Board-Work; or the Art of Wig-making, Etc. / Designed For the Use of Hairdressers and Especially of Young Men in the Trade. To Which Is Added Remarks Upon Razors, Razor-sharpening, Razor Strops, & Miscellaneous Recipes, Specially Selected.

by Edwin Creer

Essence of Soap, Shaving Essence, or Shaving Fluid.

White hard soap[^[33]] (in shavings), ¼ lb.; rectified spirit, 1 pint; water, ¼ pint; perfume (at will), q.s. Put them into a strong bottle of glass or tin, cork it close, set it in warm water for a short time, and occasionally agitate it briskly until solution be complete. After repose, pour off the clear portion from the dregs (if any) into clean bottles for use, and at once closely cork them. If the solution be not sufficiently transparent, a little rectified spirit should be added to it before decantation. A little spirit (fully proof) may be added if it be desired to render it thinner. If much essential oil be used to perfume it, the transparency of the product will be lessened.

Chiefly used for shaving, by travellers and others, to avoid the trouble of carrying or keeping a soap-box. By simply rubbing two or three drops on the skin, and applying the shaving brush, previously slightly dipped in water, a good lather is produced. The choice of perfume is a mere matter of taste, as with toilet soaps, 15 to 20 drops of essence of musk or ambergris, 1 fluid drachm of any of the ordinary fragrant essences or esprits, or 12 or 15 drops of essential oils (simple or mixed), per pint, are sufficient for the purpose, a corresponding name being given to the preparation; as “Essence,” or “Esprit de Savon à la Rose,” “Essence Royale pour la Barbe,” &c.—Cooley.