In the Victorian and Edwardian era, cold creams were used as hand cream, as foundation cream before applying face powder, to remove makeup or clean dirty hands. I’ve collected fifteen cold cream recipes from the 1850s, 1870s, 1900s, and 1910s. Cold creams are usually made with some water content, such as rosewater or orange flower water, but some are made without so that they keep longer. Most creams are called cold creams, while some have different names, such as rose cream or snow cream.
Related: 200+ Historical DIY Natural Beauty Products
The cold cream recipes ask for spermaceti, a wax from the sperm whale, which must be replaced today. According to some sources, it may be substituted with jojoba oil or a mixture of coconut oil and jojoba oil.
I’ve tried some of the hand cream recipes (you’ll find a link at the bottom of the recipes).
Here you’ll find my tutorial about how to make your own rosewater hydrosol at home. And here’s my Conversion Table for US, UK, and metric system units of measurement.
Cold Cream (Encyclopedia Of Practical Receipts And Processes, 1872)
- 1 av oz white wax
- 1 av oz spermaceti
- 1/4 imperial pint almond oil
- 4 fl oz rosewater
Melt the waxes and oil, gradually add rosewater, stir till cold.
Cold Cream (The Druggist’s General Receipt Book, 1853)
- 16 oz almond oil
- 4 oz white wax
- 12 oz rose water
Melt almond oil and wax together. When nearly cold, gradually add the rosewater.
-> tried
Cold Cream With Olive Oil And Glycerin (The Druggist’s General Receipt Book, 1853)
- 1 oz white wax
- 4 oz olive oil
- 1 oz rose water
- 2 dr glycerin
To put on make-up: Rub cold cream into your face, dust powder on with a puff, and rub in the cosmetic with a soft cloth (Health And Beauty Hints, 1910).
Cold Cream Without Rose Water (The Druggist’s General Receipt Book, 1853)
Cold creams with rose or other flower water are ‘generally preferred’, but ‘they keep longer without them’.
- 1/2 oz white wax
- 1/2 oz spermaceti
- 4 oz almond oil
- optional: 2 oz orange flower water
Cold Cream With Cocoa Butter (The New Home Cook Book, 1911)
- 4 oz almond oil
- 2 oz rose water
- 2 oz white wax
- 2 oz cocoa butter
- 2 oz spermaceti
Melt the waxes and oil, then add rose water, stir till cold.
Almond Cold Cream (Henley’s Twentieth Century Formulas, Recipes And Processes, 1916)
- 5 oz almonds
- 2 drachms shaved white Castile soap, melted with some water
- 2 drachms white wax
- 2 drachms spermaceti
- 10 minims bitter almond oil
- 20 minims bergamot oil
- 6 fl oz alcohol
- water
Beat the almonds in a mortar, gradually add water to make a smooth paste. Add 1 pint of water, filter through a washed cotton cloth. Add water till the strained solution measures 1 pint. To the warm soap solution add large pieces of wax and spermaceti. ‘When all is melted place the soapy mixture in a mortar, run into it slowly the emulsion, blending the two all the while with the pestle. Care must be taken not to add the emulsion faster than it can be incorporated with the soap.’ Mix the alcohol and essential oils, then gradually stir this mixture into the cream.
-> tried and failed
Cold Cream With Rose Oil (Henley’s Twentieth Century Formulas, Recipes And Processes, 1916)
- 1/4 oz white wax
- 2 1/2 oz spermaceti
- 2 1/2 oz almond oil
- 1 1/2 oz rose water
- some drops rose oil for scent
Melt the waxes and almond oil, add rose water. ‘Beat until creamy: not until cold.’ Add rose oil.
To clean the face: Smear cold cream on the face, and wash off the cream with Castile soap (Every Woman’s Encyclopaedia, 1910-2).
