Poudre De Riz – likely a face powder
Catalog #
1979.549.001
Accession #
Poudre De Riz – likely a face powder. IN a small cardboard box, with brown covering. Pink powder can be seen. Exactly when rice powder (poudre de riz) came to be used as a cosmetic in Europe has yet to be determined. Once established it was used as a base for perfume, as a powder or wash to lighten the skin, or as a powder to whiten wigs. Given the qualities of rice powder, and that it was more expensive than other starches, using the term poudre de riz on a powder box gave the product a certain cachet.