HAIR COSMETICS.
The number of preparations used for the care of the hair and beard is
considerable. Unfortunately we are forced to admit that the majority of
them, especially those said to strengthen the scalp and to stimulate
the growth of the hair, are utterly inert. Thus far we know too little
of the natural conditions of growth of the hair to enable us to
compound remedies which would actively aid the efforts of nature in
this direction.
In like manner we cannot speak with approval of the preparations used
to color the hair, either from a chemico-sanitary or from an æsthetic
standpoint; many of them contain substances which positively injure
the hair or impart to it an unnatural color which is detected at first
sight. But a well-made cosmetic should never produce this effect, and
nature must be faithfully imitated if the preparation is to deserve the
name of a cosmetic.
With the so-called hair and beard elixirs almost incredible swindles
are perpetrated; the practical perfumer, however, cannot advise against
the use of such worthless preparations among his goods, as they are
in daily demand. This is the reason why we furnish the formulas for
some of these secret preparations; anybody at all familiar with
the principles of chemistry and physiology will recognize their
worthlessness from their composition. The only articles of practical
value are those intended for cleansing the hair, for making it soft and
glossy, some of the hair dyes, and the preparations for fixing the hair
in certain positions.
A. Hair Washes.
EAU D’ATHÈNES.
Carbonate of potassium 2½ oz.
Sassafras wood 8 oz.
Rose water 4 qts.
Orange-flower water 4 qts.
Alcohol 1 qt.
Macerate the ingredients for one month. The carbonate of potassium
and the alcohol cleanse the hair and remove the fat. After using this
wash and drying the hair, its fat and gloss should be restored by the
application of a good pomade or hair oil.
EAU GLYCERINÉE AUX CANTHARIDES.
Ammonia water 3½ oz.
Tincture of cantharides (see below) 3½ oz.
Rosemary water 8 qts.
Glycerin 10½ oz.
Oil of rose ¾ oz.
The tincture of cantharides is made by macerating 1¾ oz. of powdered
Spanish flies (Lytta vesicatoria) in one quart of strong alcohol. The
caustic ammonia has a similar cleansing effect as the carbonate of
potassium; the glycerin makes the hair soft; the entire preparation is
a happy combination, as it cleanses and softens the hair at the same
time.
EAU DE FLEURS; EXTRAIT VÉGÉTAL.
Extract of cassie 7 oz.
Extract of jasmine 7 oz.
Extract of orange flower 7 oz.
Tincture of tonka 3½ oz.
Extract of tuberose 7 oz.
Tincture of vanilla 3½ oz.
Rose water 2 qts.
Alcohol 2 qts.
EAU DE LAURIER.
Carbonate of ammonium. 5½ oz.
Borax 5½ oz.
Oil of sweet bay ½ oz.
Oil of rose 75 grains.
Rose water 5 qts.
EAU DE ROMARIN.
Carbonate of potassium 1¾ oz.
Rosemary water 4 qts.
Essence of rose (triple) 1 qt.
EAU SAPONIQUE.
Rose water 5 qts.
Rondeletia perfume 10½ oz.
Saffron 75 grains.
Soap 1 oz.
Alcohol 10½ oz.
Boil the finely divided soap and the saffron with some distilled water
until the soap is completely dissolved, add the other ingredients, mix
intimately, and let stand for some days to allow the coarser particles
of saffron to settle. This preparation has a particularly handsome
appearance; in cut-glass bottles it shows a peculiar opalescence or
iridescence; in transmitted light it represents an almost perfectly
transparent, saffron-yellow liquid.
EAU VICTORIA.
Ammonia water 1 oz.
Expressed oil of almond 1 oz.
Oil of mace 75 grains.
Oil of nutmeg 75 grains.
Essence of rosemary 21 oz.
Rose water 4 lb.
Mix the ingredients, except the rose water, by vigorous agitation until
a kind of emulsion results. Then add the rose water in small portions,
shaking after each addition.
EAU DE ROSES.
Rose water 5 qts.
Oil of rose 75 grains.
Dissolve in
Alcohol 3½ oz.
And add
Tincture of vanilla 1¾ oz.
Tincture of civet 150 grains.
B. Hair Tonics.
HAIR RESTORER.
Tincture of cantharides (see above, page 281) 1¾ oz.
Tincture of nut-galls 1¾ oz.
Extract of musk 150 grains.
Carmine 75 grains.
Alcohol 3½ oz.
Rose water 1 qt.
Tincture of nut-galls is made by macerating 3½ oz. of powdered
nut-galls in one quart of alcohol. The tincture of cinchona in the
following formula is prepared in the same manner.
TANNO-QUININE HAIR RESTORER.
Tincture of cinchona 1¾ oz.
Tincture of nut-galls 1¾ oz.
Carmine 150 grains.
Oil of neroli 75 grains.
Oil of nutmeg 75 grains.
Alcohol 3½ oz.
Rose water 1 qt.
Orange-flower water 1 qt.
BAUME DE MILAN POUR LES CHEVEUX.
Lard 1 lb.
Expressed oil of almond 1 lb.
Spermaceti 1¾ oz.
Carmine 150 grains.
Tincture of cantharides ¾ oz.
Tincture of storax 1 oz.
Tincture of tolu 1 oz.
BEARD PRODUCER.
Lard 1 lb.
Expressed oil of almond 1 lb.
Spermaceti ¾ oz.
Cantharides ¾ oz.
Carmine 150 grains.
Oil of bergamot 75 grains.
Oil of lavender 75 grains.
Oil of santal 75 grains.
Rub the cantharides with the carmine to the finest possible powder; add
this with the essential oils to the other ingredients.
Formulas for similar hair tonics might be given to the number of
several hundreds; but we repeat what we have said above—they do not
produce the desired result.
While the well-known bay rum is used more as a face lotion or
refreshing skin tonic, particularly after shaving, or when perspiring
in hot weather, yet it is also often used as a wash for the scalp,
and is popularly believed to stimulate the growth of hair, which is
in reality not the case. We shall therefore give a formula for its
preparation here:
BAY RUM.
Oil of bay (from Myrcia acris) 240 grains.
Oil of orange (bigarade) 16 grains.
Oil of Pimenta 16 grains.
Alcohol 1 qt.
Water 25 fl. oz.
Dissolve the oils in the alcohol and add the water. Mix the liquid with
about 2 oz. of precipitated phosphate of lime, and filter. It will
improve by age.
Genuine bay rum is imported from the West Indies (St. Thomas, etc.),
where a crude kind of alcohol, obtained in connection with the
manufacture of rum from molasses, is distilled with the fresh leaves
of the bay-tree (Myrcia acris). The oil of bay obtained from this must
not be confounded with the oil of sweet bay. The latter, as it appears
in commerce, is a crude mixture of a fixed with a volatile oil.