Part 11

Gum acacia, in powder, 2 oz. Honey, 6 oz. Yolk of eggs, in number, 5. White soft soap, 3 oz. Olive oil, 2 lbs. Green oil, 1 oz. Otto of bergamot, 1 oz. " lemon, 1 oz. " cloves, 1/2 oz. " thyme and cassia, each, 1/2 drachm.

Rub the gum and honey together until incorporated, then add the soap and egg. Having mixed the green oil and perfumes with the olive oil, the mixture is to be placed in the runner, and the process followed exactly as indicated for amandine.

HONEY AND ALMOND PASTE. (_Pâte d'Amande au Miel_.)

Bitter almonds, blanched and ground, 1/2 lb. Honey, 1 lb. Yolk of eggs, in number, 8. Almond oil, 1 lb. Otto of bergamot, 1/4 oz. " cloves, 1/4 oz.

Rub the eggs and honey together first, then gradually add the oil, and finally the ground almonds and the perfume.

ALMOND PASTE.

Bitter almonds, blanched and ground, 1-1/2 lb. Rose-water, 1-1/2 pint. Alcohol (60 o.p.), 16 oz. Otto of bergamot, 3 oz.

Place the ground almonds and one pint of the rose-water into a stewpan; with a slow and steady heat, cook the almonds until their granular texture assumes a pasty form, constantly stirring the mixture during the whole time, otherwise the almonds quickly burn to the bottom of the pan, and impart to the whole an empyreumatic odor.

The large quantity of otto of almonds which is volatilized during the process, renders it essential that the operator should avoid the vapor as much as possible.

When the almonds are nearly cooked, the remaining water is to be added; finally the paste is put into a mortar, and well rubbed with the pestle; then the perfume and spirit are added. Before potting this paste, as well as honey paste, it should be passed through a medium fine sieve, to insure uniformity of texture, especially as almonds do not grind kindly.

Other pastes, such as _Pâte de Pistache_, _Pâte de Cocos_, _Pâte de Guimauve_, are prepared in so similar a manner to the above that it is unnecessary to say more about them here, than that they must not be confounded with preparations bearing a similar name made by confectioners.

ALMOND MEAL.

Ground almonds, 1 lb. Wheat flour, 1 lb. Orris-root powder, 1/4 lb. Otto of lemon, 1/2 oz. " almonds, 1/4 drachm.

PISTACHIO NUT MEAL, OR ANY OTHER NUT.

Pistachio nuts (decorticated as almonds } are bleached), } 1 lb. Orris powder, 1 lb. Otto of neroli, 1 drachm. " lemons, 1/2 oz.

Other meals, such as perfumed oatmeal, perfumed bran, &c., are occasionally in demand, and are prepared as the foregoing.

All the preceding preparations are used in the lavatory process as substitutes for soap, and to "render the skin pliant, soft, and fair!"

EMULSIN AU JASMIN.

Saponaceous cream, 1 oz. Simple syrup, 1-1/2 oz. Almond oil, 1 lb. Best jasmine oil, 1/2 lb.

EMULSIN A LE VIOLETTE.

Saponaceous cream, 1 oz. Syrup of violets, 1-1/2 oz. Best violet oil, 1-1/2 lb.

Emulsin of other odors can be prepared with tubereuse, rose, or cassie (acacia) oil (prepared by enfleurage or maceration).

For the methods of mixing the ingredients, see "Amandine," p. 195.

On account of the high price of the French oils, these preparations are expensive, but they are undoubtedly the most exquisite of cosmetiques.

SECTION X.

MILK, OR EMULSIONS.

In the perfumery trade, few articles meet with a more ready sale than that class of cosmetiques denominated milks. It has long been known that nearly all the seeds of plants which are called nuts, when decorticated and freed from their pellicle, on being reduced to a pulpy mass, and rubbed with about four times their weight of water, produce fluid which has every analogy to cow's milk. The milky appearance of these emulsions is due to the minute mechanical division of the oil derived from the nuts being diffused through the water. All these emulsions possess great chemical interest on account of their rapid decomposition, and the products emanating from their fermentation, especially that made with sweet almonds and pistachios (_Pistachia vera_).

In the manufacture of various milks for sale, careful manipulation is of the utmost importance, otherwise these emulsions "will not keep;" hence more loss than profit.

"Transformation takes place in the elements of vegetable caseine (existing in seeds) from _the very moment_ that sweet almonds are converted into almond-milk."--LIEBIG. This accounts for the difficulty many persons find in making milk of almonds that does not spontaneously divide, a day or so after its manufacture.

