Blast from the Past! Old Time Powder

This post was the first one about Victorian and Edwardian historical cosmetic powder here at GGGtG.

One woman is documented as having remarked, "It isn't decent not to [wear powder] in the summer -- one looks so greasy without." Health books of the time that railed against the use of makeup assured that a little face powder was all a person needed. However, the lack of regulation at the time meant that many face powders were not safe to use -- a fact of which people were surprisingly aware. Plain talc, cornstarch, or rice flour were often recommended for use as safe powders, and beauty books advised their readers on how to select safe formulations if they still sought to purchase commercial beauty products.

The book Mother's Remedies (1910) gives instruction for how to apply face powder, following a system which was pretty common at the time:

TO USE POWDER.—Wash the face; rub a little cold cream over it, rubbing it in well, wipe with a dry towel, gently, then apply the powder with a chamois—a clean one. Do not keep it on unnecessarily. Remove by rubbing with the cleansing cream, then wash the face. Never go to bed with powder on your face.

You can find out more about Cold Cream and Powder Recipes now than you could back then.