HYGIENIC AND COSMETIC PERFUMERY.
Perfumery is not merely called upon to act in an æsthetic direction and
gladden the senses; it has another and more important aim, that is,
to aid in some respects the practice of medicine. It is not necessary
to point out that in this sense, too, it acts in an æsthetic way; for
health and beauty are one and inseparable.
The field relegated to perfumery with reference to hygiene is
extensive, comprising the care of the skin, the hair, and the mouth.
But we also find in commercial perfumery articles which possess no
medicinal effect and serve merely for beautifying some parts of the
body, for instance, paints and hair dyes. As it is not possible to
separate perfumes with hygienic effects from cosmetics, we shall
describe the latter in connection with the former.
To repeat, hygienic perfumery has to deal with such substances as have
really a favorable effect on health. No one will deny that soap takes
the first place among them. Soap promotes cleanliness, and cleanliness
in itself is essential to health. But it would exceed the scope of this
work were we to treat in detail of the manufacture of soap and its
employment in the toilet; we must confine ourselves to some specialties
exclusively made by perfumers and into the composition of which soap
enters. We do so the more readily since perfumers are but rarely in
a position to make soap, and in most cases find it more advantageous
to buy the raw material, that is, ordinary good soap, from the
manufacturer and to perfume it.
Next to soap in hygienic perfumery stand the so-called emulsions and
creams (crêmes) which are excellent preparations for the skin and
pertain to the domain of the perfumer.
The human skin consists of three distinct parts: the deepest layer, the
subcutaneous cellular tissue which gradually changes into true skin;
the corium or true skin (the thickest layer); and the superficial scarf
skin or epidermis which is very thin and consists largely of dead and
dying cells; these are continually shed and steadily reproduced from
the corium.
The skin contains various depressions, namely, the sudoriparous glands
which excrete sweat; the sebaceous glands which serve the purpose
of covering the skin with fat and thereby keep it soft, glossy, and
supple; and lastly the hair follicles which contain the hairs, an
appendage to the skin.
The main object of hygienic perfumery with reference to the skin is to
keep these glandular organs in health and activity; it effects this by
various remedies which, besides promoting the general health, improve
the appearance of the skin.
As a special group of preparations is intended exclusively for the
care of the skin, so another class is devoted to the preservation of
the hair, and still another to the care of the mouth and its greatest
ornament, the teeth. Accordingly the preparations belonging under this
head will be divided into three groups—those for the skin, the hair,
and the mouth.