Part 11
Curd soap, 14 lbs. Otto of bergamot, 2-1/2 lbs. " lemon, 1/2 lb.
CITRON SOAP.
Curd soap, 6 lbs. Otto of citron, 3/4 lb. " verbena (lemon-grass), 1/2 oz. " bergamot, 4 oz. " lemon, 2 oz.
One of the best of fancy soaps that is made.
FRANGIPANNE SOAP.
Curd soap (previously colored light brown), 7 lbs. Civet, 1/4 oz. Otto of neroli, 1/2 oz. " santal, 1-1/2 oz. " rose, 1/4 oz. " vitivert, 1/2 oz.
Rub the civet with the various ottos, mix, and beat in the usual manner.
PATCHOULY SOAP.
Curd soap, 4-1/2 lbs. Otto of patchouly, 1 oz. " santal, } " vitivert, } of each, 1/4 oz.
SAPONACEOUS CREAM OF ALMONDS.
The preparation sold under this title is a potash soft soap of lard. It has a beautiful pearly appearance, and has met with extensive demand as a shaving soap. Being also used in the manufacture of EMULSINES, it is an article of no inconsiderable consumption by the perfumer. It is made thus:--
Clarified lard, 7 lbs. Potash of lye (containing 26 per cent. of caustic potash), 3-3/4 lbs. Rectified spirit, 3 oz. Otto of almonds, 2 drachms.
_Manipulation_.--Melt the lard in a porcelain vessel by a salt-water bath, or by a steam heat under 15 lbs. pressure; then run in the lye, _very slowly_, agitating the whole time; when about half the lye is in, the mixture begins to curdle; it will, however, become so firm that it cannot be stirred. The crême is then finished, but is not pearly; it will, however, assume that appearance by long trituration in a mortar, gradually adding the alcohol, in which has been dissolved the perfume.
SOAP POWDERS.
These preparations are sold sometimes as a dentifrice and at others for shaving; they are made by reducing the soap into shavings by a plane, then thoroughly drying them in a warm situation, afterwards grinding in a mill, then perfuming with any otto desired.
RYPOPHAGON SOAP.
Best yellow soap, } Fig soft soap, } equal parts melted together.
Perfume with anise and citronella.
AMBROSIAL CREAM.
Color the grease very strongly with alkanet root, then proceed as for the manufacture of saponaceous cream. The cream colored in this way has a blue tint; when it is required of a purple color we have merely to stain the white saponaceous cream with a mixture of vermilion and smalt to the shade desired. Perfume with otto of oringeat.
TRANSPARENT SOFT SOAP.
Solution caustic potash (_Lond. Ph_.), 6 lbs. Olive oil, 1 lb.
Perfume to taste.
Before commencing to make the soap, reduce the potash lye to one half its bulk by continued boiling. Now proceed as for the manufacture of saponaceous cream. After standing a few days, pour off the waste liquor.
TRANSPARENT HARD SOAP.
Reduce the soap to shavings, and dry them as much as possible, then dissolve in alcohol, using as little spirit as will effect the solution, then color and perfume as desired, and cast the product in appropriate moulds; finally dry in a warm situation.
Until the Legislature allows spirit to be used for manufacturing purposes, free of duty, we cannot compete with our neighbors in this article.
JUNIPER TAR SOAP.
This soap is made from the tar of the wood of the _Juniperus communis_, by dissolving it in a fixed vegetable oil, such as almond or olive oil, or in fine tallow, and forming a soap by means of a weak soda lye, after the customary manner. This yields a moderately firm and clear soap, which may be readily used by application to parts affected with eruptions at night, mixed with a little water, and carefully washed off the following morning. This soap has lately been much used for eruptive disorders, particularly on the Continent, and with varying degrees of success. It is thought that the efficient element in its composition is a rather less impure hydrocarburet than that known in Paris under the name _huile de cade_. On account of its ready miscibility with water, it possesses great advantage over the common tar ointment.
