Egyptian Nail Art History

Color in ancient egypt was used not only in realistic representations of scenes from every life but to illustrate the heavenly realms of the gods the afterlife and the stories and histories of the deities of the egyptian pantheon each color had its own particular symbolism and was created from elements found in nature.

Egyptian nail art history. Chinese dipped their nails in this mixture for several hours or left it on to dry. Among the egyptians as well nail coloration came to represent one s place on the social ladder with shades of red used by those at the uppermost rung. Even today red nails represent elegance and sophistication. 1st century b c.

Myrrh oil was used in ethiopia for nail care. The ancient egyptian s scarlet manicure 1300 b c. Royal people choose their own color and normal people were not allowed to use those colors. It was made from beeswax egg whites gelatin vegetable dyes and gum arabic.

The colors however determined the class and status. As in ancient egypt nail color indicated one s status black for noblemen and green for the common man. Nail care history in ancient egypt ancient egyptian manuscripts reveal that women at that time used henna also known as mehendi to polish their nails. However according to historians and archaeologists the actual invention of fingernail paint originates from ancient china.

Ancient egyptians used henna to pain their fingernails. Cleopatra and queen nefertiti pioneers of all things opulent popularized the manicure by rubbing their hands in rich oils. In ancient greece it was a sign of power and wealth to carry long nails and decorate them with gold leaf or miniature paintings very similar to modern nail art. Back in the 1300 bc the colour of nail polish symbolized social class.

Beauty and manicure shops flourished in ancient egypt around 4000 b c. Egyptologist margaret bunson writes how artisans began to observe the. Egypt on the other hand used henna to give them color and pharaohs reinforced them with papyrus paper. The colours gold and silver were considered to be the royal however were later changes to black and red.

The chinese started to experiment with different ingredients to create nail polish. While we may think that nail art is a modern concept it was the inca in the 1500s who first started to decorate their fingernails with images of eagles. Upper class males wore black nail polish middle class males wore green. Egyptians and indians also practiced nail art in a similar period using an orange dye derived from the henna plant.