Perfumes and Their Preparation

Chapter XXI Formulas for the Preparation of Emulsions, Meals, Pastes, Vegetable Milk, and Cold-Creams

A. Emulsions

Amandine

Almond Cream.—Melt ten pounds of purified lard in an enamelled iron pot or a porcelain vessel, and while increasing the temperature add little by little five pounds of potash lye of 25% strength, stirring all the time with a broad spatula. When fat and lye have become a uniform mass, 2¾ to 3½ ounces of alcohol is gradually added, whereby the mixture acquires a translucent, crystalline appearance. Before the alcohol is added three-fourths to one ounce of oil of bitter almond is dissolved in it. The soapy mass thus obtained is called “almond cream” (crême d’amandes) and may be used alone for washing. For making Amandine take of—

Expressed oil of almonds	10 lb.
Almond cream	3½ oz.
Oil of bergamot	1 oz.
Oil of bitter almond	1½ oz.
Oil of lemon	150 grains.
Oil of clove	150 grains.
Oil of mace	150 grains.
Water	1¾ oz.
Sugar	3½ oz.

In the manufacture the following rules should be observed.

Effect the mixture in a cool room, the cellar in summer, a fireless room in winter. Mix the ingredients in a shallow, smooth vessel, best a large porcelain dish, using a very broad, flat stirrer with several holes. The sugar is first dissolved in the water and intimately mixed with the almond cream. The essential oils are dissolved in the almond oil contained in a vessel provided with a stop-cock. The oil is first allowed to run into the dish in a moderate stream under continual stirring. The mass soon grows more viscid, and toward the end of the operation the flow of oil must be carefully restricted so that the quantity admitted can be at once completely mixed with the contents of the dish. Well-made amandine must be rather consistent and white, and should not be translucent. If translucency or an oily appearance is observed during the mixture, the flow of oil must be at once checked or enough almond cream must be added to restore the white appearance, under active stirring.

As amandine is very liable to decompose, it must be immediately filled into the vessels in which it is to be kept, and the latter, closed air-tight, should be preserved in a cool place. By adding ¾ ounce of salicylic acid, amandine may be made quite permanent so that it can be kept unchanged even in a warm place.

We have described the preparation of amandine at greater length because its manufacture requires some technical skill and because the preparation of all other cold-creams corresponds in general with that of amandine.

Glycerin Emulsions. A. Glycerin Cream

Glycerin	½ lb.
Almond oil	14 oz.
Rose water	12½ oz.
Spermaceti	3½ oz.
Wax	480 grains.
Oil of rose	60 grains.

Melt the wax and spermaceti by gentle heat, then add the almond oil, next the glycerin mixed with the rose water, and lastly the oil of rose which may also be replaced by some other fragrant oil or mixture. If the preparation is to be used in summer, it is advisable to increase the wax by one-half, thus giving the mass greater consistence.

B. Glycerin Jelly

Glycerin	2 lb.
Almond oil	6 lb.
Soap	5½ oz.
Oil of orange peel	150 grains.
Oil of thyme	¾ oz.

Mix the soap with the glycerin, gradually add the oil (as for amandine), and finally the aromatics.

Jasmine Emulsion

Huile antique de jasmin	2 lb.
Almond cream	5½ oz.
Expressed oil of almond	4 lb.
Water	5½ oz.
Sugar	2¾ oz.

Mix in the same order as given under Amandine.

Tuberose Emulsion

Huile antique des tubéroses	1¾ to 2 lb.
Almond cream	5½ oz.
Expressed oil of almond	4 lb.
Water	5½ oz.
Sugar	2¾ oz.

Violet Emulsion

Huile antique des violettes	2 to 3 lb.
Almond cream	5½ oz.
Expressed oil of almond	4 lb.
Water	5½ oz.
Sugar	2¾ oz.

