Macassar oil

noun

1. an oil derived from materials said to be obtained from Macassar, formerly used as a hairdressing.
2. a similar oil or preparation for the hair.

Macassar oil

noun

1. an oily preparation formerly put on the hair to make it smooth and shiny

Word History and Origins

Origin of Macassar oil¹

First recorded in 1800–10

Word History and Origins

Origin of Macassar oil¹

C19: so called because its ingredients were originally claimed to have come from Makassar

Example Sentences

And in spite of Macassar oil, and bear's oil, and other certain promoters of luxuriant, soft, and glossy tresses, her locks continued scanty, stringy, stiff, and disorderly.

From Project Gutenberg

His accents mild took up the tale: He said "I go my ways, And when I find a mountain rill, I set it in a blaze; And thence they make a stuff they call Rowlands' Macassar Oil— Yet two-pence-halfpenny is all They give me for my toil!"

From Project Gutenberg

The somewhat melodramatic investigations of a thick layer of Rowland's Macassar oil and a thin layer of fair hair disclosed an unmistakable weal immediately above the left temple of the noble martyr in the cause of public duty.

From Project Gutenberg

Macassar Oil.—It is said to be compounded of the following ingredients:—To three quarts of common oil, add half-a-pint of spirits of wine, three ounces of cinnamon powder, and two ounces of bergamot; heat the whole in a large pipkin.

From Project Gutenberg

But his thick reddish hair was already greying, though "darkened by the lavish use of macassar oil."

From Time Magazine Archive