The Ladies' Book of Etiquette, and Manual of Politeness Part 27

PITCH POMADE, 1.--Take 1 drachm of pitch, and 1 ounce of lard. Mix well, and apply twice a day to the affected parts.

This is used for ringworm, and scald head.

TO SOFTEN THE SKIN, AND IMPROVE THE COMPLEXION.--If flowers of sulphur be mixed in a little milk, and, after standing an hour or two, the milk (without disturbing the sulphur) be rubbed into the skin, it will keep it soft, and make the complexion clear. It is to be used before was.h.i.+ng.

TO REMOVE BLACK STAINS FROM THE SKIN.--Ladies that wear mourning in warm weather are much incommoded by the blackness it leaves on the arms and neck, and which cannot easily be removed, even by soap and warm water.

To have a remedy always at hand, keep, in the drawer of your wash-stand, a box, containing a mixture in equal portions of cream of tartar, and oxalic acid (POISON). Get, at a druggist's, half an ounce of each of these articles, and have them mixed and pounded together in a mortar.

Put some of this mixture into a cup that has a cover, and if, afterwards, it becomes hard, you may keep it slightly moistened with water. See that it is always closely covered. To use it, wet the black stains on your skin with the corner of a towel, dipped in water (warm water is best, but is not always at hand). Then, with your finger, rub on a little of the mixture. Then _immediately_ wash it off with water, and afterwards with soap and water, and the black stains will be visible no longer. This mixture will also remove ink, and all other stains from the fingers, and from _white_ clothes. It is more speedy in its effects if applied with warm water. No family should be without it, but care must be taken to keep it out of the way of young children, as, if swallowed, it is poisonous.

PASTES.

ALMOND.--Take 1 ounce of bitter almonds, blanch and pound them to a fine powder, then add 1 ounce of barley flour, and make it into a smooth paste by the addition of a little honey. When this paste is laid over the skin, particularly where there are freckles, it makes it smooth and soft.

PALATINE.--Take 8 ounces of soft-soap, of olive oil, and spirits of wine, each 4 ounces, 1 ounce of lemon-juice, sufficient silver-sand to form into a thick paste, and any perfume that is grateful to the person.

Boil the oil and soap together in a pipkin, and then gradually stir in the sand and lemon-juice. When nearly cool add the spirit of wine, and lastly the perfume. Make into a paste with the hands, and place in jars or pots for use.

This paste is used instead of soap, and is a valuable addition to the toilette, as it preserves the skin from chapping, and renders it smooth and soft.

AMERICAN COSMETIC POWDER.--Calcined magnesia applied the same as ordinary toilette powders, by means of a swan's-down ball, usually called a "puff."

MALOINE.--Take 4 ounces of powdered marsh-mallow roots, 2 ounces of powdered white starch, 3 drachms of powdered orris-root, and 20 drops of essence of jasmine. Mix well, and sift through fine muslin.

This is one of the most agreeable and elegant cosmetics yet known for softening and whitening the skin, preserving it from chapping, and being so simple that it may be applied to the most delicate or irritable skin.

This receipt has never before been published, and we know that only six bottles of it have been made.

OXIDE OF ZINC is sprinkled into chaps and fissures to promote their cure.

YAOULTA.--Take 1 ounce of white starch, powdered and sifted, a drachm of rose pink, 10 drops of essence of jasmine, and 2 drops of otto of roses. Mix and keep in a fine muslin bag.

This exquisite powder is to be dusted over the face, and, being perfectly harmless, may be used as often as necessity requires. It also imparts a delicate rosy tinge to the skin preferable to rouge.

CReME DE L'ENCLOS.--Take 4 ounces of milk, 1 ounce of lemon-juice, and 2 drachms of spirit of wine. Simmer over a slow fire, and then bring it to the boil, skim off the sc.u.m, and when cold apply it to the skin.

It is much used by some persons to remove freckles and sun-burnings.

WASHES AND LOTIONS.

MILK OF ROSES, 1.--Take 2 ounces of blanched almonds; 12 ounces of rose-water; white soft-soap, or Windsor soap; white wax; and oil of almonds, of each 2 drachms; rectified spirit, 3 ounces; oil of bergamot, 1 drachm; oil of lavender, 15 drops; otto of roses, 8 drops. Beat the almonds well, and then add the rose-water gradually so as to form an emulsion, mix the soap, white wax, and oil together, by placing them in a covered jar upon the edge of the fire-place, then rub this mixture in a mortar with the emulsion. Strain the whole through very fine muslin, and add the essential oils, previously mixed with the spirit.

