Name: Milk of Roses, an Invaluable Wash for Sunburns, Freckles, &E
Ingredients: 2 ounces blanched almonds; 12 ounces rosewater; 2 teaspoons white Windsor soap; 2 teaspoons white wax; 2 teaspoons oil of almonds; 3 ounces rectified spirits; 1 teaspoon oil of bergamot; 15 drops oil of lavender; 8 drops attar of roses

Why it works: Bergamot and lavender work together. They rank in the top 3% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 82 recipes. Both carry decanal, which smells soap, orange peel. The science ↓

Milk of Roses, an Invaluable Wash for Sunburns, Freckles, &E

Ingredients

Directions

Beat the almonds to a fine paste.
Mix in the rosewater, white Windsor soap, white wax, oil of almonds, rectified spirits, oil of bergamot, oil of lavender, and attar of roses.
Stir until well combined.
Store in a cool place and apply as needed for sunburns and freckles.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

Bergamot + lavendertop 3% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together82 recipes

Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
Bergamot + rosetop 9% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together61 recipes

Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
Spirit + bergamottop 11% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together73 recipes

Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
Almond + rosetop 11% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together1,465 recipes

Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
Spirit + lavendertop 14% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together122 recipes

Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).