Cold Cream With Castor Oil (Henley’s Twentieth Century Formulas, Recipes And Processes, 1916)
- 500 parts castor oil
- 100 parts white wax
- 150 parts almond oil
- 6 parts geranium oil
- 5 parts lemon oil
- 10 parts bergamot oil
Cold Cream With Lanolin (Henley’s Twentieth Century Formulas, Recipes And Processes, 1916)
- 400 parts almond oil
- 200 parts lanolin
- 60 parts white wax
- 60 parts spermaceti
- 300 parts rose water
To prevent wrinkles, apply cold cream to the ‘complexion at the first indication of a pain in the head.’ (Health And Beauty Hints, 1910)
Cold Cream With Witch Hazel And Lanolin (Health And Beauty Hints, 1910)
A soothing, bleaching face cream.
- 1/2 oz spermaceti
- 1/4 oz lanolin
- 3 oz almond oil
- 1 oz witch hazel extract
Melt the fats, gradually beat in the witch hazel with a silver fork. ‘If the mixture begins to harden before the extract is in it’ it may again be heated. ‘If at any time it becomes really hot it will not harden.’
Cold Cream (Health And Beauty Hints, 1910)
- 2 oz almond oil
- 1/2 oz white wax
- 1/2 oz spermaceti
- 2 oz rosewater
Melt the hard fats, add the oil, and gradually stir in the rosewater.
-> tried
Cold Cream With Glycerin (Henley’s Twentieth Century Formulas, Recipes And Processes, 1916)
- 3 parts spermaceti
- 2 parts white wax
- 12 parts almond oil
- 1 part rose water
- 1 part glycerin
Melt the waxes and almond oil. Stir ‘until the mass has a white, creamy appearance’, like butter. Mix the rose water with glycerin. Gradually add this mixture to the cream. ‘Continue the stirring for 15 or 20 minutes, then immediately put into containers.’
Cold Cream With Honey (Henley’s Twentieth Century Formulas, Recipes And Processes, 1916)
- 2 av oz honey
- 1 av oz powdered castile soap
- 26 fl ou almond oil
- 1 fluiddrachm bitter almond oil
- 1/2 fluiddrachm bergamot oil
- 15 drops cloves oil
- 1 fluiddrachm Peru balsam
- 1 fluiddrachm liquor potassa
‘Mix the honey with the soap in a mortar, and add enough liquor potassa (about 1 fluidrachm) to produce a nice cream. Mix the volatile oils and balsam with the sweet almond oil, mix this with the cream, and continue the trituration until thoroughly mixed.’
‘However much a girl may dislike dish washing, she need not evade it because she thinks it will hurt her hands, for even the hottest water and strong soap will do no damage if a little “before and after” treatment is taken.’ (Health And Beauty Hints, 1910) Rub your hand and nails with cold cream before washing the dishes, and dust some powder on if you like. Now the hot soap water won’t be harmful to the skin. After the washing-up, clean your hands with clear water and mild soap, and brush your nails. Now, rub as much cold cream into the skin as if it were soap, then wipe it off thoroughly.
Rose Cream (Three Meals A Day, 1902)
- 2 oz spermaceti
- 1/2 oz white wax
- 3 oz almond oil
- 1 1/2 oz rose water
Melt the oil and waxes over an alcohol lamp, add the rose water, and stir with a silver spoon till cold.
-> tried
Rose Glycerin Cream (Encyclopedia Of Practical Receipts And Processes, 1872)
- 1/2 oz spermaceti
- 2 oz almond oil
- 1 oz white wax
- 4 oz glycerin
- rose oil for scent
Mix waxes and almond oil, add glycerin, stir till cold, then add rose oil.
Snow Cream (Encyclopedia Of Practical Receipts And Processes, 1872)
- 3 oz spermaceti
- 2 oz white wax
- 12 oz almond oil
- 1 oz rosewater
- 1 oz glycerin
- 10 drops rose oil
Melt the waxes and almond oil in a water-bath, ‘pour it into a marble mortar, and stir briskly to prevent granulation; when of the consistence of butter, triturate until the mixture has a white, creamy appearance; then, during continued trituration, add by degrees’ rosewater and glycerin, keep stirring for 20 minutes, add rose oil; ‘beat for about half an hour, put into pots or jars, and close air-tight.’
Here you’ll find more Victorian and Edwardian moisturizer and lotion recipes, such as the Victorian Cucumber Complexion Cream.
