ABSTRACT
Nail color has been in use for many centuries. Modern nail polish became popular at the beginning of the twentieth century. The first nail polishes were clear lacquers, prepared from natural resins. Nitrocellulose lacquers came into use in the 1920s and have remained the most widely used nail lacquer (1). Colored products appeared soon after, with the advent of tinted polishes. The use of high-density, opaque pigments, and subsequently of pearlescent materials, were the catalysts for change in the composition of nail polish. In the early 1990s, environmental laws and regulations, as well as the “green” movement in Europe, are giving rise to new formulations and a reinterest in waterborne vehicles (2).
