Manicures are personal.

Unlike hair or makeup, people see their fingernails all day, without the need for a mirror. Their appearance matters to a lot of people; it's a way to express individual style. A good manicure can cheer you up all day long, while you're texting or clinking glasses with friends.

People throughout history have paid special attention to their fingernail real estate. It's been said that nail trends date back to 5000 B.C. when women in India decorated their fingertips with henna. Later, in 4000 B.C. Babylonian men were known to manicure and color their nails with black or green kohl. The Chinese are credited with creating nail stains from egg whites, vegetable dyes and beeswax as early as 3000 B.C.

While polish colors, designs and products have altered drastically throughout the ages, popular nail shapes are cyclical.

Beauty trendsetters Rihanna and Kylie Jenner might have led the recent charge toward long, pointed talons but they were not the first women to do so.

Take a look back in time to discover where nail trends really began.