Cold Cream and Vintage Beauty

People get in two minds about the use of cold cream [CC] in their everyday beauty regime. Those that aren't put off by the associations of the product with their grandmother [I have one friend totally put off buying this merely because its something she sees lots of old women buying], will get put off by the notion of having lanolin [something sheepie and what is actually in Carmex too] in the ingredient list. Yet CC is the perfect product i've found for cleansing, make-up removal and softening the skin both upon the face and more stubborn skin elsewhere on the body. This 1917 Ponds advert sums CC up perfectly for it will; “cleanse your skin of all the dirt which lodges in the pores through the day, and which, more than anything else, injures the skin”.

Yet a product that your grandmother swore by and is still in manufacture must say something. Long before the advent of endless anti ageing, anti winkle, anti your eyes sagging kinda products, CC was a staple beauty product, it was the one thing our grandmothers would constantly use and is probably why their skin remains so soft and supple. One of the longest beauty products in existence - dating back to the Greeks combination of rose petals, beeswax water and oil resulting in a basic water-oil product; well doesn't that speak for itself?!

The effects of CC are immense and quick to show. While the assumptions that greasy and oily skin products that CC falls into only make some skin types more prone to shine or spots because it consists of fats and water, a good cleansing technique limits this apparent disadvantage. Nevertheless, with my face verging on oily I've never had this issue of CC giving me spots - so i'd like to bust that myth. Hormones in fact have much more of an influence then CC ever has.

Personally I use the Boots Original Formal CC [£3 something for a jolly good sized jar]. Working from the outside inwards the packaging has a retro Edwardian chemist feel. The jar itself is worthy of saving purely to harking back to the use of thick sturdy glass. It is far from the celebrity endorsed anti ageing creams however. With a sweet, clean smell described as "Rose" on the label [somewhat lacks a bit in this smell] it is a thick and creamy mixture which applies well and easily, leaving the skin utterly soft within seconds, and as the "cold" in the name suggests a refreshing feel.

The best results always come after massaging a thin layer of the cream upon your face and leaving it for a while - enough time to climb into your pjs, brush your teeth and hair [a good five minutes]. I remove the cream using cotton wipes and the tonner I purchased and reviewed from Lush a week or so ago, and CC is the best thing in my view for even removing stubborn eye make-up.

Which ever CC you use [for there are a few on the go, Ponds, Boots, Avene to name but three] using a CC is always worth a try especially. If the fact that so many women using it constantly over the decades isn't enough to persuade you, maybe the price and the final result might be.

Do you have any vintage beauty recommendations or tip of products or regimes - i'd love to hear them if you do!!