procedure, and therefore does not deserve special attention. However, there are facts that allow to look at it differently.
- In ancient Egypt, it was believed that long nails allow a person to communicate with the gods. But to have such nail plates had the right only to know. To emphasize the status allowed and the tone of the nails: the brighter the color, the higher the position of the person.
- In ancient China, grown nails were found not only in women, but also in men. It was believed that the longer the nail plate in the representative of the stronger sex, the more courageous his character.
- The fashion for growing a nail on the little finger came to us from France. In the 17th century, this tendency was successful among men, who expressed their intelligence in this way.
- Oriental women of the past centuries preferred to save time on manicure, and therefore found a way to long-term staining plates. To do this, under the base of the nail plates, they were injected with a special dye that stained the nails for a long time.
- The owner of the longest nails is Nelvin Fazel, who for a quarter of a century has managed to grow nails with a length of 9.5 meters.
Manicure art has ancient roots, which suggests that the well-groomed hands valued at all times. Beautiful and healthy nails make a person more attractive, which unwittingly attracts others.
For details on the history of manicure, see the video below.
