Nail polish (
nail varnish) is a
lacquerIn a general sense, lacquer is a clear or coloured varnish that dries by solvent evaporation and often a curing process as well that produces a hard, durable finish, in any sheen level from ultra matte to high gloss and that can be further polished as required.The term lacquer originates from the...
applied to toenails or fingernails for appearance, but also as nail protection. Polishing afterward without adding another chemical layer is called
nail buffingNail buffing is the act of "polishing" the nail using buffers of successively finer grit in order to make it look more consistent and shiny .* The Emery board nail file should not be used to buff the surface of the nails. They are meant only to shape them from the side.* The medium grit can be used...
.
History
The Chinese used a colored lacquer, made from a combination of
Arabic gumGum arabic, also known as gum acacia, chaar gund, char goond or meska, is a natural gum made of hardened sap taken from two species of the acacia tree; Acacia senegal and Acacia seyal...
,
egg whiteEgg white is the common name for the clear liquid contained within an egg. It is the cytoplasm of the egg, which until fertilization is a single cell . It consists mainly of about 15% proteins dissolved in water...
s,
gelatinGelatin is a translucent, colorless, odorless, brittle, nearly tasteless solid substance, derived from the collagen inside animals' skin and bones. It is commonly used as a gelling agent in food, pharmaceuticals, photography, and cosmetic manufacturing. Substances containing gelatin or functioning...
and
beeswaxBeeswax is a natural wax produced in the bee hive of honey bees of the genus Apis. Worker bees have eight wax-producing mirror glands on the inner sides of the sternites on abdominal segments 4 to 7...
. They also used a mixture consisting of mashed rose, orchid and impatiens petals combined with
alumAlum is both a specific chemical compound and a class of chemical compounds. The specific compound is the hydrated aluminium potassium sulfate with the formula KAl
2.12H
2O...
. This mixture, when applied to nails for a few hours or overnight, leaves a color ranging from pink to red. The Egyptians used reddish-brown stains derived from henna to color their nails as well as the tips of their fingers. Henna dyes are used to draw intricate, temporary designs on hands in
MehndiMendhi is the application of Henna as a temporary form of skin decoration in South Asia, Southwest Asia, North Africa and the Horn of Africa, as well as by expatriate communities from these areas. Mehendi decorations became fashionable in the West in the late 1990s, where they are sometimes...
.
Chou Dynasty of 600 B.C., Chinese royalty used gold and silver to enhance their nails. A fifteenth-century
MingMing is a common personal name among Chinese people, Vietnamese people, and Korean people. In pinyin, it is written Míng, in romanized Vietnamese, it is written as Minh, and in Korean it is pronounced Myeong...
manuscript cites red and black as the colors chosen by royalty for centuries previous. The Egyptians used nail color to signify social order, with shades of red at the top. Queen
NefertitiNefertiti was the Great Royal Wife of the Egyptian Pharaoh Akhenaten. Nefertiti and her husband were known for changing Egypt's religion from a polytheistic religion to a henotheistic religion. They revered only one god, Aten, the sun disc...
,the wife of the king Akhenaton, colored her finger and toe nails ruby red; Cleopatra favored a deep rust red. Women of lower rank who colored their nails were permitted only pale hues.
IncaThe Inca civilization began as a tribe in the Cuzco area, where the legendary first Sapa Inca, Manco Capac founded the Kingdom of Cuzco around 1200. Under the leadership of the descendants of Manco Capac, the Inca state grew to absorb other Andean communities. In 1442, the Incas began a...
s decorated their fingernails with pictures of eagles. Some Native Americans had colorful nails. It is unclear how the practice of coloring nails progressed following these beginnings. Portraits from the 17th and 18th centuries include shiny nails. By the turn of the 19th century, nails were tinted with scented red oils and polished or buffed with a chamois cloth, rather than simply painted. In addition, English and US 19th century cookbooks contained directions for making nail paints. In the 19th and early 20th centuries, women still pursued a polished, rather than painted, look by massaging tinted powders and creams into their nails, then buffing them shiny. One such polishing product sold around this time was Graf’s Hyglo nail polish paste. Some women during this period painted their nails using a clear, glossy varnish applied with camel-hair brushes. When automobile paint was created around 1920, it inspired the introduction of colored nail enamels.
