Regarding the colors employed for other articles—emulsions, pomades, soaps, etc.—it may be stated as a general rule that a preparation named after a certain flower must possess the color of the latter. Hence all perfumes named after the rose should be rose red; violet perfumes, violet; those bearing the name of the lily or white rose must be colorless, etc.
The best for articles containing alcohol or glycerin are the aniline colors, both on account of their beautiful appearance and their extraordinary staining power. But an insurmountable obstacle is met with in their use for articles containing animal or vegetable fats which rapidly destroy many aniline colors. When a rose pomade is colored with aniline red, the fine delicate tint hardly lasts three or four weeks and changes into dirty gray. The same is true of aniline violet in violet pomade, etc.
Therefore, articles containing fat must receive other dye-stuffs, and in the following pages we briefly enumerate those we have found most appropriate; but it must be observed that all poisonous dyes must be absolutely excluded. Commercial aniline colors formerly often contained arsenic; at the present time other processes are usually employed for their preparation, not involving the employment of arsenious acid.
Yellow Colors.
Saffron.
The stigmata of Crocus sativus contain a bright yellow or orange yellow coloring matter which is easily extracted by alcohol, petroleum ether, or fat. We prefer petroleum ether in which the finely powdered saffron is macerated, the greater portion of the solvent being distilled off, and the rest of the solution is allowed to evaporate, when the pure coloring matter is left and can be easily mixed with fat. The coloring matter may also be obtained by macerating the saffron in melted lard or in olive oil.
Jonquille Pomade.
Genuine jonquille pomade, from Narcissus Jonquilla, has a handsome yellow color which is derived from the dark yellow flowers; for this reason small quantities of jonquille pomade are sometimes used for coloring pomades for the hair.
Curcuma or Turmeric.
Curcuma or turmeric root contains a very beautiful yellow coloring matter which is easily extracted by alcohol or petroleum ether. We prepare it in the same manner as stated under the head of saffron. Curcuma color cannot be used for articles containing free alkali, which changes it to brown.