The Uniquely Cinematic Reason For The Modern French Manicure

There are as many ways to manicure as there are unique types of nails in the world, and as long as someone feels fabulous, there are far more ways to polish and prepare your nails right than wrong.

When it comes to picking a set of nails for all seasons, the French manicure is the little black dress of nails; understated, gorgeous and as suitable for an elaborate ball gown as a pair of jeans and a t-shirt.

Whilst it is always fun to be unique, it is also always nice to know there’s a go-to option that will work as well, and this was part of the genius of the French manicure’s very design.

The French manicure was not, it turns out, invented in France but instead was the product of Jeff Pink’s company ORLY, which supplied beauty products to the film industry.

An unexpected and challenging consequence of the colourisation of film was that actresses would often need to change their nail colour to match the costume they were wearing.

Whilst modern nail artists can use LED curing lights or quick-dry ingredients, back in the 1960s and 1970s, there was a lot of waiting around for nails to dry before they could do anything else. 

A film director came to Mr Pink and asked if he knew of a nail colour that would work with every costume change they could think of, so they did not lose so much time during production

Mr Pink, inspired by the use of white pencils on the underside of nails to make them look clean and groomed, decided to order a gallon of white nail polish and paint the top of the nail to create a consistent, coherent look matched with a nude shade.

Initially known as the “natural look”, the name quickly changed once it became popular outside of the film industry, and the French manicure is still popular to this day.