Who invented the nail gel that is so widely used today? 

The answer is: Dr. Slack, an American dentist, who accidentally cut his nail while working in his dental laboratory.

Using aluminum foil, he created a platform to fix the nail with dental acrylic. This would lead to the industry's first nail gel patent!

In the late 1960s, Fred Slack, son of Dr. Slack, with his polymer and monomer chemist developed many new nail technician friendly polymer/monomer acrylic systems that continue to be used worldwide in the nail industry.

Gel nail polish is essentially made up of acrylic monomers and oligomers that bond when exposed to UV light. For you nail experts, you should know that this process is called 'healing' and it happens within seconds. 

It's strange to think that from this little accident, a whole range of new nail products was born.

As with anything new that is introduced to the public, when gel nails were first introduced to the public in the 1980s, there was little enthusiasm. However, it's hard to think that gel nails weren't a 'hit', considering how widespread its use is today.

Suggested articles: