In the late 1800's the town of Pompton Lakes' newspaper was a small, four-page weekly named the Bulletin. The Bulletin's first and last page usually ran a sentimental short story. National and international news occasionally rated about a single paragraph. The second page was a full account of the latest town council meeting. The remainder of the paper was devoted to such local news as whose children had the mumps, which notable trees had been struck by lightning, and the local cab driver's new horse. The town's biggest problem of 1897 was their new road grader, which far from smoothing out the roads, seems to have been employed in tearing them up.
It is a little surprising then that page four of the May 8th, 1897 issue contained under the headline "Toilet Secrets" a detailed discussion of cosmetics, their formulations, and their uses.
Here are the Toilet Secrets of 1897:
Historians tell us that it was by cosmetics that Diana of Poitiers preserved her charms, and the famous "paste of almonds," a cream for the arms and shoulders, was introduced, according to tradition, by Anne of Austria.
Can we say to-day that the world has grown wiser as it has grown older?
And pearl powder and rouge and things of the past? Do they not hold their own in the receptions of royalty, in the ballrooms of the nobility, in the very churches and the streets?
Let us inquire, then, what are the chief cosmetics of today; why are they used, and what is the result as regard health and beauty?
Sometimes they serve simply to conceal an ugly pimple, or cover freckles, or to tone down an unusually high (what is termed by some a vulgar) color.
Sometimes they are used in the belief that they stimulate the blood or remove a blemish from the skin, but most frequently they are put on the face to produce an artificial bloom.
One of the most fashionable and least injurious of powders is pearle de blanc or pearl white, which consists of bismuth and French chalk.
Another is the well-known violet powder, which is generally composed of finely-ground starch, mixed with orris powder, and perfumed with essential oils.
Both in moderation produce the appearance of a delicate white complexion, a little powder, perhaps, does the skin no harm; but ladies frequently get into the habit of putting on too much, partly because they gradually become accustomed to its appearance; and in consequence are not so particular as at first, and also for another reason which may be explained thus:
Most powders, especially bismuth, absorb moisture and so dry the skin but Nature has designed it to be somewhat moist, and so the little glands with which it is everywhere studded are stimulated to produce more moisture.
The walls of these glands become in time thickened and tough, and do not close as readily as they ought; their mouths begin to gape, which produce that pitted appearance which may often be seen after the prolonged use of any powder.
To hide this pitting more powder is necessary, and so in the end the lady's face seems as if it had been absolutely whitewashed.
On the other hand rouge is the material most commonly used to change the sallow cheek of faded beauty to the rosy hue of fresh girlhood.
It is made from the coloring; of the safflower, which grows in Spain and Egypt, and the powder thus obtained is mixed with French chalk.
Another kind of rouge is made from carmine, which is prepared from the cochineal insect.
What may be most surprising to readers of the Indicator (including this author) is how relatively benign and modern these cosmetics ingredients are. With the possible exception of bismuth, these cosmetics makers were using materials that are considered safe by formulators today. This was a time when the FDA and the Pure Food and Drug Act were still 9 years away.
For most of the 1800's all but the richest women compounded their own cosmetics. Recipes were passed from neighbor to neighbor or from mother to daughter. Later, women's magazines reprinted recipes whose ingredients could be found in the home or purchased from a druggist. The same local druggist might also prepare cosmetics and skin care products. The modern mass cosmetics industry only arose in the century's later years. With the rise of this industry came concerns over the purity and safety of the formulations. "Patent" cosmetics, like patent medicines, ranged from the genuinely useful (rare) to the mostly useless (a great many) and all the way down to the potentially deadly (all too common.)
It would seem the ingredients described in the Bulletin represent examples of the safer formulations. Potential damage to the skin caused by corrosive, toxic, and hygroscopic ingredients were widely recognized. Perhaps the article came from a progressive manufacturer's press release, was plagiarized from a trade publication, or some local chemist contributed the material.
Bismuth, according to my Twelfth Edition Merck index, has a bright metallic luster. It is superficially oxidized in ambient air and frequently becomes iridescent. The compound known as "Pearl White", "blanc d'Espagne", or "Blanc de Perle" is Bismuth Chloride Oxide (also Bismuth Oxychloride or Bismuth Subchloride.) It is still widely used as a pearling agent. It is more opaque and slippery than naturally occurring pearl essences. The FDA approves the general use of this material in all cosmetic types including those used near the eyes.