MILK OF ROSES.

Valencia almonds (blanched), 1/2 lb. Rose-water, 1 quart. Alcohol (60 o.p.), 1/4 pint. Otto of rose, 1 drachm. White wax, spermaceti, oil soap, each, 1/2 oz.

_Manipulation_.--Shave up the soap, and place it in a vessel that can be heated by steam or water-bath; add to it two or three ounces of rose-water. When the soap is perfectly melted, add the wax and spermaceti, without dividing them more than is necessary to obtain the correct weight; this insures their melting slowly, and allows time for their partial saponification by the fluid soap; occasional stirring is necessary. While this is going on, blanch the almonds, carefully excluding every particle that is in the least way damaged. Now proceed to beat up the almonds in a scrupulously clean mortar, allowing the rose-water to trickle into the mass by degrees; the runner, as used for the oil in the manufacture of olivine, is very convenient for this purpose. When the emulsion of almonds is thus finished, it is to be strained, _without pressure_, through clean _washed_ muslin (_new_ muslin often contains starch, flour, gum, or dextrine).

The previously-formed saponaceous mixture is now to be placed in the mortar, and the ready-formed emulsion in the runner; the soapy compound and the emulsion is then carefully blended together. As the last of the emulsion runs into the mortar, the spirit, in which the otto of roses has been dissolved, is to take its place, and to be _gradually_ trickled into the other ingredients. A too sudden addition of the spirit frequently coagulates the milk and causes it to be curdled; as it is, the temperature of the mixture rises, and every means must be taken to keep it down; the constant agitation and cold mortar effecting that object pretty well. Finally, the now formed milk of roses is to be strained.

The almond residue may be washed with a few ounces of fresh rose-water, in order to prevent any loss in bulk to the whole given quantity. The newly-formed milk should be placed into a bottle having a tap in it about a quarter of an inch from the bottom. After standing perfectly quiet for twenty-four hours it is fit to bottle. All the above precautions being taken, the milk of roses will keep any time without precipitate or creamy supernatation. These directions apply to all the other forms of milk now given.

MILK OF ALMONDS.

Bitter almonds (blanched), 10 oz. Distilled (or rose) water, 1 quart. Alcohol (60 o.p.), 3/4 pint.[F] Otto of almonds, 1/2 drachm. " bergamot, 2 drachms. Wax, spermaceti, } Almond oil, curd soap, } each, 1/2 oz.

MILK OF ELDER.

Sweet almonds, 4 oz. Elder-flower water, 1 pint. Alcohol (60 o.p.), 8 oz. Oil of elder flowers, prepared by maceration, 1/2 oz. Wax, sperm, soap, each, 1/2 oz.

MILK OF DANDELION.

Sweet almonds, 4 oz. Rose-water, 1 pint. Expressed juice of dandelion root, 1 oz. Esprit tubereuse, 8 oz. Green oil, wax, } Curd soap, } each 1/2 oz.

Let the juice of the dandelion be perfectly fresh pressed; as it is in itself an emulsion, it may be put into the mortar after the almonds are broken up, and stirred with the water and spirit in the usual manner.

MILK OF CUCUMBER.

Sweet almonds, 4 oz. Expressed juice of cucumbers, 1 pint. Spirit (60 o.p.), 8 oz. Essence of cucumbers, 1/4 pint. Green oil, wax, } Curd soap, } each 1/2 oz.

Raise the juice of the cucumbers to the boiling point for half a minute, cool it as quickly as possible, then strain through fine muslin; proceed to manipulate in the usual manner.

ESSENCE OF CUCUMBERS.

Break up in a mortar 28 lbs. of good fresh cucumbers; with the pulp produced mix 2 pints rectified spirit (sp. gr. .837), and allow the mixture to stand for a day and night; then distil the whole, and draw off a pint and a half. The distillation may be continued so as to obtain another pint fit for ulterior purposes.

CREME DE PISTACHE. (_Milk of Pistachio Nuts_.)

Pistachio nuts, 3 oz. Orange-flower water, 3-1/4 pints. Esprit neroli, 3/4 pint. Palm soap, } Green oil, wax, } each, 1 oz. Spermaceti, }

LAIT VIRGINAL.

Rose-water, 1 quart. Tincture benzoin, 1/2 oz.

