Cold cream, also known as ''ceratum refrigerans'', is an

emulsion An emulsion is a mixture of two or more liquids that are normally Miscibility, immiscible (unmixable or unblendable) owing to liquid-liquid phase separation. Emulsions are part of a more general class of two-phase systems of matter called colloi ...

of water and certain fats, usually including

beeswax Bee hive wax complex Beeswax (also known as cera alba) is a natural wax produced by honey bees of the genus ''Apis''. The wax is formed into scales by eight wax-producing glands in the abdominal segments of worker bees, which discard it in o ...

and various scent agents, designed to smooth skin and remove makeup. Cold cream is a water-in-oil emulsion (emulsion of small amount of water in a larger amount of oil), unlike the oil-in-water emulsion of vanishing cream, so-called because it seems to disappear when applied on skin. The name "cold cream" derives from the cooling feeling that the cream leaves on the skin. Variations of the product have been used for nearly 2000 years. Cold cream is mainly used for skin treatment (such as a facial mask or lip balm), due to its moisturizing properties. It can also be used as shaving cream and as a makeup remover.

History

The invention of cold cream is credited to

Galen Aelius Galenus or Claudius Galenus (; September 129 – AD), often Anglicization, anglicized as Galen () or Galen of Pergamon, was a Ancient Rome, Roman and Greeks, Greek physician, surgeon, and Philosophy, philosopher. Considered to be one o ...

, a

physician A physician, medical practitioner (British English), medical doctor, or simply doctor is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through the Medical education, study, Med ...

in second century

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

. The original formulation involved rose water,

, and either

almond The almond (''Prunus amygdalus'', Synonym (taxonomy)#Botany, syn. ''Prunus dulcis'') is a species of tree from the genus ''Prunus''. Along with the peach, it is classified in the subgenus ''Amygdalus'', distinguished from the other subgenera ...

olive oil Olive oil is a vegetable oil obtained by pressing whole olives (the fruit of ''Olea europaea'', a traditional Tree fruit, tree crop of the Mediterranean Basin) and extracting the oil. It is commonly used in cooking for frying foods, as a cond ...

. The beeswax is essential to a successful cream, as it is the emulsifying ingredient, but it is extremely inefficient compared to modern emulsifiers. Creams made with only beeswax require extensive mixing and can separate upon standing. Thus, small quantities of

borax The BORAX Experiments were a series of safety experiments on boiling water nuclear reactors conducted by Argonne National Laboratory in the 1950s and 1960s at the National Reactor Testing Station in eastern Idaho.

were later added in addition to the beeswax. Borax saponifies fatty acids in the beeswax and allows for a more stable cream, using the small quantities of soap created as the emulsifying agent. This 1857 account relates: In

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

, this substance is still known as ('Galen's Wax'). A copy of the ''London Dispensatory'', edited by Nicholas Culpeper and published in the year 1650 included the following formula for this substance: An 1814 poem credited to "Dr. Russell" gives the following account of the benefits attributed to cold cream in that day: When mixed with water, plant oils spoil rapidly, so cold cream was most often made in small batches at home or in local pharmacies.

Modern formulation

Almost all modern cold creams have replaced the plant oils with

mineral oil Mineral oil is any of various colorless, odorless, light mixtures of higher alkanes from a mineral source, particularly a distillate of petroleum, as distinct from usually edible vegetable oils. The name 'mineral oil' by itself is imprecise, ...

and have added

alcohol Alcohol may refer to: Common uses * Alcohol (chemistry), a class of compounds * Ethanol, one of several alcohols, commonly known as alcohol in everyday life ** Alcohol (drug), intoxicant found in alcoholic beverages ** Alcoholic beverage, an alco ...

glycerin Glycerol () is a simple triol compound. It is a colorless, odorless, sweet-tasting, viscous liquid. The glycerol backbone is found in lipids known as glycerides. It is also widely used as a sweetener in the food industry and as a humectant in pha ...

, and lanolin. Beginning in the 1970s, jojoba oil became a common ingredient, used as a substitute of spermaceti from whales. Widely sold brands of cold cream in the United States include

Pond's Pond's is an English brand of beauty and health care products, currently owned by Unilever. History Pond's Cream was invented in the United States as a patent medicine by pharmacist Theron T. Pond (1800–1852) of Utica, New York, in 1846. M ...

and Noxzema. Over the centuries, new uses have been found for the product: "As a toilet requisite cold cream is used for softening and cooling the skin after

sunburn Sunburn is a form of radiation burn that affects living tissue, such as skin, that results from an overexposure to ultraviolet (UV) radiation, usually from the Sun. Common symptoms in humans and other animals include red or reddish skin tha ...

, as a cleansing cream, to relieve harshness of the skin, etc."

References

{{Cosmetics Cosmetics

History

Modern formulation

See also

References