The word "manicure" derives from the French word. The exact meaning is "care for nails, fingers and hands". Nails beautification was known already in the antiquity. Nails played a significant role, having different symbolical meanings with different nations and at different times. For example, in ancient China many people abstained from cutting nails, as long nails meant prosperity, richness, and power. Indian women painted their hands with special color - natural henna. The color did not fade for long and the pictures looked very elegant. This tradition is still alive in India.

Europeans first told about nail polishes in 1920s when it became fashionable to polish nails. The real history of nail polishes began in 1925 when the famous cosmetic company Max Factor started to produce the first nail polish. It differed significantly from what we use presently. The first nail polish was a kind of powder, which women used to cover their nails. Later on, creams for nails were introduced. It was only in 1930 that one could read about nail polishes, similar to the up-to-date catalogs. Automobile industry prompted the idea to use paints. Later on, the producers of cosmetic lacquer for nails began to add pigments, which gave the polish the required color. At that time, the Revlon company introduced the fashion to make the nail polish color compatible with the lipstick's color, which was widely accepted in many countries worldwide. Unfortunately, the limited collection of pigments allowed manufacturing only a small number of tints: red, dark red, scarlet, crimson, etc. It was only in 1950 that other colors of nail polishes were introduced. Today the number of these colors is limitless.

There is a lot of information about nail polishes nowadays. A great variety of nail polish colors and tints is available in the modern shops. The fashion for the nail polishes will never disappear. But only a handful of manufacturers can offer their customers products of high quality. The basic requirements for the nail polish include the following: nail polish should lay on the nail surface uniformly, not leaving lines or stripes; it should be viscous enough and harden on nails within a short period of time, but not very quickly. Cleansers, water, and other external factors may spoil nail polish on nails. That is another nail polish high quality indicator is its durability.

Modern magazines write about nail polishes and nail polish removers the following: nail polishes usually do not harm the nails, as opposed to nail polish removers. The detrimental ingredients in nail polish removers include such solvents as acetone or acetate. When applied on the nail surface, removers make nails brittle, thin and cracked, so nails can easily get broken. Fortunately, acetone free products were introduced to the cosmetic market. They are manufactured on the basis of alcohol and ethers. Such removers are less harmful. Cosmetologists recommend abstaining from a frequent use of nail polishes and removers, so as to give the nails some rest at least for a couple of days. Cosmetic manufacturers created nail polishes containing healthy ingredients, such as vitamins, plant extracts, oils, etc.