Glycerin.
Pure glycerin is a substance that has a powerful beautifying effect on the skin, by rendering it white, supple, soft, and glossy; no other remedy will clear a sun-burnt skin in so short a time as glycerin. An excellent wash may be made by the perfumer by mixing equal parts of thick, colorless glycerin and orange-flower water (or some other aromatic water with fine odor), possibly giving it a rose color by the addition of a very small amount of fuchsine. Concentrated glycerin must not be used as a wash, because it abstracts water from the skin and thereby produces a sensation of heat or burning.
Besides common soap, the so-called emulsions, meals, pastes, vegetable milks and creams are the best preparations for the care of the skin; in perfumery they are even preferable to soap in some respects because they contain not only substances which have a cleansing effect like any soap, scented or not, but at the same time render the skin clearer, more transparent, and more supple.