I don’t know about you, but I get excited when I discover an unpublished recipe for a rare paste. If you are the same, prepare to lose your mind, because here it is: Maloine Paste. As of the nineteenth century, only six bottles had been known to have been made—and the recipe was especially hard to get ahold of. Apparently.
This one uses marsh mallow root, from which the ancient treat was derived (although today’s marshmallows do not contain any of it, which should come as no surprise). As an herbal remedy, the syrup derived from the root was used to heal irritations of the mucous membranes, like the mouth or in the case of a gastric ulcer. I guess if one had chapped skin, it might be helpful for the irritation in that case.
The recipe is basically a bunch of different powders mixed with oil to form the paste. I suppose that the smoothness or relative grittiness of the paste is entirely dependent on how well you ground each into dust with your pestle, in your kitchen mortar—or how well the person you bought the already-made powders did the same.
The other powders that were used included white starch and orris root. White starch is exactly what it sounds like: starch, which is white. It’s water-insoluble and, when mixed with oil, forms a paste. Today, this paste is used as a glue or adhesive when making paper—or to stiffen fabric when ironing. I imagine that this paste turned into a white glue of sorts, that adhered the other powders and oils to your face, that also made the face appear more white, which was of primary concern for the Victorian lady, which is nothing I really enjoy thinking about.
The orris root, was also used in herbal medicine, but, like starch, is presently used as a way to get perfume to adhere to the body, or for potpourri to retain its scent. So, with the addition of the orris root to the starch and marsh mallow powders, you have a bunch of stuff sticking other substances and smells to your face.
Lastly is the essence of jasmine, which is a perfume oil, used here. It’s potent, which is why you’d use the orris root to stick its smell to your face. It was also thought to be a strong aphrodisiac, which you’d probably need if you were walking around with glue all over your face.
Anyway, here’s the recipe:
Maloine Paste.
- 4 ounces of powdered marsh-mallow roots
- 2 ounces of powdered white starch
- 3 drachms of powdered orris-root
- 20 drops of essence of jasmine
You grind the roots into dust, mix them with the essential oil and then you can go straight to smearing.
Says the original source of this information (which is in the public domain): This is one of the most agreeable and elegant cosmetics yet known for softening and whitening the skin, preserving it from chapping, and being so simple that it may be applied to the most delicate or irritable of skin.
Whether or not that is true, I cannot say.