Cold cream

Cold cream, also known as ceratum refrigerans, is an emulsion of water and certain fats, usually including beeswax and various scent agents, designed to smooth skin and remove makeup.

Cold cream is mainly used for skin treatment (such as a facial mask or lip balm), due to its moisturizing properties.

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: The modern formula for cold cream is, however, quite a different thing to that given in the works of Galen, in point of odour and quality, although substantially the same--grease and water.

[5]When mixed with water, plant oils spoil rapidly, so cold cream was most often made in small batches at home or in local pharmacies.