San Francisco resident and plastic surgeon Dr. Stanley Jacobs has always had a penchant for Ancient Egyptian history. Driven by his passion for the subject, in 2008 he set out on an 8-year journey that would lead to a serendipitous discovery.
At an annual gathering for Egyptology enthusiasts, Dr. Jacobs was introduced to the Edwin Smith papyrus, an Ancient Egyptian text recognized as the world’s oldest document on surgery. While examining the text, one particular passage caught his eye. This was a recipe titled: “Transforming an Old Man into a Youth”. The passage revealed a set of instructions on how to make a paste that would result in facial rejuvenation. Dr. Jacobs was immediately interested in replicating the recipe, however, one key ingredient proved particularly challenging to decipher. The star ingredient in this recipe was “hemayet fruit”, for which no convincing translation could be found.
The first translation of the word found by Dr. Jacobs identified ‘hemayet’ as fenugreek. However, this did not seem plausible to Dr. Jacobs, as the instructions in the recipe indicates that ‘hemayet’ needs to be “husked, winnowed, sifted, boiled in water, dried, washed, ground, and boiled again”.Fenugreek would not have been able to withstand these harsh processes. Dr. Jacobs continued to consult countless Egyptologists on the matter. He was only able to come to a conclusion regarding the translation eight years after he first read the text, when someone referred him to Egyptologist James Allen who had published a new translation of the same papyrus.
The mysterious ingredient Dr. Jacobs had been looking for turned out to be a substance made from bitter almonds. Bitter almonds are a tricky ingredient as they contain hydrogen cyanide, a poisonous substance. However, as the Ancient Egyptian recipe instructed, washing and processing the nuts removes the poisonous compounds from the almonds, resulting in the production of one compound known as mandelic acid. According to Naissan O. Wessley, MD, “mandelic acid functions as an exfoliator that dissolves skin cells to treat irregular skin pigmentation, acne, and fine lines or wrinkles.” The ingredients’ age reversing properties served as the foundation for Dr. Jacobs’ skincare line of serums, creams, and peels with mandelic acid founded in 2016. Dr. Jacobs’ clinical trials on patients show that applying his mandelic acid-based products to the skin contributed to a 43% increase in the skin’s elasticity, leading to fewer wrinkles. Dr. Jacobs has chronicled his journey in a book titled “Nefertiti’s Secret”, published in 2019.
