Nail art dates back millennia, based on complex social rules, cultural appropriation, modern slavery and sexism, all the way down to our modern nail salons.
The glut of hyperbolic nail-related headlines online points to our obsession with the infinite possibilities in the world of manicure. In the Internet age, the manicure, in all its incarnations, conquers society and fashion. On Pinterest; the hashtag #nails has been posted 151 million times on Instagram; nail artists are stars in their own right; and countless women say that manicures are a form of self-care and personality expression. But too often, all this is labeled with frivolity.
When the pandemic hit, online musings about manicures became less about beautification. Rather, there has been a sudden and stark realization that coloring, decorating and beautifying nails is, for many, not simply a concern but an occupation. From the social media outcry sparked by a New York Times article questioning the future of the nail industry in an age of social distancing, to the accusation of misogyny leveled at Boris Johnson for refusing to consider beauty companies government's lockdown exit plans, the harmless manicure suddenly found itself in a quagmire of controversy.
A closer look, however, reveals that this is nothing new: cuticle culture has long been entangled in very complex issues, from classism and racial discrimination to politics and human rights issues.
The genesis of the manicure cannot be attributed to one culture. Archaeologists have discovered Egyptian mummies (dating back to 5,000 BC) with golden nails and henna-colored fingertips. Around the same time, Indian women stained their nails with henna, while ancient Babylonian men used kohl to dye their nails.
Second Nails: The History of the Modern Manicure, archaeologists have unearthed a solid gold manicure set in southern Babylon, dating back to 3,200 BC, that was apparently part of combat equipment. Given that manicures are now considered - and regularly derided - as a female pastime, this gives the term "war paint" a whole new meaning.
The Chinese are often credited with creating the first "nail polish", in 3000 BC
Women soaked their nails in a combination of egg whites, gelatin, beeswax, and dyes made from flower petals; roses and orchids were the most popular. The result was shiny nails colored reddish-pink. Long colorful claws, usually worn with highly decorative nail covers created from chiseled brass plates inlaid with semi-precious stones, were an indication of wealth and social status. The assumption was that you couldn't have such nails if you were of a lower class. Field work and 15cm claws were certainly not two aspects that could easily coexist.
The social significance of red nails has been a constant throughout the centuries. They were reserved for the elite, highlighting different manicures and social inequalities. Members of the Ming Dynasty sported crimson nails with long extensions, while Egyptian queens Nefertiti and Cleopatra were famous for wearing red nails—lower-ranking citizens were prohibited from wearing anything except light pink hues. It is striking now, considering how the sober shades with the notable example of the classic French Manicure, created in 1975 by the American Jeff Pink, president of Orly Nails have been associated with the elite social circles of Wasps and Chelsea -ites.i.
What the French - especially makeup artist Michelle Menard - may be credited with, however, is the introduction of a glossy nail polish in the 1920s using car paint, although it was only available to a few. That changed in 1932, when Revlon launched what we know today as nail polish and opened up this aspect of manicure to the masses. The popularity of nail color has continued for decades, even in times of economic instability, when it was considered an affordable and justifiable luxury. Some shades, like Chanel's Rouge Noir, have become popular. In 1995, this dried blood shade, popularized by Uma Thurman's character in Quentin Tarantino's Pulp Fiction, sold out the first day it launched. The hype created a 12-month waiting list; it is still Chanel's best-selling product.
The ritual of having your nails painted by a professional was largely the preserve of the wealthy until the rise of the nail bar. Thea Green, the founder of Nails Inc, was instrumental in bringing nail bars to the UK. My magic moment came during a business trip to New York, where I noticed nail bars offering quick, affordable manicures for busy professionals. I was a 23-year-old fashion editor at Tatler at the time, but I knew there was a gap in the market here, so I gave it a go," she told Management Today. She opened her first nail bar in 1999, expanding quickly across the country. Most recently, it launched a range of 'nude' nail polishes..
While Green was all about bringing the quick nail bar to customers with a penchant for a classic manicure, beauty entrepreneur Sharmadean Reid created a movement for a nail tribe looking for something more cutting edge. In 2009 he launched Wah Nails in Dalston, east London. This nail bar specialized in nail art, an antidote to the simple, monochromatic manicures that were all the rage, and a style steeped in African-American culture and Reid's passion for hip-hop culture.
It was an instant hit among the fashion crowd. Around this time, she met an influential fashion designer, who was white, in east London. The first thing he noticed were her nails: bright, sparkly nail art that I knew was the mainstay of rap stars like Missy Elliott and Lil' Kim and Jamaican-born women, both on the streets of Brixton, where she lived, or on the dancehall scene. The feeling was a hybrid of amazement, desperation and anger at seeing a trend so often considered vulgar, ghetto and unrefined, worn by African American women sported with confidence, worn by a white woman be seen as a pioneer. Again, things born of African American culture are rarely deemed acceptable unless they are repackaged.
Nail art, in a sense, was popular in the 1930s, when Joan Crawford wore the popular crescent moon style of the time, around the same time Life magazine ran a piece on monogram nails. But it was women of color who were at the helm of nail art's modern cultural renaissance. They've given it new life, from Donyale Luna, the first black woman to appear on the cover of US Vogue, and singer Glodean White, wife of the late soul crooner Barry White, to exemplars in the '80s and '90s like SWV's Coko and Janet Jackson in Busta Rhymes' futuristic video for What's it Gonna Be!!, where she sports pierced acrylic nails.
These artists helped create a look — bejeweled, flamboyant, and over the top — that felt like women of color were pushing back against Euro-centric expectations that they should retreat from the limelight. Instead, women of color were creating their own language around what was beautiful. It's no coincidence that US gymnast Nia Dennis wore long, tapered claws to perform a routine, which went viral in 2021 and was praised for introducing elements of black culture into a traditionally Eurocentric sport.
Black women have repeatedly been stigmatized for nail art. In 2016, for example, Nikole Hannah-Jones, the New York Times writer, questioned the validity of her employment by a respected white writer in a press conference. He asked her if she would go get her nails done. Meanwhile, three-time gold-winning American Olympian Florence Griffith Joyner, whose record as the world's fastest woman still stands, has found her achievements consistently overshadowed by media obsession - and hidden revulsion - for her jeweled acrylic nails. Yet, in 2020, it's Kylie Jenner who is routinely credited and celebrated for the trend.
And how do you express yourself through your style?