Add the water very slowly to the tincture; by so doing an opalescent milky fluid is produced, which will retain its consistency for many years; by reversing this operation, pouring the tincture into the water, a cloudy precipitate of the resinous matter ensues, which does not again become readily suspended in the water.

EXTRACT OF ELDER FLOWERS.

Elder-flower water, 1 quart. Tincture benzoin, 1 oz.

Manipulate as for virgin's milk.

Similar compounds may, of course, be made with orange-flower and other waters.

SECTION XI.

COLD CREAM.

GALEN, the celebrated physician of Pergamos, in Asia, but who distinguished himself at Athens, Alexandria, and Rome, about 1700 years ago, was the inventor of that peculiar unguent, a mixture of grease and water, which is now distinguished as cold cream in perfumery, and as _Ceratum Galeni_ in Pharmacy.

The modern formula for cold cream is, however, quite a different thing to that given in the works of Galen in point of odor and quality, although substantially the same--grease and water. In perfumery there are several kinds of cold cream, distinguished by their odor, such as that of camphor, almond, violet, roses, &c. Cold cream, as made by English perfumers, bears a high reputation, not only at home, but throughout Europe; the quantity exported, and which can only be reckoned by jars in hundreds of dozens, and the repeated announcements that may be seen in the shops on the Continent, in Germany, France, and Italy, of "Cold Crême Anglaise," is good proof of the estimation in which it is held.

ROSE COLD CREAM.

Almond oil, 1 lb. Rose-water, 1 lb. White wax, } spermaceti, } each, 1 oz. Otto of roses, 1/2 drachm.

_Manipulation_.--Into a well-glazed thick porcelain vessel, which should be deep in preference to shallow, and capable of holding twice the quantity of cream that is to be made, place the wax and sperm; now put the jar into a boiling bath of water; when these materials are melted, add the oil, and again subject the whole to heat until the flocks of wax and sperm are liquefied; now remove the jar and contents, and set it under a runner containing the rose-water: the runner may be a tin can, with a small tap at the bottom, the same as used for the manufacture of milk of roses. A stirrer must be provided, made of lancewood, flat, and perforated with holes the size of a sixpence, resembling in form a large palette-knife. As soon as the rose-water is set running, the cream must be kept agitated until the whole of the water has passed into it; now and then the flow of water must be stopped, and the cream which sets at the sides of the jar scraped down, and incorporated with that which remains fluid. When the whole of the water has been incorporated, the cream will be cool enough to pour into the jars for sale; at that time the otto of rose is to be added. The reason for the perfume being put in at the last moment is obvious--the heat and subsequent agitation would cause unnecessary loss by evaporation. Cold cream made in this way sets quite firmly in the jars into which it is poured, and retains "a face" resembling pure wax, although one-half is water retained in the interstices of the cream. When the pots are well glazed, it will keep good for one or two years. If desired for exportation to the East or West Indies, it should always be sent out in stoppered bottles.

COLD CREAM OF ALMONDS

Is prepared precisely as the above; but in place of otto of roses otto of almonds is used.

VIOLET COLD CREAM.

Huile violette, 1 lb. Rose-water, 1 lb. Wax and spermaceti, each, 1 oz. Otto of almonds, 5 drops.

VIOLET COLD CREAM. IMITATION.

Almond oil, 3/4 lb. Huile cassie, 1/4 lb. Rose-water, 1 lb. Sperm and wax, 1 oz. Otto of almonds, 1/4 drachm.

This is an elegant and economical preparation, generally admired.

TUBEREUSE, JASMINE, AND FLEUR D'ORANGE COLD CREAMS.

Are prepared in similar manner to violet (first form); they are all very exquisite preparations, but as they _cost_ more than rose cold cream, perfumers are not much inclined to introduce them in lieu of the latter.

CAMPHOR COLD CREAM. (_Otherwise Camphor Ice_.)

Almond oil, 1 lb. Rose-water, 1 lb. Wax and Spermaceti, 1 oz. Camphor, 2 oz. Otto of rosemary, 1 drachm.

Melt the camphor, wax, and sperm, in the oil, then manipulate as for cold cream of roses.

CUCUMBER COLD CREAM. (_Crême de Concombre_.)

Almond oil, 1 lb. Green oil, 1 oz. Juice of cucumber, 1 lb. Wax and sperm, each, 1 oz. Otto of neroli, 1/4 drachm.

