Nail Art Trends Through The Ages

The ancient Egyptians were, even by today’s standards, exemplars of high fashion, and many of the fashion arts we enjoy today had their origins in the land of the Pharoes! Clothing made from dyed cloth, then cut and sewn into different styles, pieces of jewellery like bracelets, rings, necklaces, and earrings, wigs and hair extenders, and makeup like eyeliner and lipstick all had their beginnings in sophisticated and fashionable ancient Egypt!

Not too surprisingly, the Egyptians were also the first to create nail art, decorating their finger and toenails with henna, a natural reddish coloured dye believed to strengthen nails. This practice dates back to around 3000 B.C. The Egyptians also added designs and pictures of nature like flowers and animals to their nail art. 

Meanwhile, around the world over in China, growing and painting nails was a symbol of status and wealth. Manual tasks are difficult to perform if your nails are too long, so the regular working class people couldn’t engage in the fashion. The wealthy, ruling class kept their nails long and painted them with bright colours and intricate designs to indicate their high status.

Crossing the Pacific, nail art was a celebrated practice among the citizens of the Inca Empire, one of South America’s largest and most advanced civilizations. Incas enjoyed painting eagles and other wildlife on their nails to decorate them.

The 16th century saw nail polish, originally a Chinese invention, become popular in France, and the fashion was to incorporate art into the colour by creating ornate patterns. Women drew elaborate designs full of swirls and abstract shapes to decorate their nails. In staid and proper 19th-century Britain the women used more subtle designs, often doing away with the art and simply painting their nails in solid colours like reds, pinks, and golds, a practice still popular today.

Nail art didn’t come to an end by any means, and by the early 20th century women worldwide practised various forms of nail art as a fun and easy means to express their unique personal styles. Some of the decorative techniques employed included fixing semi-precious stones and other tiny decorative items to their nails, along with a host of other materials such as glitter, rhinestones, foil, and beads.

Throughout the 1920s and 1930s mass-market nail lacquers continued to spread and women embraced them in their daily lives. Nowadays the nail industry continues to grow and offer more diverse products to its eager customers, which leads us to the question, what does the future hold for nail art trends? Let’s examine some of the directions we see the industry heading in over the next few decades.

Nail art inspired by culture has been present since the beginning and seems to be destined to stay in play. Nail art designs based on vintage European floral patterns and African wax prints are currently trending, and will continue to be popular as they are joined by traditional Indian henna designs, and Native American beliefs like Hopi kachina motifs.

Today’s women are always looking for new ways to express their individuality and personality through their nail style. In the 1970s acrylic nails first became available on the marketplace and have continued to grow in popularity ever since. More innovations followed suit like press-on nails, nail wraps, chrome or metallic nails, and the highly popular gels. Nail art continues to have its devout followers and nail art pens appeared on the market in 2010, soon followed by a new wave of fun nail products like adhesive strips, glitter gels, and 3D stickers.

Nail art trends are continuing to evolve and the future will very likely hold holographic nails and glow-in-the-dark nails, there are no limits to what the human imagination can achieve!

Image Source: Freepik