Macassar oil

oily substance that was used in the past to make the hair smooth and shiny

Macassar oil is a compounded oil used primarily by men in Victorian and Edwardian times as a hair dressing.Macassar oil is basically coconut oil or palm oil to which has been added the very fragrant "ylang-ylang" oil (obtained by processing the flowers of the Ylang-ylang tree, aka Cananga odorata) as well as some other fragrant oils. (For details on the tree, as well as the oil extraction process and the oil's use in Macassar oil, see: [1] and [2])
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A kind of oil formerly used in dressing the hair; -- so called because originally obtained from Macassar, a district of the Island of Celebes. Also, an imitation of the same, of perfumed castor oil and olive oil.