Chapter 279 Cosmetics

Franz was concentrating on scribbling and correcting a winter melon the size of a human face on the desk, euphemistically calling it a creation, which surprised Adjani.

After all, as far as she knew, although the Grand Duke showed great admiration for the artist on the surface, after contacting him in private, she found that he did not understand art at all, let alone spend time on such trivial matters that had nothing to do with running the country.

Out of curiosity, she decided to approach quietly; after walking around the table, she suddenly saw a human face on the winter melon.

"Ah!!!" Adjani's sharp cry made Franz's eardrums feel the stinging sensation of listening to a soprano singing at close range.

"Oh my god! Did you mean to scare me to death?"

"Well... can you tell me how a face grows on a winter melon?" She said with an extremely exaggerated expression. She even tried to get up several times, but fell down again because she was immersed in an atmosphere of panic and extreme confusion.

This is of course not because she is not smart enough or has little knowledge, but because people of that era have cognitive limitations.

It is hard for us to believe that until the 1980s, the top list of Westerners' most feared things was still occupied by werewolves and vampires.

The Asian magic used by Franz was completely legendary for Adjani, even beyond her imagination.

People's fear of the unknown is almost instinctive, which makes her look very out of control.

"What's this? It's just a painting."

Franz said casually.

"Painted? Do you know what you are talking about? How come there are eyebrows on a winter melon?"

Franz then pulled off the eyebrows from Winter Melon's face and placed them in front of her.

"Look carefully, don't you think 'she' looks a little familiar?"

The latter shook his head.

"It's made from the hair you shed."

Franz took out another large plate with various powders in it.

"This is makeup."

"Cosmetics?" Adjani gradually understood. It seemed that what was placed in front of her was some kind of high-tech product. "It's similar to the mixture of white lead, white wax, and arsenic you used, except that this thing is much safer and has more tricks."

Franz has long been dissatisfied with the morbid aesthetics of this era - whiteness is regarded as beauty. That kind of whiteness is not healthy whiteness, but a sickly paleness like a dead person.

So tuberculosis in this era was called an elegant disease. Some Europeans even take the initiative to get this disease in order to pursue this so-called elegance.

Romantic literature at that time highly praised tuberculosis, calling it a love disease. In writers' writings, tuberculosis patients are often portrayed as noble people with romantic, tenderness, persistence, elegance, sentimentality, sentimentality and artistic accomplishment.

Franz, who came from a later generation, didn't like dead faces.

So when a series of cosmetics such as makeup and foundation were developed, he brought them into the palace, preparing to personally take the lead in fundamentally changing the palace and the people's preference for this perverted aesthetic.

The east has small feet and the west has a thin waist. Everyone is a pervert, no one can blame anyone.

Adjani's eyes moved quickly between the cosmetics, Franz, and the winter melon, trying to confirm the relationship between the three.

Franz couldn't help but say as he looked at the other person's expression that his brain was overloaded.

"Would you like to experience it for yourself?"

"What did you say?" At this time, Adjani completely lost her usual mature, intellectual and confident appearance, like a silly girl who didn't understand anything.

"Close your eyes." She obeyed. After a quarter of an hour, Franz stopped what he was doing. After all, this Polish lady had a good foundation and did not need to wear too much makeup to highlight her appearance.

"Can I open my eyes?" Adjani asked.

"Yes, go look in the mirror." Franz said with a smile. He was quite confident in his masterpiece. Adjani walked to the mirror and was stunned by the sight in front of her.

She couldn't believe her eyes, as if she saw herself more than ten years ago again, and tears suddenly flowed out like broken beads.

"Don't cry, tears will turn your makeup into mud!"

After she heard it, she immediately wiped it with her hands subconsciously. Of course, the result became more and more confused. After seeing her makeup and tears turning into "mud", she couldn't stop crying.

Under this cycle of evil deeds, Adjani's appearance soon turned into a big painted face.

"Okay, don't be sentimental and go rinse it off."

Adjani stubbornly didn't want to leave the mirror and tried to put the makeup back on with her hands. Franz had no choice but to persuade.

"If you are really reluctant to part with it, why not give you a few sets? You can also study it slowly in your spare time in the future."

"Really?" She was immersed in disappointment a few minutes ago and immediately became excited again. After all, there is no upper limit to a woman's pursuit of appearance.

"When have I lied to you? Go ahead. Cosmetics are designed to be used by people. As my right-hand man, you will naturally receive preferential treatment." Franz said with a smile.

Adjani kissed Franz on the cheek excitedly, and then rushed to the bathroom.

In fact, in addition to these simple cosmetics, there are also some more complex and expensive similar products in the process of being developed.

When this project was first proposed, few professors showed interest in it. Even the cosmetics in Franz's hands were mixed by himself with kaolin + clay + natural dyes.

However, hard work pays off. Finally, several professors changed their initial attitudes. Even students at the Vienna Royal College of Women began to study chemistry, ready to devote themselves to this research with a strong mysterious color in their eyes.

The price of cosmetics during this period was ridiculously high. The price of a bottle of shochu lotion was usually between 1-20 gold Louis, and the most expensive could even reach 200 gold Louis. (Note: 1 gold Louis = 20 francs) The cost of these cosmetics was usually less than 1 franc; so if this advantage can be better utilized, and with the effective cooperation of industrial production, the cost can be further reduced.

At this time, the price of cosmetics in the Austrian Empire market was usually between 10-100 florins, but the most expensive one was a rose essential oil, which cost up to 15,000 florins.

Franz aimed at the mid-to-high-end market. After all, the poor people at that time had poor spending power and desire, and they could not afford expensive luxury goods. So he was confident that his products could easily beat similar products on the market at that time.

At the same time, he could rely on enough influence to compete with those merchants for market share; just the word "royal family" could be worth hundreds of years of hard work and sky-high advertising costs of those merchants.

However, he still had some misunderstandings about the cosmetics market at that time, that is, the era of metal foundation had passed, replaced by rice powder and pearl powder.

White is beautiful only for the taste of the upper class, but pink makeup has won the favor of the emerging urban middle class, so rouge boxes are the mainstream of this era.

Ruddy cheeks are considered to represent physical health, so women often use blush or rouge to enhance their appearance.

But the foundation and cosmetics of this era are still dominated by single tones, which are still several levels lower than the makeup developed by Franz.

As for the production of expensive rose essential oil, it was still done by liposuction at that time, which not only consumed a lot of manpower and time, but also was a huge waste of raw materials.

The simplest method in the industrial age is of course distillation, which is based on the principle of using the property of oil insoluble in water to achieve large-scale oil-water separation. This is simple, effective and cheap.

The purified industrial products are actually close to the effect of liposuction.

In fact, even if the same liposuction method is used, the price of the goods has not changed, so Franz is also very confident that he can win by this, after all, the strength and status of both sides are not at the same level.

Of course, this archduke who advocates fierce collisions of science and technology will not force people to death. He will leave a part of the market share for the other party; even if the other party is willing, he can join his industry and become one of his departments.

Thanks to the book friends I have a sword named Wanwuyi and KFC brother for their rewards.