The cucumber juice is readily obtained by subjecting the fruit to pressure in the ordinary tincture press. It must be raised to a temperature high enough to coagulate the small portion of albumen which it contains, and then strained through fine linen, as the heat is detrimental to the odor on account of the great volatility of the otto of cucumber. The following method may be adopted with advantage:--Slice the fruit very fine with a cucumber-cutter, and place them in the oil; after remaining together for twenty-four hours, repeat the operation, using fresh fruit in the strained oil; no warmth is necessary, or at most, not more than a summer heat; then proceed to make the cold cream in the usual manner, using the almond oil thus odorized, the rose-water, and other ingredients in the regular way, perfuming, if necessary, with a little neroli.

Another and commoner preparation of cucumber is found among the Parisians, which is lard simply scented with the juice from the fruit, thus:--The lard is liquefied by heat in a vessel subject to a water-bath; the cucumber juice is then stirred well into it; the vessel containing the ingredients is now placed in a quiet situation to cool. The lard will rise to the surface, and when cold must be removed from the fluid juice; the same manipulation being repeated as often as required, according to the strength of odor of the fruit desired in the grease.

PIVERS' POMADE OF CUCUMBER.

Benzoinated lard, 6 lbs. Spermaceti, 2 lbs. Essence of cucumbers, 1 lb.

Melt the stearine with the lard, then keep it constantly in motion while it cools, now beat the grease in a mortar, gradually adding the essence of cucumbers; continue to beat the whole until the spirit is evaporated, and the pomade is beautifully white.

_Melons_ and other similar fruit will scent grease treated in the same way. (See "Essence of Cucumbers," p. 204.)

POMADE DIVINE.

Among the thousand and one quack nostrums, pomade divine, like James's powder, has obtained a reputation far above the most sanguine expectations of its concoctors. This article strictly belongs to the druggist, being sold as a remedial agent; nevertheless, what _is_ sold is almost always vended by the perfumer. It is prepared thus:--

Spermaceti, 1/4 lb. Lard, 1/2 lb. Almond oil, 3/4 lb. Gum benzoin, 1/4 lb. Vanilla beans, 1-1/2 oz.

Digest the whole in a vessel heated by a water-bath at a temperature not exceeding 90° C. After five or six hours it is fit to strain, and may be poured into the bottles for sale. (Must be _stamped_ if its medicinal qualities are stated.)

ALMOND BALLS.

Purified suet, 1 lb. White wax, 1/2 lb. Otto of almonds, 1 drachm. " cloves, 1/4 drachm.

CAMPHOR BALLS.

Purified suet, 1 lb. White wax, 1/2 lb. Camphor, 1/4 lb. Otto of French lavender or rosemary, 1/2 oz.

Both the above articles are sold either white or colored with alkanet root. When thoroughly melted, the material is cast in a mould; ounce gallipots with smooth bottoms answer very well for casting in. Some venders use only large pill-boxes.

CAMPHOR PASTE.

Sweet almond oil, 1/2 lb. Purified lard, 1/4 lb. Wax and spermaceti, } Camphor, } each, 1 oz.

GLYCERINE BALSAM.

White wax, } Spermaceti, } each, 1 oz. Almond oil, 1/2 lb. Glycerine, 2 oz. Otto of roses, 1/4 drachm.

Of the remedial action of any of the above preparations we cannot here discuss; in giving the formulæ, it is enough for us that they are sold by perfumers.

ROSE LIP SALVE.

Almond oil, 1/2 lb. Spermaceti and wax, each, 2 oz. Alkanet root, 2 oz. Otto of roses, 1/4 drachm.

Place the wax, sperm, and oil on to the alkanet root in a vessel heated by steam or water-bath; after the materials are melted, they must digest on the alkanet to extract its color for at least four or five hours; finally, strain through fine muslin, then add the perfume just before it cools.

WHITE LIP SALVE.

Almond oil, 1/4 lb. Wax and Spermaceti, each, 1 oz. Otto of almonds, 1/2 drachm. " geranium, 1/4 "

After lip salve is poured into the pots and got cold, a red-hot iron must be held over them for a minute or so, in order that the heat radiated from the irons may melt the surface of the salve and give it an even face.

COMMON LIP SALVE

Is made simply of equal parts of lard and suet, colored with alkanet root, and perfumed with an ounce of bergamot to every pound of salve.

SECTION XII.

POMADES AND OILS.

The name of pomatum is derived from _pomum_, an apple, because it was originally made by macerating over-ripe apples in grease.

