Ancient cosmetics analyzed and then reproduced

• Cosmetic face cream used by fashionable Roman women has been analysed by scientists at Bristol University, and then reproduced.
• The results of this unique opportunity to analyse the ingredients of the 'foundation' cream are reported in Nature this week (4 November).
• The cream was found to be composed of refined animal fat, starch and tin.
• The researchers then created their own version, made to the same recipe.
• When they rubbed the whitish cream into their skin, it produced a white layer with a smooth powdery texture.
• The latter quality was created by the starch -- still used for this purpose in modern cosmetics.
• Professor Richard Evershed from Bristol University said: 'White face paint was fashionable in Roman times and normally derived its colour from a lead compound.
• A tin compound would have been an acceptable substitute and in good supply from Cornwall.'
• As the researchers point out, tin has no medicinal value so they conclude that its function must have been as a pigment.
• The non-toxic properties of tin would have been a plus, because the health risks of lead were becoming recognized by the second century AD.
• The metal container, complete with the lid and contents -- the cream -- was discovered at an ongoing archaeological dig in London, UK.
• As far as the researchers are aware it is the only one ever to be found intact and in good condition.