In place of the huiles antiques named (i.e., fine oils saturated with the odors of the corresponding flowers) any other huile antique may be used and the cream then called by the name of the flower whose odor it possesses. Such creams with genuine huiles antiques are among the finest preparations known in perfumery and of course are high-priced, owing to the cost of the huiles antiques.

Olivine

Gum acacia	½ lb.
Yolk of egg	10 yolks.
Olive oil	4 lb.
Soap	7 oz.
Water	8 oz.
Sugar	5½ oz.
Oil of bergamot	2 oz.
Oil of lemon	2 oz.
Oil of clove	1 oz.
Oil of orange peel	¾ oz.
Oil of thyme	75 grains.
Oil of cinnamon	75 grains.

The gum, sugar, water, and yolk of eggs are first intimately mixed and gradually added to the olive oil containing the essential oils.

B. Meals and Pastes

The so-called meals (farines) and pastes (pâtes) really consist of the flour of fatty vegetable substances which possess the property of forming an emulsion with water and are frequently used in washes. As they are free from alkali, they are the most delicate preparations of the kind and are especially suitable for washing the face or sensitive hands.

Simple Almond Paste (Pâte d’Amandes Simple)

Bitter almonds	6 lb.
Alcohol	2 qts.
Rose water	4 qts.
Oil of bergamot	10½ oz.
Oil of lemon	3½ oz.

Put the bitter almonds in a sieve, dip them for a few seconds in boiling water, when they can be easily deprived of their brown skin; carefully bruise them in a mortar, and place them in a glazed pot set in another kept full with boiling water; pour over them two quarts of the rose water heated to near the boiling-point. Keep up the heat under continual stirring until the almond meal and rose water form a uniform mass free from granules; in other words, until the meal is changed into paste. The pot is now allowed to cool somewhat, when the rest of the rose water and the oils dissolved in alcohol are added. Almond paste should have a uniform, butter-like consistence if the first part of the operation has been carefully performed.

Almond and Honey Paste (Pâte d’Amandes au Miel)

Bitter almonds	2 lb.
Yolk of egg	30 yolks.
Honey	4 lb.
Expressed oil of almond	4 lb.
Oil of bergamot	1 oz.
Oil of lemon	¾ oz.
Oil of clove	¾ oz.

Decorticate and bruise the bitter almonds and add them with the essential oils to the mixed yolks, honey, and almond oil.

Almond Meal (Farine d’Amandes)

Almond meal	4 lb.
Orris root, powdered	5½ oz.
Oil of lemon	1 oz.
Oil of bitter almond	150 grains.
Oil of lemon grass	75 grains.

Almond meal here means the bran left after expressing the oil from sweet almonds. First mix the powdered orris root intimately with the essential oils and triturate the mass with the almond bran. Other essential oils may also be used for perfuming the mass.

Pistachio Meal (Farine de Pistaches)

Pistachio nuts	4 lb.
Orris root, powdered	4 lb.
Oil of lemon	1¾ oz.
Oil of neroli	150 grains.
Oil of orange peel	1 oz.

The pistachio nuts are blanched in the same manner as almonds (see under Simple Almond Paste), and then reduced to a meal.

C. Vegetable Milk

The several varieties of vegetable milk are merely emulsions containing sufficient water to give them a milky appearance. They are used as such for washes and are in great favor. Owing to the larger amount of water they contain, they are more liable to decompose than the preparations described above, since the fats present in them easily become rancid on account of their fine division in the milk.

In order to render these preparations more stable, they receive an addition of about five to ten per cent of their weight of pure glycerin which enhances their cosmetic effect. The addition of about one-half of one per cent of salicylic acid is likewise to be recommended, as it makes them more stable.

In the following pages we shall describe only the most important of these preparations usually made by the perfumer. In this connection we may state that by slightly modifying the substances used to perfume them, new varieties of vegetable milk can be easily prepared.

Every vegetable milk consists in the main of a base of soap, wax, and spermaceti, and an aromatic water which gives the name to the preparation. This composition is intended to keep suspended the fatty vegetable substances (almond or pistachio meal, etc.), thus producing a milky appearance.