MEDICATED SOAPS.
Six years ago I began making a series of medicated soaps, such as SULPHUR SOAP, IODINE SOAP, BROMINE SOAP, CREOSOTE SOAP, MERCURIAL SOAP, CROTON OIL SOAP, and many others. These soaps are prepared by adding the medicant to curd soap, and then making in a tablet form for use. For sulphur soap, the curd soap may be melted, and flowers of sulphur added while the soap is in a soft condition. For antimony soap and mercurial soap, the low oxides of the metals employed may also be mixed in the curd soap in a melted state. Iodine, bromine, creosote soap, and others containing very volatile substances, are best prepared cold by shaving up the curd soap in a mortar, and mixing the medicant with it by long beating.
In certain cutaneous diseases the author has reason to believe that they will prove of infinite service as auxiliaries to the general treatment. It is obvious that the absorbent vessels of the skin are very active during the lavoratory process; such soap must not, therefore, be used except by the special advice of a medical man. Probably these soaps will be found useful for internal application. The precedent of the use of Castile soap (containing oxide of iron) renders it likely that when prejudice has passed away, such soaps will find a place in the pharmacopoeias. The discovery of the solubility, under certain conditions, of the active alkaloids, quinine, morphia, &c., in oil, by Mr. W. Bastick, greatly favors the supposition of analogous compounds in soap.
SECTION IX.
EMULSINES.
From soaps proper we now pass to those compounds used as substitutes for soap, which are classed together under one general title as above, for the reason that all cosmetiques herein embraced have the property of forming emulsions with water.
Chemically considered, they are an exceedingly interesting class of compounds, and are well worthy of study. Being prone to decomposition, as might be expected from their composition, they should be made only in small portions, or, at least, only in quantities to meet a ready sale.
While in stock they should be kept as cool as possible, and free from a damp atmosphere.
AMANDINE.
Fine almond oil, 7 lbs. Simple syrup,[E] 4 oz. White soft soap, or saponaceous cream, _i.e._ } Crême d'Amande, } 1 oz. Otto of almonds, 1 oz. " bergamot, 1 oz. " cloves, 1/2 oz.
Rub the syrup with the soft soap until the mixture is homogeneous, then rub in the oil by degrees; the perfume having been previously mixed with the oil.
In the manufacture of amandine (and olivine) the difficulty is to get in the quantity of oil indicated, without which it does not assume that transparent jelly appearance which good amandine should have. To attain this end, the oil is put into "a runner," that is, a tin or glass vessel, at the bottom of which is a small faucet and spigot, or tap. The oil being put into this vessel is allowed to run slowly into the mortar in which the amandine is being made, just as fast as the maker finds that he can incorporate it with the paste of soap and syrup; and so long as this takes place, the result will always have a jelly texture to the hand. If, however, the oil be put into the mortar quicker than the workman can blend it with the paste, then the paste becomes "oiled," and may be considered as "done for," unless, indeed, the whole process be gone through again, starting off with fresh syrup and soap, using up the greasy mass as if it were pure oil. This liability to "go off," increases as the amandine nears the finish; hence extra caution and plenty of "elbow grease" must be used during the addition of the last two pounds of oil. If the oil be not perfectly fresh, or if the temperature of the atmosphere be above the average of summer heat, it will be almost impossible to get the whole of the oil given in the formula into combination; when the mass becomes bright and of a crystalline lustre, it will be well to stop the further addition of oil to it.
This and similar compounds should be potted as quickly as made, and the lids of the pots banded either with strips of tin-foil or paper, to exclude air. When the amandine is filled into the jars, the top or face of it is marked or ornamented with a tool made to the size of half the diameter of the interior of the jar, in a similar way to a saw; a piece of lead or tortoise-shell, being serrated with an angular file, or piece of an "old saw," will do very well; place the marker on the amandine, and turn the jar gently round.
OLIVINE.
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_.)