I was watching the 1956 film The Ten Commandments and heard they painted their nails, I wanted to know the truth and after doing some research... The history of nail painting dates back to the Chinese, when as early as 3000 B.C. royals used a variety of substances including flower petals, beeswax, egg whites, silver and to gold tint their nails. In Egypt, both men and women colored their nails, with color indicating social status. The royals used darker colors for painting their nails, while the lower classes used paler tones. The Japanese and Italians are thought to have been the first ones to actually use nail polish. The Chinese used a colored lacquer, made from a combination of Arabic gum, egg whites, gelatin and beeswax. They also used a mixture consisting of mashed rose, orchid and impatiens petals combined with alum.