Oil of Olay in Ancient Rome (ca. 50 AD)
For anyone who thought women’s obsession with skin products was a thing of the modern age, a discovery at the site of a Roman temple on the banks of the River Thames in London has challenged the known history of women’s makeup. A 6 cm x 5cm tin container was found, and inside was a white cream with a very pungent odor. Although a product such as this should have decomposed and disappeared from the archaeological record long ago, the canister was of high enough quality and was closed tightly enough that it held its contents in stasis for nearly 2,000 years!
Found in a ditch with other ceramic pots – whose contents have long since disintegrated – excavators suspect that the ditch was a site of religious significance, where visitors to the temple would place offerings inside of pots or tins and leave them for the god. This cosmetic tin in particular was extremely well crafted, and must have been owned by someone of very high status as it would have been a valuable object at the time.
Roman women often put makeup on their faces before entering a temple, and it was not unusual for priests to have specific requirements concerning their adornment and cosmetic appearance. In the case of this tin, there were finger marks found on the lid once the container was opened – indicating that the last person to use this cream had taken the substance out from the lid, which is not an unusual practice for women today when opening a container of cream or facial product!
Tests on the Roman cosmetic revealed that the cream was made of refined cattle or sheep fat, starch, and tin oxide. A synthesized version of the cream, made by a team from the University of Bristol, revealed that the cream had a soft, pleasant texture when rubbed into the skin – although it felt greasy at first, the starch allowed the cream to create a smooth, powdery feel as it was applied. Intriguingly enough, starch is still used in modern facial and cosmetic products for this same reason! In addition, there did not appear to be any added perfume or scented components to the cream, making it a very ‘natural’ product.
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