michelle menard nail polish

michelle menard nail polish

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Nail polish

Nail polish (also known as nail varnish or nail enamel) is a lacquer that can be applied to the human fingernail or toenails to decorate and protect the nail plates. The formula has revised repeatedly to enhance its decorative properties and to suppress cracking or peeling. Nail polish consists of a mix of an organic polymer and several other components that give it colors and textures. Nail polishes come in all shades of color and play a significant part in manicures and pedicures.

Ingredients

• Modern nail polish consists of a film-forming polymer dissolved in a volatile organic solvent. Typical is a solution of nitrocellulose in butyl acetate or ethyl acetate is common. This basic formulation is expanded to include the following:

• Plasticizers to yield non-brittle films. Dibutylphthalate and camphor are typical plasticizers.
• Dyes and pigments. Representative compounds include chromium oxide greens, chromium hydroxide, ferric ferrocyanide, stannic oxide, titanium dioxide, iron oxide, carmine, ultramarine, and manganese violet.
• Opalescent pigments. The glittery/shimmer look in the color can be conferred by mica, bismuth oxychloride, natural pearls, and aluminum powder.
• Adhesive polymers ensure that the nitrocellulose adheres to the nail’s surface. One modifier used is tosylamide-formaldehyde resin.
• Thickening agents are added to maintain the sparkling particles in suspension while in the bottle. A typical thickener is stearalkonium hectorite. Thickening agents exhibit thixotropy, their solutions are viscous when still but free-flowing when agitated. This duality is convenient for easily applying the freshly shaken mixture to give a film that quickly rigidifies.
• Ultraviolet stabilizers resist color changes when the dry film is exposed to sunlight. A typical stabilizer is benzophenone-1.

michelle menard

I already knew that nail polish today is more popular than ever before. I knew by reading magazines that there was an entire fashion trend revolving around nail polish and beautifully decorated nails.  While I went shopping, I noticed that not only is there a plethora of basic colors to choose from, there are also glow in the dark polishes, metallic polishes and even mood changing polishes to choose from. Because nail polish is widely available and such a huge piece of modern day fashion, the nail polish industry is creating more and more unique ways to excite nail polish lovers each and every day.

Because of the fact that I am such a nail polish enthusiast, these simple questions popped into my head “When did nail polish originally start? And who do I have to thank for bringing this hobby into my life?”  On the website “The Corner Apartment”, I found out that coloring of the nails began with the Babylonians all the way back in 3,200 B.C. as well as in China at the same time period.

Everyday items

During these times, the nail “polish” made out of everyday items such as Kohl, Egg Whites, and Beeswax in which the nails would be soaked in for hours. Although the modern-day trend is for females to wear polish on their nails, it may surprise you to learn that men originally wore nail polish.

Fast-forward to Britain in the 1800s and nail polish caught on again, mostly because of the Victorian obsession with cleanliness and purity. Manicures were a must for every proper woman – a standard that some might say carried over to today. Brits also believed that less was more, as the most popular type of manicure was extremely simple; women would apply a pink-tinted oil after their nails properly buffered. Although these Victorian manicures might be considered… well, severely basic… by today’s standards, they were extremely in-demand among the ladies of Queen Elizabeth’s court.

1920

In 1920, French make-up artist Michelle Menard changed the world of fingertip fabulousness forever when she was inspired by the high-gloss shine of car paint. The vehicle varnish steered her down the path of adding a glossy look to her customers’ nails. The company that Menard worked for perfected her formula and began selling the popular polish in stores. The little company that Menard worked for would one day become the modern make-up powerhouse known as Revlon.

Chaim Weizmann

The inventor and founder of Acetone is named after Chaim Weizmann, who was a British citizen.. It was discovered shortly before WWI (in the early 1900’s). He later became the first president of Israel. Chaim needed something to help him create the method of Bacterial Fermentation (chemical process that is most commonly used now to make beer and other alcoholic beverages). He used a type of bacteria, Bacterium Clostridium Acetobutylicum, to produce Acetone. It was then, found out that Acetone is a better propellent for artillery shells than gun powder. As a matter of fact, some type of bombs required to contain Acetone in order to explode. Acetone-containing artillery then known to be extremely deadly.

The 1800s and Beyond

In Britain, around the 1800s, simple nails were in. Just a light red tint and buffing of the nails were all women did. In the 20s, The Moon Manicure was popular in France and in the 40s and 50s, red nails hit Hollywood! The French manicure was first seen in the 70s, and today, intricate nail art is all the rage.

Who Invented Nail Polish?

But who was the mastermind behind the invention of nail polish? Well we probably owe it to four people (over the years, there has been dispute on who was the ultimate inventor). In the 1920s, Michelle Menard, a makeup artist, came up with a substance very similar to enamel used to paint cars, which was supposedly where her inspiration came from. Charles Revson, his brother Martin Revson and a chemist, Charles Lachman, formed a company, the infamous Revlon. Michelle supposedly worked for Revlon and together, they created nail polish.

The history of nail polish goes back centuries but the modern-day nail industry has completely evolved since then. If only they could see us now! Too bad the people from 3000 B.C.E. weren’t able to experience the luxuriousness of a mani-pedi!

paint cars