Skin creams and salves

Tuesday, July 19, 2016

Joy joy mit Iodine!

"Uter" from The Simpsons
Warning: not much substance here... :-)just cuteness!

Meet "Uter" from the Simpsons animated television show! A delightful little rotund German exchange student known for his love of candy, especially chocolate, and JOY JOY Marzipan  mit IODINE!!

This little guy came with a stack of books(of course, he's smart, he takes IODINE), a couple of(I presume) candy sticks and of course his bag of joy joy marzipan mit iodine!

He seems to love food, especially candy and he's happy to share...

My only interest in the character is the fact that he consumes iodine-enriched Marzipan, of course. From what I understand, these characters will speak if they're placed on a Springfield interactive environment. I wonder if he says "JOY JOY MIT IODINE"!!!??? 

A little Uter sharing the joy joy :


Friday, July 1, 2016

Iodine Tanning Lotion

McCall's Magazine, 1949


A very popular suntan lotion recipe in the '40s, '50s, '60s and '70s was a simple mixture of iodine and baby oil. Iodine(for the staining), and baby oil for the moisturizing.

This was back in the day when people worshipped the sun and a tan was desirable. I'm not going to break down the supposed dangers of the sun or tell you that sunscreens cause cancer in this post(although, I suppose I just did:-). I'm also not going to tell you that the dangers of vitamin D deficiency far outweigh skin cancer risks....or that most melanomas occur on non sun-exposed areas....

Just reporting the facts. Can you imagine how much iodine is absorbed using this mixture?

I actually found a REAL recipe for Iodine Tanning lotion. The following recipe is taken from the "Westmore Beauty Book", a 1950s guide to all things beauty. 



Cover~ 1949 McCalls
"....here's one that we make at home and personally recommend...the proportions are as follows:

1/4 oz apple cider vinegar(for the tannic acid it contains).
oz of caron oil(this is the basic ingredient of all burn healing salves).
1 1/2 oz iodine(for color, if you have an allergy to iodine, you will have to omit this).
1/2 oz of baby oil.
4 oz of your favorite cologne.(Never put cologne or perfume directly on your face when going out in the sun. It can result in a permanent burn).

Suffice it to say that a lotion, or a sun-screening preparation of some sort, is not your best protection against a painfully burned face. Untanned skin will not brown unless some sunburn occurs first. Without the aid of a suntan preparation the skin will set up it's own defense against the harmful rays and this results in a coarsened texture.

A suntan cannot be acquired all of a sudden. It should be acquired very gradually if it is to be painless and attractive....."


Interesting recipe, they've incorporated a burn remedy into the formula! My advice would be to limit your exposure so that a burn remedy would not be necessary :-)

~tannic acid is used to treat burns:


http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/407583_3


I'm not sure what caron oil is. Old literature tells me that it's a mixture of linseed(flaxseed) oil and lime water(calcium hydroxide and water). Whatever it is, it seems to have fallen out of favor.

Mineral oil has been getting a bad rap for a while now but it has proven benefits, such as holding moisture in. Pure mineral oil has nothing in common with gasoline, I've made my husband very effective hand creams with it although I'm wary of marketing them because of the "impure" reputation.

Happy Summer and enjoy the Sun!


1949 McCall's Magazine




Wednesday, June 15, 2016

HUNGRY???!!

Let's go to the Iodine Grill! If we can... I doubt that it still exists. Can anyone from Columbia, South Carolina let me know?

NEWSFLASH!! It still exists although it has been renamed. I attribute it's longevity to iodine repletion in it's early years: Villa Tronco

I  believe that the Iodine Grill was named as such because of the fact that it was located in South Carolina, "the Iodine State", not because of the iodine content of it's offerings. haha! A true iodine grill would offer emphasize seafood, seaweed and produce from iodine-rich soils...

A Lugol's cocktail perhaps?

Another ebay score, a matchbook cover of the "Iodine Grill"
circa 1920s, 1930s:



My new favorite restaurant that no longer exists! The Iodine Grill, Columbia, South Carolina, the Iodine State
           
Hmmm, they specialized in spaghetti? That reminds
me that a carb-heavy diet can result in an increased iodine requirement:

          http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15142639