02-20-2005, 06:52 PM
       <br>
Hi Richard,<br>
<br>
I was lucky enough to have been involved with a little of the work on the tin, and its certainly a fascinating find. We'd known for a while that most of the cosmetic pigments used to whiten the face worked best when applied with a fatty cream (the makeover experiment used chalk on a fat base for example), and that starch/flour based whites were also plausible cosmetics, but to find fat, starch and a whitening agent all combined together was really exciting. As far as I know, its he first known use of tin in this way, and we presume for the moment that it was being used as a substitute for white lead- the makers may not have known that it was safer, just that it was a good available white.<br>
<br>
My own experiemnts suggest that a water phase may have been needed to get a really smoth cream, but that also could just reflect a differentce in the way the fat was processed. Best of all for re-enactors, this is an easily reproduced cream. Its not 100% accurate of course but combining equal parts of lard or veg shortening with cornflour then adding just a little cosmetic white pigment does approximate it quite well, and means that real experiments can be made into the practicalities of wearing such cosmetic bases over the course of a day. Using beef fat and precipitated wheat starch is even better, but less accessible to many people.<br>
<br>
As for other books, Professor Donato's book is worth having- 'The Fragrant Past, perfumes of Cleopatra and Julius Caesar'. Theres a booklist on the EarlyPerfume yahoo group which I moderate, some of your ladies may enjoy exploring that and the files there, especially if they want to explore cosmetics in more depth.<br>
<br>
cheers<br>
Sally <p>Legio XX Caupona Asellinae</p><i></i>
Hi Richard,<br>
<br>
I was lucky enough to have been involved with a little of the work on the tin, and its certainly a fascinating find. We'd known for a while that most of the cosmetic pigments used to whiten the face worked best when applied with a fatty cream (the makeover experiment used chalk on a fat base for example), and that starch/flour based whites were also plausible cosmetics, but to find fat, starch and a whitening agent all combined together was really exciting. As far as I know, its he first known use of tin in this way, and we presume for the moment that it was being used as a substitute for white lead- the makers may not have known that it was safer, just that it was a good available white.<br>
<br>
My own experiemnts suggest that a water phase may have been needed to get a really smoth cream, but that also could just reflect a differentce in the way the fat was processed. Best of all for re-enactors, this is an easily reproduced cream. Its not 100% accurate of course but combining equal parts of lard or veg shortening with cornflour then adding just a little cosmetic white pigment does approximate it quite well, and means that real experiments can be made into the practicalities of wearing such cosmetic bases over the course of a day. Using beef fat and precipitated wheat starch is even better, but less accessible to many people.<br>
<br>
As for other books, Professor Donato's book is worth having- 'The Fragrant Past, perfumes of Cleopatra and Julius Caesar'. Theres a booklist on the EarlyPerfume yahoo group which I moderate, some of your ladies may enjoy exploring that and the files there, especially if they want to explore cosmetics in more depth.<br>
<br>
cheers<br>
Sally <p>Legio XX Caupona Asellinae</p><i></i>
Richard Campbell
Legio XX - Alexandria, Virginia
RAT member #6?
Legio XX - Alexandria, Virginia
RAT member #6?
