Water Marble Nails

So now that we've looked at the history and make up of nail polish, its time to see what we can do with it! I'm always on the look for ways to jazz up a simple manicure or just go for something totally different. I came across this video from my favourite nail artist the other day, 'cutepolish', and I just had to try the this cool technique out for myself. You'll need toothpicks, tape, white nail polish, 3 other colours of nail polish and a cup of water for this design. If you want to try this design out for yourself I would recommend taking extra care when removing the excess nail polish around your nails as you can see from my photo I ended up taking off quite a bit of the marble design around the edges of my nails when I was cleaning up. I've put the link for cutepolish's video below and also attached a photo of my own attempt at water marble nails, enjoy!

Big Brands

Now lets take a look at some of the top brands of nail polish on the market today. My personal favourites are Essie and Sally Hansen. They are ranked in the top 10 nail polish brands in the world by Yahoo Voices, realsimple.com and today.com. Other brands like OPI are China Glaze also among the top 10 nail polish brands. Today I'm going to take a look at Essie and how the company came to be. Essie was founded by Essie Weingarten in 1981 where she launched her first nail polish collection in Vegas and was adored by the public. A year later, Essie started selling her nail polishes on an international scale and ever since has continued to become increasingly popular. In 1985 Essie launched their iconic square bottle design which is still kept till this day. I counted that Essie have 282 different colours of nail polish and that's excluding their nail effect polishes. Essie nail polishes have been worn by numerous famous people and in 1989 Essie even received a letter from Queen Elizabeth's hairdresser requesting a bottle of the shade 'ballet slippers' for the Queen herself. You can buy Essie nail polish online for $8.50 a bottle or in stores for a bit more. Below is a picture of just some of Essie's nail polish collection taken from their website Essie.com.

The Ingredients of Nail Polish

Although each nail polish is different, they are all made up of the same basic ingredients. The main ingredient used in nail polish is Nitrocellulose. Nitrocellulose is formed from nitric acid and cellulose and is a highly explosive chemical. in the 18880s it was used as a film base for movies and X-rays but was soon replaced by a safer alternative after a number of fires had been caused by unstable nitrate films. Resins and plasticisers are also added to nail polish to make it resistant to soap and water so your nail polish won't come off when you wash your hands or have a shower. As I said, each nail polish is different and the more expensive brands like OPI, Essie and Sally Hansen are made of less harmful chemicals and will last longer and are better for your nails compared to the cheaper brands like Essence and LA colours.

Styles developing: The French Manicure

By far, the most popular manicure in the history of nail polish is the French Manicure. It is described as a type of manicure designed to resemble natural nails, with painted pink base and white tips. Funnily enough this manicure actually originated from Hollywood. Actors were looking for a manicure that would suit every outfit regardless of colour or style because it was too much of a hassle to change the colour of the nail polish for every set when making a movie. This subtle yet elegant look was invented by the popular make-up company, Max Factor in 1927. Barbra Streisand brought the look to fame but little did she know how much of a success it would be. Jeff Pink, the creator of Orly nail polish, came up with the name 'French Manicure' and in 1978 made the first ever French Manicure kit. Over time the French Manicure look has developed and is used with different colours and shapes. Below is a picture of the classic manicure taken from google images.

The History of Nail Polish

Nail Polish originated from India about 5000 years ago. It was made with henna and used as a nail paint. This idea spread quickly to other civilisations and it is believed that the Babylonians used solid gold to paint their nails. In China it was used by the richest people to distinguish themselves from the rest of the people. It was a crime for the common people to wear nail polish and anyone caught wearing it would of been executed. The Chinese wore rich gold and silver nail polish to symbolise wealth and power. They made their nail polish out of beeswax, egg whites and vegetable dyes. Nail polish slowly spread through to India and the middle east. Nail polish disappeared from Europe after the fall of the Roman Empire but was brought back again during the Renaissance. Since then nail polish has become more and more popular and is now available in every colour and style.

Image taken from google images.

Hi my name is Shaina and this is my blog on nailpolish. I will be looking at where nail polish first came from, how its made, who makes it and the different brands and designs you can do.