Vintage cold creams make a comeback.
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We, of course, associate cold creams with the kabuki masks and hair curlers our grannies wore to bed every night, and many of us dislike the oil slick left on the skin that has to be wiped off. But there’s something honest about cold creams: They make no pretense of deepdiving into our skin to reconfigure our skin fibres or stimulate collagen production; cold creams just sit there on top of the skin, relieving our sunburns in summer and protecting our faces from cold winds and forced-air heating in winter.
“Cold creams don’t make lots of claims on their packaging,” says Dr. Cuross Bakhtiar, founder of Harley Street Cosmetic in London, England. “But women want claims: They want to reduce the appearance of wrinkles, aging and pigmentation. And the absorption of cold creams is very difficult — more so than with lighter creams. Cold creams are better suited to colder climates because they contain lanolin and urea — active ingredients that help restructure the skin’s barrier.” They may be humble compared to the age-defying creams of 21st-century science, but cold creams could just be the answer to skin’s winter woes.
As “Dr. Russell” puts it in an 1814 poem: “When a pot of cold cream to Eliza you send / You with words to this purpose your present commend / Whoe’er with this cream shall her countenance smear / All redness and roughness will strait disappear / And the skin to a wonder be charmingly clear....” Not even Pond’s could have put it better.
Recipe for a classic
You’ll need olive oil, beeswax and pure rainwater or rosewater. Gently heat four tablespoons of olive oil and one tablespoon of grated beeswax in a double boiler until the beeswax melts. Slowly stir in five tablespoons of water until the entire mixture melts. Remove from heat, stirring until the cream thickens. Pour the mixture into an airtight container and refrigerate.
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