Nail varnish is one of those magical cosmetics that seem to evoke all sorts of childhood memories. Apart from the thrill of finding something that we probably shouldn’t have been anywhere near, there was always something glamorous about it. Perhaps is was the vivid colours that would look exactly the same in the bottle as they did when dry, unlike the tablets of watercolour paints uncle Trevor had got us for Christmas. Or was it the little jewel-like bottles they came in, all self-contained and ready to go, complete with the brush that made the process so simple? Or the occasional gold or silver sparkly ones? And let’s not forget, although it probably isn’t the done thing to admit it, there was that wonderful aroma.

Whatever the attraction, the obsession with nail varnish is something that we probably never grow out of. Some of us slavishly stick to our favourite colour, like the Queen, who apparently wears no nail polish but Essie Ballet Slippers, according to her hairdresser in a 1989 request from to the company. Others like to experiment a little, veering from gothic blacks to fairy pinks as their mood determines. And in the middle are those of us who keep a small selection to more or less match what we’re wearing.

It’s hard to imagine nowadays that nail polish used to simply be a colourless veneer to protect our nails and make them look pretty and healthy. But this was to change in the 1920s, with an unlikely spark creating the firework display of colours. Apparently it was the development of paints for the relatively new car industry that started the craze for painting our nails different colours. Designed to be durable, weatherproof and attractive, these paints were too perfect to ignore for the fingernail obsessed woman, and they found their way into the polishes of the day, inadvertently starting something that will probably last as long as humankind.

Needless to say, the idea that a single colour could be popped onto each of our nails did soon start to become so ordinary that people started to get a little bit more creative. Some of the incredibly beautiful, intricate and detailed designs can take your breath away more than a whiff of your mother’s make up box. And while many of them will turn out to be false, the genuine articles, hand-painted by skilled manicure artists and sometimes including embedded stones and jewels, can cost an arm and a leg to have done (not literally, fortunately – that wouldn’t work).

If we go back even further into history, though, we can find examples of painted nails in the graphical remains extinct cultures have left behind. It is thought that Queen Nefertiti, one of Ancient Egypt’s most glamorous characters, painted her fingernails and toenails (or more likely got someone else to do it), and more recently the medieval Chinese used their mastery of lacquerwork to concoct mixtures to colour and protect their nails. But it was the pleasure-seekers from between the wars that we have to thank for the industry as we know it today, where we can have any colour we want, even black.

Celebrity endorsement is common in cosmetics so Tracey\’s practical help is valuable especially in cases like Essie were the product really merits the attention it gets. Tracey continually reviews ranges of skin care products and writes about her opinions.

Celebrity endorsement is common in cosmetics so Tracey\’s practical help is valuable especially in cases like Essie were the product really merits the attention it gets. Tracey continually reviews ranges such as those at http://www.skincare-online.com/ and writes about her opinions.

Author Bio: Celebrity endorsement is common in cosmetics so Tracey\’s practical help is valuable especially in cases like Essie were the product really merits the attention it gets. Tracey continually reviews ranges of skin care products and writes about her opinions.

Category: Wellness, Fitness and Diet
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