How to Make Cold Cream: 19th Century American Receipt (Recipe)

Cold cream has been in use to clean and moisturize the skin for centuries. The Roman physician Galen is attributed with developing the first such cosmetic using beeswax and olive oil. As time passed, olive oil was replaced with Almond oil. Rose water, or other scented waters, were also added to give the cream a pleasant smell.

Lucy Stephenson and her daughters likely had a pot of cold cream sitting on their dressers to use before bed to keep their skin clean and healthy.

Recipes were numerous but almost all used the same basic ingredients with slight variations depending on the maker; Almond oil, Rosewater, and beeswax.

To make our 19th-century cold cream start by readying a double boiler and place it over the fire to boil.

To a thick-bottomed porcelain pot or pipkin add 2 TBS beeswax and 1 TBS spermaceti. Since spermaceti is no longer commercially available, we used Jojoba oil as a substitute.

Set the pot into the boiling water and stir until the wax is melted then add 1/2 cup almond oil. Stir until all is liquefied.

Remove the pot from the double boiler and slowly add 1/2 cup of rosewater being sure to stir the mixture continuously until the whole of the water is incorporated. As it cools it will begin to set on the sides, scrap it back into the liquid and keep stirring until cool.

Once it has cooled it will be thicker and have a creamy, opaque color. The Rose Otto or essential oil may now be added and the whole poured into a clean jar for use.

The original recipe claims it will keep for up to two years in a well-glazed pot but we recommend using it within 1-2 months.

Based on a 1857 recipe from "The Art of Perfumery" by G.W. Septimus Piesse, published in Philidelphia c. 1857

Original recipe
1lb almond oil
1lb rosewater
1oz white beeswax
1oz spermaceti
1/2 drachm Rose Otto

Our recipe conversion
1/2 cup almond oil
1/2 cup rosewater
2 TBS white beeswax
1 TBS jojoba oil
10 drops of rose otto or rose essential oil