History of manicure

Nails were taken care of thousands of years ago. It is known that the oldest manicure set was discovered by archaeologists in Ancient Babylon (modern territory of Iraq). However, there was hardly an orange stick and a buff.

In ancient Egypt, the length and color of the nails indicated the class of the person - so, representatives of the nobility manicure was bright.

Queen Cleopatra used henna to decorate her nails and hands, and she used oils in her care.

In Ancient Greece and Rome, there was a special category of slaves: kosmetes. They assisted persons of noble birth in caring for themselves. They also polished their nails using a special compound with animal fat.

The prototype of modern nail polish appeared in the ancient Chinese civilization. It was a paint made from ground minerals, wax, egg yolks and gum arabic. There is also information that gold dust was used to decorate nails.

In ancient China they tried to grow out their nails. And not in the modern sense, but up to 25 cm (where is the modern nail extension)! It was considered a way to protect themselves from evil forces. Those who couldn't reach the ideal length (because their nails would break) had to wear sharpened metal tips.

In the Middle Ages, on the contrary, manicures were associated with evil forces. It went so far that the Inquisition declared this procedure sinful. But after a while everything changed - and well-groomed nails again became one of the indispensable attributes of the appearance of the nobility.

For instance, in the Renaissance it was common at court to grow a nail on one of the little fingers to politely tap on the door before entering. It was common to polish nails with a special bar covered with suede, which can be considered the prototype of the modern baf.

And in 1830 the first full-fledged manicure set was created by a doctor of the French King Louis-Philippe. After the monarch had an inflamed finger because of a carelessly torn burr, he was obliged to take good care of his nails and the skin around them.