Perfumed Meals and Pastes.—The perfumed meals are frequently used for washing in place of soap, or they are applied after washing, or shaving, to the skin to prevent the latter from becoming rough or chapped. The pastes are applied in order to make the skin softer.
Farin de noisette (nut meal).—Best quality wheat flour 3 lbs., almond meal 1½ lbs., orris-root powder 1 lb., bergamot oil 2 ozs.
Mix the ingredients intimately and pass the mixture through a fine sieve.
Farin d'amandes amères (almond meal).—Best quality wheat flour and almond meal each 3 lbs., bitter-almond oil 1 oz.
Mix the ingredients intimately and pass the mixture through a fine sieve.
Pate d'amandes au miel (honey almond paste).—Best quality almond meal 2 lbs., honey 4 lbs., chemically pure glycerin of 28° B. 2 lbs., fresh olive oil 4 lbs., bitter-almond oil 1¾ ozs., the yolks of 20 eggs.
Sift the almond meal into a capacious earthenware dish. Mix the honey and glycerin after slightly warming them. Beat the yolks of the eggs in a small dish with a tablespoon until a uniform mass is formed. Now add alternately of the mixture of honey and glycerin and of the olive oil to the almond meal, work the whole thoroughly with the pestle, then add the yolks of the eggs, stirring constantly, and finally the bitter-almond oil. The whole now forms a viscous mass. It is best to keep the freshly-prepared paste in a well-closed earthenware pot in a cool place for about 14 days before distributing it into boxes, because after the ingredients are mixed together a slight fermentation takes place which might cause damage by bursting the lids of the porcelain boxes.
Ladies use this paste for producing a fine soft skin, upon the hands, face, and neck, for which, in fact, it has proved excellent.
Poudre de riz à la rose.—Rice flour 4 lbs., prepared talc 19 ozs., Extrait rose No. 1, 3½ ozs., French rose-geranium oil 14 drachms, clove oil 2¾ drachms.