This is an excellent wash for "sunburns," freckles, or for cooling the face and neck, or any part of the skin to which it is applied.

MILK OF ROSES, 2.--This is not quite so expensive a receipt as the last; and, at the same time is not so good.

Take 1 ounce of Jordan almonds; 5 ounces of distilled rose-water; 1 ounce of spirit of wine; a drachm of Venetian soap, and 2 drops of otto of roses. Beat the almonds (previously blanched and well dried with a cloth) in a mortar, until they become a complete paste, then beat the soap and mix with the almonds, and afterwards add the rose-water and spirit. Strain through a very fine muslin or linen, and add the otto of roses.

The common milk of roses sold in the shops, frequently contains salt of tartar, or pearlash, combined with olive oil and rose-water, and therefore it is better to make it yourself to ensure it being good.

FRENCH MILK OF ROSES.--Mix 2 pints of rose-water with a pint of rosemary-water, then add tincture of storax and tincture of benzoin, of each 2 ounces; and _esprit de rose_, an ounce. This is a useful wash for freckles.

GERMAN MILK OF ROSES.--Take of rose-water and milk of almonds, each 3 ounces; water 8 ounces; rosemary-water 2 ounces; and spirit of lavender an ounce. Mix well, and then add an ounce of sugar of lead.

This is a dangerous form to leave about where there are children, and should never be applied when there are any abrasions, or chaps on the surface.

MILK OF ALMONDS.--Blanch 4 ounces of Jordan almonds, dry them with a towel, and then pound them in a mortar; add 2 drachms of white or curd soap, and rub it up with the almonds for about ten minutes or rather more, gradually adding one quart of rose-water, until the whole is well mixed, then strain through a fine piece of muslin, and bottle for use.

This is an excellent remedy for freckles and sunburns, and may be used as a general cosmetic, being applied to the skin after was.h.i.+ng by means of the corner of a soft towel.

ANTI-FRECKLE LOTION, 1.--Take tincture of benzoin, 2 ounces; tincture of tolu, 1 ounce; oil of rosemary, a drachm. Mix well and bottle. When required to be used, add a teaspoonful of the mixture to about a wine-gla.s.sful of water, and apply the lotion to the face or hands, &c., night and morning, carefully rubbing it in with a soft towel.

ANTI-FRECKLE LOTION, 2.--Take 1 ounce of rectified spirit of wine; 1 drachm of hydrochloric acid (spirit of salt); and 7 ounces of water. Mix the acid gradually with the water, and then add the spirit of wine; apply by means of a camel's-hair brush, or a piece of flannel.

GOWLAND'S LOTION.--Take 1 grains of b.i.+.c.hloride of mercury, and 1 ounce of emulsion of bitter almonds; mix well. Be careful of the b.i.+.c.hloride of mercury, because it is a poison.

This is one of the best cosmetics for imparting a delicate appearance and softness to the skin, and is a useful lotion in acne, ringworm, hard and dry skin, and sun-blisterings.

COLD CREAM.--Sweet almond oil, 7 lbs. by weight, white wax, lb., spermaceti, lb., clarified mutton suet, 1 lb., rose-water, 7 pints, spirits of wine, 1 pint. Directions to mix the above:--Place the oil, wax, spermaceti, and suet in a large jar; cover it over tightly, then place it in a saucepan of boiling water, (having previously placed two or more pieces of fire-wood at the bottom of the saucepan, to allow the water to get underneath the jar, and to prevent its breaking) keep the water boiling round the jar till all the ingredients are dissolved; take it out of the water, and pour it into a large pan previously warmed and capable of holding 21 pints; then, with a wooden spatula, stir in the rose-water, cold, as quickly as possible, (dividing it into three or four parts, at most,) the stirring in of which should not occupy above five minutes, as after a certain heat the water will not mix. When all the water is in, stir unremittingly for thirty minutes longer, to prevent its separating, then add the spirits of wine, and the scent, and it is finished. Keep it in a cold place, in a white glazed jar, and do not cut it with a _steel_ knife, as it causes blackness at the parts of contact. Scent with otto of roses and essential oil of bergamot to fancy. For smaller quant.i.ties, make ounces instead of pounds.

