Reading the skin beauty recipes from history often shows us that we are using a lot of the same ingredients that our ancestors used when trying to keep away dry skin and wrinkles. Of course, there are plenty of old recipes that can be dangerous or call for ingredients that cannot be bought today.
One recipe below calls for Spermaceti, an ingredient obtained from the Sperm Whale. This ingredient is banned in the U.S. and I would suggest replacing with with a different oil, such as coconut oil.
This article was originally published in 1912 and is for research purposes only.
Thin Dry Skin
A woman of thirty wrote:
“I have a very thin skin and, alas, it is prematurely wrinkled. Please suggest some simple remedies for my great misfortune.”
Reply:
To be wrinkled at thirty is indeed a misfortune, and if the skin is very thin it must be admitted that it has less promise from beautifying treatments than the thicker ones. Thin skinned faces are at a disadvantage with every wind that blows, with sunburn, fire heat, indigestion, worry, etc.
Thin skins need much more grease than others, for a a rule they are very dry and sensitive to all external influences, and sometimes it is necessary to cleanse such faces with grease instead of with soap and water. This formula will achieve a very good purpose if it is carefully made from pure substances:
- 4 ounces almond oil
- 1 ounce Spermaceti
- 1 ounce white wax
- 2 ounces cucumber juice
Select cucumbers ripe enough for table use; cut and chop them fine; then extract the juice by squeezing through a jelly bag. Then measure the juice and carry the required two ounces to a druggist, asking him to supply the rest of the ingredients and make up the formula.
When cleansing the face with the cream, work the grease into the skin with the fingers and then wipe off the residue with very soft cloths. The soil from the skin will be very visible on these, and the face can be massaged and worked over with the cloths until it feels as fresh as if washed in the ordinary way. If it seems to shine a little too much sometimes, heat a tablespoonful of some delicate toilet water and go over the face with this and a fresh soft rag.
Strengthening Lotion
A lotion especially for strengthening relaxed muscles, and which is therefore extremely good for wrinkles, is made of the following simple things:
- 2 pounds fresh rosemary tops
- 1/4 pound freshly gathered sage
- 3 quarts rectified spirit
- 1 quart water
Digest for ten days, then throw the whole in a still, add a pound and a half of common salt and draw off six pints. To this distilled portion put one ounce of bruised Jamaica ginger, and after the liquid has stood a few days longer either decant or filter it. This is regarded as a fine skin tonic, and it can also be used upon the hair to advantage.
Barley Water
Barley water was used in our grandmothers’ times for wrinkles, and there is no reason why it should not be employed today and made up in the same old fashioned manner. Ancient directions for this simple beautifier call for three ounces of pearly barley boiled in a pint of rain water until the gluten is extracted; then the liquid is strained and is applied directly to the face, after it has been washed, on going to bed. Some of the beauty people of the present day make up this wash with the addition of 25 drops of tincture of Benzoin to a quart. The barley water so prepared is declared absolutely proof against wrinkles, but one can only know the truth of this statement by testing it.
Honey and Sour Buttermilk
Strained honey and sour buttermilk are other simple remedies against these subtle enemies of woman’s youth, and these modest medicaments are available to all.
The thin skinned face must always be protected against strong winds, grinding dust, deep sunburn and much burning over the cook stove if its owner wishes to about the bane of deep seated wrinkles.
Source: The Denison review. (Denison, Iowa), 28 Aug. 1912.
