80s nail polish: The surprising history behind a beauty ritual millions of us grew up with
The ancient Egyptians and Chinese used various pigments and substances on their nails, but what we’d recognize as nail polish didn’t exist until the 1920s. The formula that made it possible came straight from the automotive industry — nitrocellulose lacquer, developed to paint cars, turned out to work just as well on fingernails.
Entrepreneurs noticed, and by the early 1930s the modern nail polish industry was effectively born. Revlon launched in 1932 with a specific idea: that nail and lip color should match, and that color was a fashion decision, not just a grooming one. That reframe changed everything.
MORE: See top vintage nail polish colors & retro brands
Through the 1940s and ’50s, polished nails became standard — part of what “put-together” looked like for American women across a pretty wide range of ages and backgrounds. The shades available expanded gradually, and the frosted finishes that felt so quintessentially ’60s and ’70s were genuinely new at the time.
But the underlying formula barely budged. The nitrocellulose base that Revlon built its empire on in 1932 was essentially the same one sitting on bathroom counters fifty years later. What changed decade to decade was mostly color range, finish options and how aggressively brands marketed what they had.
Which brings us to the ’80s — a decade that didn’t reinvent nail polish so much as turn up the volume on it. The color names got more theatrical, the ad copy got more elaborate, and the number of brands competing for counter space kept growing.
For a lot of women, this was simply the era when nail polish became a habit, the years when they figured out their signature red or discovered they were a frosted-pink person. The technology was mature, the ritual was established, and the choices felt genuinely exciting, even if the chemistry hadn’t changed much since their mothers were young.
The real disruption came later — gel formulas, shellac, dip powder and the explosion of indie nail brands in the 2000s and 2010s fundamentally changed what the product could do, and how long it lasted. By that measure, the ’80s were the last decade when nail polish was still just nail polish, before the category splintered into something almost unrecognizable.
Below, we’ve gathered original ads from across the decade — including popular brands like Cutex, Maybelline, L’erin, Cover Girl, Avon, Fashion Fair, Revlon and more — so you can see the most awesome colors and brands that were out there for a retro-style DIY manicure.
1980s nail polish ads
Cutex pink nail polishes (1980s)
(Shades shown, from left to right) Ultra Pink Cream, Ultra Violet Cream, Ultra Rose Cream, Pink Neon Frost, Video Violet Frost, Flashing Fuchsia Frost.
1981 Sally Hansen nail polish with Nylon
Colors shown: Brilliant Bordeaux, Mirrored Magenta, Dewiest Rose, Polished Porcelain, Slickest Coral & Shiniest Scarlet
L’erin new spring shades (1980s)
Just picked for spring — fresh tulip shades from L’erin.
L’erin takes its color from springs’ first tulips. The freshest, softest, dewiest colors spring ever saw. All for your lips and fingertips.
New! Maybelline ManiCure Nail Color. (1981)
Announcing a look of a salon manicure… bottled!
Professional manicurists helped develop it! So each fabulous fashion shade of new Maybelline ManiCure Nail Color contains three steps of a luxurious salon manicure: base. color, sealer. Every stroke dries smooth. Sleek. Gleaming, Chip resistant. It’s Maybelline — beautiful and tough. Treat your nails to some luxury — the look of a salon manicure!
MORE: Top vintage nail polish brands & colors from the 20th century
Vintage Sally Hansen 1982 Hard as Nails manicures
Tan on Tan (1980s)
Now Cutex goes gung-ho for nail colors that sport a summer tan.
Like Pink Almond, Soft Suede, Caravan Sands, Toffee and Toasted Almond. om pale to deep, so you can tan by degrees. And you can even tan frosted, via Cool Copper, Real Bronze or Fawn.
Try to picture it. You, in nothing but a string bikini. Or wearing sandals and are skimp of a dress. With your fingertips and toetips and sun-warmed skin all to match. That’s tan on tan.
“Red” she said (1981)
It’s Red Velvet from Cutex. A red so rich, deep and dynamite-dishy it makes you think of fox furs and limos, and movie-star kind of nails.
Ditto, our Redwood, Teakwood, Wine and Hennaberry, from the Cutex red nail shade collection. You can paint up a storm with them. Flash them like jewels on your fingers. Feel dressed when you haven’t a thing to wear.
“Red”, she said. The richer the better, says Cutex, for knock-out nails right now.
