Acrylics Aren’t Their Favorite Aesthetic
Having long glittering nails can feel like an expensive chore, with women dropping an average of nearly $1400 every year at the nail salon. We do it because we like how it looks, to hide a chronic nail-biting problem, or to elongate stubby sausage fingers into more feminine frankfurters. Today, we get our nails done for aesthetics, but they used to serve a different purpose.
Like many other beauty routines, this one came from ancient Egypt, where fake nails made out of precious materials like gold and ivory were seen as a status symbol. Acrylic nails are much cheaper and more accessible than their ancient ancestors, and you can thank dentist Frederick Slack for that. He’s the one who came up with the concept when he repaired his own broken nail with dental acrylics.