Vegetable milks are made as follows.

Melt the soap with the wax and spermaceti at a gentle heat. Prepare a milk from the vegetable substance and the aromatic water (e.g., unexpressed almonds and rose water) by careful trituration, strain it through fine silk gauze into the vessel containing the melted mixture of soap, wax, and spermaceti, stir thoroughly, let it cool, and add the alcohol holding in solution the essential oils, the glycerin (and the salicylic acid), under continual stirring. The alcohol must be added in a very thin stream, otherwise a portion of the mass will curdle. The coarser particles contained in the milk must be allowed to settle by leaving the preparation at rest for twenty-four hours, when the milk can be carefully decanted from the sediment and filled into bottles for sale.

Lilac Milk (Lait de Lilas)

Soap	2¼ oz.
Wax	2¼ oz.
Spermaceti	2¼ oz.
Sweet almonds	1 lb.
Lilac-flower water	4½ pints.
Huile antique de lilas	2½ oz.
Alcohol (80-85% Tralles)	2 lb.

In place of lilac-flower water and huile antique de lilas, lilacin (terpineol) may be used, a sufficient quantity (about 1 oz.) being dissolved in the alcohol. But the lilacin must be pure and of clean odor.

Virginal Milk (Lait Virginal)

This preparation differs from all other milks sold in perfumery in that it consists of some aromatic water with tincture of benzoin and tolu. In making it, pour the aromatic water in a very thin stream into the tincture under vigorous stirring. If the water flows in too rapidly, the resins present in the tincture separate in lumps; but if slowly poured in, the resins form minute spheres which remain suspended. The preparation is named after the aromatic water it contains: Lait virginal de la rose, à fleurs d’oranges, etc. Its formula is:

Tincture of benzoin	2 oz.
Tincture of tolu	2¾ oz.
Aromatic water	4 qts.

Cucumber Milk (Lait de Concombres)

Soap	1 oz.
Olive oil	1 oz.
Wax	1 oz.
Spermaceti	1 oz.
Sweet almonds	1 lb.
Cucumber juice (freshly expressed)	4½ pints.
Extract of cucumber	1 pint.
Alcohol	2 lb.

Dandelion Milk

Soap	2¼ oz.
Olive oil	2¼ oz.
Wax	2¼ oz.
Sweet almonds	1 lb.
Extract of tuberose	1 lb.
Rose water	5 pints.
Dandelion juice	5 oz.

Dandelion juice is the bitter milk sap of the root of the common dandelion (Leontodon taraxacum); it should be expressed immediately before use. The rose water may be replaced by some other aromatic water or even ordinary water; but the latter should be distilled, otherwise the lime it contains would form an insoluble combination with the soap.

Bitter-Almond Milk (Lait d’Amandes Amères)

Bitter almonds	2¼ oz.
Soap	2¼ oz.
Expressed oil of almond	2¼ oz.
Wax	2¼ oz.
Spermaceti	2¼ oz.
Rose water	4 qts.
Alcohol	3 pints.
Oil of bitter almond	½ oz.
Oil of bergamot	1 oz.
Oil of lemon	½ oz.

Rose Milk (Lait de Roses)

Olive oil	2¼ oz.
Soap	2¼ oz.
Wax	2¼ oz.
Spermaceti	2¼ oz.
Sweet almonds	4 lb.
Oil of rose	150 grains.
Rose water	4 qts.
Alcohol	1 pint.

Pistachio Milk (Lait de Pistaches)

Soap.	2¼ oz.
Olive oil	2¼ oz.
Wax	2¼ oz.
Spermaceti	2¼ oz.
Pistachio nuts	14 oz.
Oil of neroli	¾ oz.
Orange-flower water	6 qts.
Alcohol	1 qt.

