Musk Soap. To 46 pounds of soap paste, and 40 pounds of palm oil soap, incorporate— Powdered cloves 7 ounces. Take five ounces of good Marseilles white soap; five ounces of honey; one ounce of benzoin; four drachms of storax. Mix the whole in a marble mortar; melt over a water bath; pass through a fine silk sieve, and run into a mould. Light Soap. It is by beating the soap paste in a kettle that this soap is obtained; salt water is added, and it is again beaten until the paste swells and ascends to the top of the kettle. The more air and water in the paste, the more foamy and light is the soap. Transparent Soap. This is manufactured with perfectly dried tallow soap. In the cucurbit of an alembic place equal parts of dry soap and alcohol. Heat over a water bath to 200°. When the solution of the soap is complete, let it settle a few hours; then pour into metallic frames and dry it. This soap acquires all its transparency only after complete desiccation. To manufacture this soap in small quantity, use the powder of soap treated by an equal weight of alcohol. Dissolve in a small kettle, and after complete solution, run into moulds. Powder of Soap. Cut white soap into fine shavings, which are introduced into a dish placed over a water bath heated only to 113° or 122°. Stir all the time till completely dried; reduce it to powder in a mortar, and pass through a fine sieve. The soap must be perfumed when in paste, for if perfumed while in powder it will not be so white, nor have as agreeable an odor. Nacreous Soap, or Almond Cream. If, at the time of the reduction into paste, the soap is strongly ground and beaten for a long time, the paste will take the well-known nacreous appearance. The name of bitter almond cream is due to the fact that it is always perfumed with oil of bitter almonds. Melt over a water bath, stirring all the time. When dissolved, let it settle, and decant slowly. If the liquid is not clear, it must be filtered; afterwards add oils to perfume it. Dissolve the soap and potash in the rose water over a water bath, stirring all the time. When dissolved, stop the heat; mix the spirits well, and pour them into the dish. Carefully mix the soap with the spirits, and when the whole is homogeneous, let it settle, decant, and filter. SECTION XVIII. BATHS. THE use of baths is very ancient, and is found amongst all nations. It is a natural instinct for man to bathe. The same instinct exists amongst women, who, besides, use the bath as a means of giving brightness and freshness to their skin. It is for this last purpose that cosmetic baths have been invented. We shall speak only of the latter, and give the best formulæ. CHAPTER XXXIX. COSMETIC BATHS. THESE baths are generally used for the purpose of keeping or obtaining the polish, brightness, and freshness of the skin. They are prepared by adding to the water of an ordinary bath, substances proper to soften and refresh the cutaneous envelope. |