What is nail polish?
A: Nail polish is a lacquer that can be applied to the human
fingernail or
toenails to decorate and protect the nail plates.
The formula has been revised repeatedly to enhance its
what?
A: 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 what?
A: Colors and textures.
Nail polishes come in all shades of color and play a
significant part in what?
A: Manicures and pedicures.
Where did nail polish originate?
A: In China and dates to 3000 BCE.
Around 600 BCE, during the Zhou dynasty, the royal
house preferred what colors?
A: The colors gold and silver.
However, red, and black eventually replaced these
metallic colors as what?
A: Royal favorites.
During the Ming dynasty, nail polish was often made
from what?
A: A mixture that included beeswax, egg whites, gelatin,
vegetable dyes, and
gum arabic.
In Egypt, the lower classes wore pale colors, whereas
high society painted their nails what color?
A: Reddish brown, with henna.
Mummified pharaohs had their nails painted with what?
A: Henna.
Frederick S. N. Douglas while travelling in Greece in
1810-12 noticed what?
A: That the Greek women painted their nails "dingy pink", which he
understood as an ancient custom.
Early nail polish formulas were created using basic
ingredients such as what?
A: Lavender oil, carmine, oxide tin, and bergamot oil.
It was more common to polish nails with tinted powders
and creams, finishing off by doing what?
A: Buffing the nail until left shiny.
Nitrocellulose is a film-forming polymer that is what?
A: The main ingredient in most nail polishes.
Modern nail polish consists of predominately of a
film-forming polymer dissolved in a what?
A: A volatile organic solvent.
In gel nail vanish the polymer is usually some sort of
what?
A: Acrylate copolymer.
What is base coat?
A: A clear, milky-colored, or opaque pink polish formula that is used
specifically before applying nail polish to the nail.
What is its purpose?
A: To strengthen nails, restore moisture to the nail, and help polish adhere
to the nail.
Some base coats, called "peel off base coats", allow
the user to do what?
A: To peel off their nail polish without using a remover.
What is top coat?
A: A clear colored polish formula that is used specifically after applying
nail polish to the nail.
It forms a hardened barrier for the nail that can
prevent what?
A: Chipping, scratching and peeling.
Many topcoats are marketed as what?
A: "Quick-drying."
What is gel polish?
A: Gel polish is a long-lasting variety of nail polish made up of a type of
methacrylate polymer.
It is painted on the nail similar to traditional nail
polish but does not what?
A: Dry.
It is cured under what?
A: An ultraviolet lamp or ultraviolet LED.
While regular nail polish formulas typically last two
to seven days without chipping, gel polish can last how long?
A: As long as two weeks with proper application and home care.