To be colored bluish with some indigo-carmin.
Teint de Venus.
| Alcoholic soap solution | 2 qts. |
| Carbonate of potassium | 3½ oz. |
| Extract of orange flower | 3½ oz. |
The soap solution is made as concentrated as possible, and the entire fluid colored with cochineal; in place of the extract of orange flower, other essences or extracts may also be employed. For use, some of the liquid is poured into the wash water.
Pulchérine.
| Carbonate of potassium | 14 oz. |
| Water | 4 lb. |
| Orange-flower water | 2 lb. |
| Alcohol | 3½ oz. |
| Oil of neroli | 150 grains. |
| Tincture of vanilla | ¾ oz. |
The preceding preparations owe their activity merely to the presence of carbonate of potassium which forms an emulsion with the fat of the skin and thus resembles in its effects a mild soap. The other ingredients only serve to render the composition fragrant.
D. Toilet Powders.
Toilet powders are used to impart whiteness and smoothness to the skin; hence they are merely a kind of dry cosmetic which are applied by means of a powder puff or a hare’s foot. Their main ingredients are starch and talcum powders, perfumed and sometimes tinted a rose-red color. It is immaterial what kind of starch is used; rice, wheat, and potato starch are equally effective, provided they are clear white and in the finest powder. In some cases the bitter-almond bran remaining after the expression of the fixed oil and the preparation of the oil of bitter almond is likewise used for toilet powders. The more thoroughly these powders are rubbed into the skin, the whiter the latter becomes and the less easily can they be detected.