http://dsc.discovery.com/news/afp/20041101/makeup.html
Ancient Roman Cream Used for Beauty
AFP
Nov. 3, 2004 — Beauty creams used by the ladies of ancient Rome were
not far different from those applied to today's fair skins, to judge
by a discovery in the remains of a Roman temple in London dating from
the 2nd century A.D.
Archeologists found a small container with a whitish medicinal or
cosmetic cream made up of animal fat, starch and tin oxide.
Researchers writing in the latest edition of the journal Nature say
the unguent "shares some surprising features with modern moisturizing
creams."
Bristol University specialist Richard Evershed and his team describe
the find, dating from a time when London was the Roman community
Londinium, as a landmark in the study of this class of artefact.
It is the only one to be found so far with its lid and contents,
providing a unique opportunity to examine the ancient composition.
"Fashionable Roman women aspired to a fair complexion, and the
Londinium cream may have served as a foundation layer," the
researchers said.
Analysis had revealed cattle or sheep as a fat source. The scientists
synthesized a substance composed of the same ingredients and obtained
a similar white cream.
"This cream had pleasant a texture when rubbed into the skin," the
report said. "Although it felt greasy initially, owing to the fat
melting as a result of body heat, this was quickly overtaken by the
smooth powdery texture created by the starch: remarkably, starch is
still used for his purpose in modern cosmetics."
The tin was available from the ancient Cornish tin industry in the
west of England. Unless the tin compound had been added owing to some
hitherto unrecognized medicinal attribute, the researchers write, "we
must conclude that its function was solely as a pigment."
Although lead was used by the ancient Romans as a cosmetic, the
non-toxic properties of tin oxide would have been desirable because by
the second century the dangers of lead were becoming recognized, the
report concluded.
/end
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Contempt of Congress meter reading-offscale.
Hello, theocracy with a fundamentalist US Supreme
Court who will ensure church and state are joined
at the hip like clergy and altar boys.
America 1776-Jan 2001 RIP
.
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