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Sheer is here. (1981)
Cutex Sheer Nail Glossers. Color you can see through. Shine you can see through. In great glossy shades to wear three different ways.
Sheer is definitely here. Now, how sheer do you want to go? For delicate extra-sheer color, just brush on one coat. For more color that still looks sheer, add a second coat. Or layer it on three times for luscious semi-sheer color turned up to high.
Nail color that looks wet, even when it’s dry. (1982)
Compare Cover Girl NailSlicks wet… and dry. Proof. The color looks wet, even when dry.
MORE: See Cheryl Tiegs’ clothing collection & swimwear at Sears in the ’80s
Nail Blush. Wow! (1982)
Now Cutex invents Nail Blush. It’s a super-gleamy finish that goes on gossamer and seems to let the light come through.
Nail Blush. Very fresh. Very young. It may make you want to wear frills and go to tea dances. Oh wow!
Let L’erin color glaze to the talking (1982)
L’erin. Dazzling nail colors — 24 lush creams and luminous frosts that keep right on dazzling.
“Super Nails” by Natural Wonder (1982)
They’re not called “Super Nails” for nothing! “We’re tough but we’re flexible!”
Natural Wonder has no-chip, no-peel, no-crack, no-kidding resin nail formula that lasts for days. Nails (even tips) stay strong and flexible.
Maybelline ManiCure nail color (1983)
Maybelline says pamper yourself… and your nails! The color, the protection, the look of a salon manicure.
ALSO SEE: Do you remember these 80 shampoos & conditioners from the ’80s?
Retro nail polish colors from Cutex at Kmart (1983)
Vintage Almay Colorplus nail polish shades (1983)
Avon nailcare and polishes (1983)
ALSO SEE: Vintage press-on nails transformed 20th century manicures – here’s how
Andrea brand nail polish and manicures (1983)
Retro Maybelline ManiCure nail colors (1983)
Shades of eighties Revlon nail polish (1984)
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Retro 80s bold Cutex nail polish shades (1984)
Retro nail polish colors from Cutex at Kmart (1984)
Retro 80s pastel Cutex nail polish shades (1985)
1980s Aziza nail polishing pens (1985)
AVON Single Stroke One Coat nail enamel (1987)
Look how fast little piggies go to market. Now the perfect pedicure is child’s play. Just one fast-drying coat and you’re ready to go.
Avon – Look how fast you’re polished now (1987)
ALSO SEE: Vintage Tinkerbell manicure sets, BO-PO nail polish, & other retro beauty goodies for little girls
Fashion Fair Color Seduction nail polish and makeup (1989)
Color Seduction: Indulge in enticing shades of Pink Lace, Flattering Flame, Warm Bronze and Red Rapture with Fashion Fair’s Color Seduction Collection for your lips and nails. Available at the Fashion Fair beauty counter… in fine stores everywhere.
On our model: Bronze Glo “Perfect Finish” Creme Makeup, Paradise Pink Blush, Shades of Fantasy I Eye Shadows, Pink Lace Lipstick and Nail Polish
Cindy Crawford for Revlon (1989)
Wild Berries — A taste of berry fresh color. Rich and ripened. Outrageously delicious. Unforgettable.
ALSO SEE: Cindy Crawford’s Cosmopolitan & Vogue covers of the 1980s
Maybelline Long Wearing nail color and Performance 10 (1989)
4 Responses
Where have all these amazing nail colors gone? These colors were so varied, age inclusive and went from work to play in nothing less than elegant.
Colors now are flat, colors are too young and not work appropriate for higher level professions as were the colors of the 80’s & 90’s.
I would gladly buy them is they’re available as would many women I know.
Thank you;
Dee
I agree . Why can’t you find pretty colors anymore?
You can’t be serious. These colors are available, from multiple lines: Zoya, OPI, Essie, Orly, CND, China Glaze and more. If anything, the color choices are far better now than they’ve ever been. I was there in the 80s and know for a fact that you couldn’t find many colors outside of the same old boring red, pink, orange, browns and nudes. No blue, purple, green or yellow. No “vamp” colors, either. Your choice of looks was cream and frosted. No holo, glitter, duo/multichrome, shimmer, matte, or sheer polishes.
If you haven’t found a color you like, it’s because you haven’t looked hard enough.
Because these comments were from years ago.