For the Victorian woman, the pale complexion was covetable because it meant that she didn’t have to work outdoors. Unlike today, when women can boldly go beyond the doorstep to get a face tan as they work (or be other colors than sickly white), Victorian women didn’t because… they’d get a face tan. Because they worked. And people might not think they were white enough. Or that they were prostitutes.
All that aside, like women today, they used cosmetics, creams, pastes, and the like, to keep their skin soft—but also pale and free of freckles. Freckles were the enemy to the upper-class Victorian woman. The destroyer of the otherwise perfect face. The plague sent from above.
Aside from the disgusting creams made of lard or other thickening agents, I’m more or less generally OK with pastes. At least I’m OK with Almond Paste. Probably because we use it in pastries—most notably the American Bear Claw, which I had a dream about the night before writing this. The bear claw, according to Wikipedia is an American pastry that originated at the death of the Victorian age, in the 1920s.
Anyway, I am OK with Almond Paste because it is safe to eat. And if it’s safe to eat, then it’s safe to rub on your face. But if you think about the American Bear Claw, I do not want to squeeze its contents onto my face. And the dream I had about this particular pastry was a nightmare. So maybe, in actuality, I do not think Almond Paste is OK.
But nevertheless:
Almond Paste.
- 1 ounce bitter almonds
- 1 ounce barley flour
- Small amount of honey
In this recipe, you’d pound the almonds into a powder, then add the barley flour, and finally, add the honey to make it into a paste.
The instructions say, When this paste is laid over the skin, particularly where there are freckles, it makes it smooth and soft.
Incidentally, the almond paste is the consistency of something resembling one of those organic flakey soaps you can get from the over-priced grocer, combined with a cream. It resembles a sliceable brick.
I cannot imagine getting this out of your eyes.