Hello from a Biology Geek!

[alchemista]

Hi all,

I've been a lurker at this forum for about four months and I thought it was about time I register. My name is Jessica and I have been cp soaping for about six months now and making MP soap, salves, lotions and other cosmetics for about five years. I am a microbiology lab tech at a university and I think that my soaping/cosmetics hobby and my work mesh well, especially in the area of preservative agents and chemistry. In microbiology, we use compounds that change color at different pH values as indicators in many types of culture media. Unfortunately, most of what we use as indicators is not by any means safe for skin. There are some chemicals we use as indicators in other experiments though- in particular cabbage juice- that I think might be worth looking in to. It turns a bright green at a high pH (8-11), orange-pink at pH 12+. I've also been experimenting with the effectiveness of different essential oils as antibacterial agents (preliminary result- not very effective in the low concentrations present in cosmetics). I'd like to see if mixing different essential oils with other essential oils and/or commercial antibacterial agents like Germaben has a synergistic effect.

I'm also interested in historic cosmetics and medicinal formulary. It is amazing how many of them were really, really toxic! I found one "Beauty Balm" in "Lee's Priceless Recipes" (first published 1895) that contains mercury bichloride- a mercuric compound that is much more toxic than pure mercury as it is readily absorbed into the skin. It isn't surprising that application of the salve resulted in a pale complexion...

Anyway, I look forward to learning from you all and sharing my experiments and discoveries!

Jessica (Alchemista)

 

[Hazel]

Hi Jessica,

Welcome to the forum!

It will be interesting to hear about your experiments. I've also found the history of cosmetics interesting but I haven't read anything on it recently. I do remember reading that Elizabeth I whitened her face with a mixture which included lead. Besides being poisonous and ruining her skin, it also caused her hair to gradually thin and fall out. That's why her forehead was so much higher and wider in later portraits. I don't know why I remembered this bit of trivia.