Nail polish contains nitrocellulose which is available in many different grades and is measured by viscosity. Nail grade nitrocellulose should be used for nail polish, as opposed to industrial grade which is available for use in furniture finishes, auto-paints and other various non-cosmetic lacquer finishes. Nail polish manufacturers are known to use industrial grade nitrocellulose covertly to save money, as it is half the price of the nail grade nitro.
Constituents
Most nail polishes are made of nitrocellulose dissolved in a solvent (e.g. butyl acetate or ethyl acetate) and either left clear or colored with various pigments. Basic components included are: film forming agents, resins and plasticizers, solvents, and coloring agents. Adhesive polymers (e.g. tosylamide-formaldehyde resin) ensure the nitrocellulose adheres to the nail's surface. Plasticizers (e.g. camphor) are chemicals that link between polymer chains, spacing them to make the film sufficiently flexible after drying. Pigments and sparkling particles (e.g. mica) add desired color and reflecting characteristics. Thickening agents (e.g. stearalkonium hectorite) are added to maintain the sparkling particles in suspension while in the bottle. Ultraviolet stabilizers (e.g. benozophenone-1) resist color changes when the dry film is exposed to direct sunlight. Nail polish ingredients often include toluene. Solvents such as toluene and xylene are petroleum-based products that have been linked to cancer. Formaldehyde (also called formalin) may cause allergic reactions in some people and is unsafe for use by asthmatic people. It is a known carcinogen.
Nail polish makers are under pressure to reduce or eliminate potentially toxic ingredients, including
phthalatesPhthalates, or phthalate esters, are esters of phthalic acid and are mainly used as plasticizers . They are primarily used to soften polyvinyl chloride...
,
tolueneToluene, also known as methylbenzene, or Toluol, is a clear water-insoluble liquid with the typical smell of paint thinners, reminiscent of the related compound benzene. It is an aromatic hydrocarbon that is widely used as an industrial feedstock and as a solvent...
, and
formaldehydeFormaldehyde is a chemical compound with the formula CH2O. It is the simplest aldehyde. Formaldehyde also exists as the cyclic trimer trioxane and the polymer paraformaldehyde. It exists in water as the hydrate H2C2. Aqueous solutions of formaldehyde are referred...
. In September 2006, several makers agreed to phase out
dibutyl phthalatePhthalates, or phthalate esters, are esters of phthalic acid and are mainly used as plasticizers . They are primarily used to soften polyvinyl chloride...
, which has been linked to testicular problems in lab animals and humans, in updated formulations. Though some makers recently agreed to eliminate
formaldehydeFormaldehyde is a chemical compound with the formula CH2O. It is the simplest aldehyde. Formaldehyde also exists as the cyclic trimer trioxane and the polymer paraformaldehyde. It exists in water as the hydrate H2C2. Aqueous solutions of formaldehyde are referred...
from their products, others still use the chemical.
A recent (ca. 2003) development is water-based nail polish, which is based on an acrylic polymer emulsion (e.g. styrene-acrylate copolymer), and pigments similar to those used in watercolor paints. This is marketed as a more environmentally-conscious product, since nail polish is considered a
hazardous wasteA hazardous waste is waste that poses substantial or potential threats to public health or the environment and generally exhibits one or more of these characteristics:* carcinogenic*ignitable *oxidant*corrosive*toxic*radioactive...
by some regulatory bodies (e.g.
Los AngelesLos Angeles is the largest city in the state of California and the second largest in the United States. Often abbreviated as L.A. and nicknamed The City of Angels, Los Angeles has an estimated population of 3.8 million and spans over in Southern California...
