The Art of Perfumery, and Methods of Obtaining the Odors of Plants Part 23

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 subst.i.tutes 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 ca.s.sie (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 cla.s.s 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 ma.s.s, and rubbed with about four times their weight of water, produce fluid which has every a.n.a.logy 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 ma.s.s 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 quant.i.ty. 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 CUc.u.mBER.

Sweet almonds, 4 oz.

Expressed juice of cuc.u.mbers, 1 pint.

Spirit (60 o.p.), 8 oz.

Essence of cuc.u.mbers, 1/4 pint.

Green oil, wax, } Curd soap, } each 1/2 oz.

Raise the juice of the cuc.u.mbers 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 CUc.u.mBERS.

Break up in a mortar 28 lbs. of good fresh cuc.u.mbers; 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, }