If an apple be stuck all over with spice, such as cloves, then exposed to the air for a few days, and afterwards macerated in purified melted lard, or any other fatty matter, the grease will become perfumed. Repeating the operation with the same grease several times, produces real "pomatum."

According to a recipe published more than a century ago the form given is:--"Kid's grease, an orange sliced, pippins, a glass of rose-water, and half a glass of white wine, boiled and strained, and at last sprinkled with oil of sweet almonds." The author, Dr. Quincy, observes, that "the apple is of no significance at all in the recipe," and, like many authors of the present day, concludes that the reader is as well acquainted with the subject as the writer, and therefore considers that the weights or bulk of the materials in his recipe are, likewise, of no significance. According to ancient writers, unguent, pomatum, ointment, are synonymous titles for medicated and perfumed greases. Among biblical interpreters, the significant word is mostly rendered "ointment;" thus we have in Prov. 27:9, "Ointment and perfume rejoice the heart;" in Eccles. 9:8, "Let thy head lack no ointment."

Perfumers, acting upon their own or Dr. Quincy's advice, pay no regard to the apples in the preparation of pomatum, but make it by perfuming lard or suet, or a mixture of wax, spermaceti, and oil, or some of them or all blended, to produce a particular result, according to the name that it bears.

The most important thing to consider in the manufacture of pomatum, &c., is to start off with a _perfectly inodorous_ grease, whatever that grease may be.

Inodorous lard is obtained thus:--Take, say 28 lbs. of _perfectly fresh_ lard, place it in a well-glazed vessel, that can be submitted to the heat of a boiling salt-water bath, or by steam under a slight pressure; when the lard is melted, add to it one ounce of powdered alum and two ounces of table salt; maintain the heat for some time, in fact till a scum rises, consisting in a great measure of coagulated proteine compounds, membrane, &c., which must be skimmed off; when the liquid grease appears of a uniform nature it is allowed to grow cold.

The lard is now to be washed. This is done in small portions at a time, and is a work of much labor, which, however, is amply repaid by the result. About a pound of the grease is now placed on a slate slab a little on the incline, a supply of good water being set to trickle over it; the surface of the grease is then constantly renewed by an operative working a muller over it, precisely as a color-maker grinds paints in oil. In this way the water removes any traces of alum or salt, also the last traces of nitrogenous matter. Finally, the grease, when the whole is washed in this way, is remelted, the heat being maintained enough to drive off any adhering water. When cold it is finished.

Although purifying grease in this way is troublesome, and takes a good deal of time, yet unless done so, it is totally unfit for perfuming with flowers, because a bad grease will cost more in perfume to cover its _mal odeur_ than the expense of thus deodorizing it. Moreover, if lard be used that "smells of the pig," it is next to impossible to impart to it any delicate odor; and if strongly perfumed by the addition of ottos, the unpurified grease will not keep, but quickly becomes rancid. Under any circumstances, therefore, grease that is not _perfectly inodorous_ is a very expensive material to use in the manufacture of pomades.

In the South and flower-growing countries, where the fine pomades are made by ENFLEURAGE, or by MACERATION[G] (see pp. 37, 38), the purification of grease for the purpose of these manufactures is of sufficient importance to become a separate trade.

The purification of beef and mutton suet is in a great measure the same as that for lard: the greater solidity of suets requires a mechanical arrangement for washing them of a more powerful nature than can be applied by hand labor. Mr. Ewen, who is undoubtedly the best fat-purifier in London, employs a stone roller rotating upon a circular slab; motion is given to the roller by an axle which passes through the centre of the slab, or rather stone bed, upon which the suet is placed; being higher in the centre than at the sides, the stream of water flows away after it has once passed over the suet; in other respects the treatment is the same as for lard. These greases used by perfumers have a general title of "body," tantamount to the French nomenclature of _corps_; thus we have pomades of hard corps (suet), pomades of soft corps (lard). For making _extraits_, such as extrait de violette, jasmin, the pomades of hard corps are to be preferred; but when scented pomade is to be used in fabrication of unguents for the hair, pomades of soft corps are the most useful.

The method of perfuming grease by the direct process with flowers having already been described under the respective names of the flowers that impart the odor thereto, it remains now only to describe those compounds that are made from them, together with such incidental matter connected with this branch of perfumery as has not been previously mentioned.

ACACIA POMADE, commonly called CASSIE POMATUM, is made with a purified body-grease, by maceration with the little round yellow buds of the _Acacia Farnesiana_.