Department of Public Works) In this application, the solvent (water) does not completely evaporate as in the case of the traditional nail polish; part of the water is absorbed through the fingernail.
Nail polish in fashion
Nail polish is traditionally mostly worn by women. Traditional colors for nail polish were red, pink and brown, now be found in many other. French manicures traditionally mimic the color of natural nails, with a clear, beige or soft pink polish on most of the nail and a white finish at the tips. Black and other dark nail polish shades have been popular with
gothsThe goth subculture is a contemporary subculture found in many countries. It began in the United Kingdom during the early 1980s in the gothic rock scene, an offshoot of the post-punk genre. The goth subculture has survived much longer than others of the same era, and has continued to diversify...
and
punksThe punk subculture is a subculture based around punk rock. It includes music, ideologies, fashion, visual art, dance, literature and film. The punk scene is composed of an assortment of smaller factions that distinguish themselves from one another through unique variations...
of both genders since the 1970s. Nail polish color accent other colors.
Some types of polish are advertised to cause nail growth, make nails stronger, prevent nails from breaking, cracking and splitting and stop nail biting. Nail polish may be applied as one of several components in a
manicureA manicure is a cosmetic beauty treatment for the fingernails and hands performed either at home or in a nail salon by a licensed professional nail technician or manicurist. A manicure treatment is not only a treatment for the natural nails but also for the hands...
. However, some kinds of nail treatments contain ingredients such as
ammonium hexafluorophosphateAmmonium hexafluorophosphate is a commonly available form of the hexafluorophosphate anion....
.
Nail polish remover
Nail polish is easily removed with
nail polish remover, which is basically an
organicAn organic compound is any member of a large class of chemical compounds whose molecules contain carbon. For historical reasons discussed below, a few types of compounds such as carbonates, simple oxides of carbon and cyanides, as well as the allotropes of carbon, are considered inorganic...
solventA solvent is a liquid, solid, or gas that dissolves another solid, liquid, or gaseous solute, resulting in a solution.The most common solvent in everyday life is water. Most other commonly-used solvents are organic chemicals. These are called organic solvents...
but may also include oils, scents and coloring. Nail polish remover packages may include individual felt pads soaked in remover, a bottle of liquid remover that can be used with a cotton ball, and even containers filled with foam and remover that can be used by inserting a finger into the container and twisting until the polish comes off.
The base solvent in nail polish remover is usually
acetoneAcetone is the organic compound with the formula OC2. This colorless, mobile, flammable liquid is the simplest example of the ketones. Owing to the fact that acetone is miscible with water it serves as an important solvent in its own right, typically as the solvent of choice for...
or
ethyl acetateEthyl acetate is the organic compound with the formula CH3COOCH2CH3. This colorless liquid has a characteristic sweet smell like certain glues or nail polish removers, in which it is used...
.
AcetonitrileAcetonitrile is the chemical compound with formula CH3CN. This colourless liquid is the simplest organic nitrile. It is produced mainly as a byproduct of acrylonitrile manufacture. It is widely used as a polar aprotic solvent in synthetic chemistry, and as a medium-polarity solvent in...
has also been used in the past, but is more toxic: two cases have been reported of accidental poisoning of young children by acetonitrile-based nail polish remover, one of which was fatal. Acetonitrile has been banned in cosmetics (including nail polish removers) in the
European Economic AreaThe European Economic Area was established on 1 January 1994 following an agreement between member states of the European Free Trade Association ,the European Community , and all member states of the European Union...
since 2000-03-17.
Nail polish removers with acetone should not be poured into
polystyrenePolystyrene , sometimes abbreviated PS, is an aromatic polymer made from the aromatic monomer styrene, a liquid hydrocarbon that is commercially manufactured from petroleum by the chemical industry...
(Styrofoam) containers as the acetone will dissolve them.
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