The earliest record of using nail polish was found in mummified pharaohs whose nails were painted with henna. Later in China around 3000 B.C. Those times lower class used to apply light colours and higher class used to wear red colors.
According to the historians and archeologist, 5000 years ago nail polish was created in China where it was used by ruling class to distinguish themselves from the general population. During those times lower class used to apply light colours and higher class used to wear red and golden colors. There are also reports where general population who wore red nail polish were executed.
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 favorites.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 a reddish brown, with henna.
By the turn of the ninth century, nails were tinted with scented red oils, and polished or buffed. In the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, people preferred a polished rather than painted look, and mixed tinted powders and creams into their nails, then buffed them until shiny
From China, nail polish spread across India, Middle East and northern Africa, where it was extensively used in Egypt. As with many other cosmetic products, nail polish disappeared from the European fashion after the fall of Roman Empire. It was only after the arrival of renaissance and the new trade connection with the Middle East and India that European aristocracy gain access to the nail polish.
From China, nail polish spread across India, Middle East and northern Africa, where it was extensively used in Egypt. As with many other cosmetic products, nail polish disappeared from the European fashion after the fall of Roman Empire. It was only after the arrival of renaissance and the new trade connection with the Middle East and India that European aristocracy gain access to the nail polish.