Take a sneak peek with Sugar Nails Salon into Nail Art History from the 1900s-2000.
Nail History? First off there’s no way that we weren’t going to use that old-school hair salon image. Impossible to find anything near as funny as this in nail salon images and we knew you’d appreciate it despite it being about hair. Can you get over the hair dryers coming down from the ceiling? We absolutely love it!
Ok as promised, here are some notable moments in nail history!
In 1910 a company called “Flowery Manicure Products” created emery boards that that look a lot like the ones that local nail salons and individual nail techs use today.
Around 1920 the standard for nail care or even nail art per say was to massage commercially-made creams, powders & pastels on the nails and then to buff them into a shine, According to the data, a camel hair brush could be used to add clear shine or varnish to the nail bed. Nail polish paste was also a thing back then. By 1920 women had also begun growing out their nails. Nails & luxury began to go hand in hand.
At this time sales for cosmetics also took flight. Cosmetic products went from single digit millions to tens of millions. Interesting when you think about our society speaking in terms of billions and trillions. It was a much simpler time to be certain.
By the 1930s nail paint had become a thing and you could get it in a variety of colors. Nail paint had been successfully marketed and it was time for things to skyrocket again. Hollywood figures like Jean Harlow were killing it on the screen with bright colors and reds and having a full set of colors you could turn too was all the rage. Ladies were slaying with trends that called for matching outfits and nails.
During the 1940s the trends called for leaving the moon at the base of the nail without any kind of lacquer or polish while painting the rest of the nail. At times the trendy look was to also leave the tip untouched as well. We think it’s great how trends just kind of take over. Who knew nail history could be so great!
By the 1950s cosmetic products in general, including nail products 10x’d their game! Things just kept blowing up for cosmetics in general so of course something so primary as nail care was sure to be making leaps ands bounds as well. Personal products began blowing up. Nail techs during this time were still leaving the moon untouched while women began experimenting with an array of colors. Pastels started blowing up but reds were real trendy and popular as well.
The 1960s saw the first use of wraps. There was a company called Juliette Nail Wraps who is credited with creating the first paper wraps. This particular company is also credited with being the company that made a twice a month nail appointment a normal thing. If you’re a local nail salon owner, you can thank them later! According to the data we compiled for this post, hot oil manicures were also the rage by this decade. We’re not too sure we’re excited however hearing about customers bringing in nail clippings to extend or reinforce their nails.
The 1970s nail tech process started to resemble todays’ nail tech process. It was the first time that local nail salons offered liquid monomer & polymer powder nail technician services. They finally started using nail tips made out of plastic instead of some gross clippings. I know they may not have been gross at the time but it just sounds gross!
By the 80s, 90s and 2000s in nail history we 10x’d the whole thing again as these decades closely resemble our own with nail art dominating the trends! strips, jewels, decals, acrylics, polishes and gels really just went through a process of becoming better products, while expanding on what was possible in terms of creativity. Nail technicians could also become popular based on their creative ability. That’s even true today as some nail technicians bring magic to life on women’s nails.
Know any nail history that we may have missed! Let us know and we’ll include it here and give you credit!
Sugar Nails is a local nail salon located in New Bedford MA.
OUR SERVICES: nail treatments, acrylic nails, ombre nails, glamour nails, manicure, french manicure, coffin nails, gel nails, christmas nails, halloween nails, cuticle services, summer nails, diamond nails, bling nails, angel nails, fall nails, valentine’s nails, beauty nails, coffin acrylic nails, pink and white manicure, hot oil manicure, fill-ins + more.
TOWNS CLOSE BY: New Bedford MA, Fairhaven MA, Dartmouth MA, Marion MA, Fall River MA, Acushnet MA, Freetown MA, Mattapoisett MA, Rochester MA, Somerset MA, Swansea MA, Wareham MA, Westport MA.
