Moustache Wax!

Today I am trying out a recipe for moustache wax from 1872. This one is quoted from

Encyclopedia of practical receipts and processes. by William Dick (though I have also found essentially the same recipe in and 1867 text and it gets repeated right through into the 1920s with minor variations)

1287. Hungarian Pomade for the

Moustache. Melt by a gentle heat 1/2 pound

gum-arabic, and 1/2 pound of oil soap, in 1 pint

rose water, then add 1 pound white wax, con-

stantly stirring; when of a uniform consist-

ency, add 1 ounce attar of bergamot, and 1

drachm attar of thyme, for perfume. If re-

quired to be brown, color it with tube-burnt

umber ; or for black, use tube ivory-black.

Like most pastes and pomades, this one needs a lot of working in a mortar to get it smooth. Here it is at the gum arabic, rosewater and soap stage. I'm using some of my own olive oil soft soap for the soap phase:

 Next, I've added the molten beeswax:

It goes a bit lumpy and porridgy at this point, it needs a splash more rosewater and lots and lots and lots of elbowgrease to reduce it to a smooth paste. The bit in the tub below still has a little bit of granulation to it, next batch I need to work even more I think;

The idea of this type of mixture is that the wax has holding power, the gum arabic in water goes on 'wet' then dries to a brittle stiffness, and the soap means it all washes out at the end of the day. Sadly, I didn't have a friendly moustache to hand, so this awful pic is the end of my hair. Still, its certainly sticky when applied and dries off into what appears to be a good level of holding power.

 In fact, its so sticky I inadvertantly glued myself to the cat, reaching down to stroke him after doing the end of my hair! Next step is to send this off to some gallant volunteers who will give me their honest opinion on how useable this is on real moustaches.

Having also read the 1923 version of the recipe which uses powdered Castile soap and much less liquid and which is designed to make a solid stick pomade, I'll be trying that one in due course. There is no doubt this version works, but it has a slightly odd texture that I'm not sure I care for personally.

I've found a fair number of Victorian moustache wax recipes in my explorations, and I'll be trying out a few more over the next weeks. I'll report back if I find anything particularly exciting.

Update: We have some photo feedback from one of my intrepid testers!