Rose Ointment, 1856

From A Cyclopedia of Practical Receipts (1856), this rose ointment is described as "simple emollient" and "an officinal* cold cream". The recipe calls for 3 parts spermaceti ointment to 1 part rose water, by weight. 

There are two spermaceti ointment listed on the next page: one calls for 5 oz spermaceti, 14 drams white wax, and 1 pint of olive oil, melted together. The other calls for 1/2 lb white wax, 1 lb spermaceti, and 3 pounds lard. I decided to try the second recipe, scaled down 1/16 to 1/2 oz white wax, 1 oz spermaceti, and 3 oz lard, all to be mixed with 3 oz of rose water (weight, not fl oz). I melted the wax, spermaceti and lard together, then stirred in the rose water as it cooled.

Rose Ointment. It's very solid.

I was concerned that adding so much extra liquid would give a very soft or goopy cold cream, but it's actually very solid. Very, very solid. It's like the wax-based hard pomatums for hair. I can't scoop any ointment out of the tin except by digging in with a fingernail, and end up with more of the ointment on my fingers than where I'm trying to apply it (on the back of my hands, which have dried out from gardening). The day after I made it, the ointment also appeared to be weeping rosewater around the edges; it's unclear to me whether this is because I should have keep stirring it longer as it cooled, or if that's how it is supposed to work.

The ointment itself mostly smells of rosewater, though a little lard odor does come through. It's not intense enough for the scent to linger on the skin like the milk of roses did. Or maybe I just didn't get enough of the ointment on my hands.

Overall, this isn't a bad recipe, though I find softer cold creams easier to apply. If I tried it again, I'd probably opt for the first rose ointment recipe, which uses lard and rose petals, and should be softer than any of the wax/spermaceti ointments.

*Today's vocabulary word: officinal- used to describe a herb/drug of standard medical use.