D. Cold-Creams and Lip Salves

In the main they resemble in their composition the emulsions and vegetable milks, but differ by their thick consistence which renders them suitable for being rubbed into the skin. Cold-creams are really salves perfumed with one of the well-known odors which give them their names. Fat forms the basis of these mixtures and gives them their hygienic effect, as it imparts fulness and softness to the skin. Every well-made cold-cream should have the consistence of recently congealed wax and should yield to the pressure of the finger like pomatum. It should be noted that the addition of very thick glycerin will increase the effect of the cold-cream and improve its fine transparent appearance; but this substance must be added with great care, otherwise the mass will not possess the required firmness.

In making cold-cream, a mixture of wax, spermaceti, and expressed almond oil must be combined with an aromatic water and an essential oil. The first part of the operation is easy; the wax and spermaceti are melted at the lowest possible temperature, and the almond oil is added under continual stirring. It is more difficult to unite the other substances with this base; the aromatic water is admitted in a thin stream under vigorous stirring (or whipping, or churning), and when it forms a uniform mass with the contents of the mortar the remaining substances are stirred in and the still fluid mass is poured into the vessels intended for it, and allowed to congeal.

Cold-creams are usually sold in tasteful porcelain jars or vases. To guard against rancidity of the mass, the vessels are closed either with ground stoppers or with corks covered with tin foil. The essential oils should be added last, when the mass has cooled to the congealing-point; if added before, too much of them is lost by evaporation.

We give below several approved formulas for the preparation of some favorite cold-creams, and repeat that new varieties can be produced by introducing any desired odor into the composition.

Glycerin Cold-Cream A.

Expressed oil of almond	2 lb.
Wax	2½ oz.
Spermaceti	2½ oz.
Glycerin	7 oz.
Oil of bergamot	¾ oz.
Oil of lemon	¾ oz.
Oil of geranium	¾ oz.
Oil of neroli	150 grains.
Oil of cinnamon	150 grains.
Rose water	1 lb.

Glycerin Cold-Cream B.

Expressed oil of almond	2 lb.
Wax	4½ oz.
Spermaceti	4½ oz.
Glycerin	½ lb.
Oil of rose	150 grains.
Civet	30 grains.

Camphor Ice (Camphor Cold-Cream)

Wax	2¼ oz.
Spermaceti	2¼ oz.
Expressed oil of almond	2 lb.
Camphor	4½ oz.
Oil of rosemary	90 grains.
Oil of peppermint	45 grains.
Rose water	2 lb.

Camphor Ice (Pâte Camphorique)

Lard	2 lb.
Wax	½ lb.
Camphor	½ lb.
Oil of lavender	½ oz.
Oil of rosemary	½ oz.

This mixture, which is rather firm, is frequently poured into shallow porcelain boxes; sometimes it is colored red with alkanet root.

Camphor Balls (Savonettes Camphoriques)

Expressed oil of almond	7 oz.
Purified tallow	2 lb.
Wax	7 oz.
Spermaceti	7 oz.
Camphor	7 oz.
Oil of lavender	¾ oz.
Oil of rosemary	¾ oz.
Oil of cinnamon	75 grains.

Savonette is generally understood to mean a soap cast in spherical moulds; this preparation is, as a rule, likewise sold in this form.

Divine Pomade A.

Expressed oil of almond	3 lb.
Spermaceti	1 lb.
Lard	2 lb.
Benzoin	1 lb.
Vanilla	7 oz.
Civet	¾ oz.

The aromatic substances, having been comminuted, are thoroughly triturated with the other ingredients, and the mass is kept for twenty-four hours at a temperature of 50 to 60° C. (112-140° F.), when it is carefully decanted from the sediment, which is treated again with another mass of the same substances for thirty-six to forty-eight hours.

Divine Pomade B.

Beef marrow	2 lb.
Benzoin	1½ oz.
Nutmegs	1 oz.
Cloves	1 oz.
Storax	1½ oz.
Orris root	1½ oz.
Civet	75 grains.
Cinnamon	1 oz.
Orange-flower water	2 lb.

