What is it about nail polish that inherently draws us in to want to paint?
Wikipedia says nail polish originated with the Chinese around 3000 B.C. However, the Japanese and Italians are thought to have been the first ones to actually use it.
The Chinese used a colored lacquer, made from a combination of Arabic gum, egg whites, gelatin and beeswax. They also used a mixture consisting of mashed rose, orchid and impatiens petals combined with alum. This mixture, when applied to nails for a few hours or overnight, would leave 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.
Nowadays, toxic ingredients including phthalates, toluene, and formaldehyde have been added to most nail polishes leaving many women clueless as to what our eco-options are.
Thankfully, not only are companies coming out with non-toxic nail polishes, nail freaks will be happy to know companies like Honeybee Gardens and Sula offer paint and peel collections. No smell during or even after painting with acetate based polish removers.
That means you can sneak off to the kitchen after the kids are asleep, the husband’s doing whatever he does that makes him happy post dinner and you can brew up your favorite tea and paint your nails purty.
After all, we’ve got tradition to uphold here.