Analytical chemistry studying historical pharmaceuticals and health care formulations

Nesměrák, Karel; Kudláček, Karel; Babica, Jan

doi:10.1007/s00706-017-1985-x

Cited by 17 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 57 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…It generally refers to dark eye cosmetics in the form of a fine powder containing one or more ingredients 1 as well as dried out cakes, sticks 4 , stones 5 and pastes 6 made from such powders. It was and is still used on lashes and brows and to draw a line around the perimeter of the eye 7 . Make-Up was used in Ancient Egypt not only for aesthetic reasons but also for hygienic, therapeutic and religious functions 8 .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Recipes of Ancient Egyptian kohls more diverse than previously thought

Riesmeier

Keute

Veall

et al. 2022

Sci Rep

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Kohl, a dark eye cosmetic, is a well-known part of Ancient Egyptian culture. Modern chemical analyses of kohls have largely found lead-based inorganic constituents, whereas earlier studies argued for a much broader range of constituents. Furthermore, organic materials in kohls remain severely understudied. This raises questions regarding the true diversity of materials and recipes used to produce kohls. We analysed the contents of 11 kohl containers from the Petrie Museum collection in London. The objects selected cover a broad range of times and locations in Egypt. Our multi-analytical approach allowed us to characterise both inorganic and organic components. Our data show that inorganic ingredients in kohl recipes are not only lead-based but also manganese- and silicon-based. Our analyses also revealed that organic ingredients derived from both plant and animal sources were commonly used in kohl recipes and sometimes even represent the main constituent. All these findings point towards more varied recipes than initially thought and significantly shift our understanding of Ancient Egyptian kohls.

show abstract

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Recipes of Ancient Egyptian kohls more diverse than previously thought

Riesmeier

Keute

Veall

et al. 2022

Sci Rep

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…The physico-chemical analysis of residues from archaeological excavations has emerged as a potentially more direct alternative for determining the origins and nature of cosmetic practices (Ribechini et al 2011;Nesměrák et al 2017). Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) (Pérez-Arantegui et al 1996;Cotte et al 2005;Gamberini et al 2008), X-ray diffraction (XRD) (Walter et al 1999;Vidale et al 2012), Raman spectroscopy (Huq et al 2006;Baraldi et al 2020) and chromatographic/mass spectrometric hyphenated methods (Buckley et al 2004;Evershed et al 2004;Giachi et al 2013;Han et al 2018) have been applied in multi-analytical approaches in order to attain the robust identification and full characterization of the molecular composition (Ribechini et al 2011).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The rise of the cosmetic industry in ancient China: Insights from a 2700‐year‐old face cream

et al. 2021

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Cosmetics have a long history in China, but their origins remain unclear. Cosmetic industry potentially originated in the , but little is known about the early manufacture and use of cosmetics. The Liujiawa site, located on the southern edge of the Loess Plateau in northern China, was the late capital of the ancient Rui state in the early to mid-Spring and Autumn Period. During the excavation, a sealed small and exquisite container with suspected cosmetic use was unearthed from tomb M49 belonging to a male associated with the aristocratic class. We report in this paper the multidisciplinary application of ATR-FTIR, XRD, SEM, stable isotope analysis, GC-MS and GC-C-IRMS analysis of the residue inside the container, demonstrating that the residue, which was made of ruminant adipose fat mixed with monohydrocalcite from cave moonmilk, was likely used as cosmetic face cream by the nobleman of the Rui state. This study provides an early example of cosmetic production in China, and, together with the prevalence of similar cosmetic containers during this period,

show abstract