On the other hand, metallic oxides were recognized as potential poisons. In the late 1860's physicians began to document cases of poisoning caused by whitening lotions containing lead oxide. Opinion seems to have been divided over bismuth probably because its toxicity varies with form. It is not clear from either the article in the Bulletin, or from others in the author's possession, exactly what form was primarily used in cosmetics.
However, bismuth did have one real danger. Iridescent oxides of bismuth darken, and even turn black, on exposure to sulphur. Sadly for the ladies, there was no shortage of airborne sulphur compounds from the era's coal fires and gas lighting.
The remainder of the listed materials are quite benign.
Starch had been used in cosmetics since at least the second century AD. As late as 1900, women in the western and southern states used it to hide ruddiness, sweat, and exertion. Pure starch was inexpensive and plentiful but not a very satisfactory cosmetic. One mid-century writer noted that its effect was not "sufficiently marked to meet the wishes of the majority." English traveler and writer Frances Trollope was more blunt. She described the immoderate use of starch as, "indescribably disagreeable by day-light, and not very favorable at any time." However as a base for cosmetics, it was widely recognized as safe and practical.
Orris Powder is made from the rhizomes of the Iris florentina, Iris germanica, and Iris pallida. All three varieties are grown in the Mediterranean and parts of Europe. During cultivation the flowers are removed. This causes the roots to grow and become enriched with aromatics. After harvest, the bulbs are saved for next year's planting. The roots are washed, their cortex is cut away, they are washed again and finally dried. About 80,000 bulbs are planted per acre.
Essential oils had been used in perfumes and cosmetics since ancient times. They are the mixtures of volatile organic compounds extracted from fragrant plants. The number of oils and their long history of commercial use have resulted in a large literature on the subject.
Although replaced by synthetics in many applications, they continue to be widely used in food flavoring, cosmetics and fragrances. Today there are more than 160 recognized essential oil crops. The major ones in terms of world production are the citrus (15,000 metric tons per year), mint (6,000 metric tons per year) and lemon fragrance oils (4,000 metric tons per year).
French chalk is name used for various types of talc. Originally the name was applied to a finely powdered soapstone (3MgO-4SiO2-H2O.) It was quarried in the French Alps near the village of Briancon. It's usually defined today as a hydrated magnesium silicate Mg6(Si2O5)4(OH)4. French Chalk while more expensive than starch was also used alone as a whitening agent.
Safflower and Carmine are both natural products used for producing a red color. Carmine is derived from the bodies of crushed Cochineal insects. Decoctions of the crushed insects are precipitated with alum or gelatin but the exact process is a carefully guarded trade secret. The resulting solid is about 50% carminic acid. The Roman poet Horace (65 BC - 8 BC) described rouges being made with red lead, carmine, and crocodile dung. Ovid, in his Art of Love (circa 20 BC) recommended its use to women but cautioned them "on no account let your lover come upon you surrounded by the accoutrements of your cosmetic art."
Safflower dyes come from the flowers of the thistle-like Eurasian plant, Carthamus tinctorius. It should not be confused with saffron, which comes from the saffron crocus, or Crocus sativus.
Both safflower and carmine were considered safe alternatives to the less expensive but far more dangerous vermilion powder (mercuric sulphide), which was used in a number of blushes, eye shadows, and even lipsticks. By 1897 its dangers had long been recognized by physicians and pharmacists.
Throughout history, there has been a seemingly endless debate on the morality of cosmetics. Passionate arguments revolve around notions of deception and truth, nature and art, class and race, femininity and feminism. The year 1897 was no exception.
What is clear however, that far from being helpless before unscrupulous manufacturers, at least some consumers were cognizant of product safety and the dangers of toxic ingredients. Public education whether by the era's famous muckraking journalists or a small town newspaper like the Bulletin, helped build support for the modern regulatory system.
Regulation of cosmetics ingredients was still some years away, in 1915 Everybody's Magazine stated, "there is little effective legislation to prevent the manufacturers - who are men - from poisoning and defrauding their women customers."
It was not until the passage of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FDC) of 1938 that cosmetics and therapeutic devices were brought under federal regulation.
Bibliography:
Corson, Richard, Fashions in Makeup from Ancient to Modern Times, Peter Owen Ltd., London, 1972.
Peiss, Kathy, Hope in a Jar, The Making of America's Beauty Culture, Henry Holt & Co., New York, 1998.
Poucher, William Arthur, The Raw Materials of Perfumery, 7th edition. Chapman and Hall Ltd., London, 1974. (Revised by GM Howard in 1974)
Original copies of the Bulletin are in the reference collection of the Pompton Lakes public library.