PALM SOAP.--I make it in the following manner:--Cut thin two pounds of yellow soap into a double saucepan, occasionally stirring it till it is melted, which will be in a few minutes if the water is kept boiling around it; then add quarter of a pound of palm oil, quarter of a pound of honey, three pennyworth of true oil of cinnamon; let all boil together another six or eight minutes; pour out and stand it by till next day; it is then fit for immediate use. If made as these directions it will be found to be a very superior soap.

CURE FOR CHAPPED HANDS.--Take 3 drachms of gum camphor, 3 drachms of white beeswax, 3 drachms of spermaceti, 2 ounces of olive oil,--put them together in a cup upon the stove, where they will melt slowly and form a white ointment in a few minutes. If the hands be affected, anoint them on going to bed, and put on a pair of gloves. A day or two will suffice to heal them.

TO WHITEN THE NAILS.--Diluted sulphuric acid, 2 drachms; tincture of myrrh, 1 drachm; spring water, 4 ounces. Mix. First cleanse with white soap, and then dip the fingers into the mixture.

TO WHITEN THE HANDS.--Take a wine-gla.s.sful of eau de Cologne, and another of lemon-juice; then sc.r.a.pe two cakes of brown Windsor soap to a powder, and mix well in a mould. When hard, it will be an excellent soap for whitening the hands.

FOR THE TEETH.

TO REMOVE TARTAR FROM THE TEETH.--1st. The use of the tooth-brush night and morning, and, at least, rinsing the mouth after every meal at which animal food is taken. 2nd. Once daily run the brush lightly two or three times over soap, then dip it in salt, and with it clean the teeth, working the brush up and down rather than--or as well as--backwards and forwards. This is a cheap, safe, and effectual dentrifice. 3rd. Eat freely of common cress, the sort used with mustard, under the name of small salad; it must be eaten with salt only. If thus used two or three days in succession it will effectually loosen tartar, even of long standing. The same effect is produced, though perhaps not in an equal degree, by eating strawberries and raspberries, especially the former. A leaf of common green sage rubbed on the teeth is useful both in cleansing and polis.h.i.+ng, and probably many other common vegetable productions also.

CARE OF THE TEETH.--The water with which the teeth are cleansed should be what is called lukewarm. They should be well but gently brushed both night and morning; the brush should be neither too hard nor too soft.

The best tooth-powders are made from cuttle-fish, prepared chalk, and orris-root commingled together in equal quant.i.ties.

SIMPLE MEANS OF REMOVING TARTAR FROM THE TEETH.--In these summer months, tartar may be effectually removed from the teeth, by partaking daily of strawberries.

TOOTH POWDER.--Powdered orris-root, an ounce; powdered charcoal, 2 ounces, powdered Peruvian bark, 1 ounce; prepared chalk, an ounce; oil of bergamot, or lavender, 20 drops. These ingredients must be well worked up in a mortar, until thoroughly incorporated. This celebrated tooth-powder possesses three essential virtues, giving an odorous breath, cleansing and purifying the gums, and preserving the enamel; the last rarely found in popular tooth-powders.

TOOTH-POWDER.--One of the best tooth-powders that can be used may be made by mixing together 1 ounces prepared chalk, ounce powder of bark, and ounce of camphor.

A CHEAP BUT GOOD TOOTH-POWDER.--Cut a slice of bread as thick as may be, into squares, and burn in the fire until it becomes charcoal, after which pound in a mortar, and sift through a fine muslin; it is then ready for use.

CHEAP AND INVALUABLE DENTIFRICE.--Dissolve 2 ounces of borax in three pints of water; before quite cold, add thereto one tea-spoonful of tincture of myrh, and one table-spoonful of spirits of camphor; bottle the mixture for use. One wine-gla.s.s of the solution, added to half a pint of tepid water, is sufficient for each application. This solution, applied daily, preserves and beautifies the teeth, extirpates all tartarous adhesion, produces a pearl-like whiteness, arrests decay, and induces a healthy action in the gums.

INVALUABLE DENTIFRICE.--Dissolve two ounces of borax in three pints of boiling water; before quite cold, add one tea-spoonful of tincture of myrrh, and one table-spoonful of spirits of camphor; bottle the mixture for use. One wine-gla.s.sful of this solution, added to half a pint of tepid water, is sufficient for each application.