The solid substances are macerated for forty-eight hours with the warm marrow, the liquid perfumed marrow is then strained off and mixed with the orange-flower water.

Cologne Cold-Cream (Crême de Cologne)

Expressed oil of almond	2 lb.
Wax	2½ oz.
Spermaceti	2½ oz.
Mecca balsam	7 oz.
Tolu balsam	3½ oz.
Rose water	14 oz.

Mecca balsam has been a rare article in commerce for many years. That which is usually sold as such is more or less adulterated or an imitation. The genuine was derived from Balsamodendron Opobalsamum Kunth.

Cucumber Cold-Cream A.

Expressed oil of almond	2 lb.
Wax	2¼ oz.
Spermaceti	2¼ oz.
Extract of cucumber	5½ oz.
Cucumber juice, fresh	2 lb.

The cucumber juice is carefully heated to 60 or 65° C. (140-149°F.), rapidly filtered from the curds, and at once added to the rest of the mass.

Cucumber Cold-Cream B.

Lard	6 lb.
Spermaceti	2 lb.
Benzoin	7 oz.
Extract of cucumber	2 lb.

The benzoin is first macerated with the warmed fat for twenty-four hours, and this aromatic fat is treated in the usual manner.

Lip Salve A (Pomade Blanche Pour les Lèvres)

Expressed oil of almond	2 lb.
Wax	4½ oz.
Spermaceti	4½ oz.
Oil of bitter almond	½ oz.
Oil of lemon grass	75 grains.
Oil of rose	75 grains.

Red Lip Salve B (Pomade à la Rose Pour les Lèvres)

Expressed oil of almond	2 lb.
Wax	4½ oz.
Spermaceti	4½ oz.
Oil of geranium	150 grains.
Oil of santal	90 grains.
Alkanet root	4½ oz.

The beautiful red color which distinguishes this preparation is produced with alkanet root; the mass, before the essential oils are added, being macerated for from six to eight hours, under frequent stirring, with the comminuted root, and then decanted from the sediment.

Cherry Salve C (Pomade Cerise)

Expressed oil of almond	2 lb.
Wax	4½ oz.
Spermaceti	4½ oz.
Oil of bitter almond	½ oz.
Oil of sweet bay	150 grains.
Alkanet root	4½ oz.

The procedure is the same as for pomade à la rose.

Almond Cold-Cream

Expressed oil of almond	2 lb.
Wax	4½ oz.
Spermaceti	4½ oz.
Rose water	2 lb.
Oil of bitter almond	¾ oz.
Civet	30 grains.

Almond Balls (Savonettes d’Amandes)

Tallow	2 lb.
Wax	10½ oz.
Spermaceti	7 oz.
Oil of bitter almond	150 grains.
Oil of clove	75 grains.
Oil of cinnamon	75 grains.

This is usually formed into balls.

Rosebud Cold-Cream

Almond oil	2 lb.
Wax	2½ oz.
Spermaceti	2½ oz.
Rose water	2 lb.
Oil of rose	75 grains.
Oil of geranium	75 grains.

Violet Cold-Cream (Crême de Violettes)

Huile antique de violettes	2 lb.
Wax	2½ oz.
Spermaceti	2½ oz.
Violet water	2 lb.
Oil of bitter almond	150 grains.
Oil of neroli	75 grains.

Appendix

Nail Powder (Poudre Pour les Ongles; Fingernagel-Pulver)

The finger nails, being an appendage to the skin, belong under the head of the Care of the Skin; we therefore give a formula for preparing the powder used for imparting smoothness and gloss to the nails. For use, some of the powder is poured on a piece of soft glove leather and the nails are rubbed until they shine.

Oxide of tin	4 lb.
Carmine	¾ oz.
Oil of bergamot	150 grains.
Oil of lavender	150 grains.

The oxide of tin must be an impalpable powder and is mixed with the other substances in a mortar.