Vintage Manicure, a real one please

A still of Joan Crawford from the late 30's with a clear detail of manicure of the time.





An ad for Cutex from 1930's that gives instructions for this type of manicure, just paint the nail skipping the edge and the moon. Accenting the nail edge under neath with a french white pencil. My Grandmother used these, they look like a white drawing pencil that is water soluble, you simply draw underneath the tip of your nail to whiten it.

This ad was located at one of my favorite blogs: thepaintedwoman.blogspot.com

This method works best if your polish is not thick.   If it's thick add a few drops of 100% pure acetone remover [if you use non acetone remover it won't work as well] to your favorite polish and slowly roll the bottle in your hands. Rolling the bottle doesn't add bubble like shaking does, and warmed polish flows better.

I've seen modern attempts to recreate this look with layers of polish painted over french tip tape that is then peeled away. Bravo to them for having such dexterity, I've used this method many many times.

I just don't like seeing sharp edged layers of the nail bed paint left at the moon and nail edge after the tape is peeled off of the nail. It's not nearly as delicate as this time tested method. I prefer the much smoother result of using authentic vintage techniques.




An interesting note on this styles history:

    What first began as a trend in the 30's became a necessity by the time WW2 began. Since all industries were working towards victory in the war with the Allies, cosmetics production practically came to an absolute standstill. Ladies used this style to extend the life of their polish bottle and lengthen the wear-ability of their manicure, although painting the entire nail was done during the 40's, most women, {especially in Europe where the rations were much stricter}, were more careful about rationing their luxury goods during this period.  It would've been considered wasteful to paint your entire nail, unless of course you were wealthy and had a stock pile of luxury goods at your disposal.


Please feel free to post comments about your vintage manicure experiments.  We'd love to hear about it. Thanks.