If you had a burn or contusion on your face during the 19th century, you’d probably use some white camphorated ointment. God knows why a lady would have a burn or contusion on her face, but people lived in very dark times. It’s also good for chapped and cracked skin, abrasions, and other ugly-looking, painful skin calamities.
The product is made with powder and fat, which, if you know anything about protein shakes, causes the powder to become smooth when it’s mixed together. That’s what the internet says, at least. Protein shakes are not what I know anything about as I avoid them—and the people who drink them.
Anyway, these two recipes for the ointment use a combination of powders, oil, spermaceti, and lard. It’s heated, cooled, and applied to the face that’s burned and contused. Here’s another recipe I would encourage everyone to absolutely not make or use.
The recipes are made from powdered camphor, which is the tingly stuff that should be in Tiger Balm and the like, and cerussa, which is lead carbonate, a powdered lead salt used in cosmetics from way before the 17th century until people discovered it caused lead poisoning.
Lead carbonate is made from lead acetate. Lead acetate is also known as sugar of lead, which is a sweet tasting lead powder that the Romans used in wine. According to rumor, it was also used to poison Pope Clement II in the 11th century. The Catholics probably dug him up and tested him or something. They’ve done that to a number of their Saints and Holy people.
That aside, cerussa, which is lead carbonate, is a crystal-based mineral that was used in lead-based paint until people realized that kids also liked to consume paint chips because they were sweet. Thank goodness for science.
In this recipe, the powders are mixed and then stirred into the heated fat, then chilled. Together, the powders numb and cover the issue on your face, making the skin chalky white. Perfect for redness or the discoloration left below the surface of your skin from the internal bleeding that causes bruises.
It probably felt gritty, like you’re rubbing oily powder into your skin, which is exactly what it was. It also probably smelled terrible but it supposedly did the trick.
The recipe says, “This is applied to burns and contusions with very good effect, and is much used in Austria.” Again, not for today.
Here are the recipes:
White Camphorated Ointment 1.
- 3 ounces 2 drachms of powdered carbonate of lead
- 45 grains of powdered camphor
- 5 ounces of melted lard
You basically mix the powders, melt the lard, then stir together. In my recipes, there’s no indication of what sort of container to put these into, but most Victorian cosmetic jars were glass with stoppers.
White Camphorated Ointment 2.
- 4 ounces of olive oil
- 1 ounce of white wax
- 22 grains of camphor
- 6 drachms of spermaceti
Melt the wax and spermaceti with the oil, and when they have cooled, rub the ointment with the camphor, dissolved in a little oil.
If you’re so inclined, you can omit the white wax, and substitute with lard. Incidentally, white wax is used in museum furniture preservation, and as a wood polish.
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