Take 4 ounces of clear trotter oil, one ounce of oil of jesamine, 2 ounces of spermaceti, and one ounce of white wax, scraped fine. Melt them together very gently, then pour it into a pan, which must be kept by the fire. Now beat it without intermission, till it becomes one consistent very white body: then put to it 3 ounces of rose or orange-flower water, with about a drachm of spirit of ambergris, or other sweet essence.
Beat the mixture well again, until the water and spirit be properly absorbed. This beating will add greatly to the whiteness as well as the flavour, of the cream, which will now be as white as snow; particularly if care is taken that the utensils and ingredients are quite clean.
In winter, all the utensils, &c. must be kept warm, and the process performed in a warm room. Even the rose water must be warmed, previous to mixture, otherwise the cream will congeal into knobs, so as to cause the whole to be melted again.
In summer every thing must be kept cool after the melting and mixing. More wax must likewise be used in summer than in winter.
When put into pots, the cold cream is to be kept very cool: each having honey water poured on the top, in order to improve the flavour.
276. POMADE DIVINE.
Put a pound and a half of clear beef marrow into an earthen pan of fresh water, and change the same for ten days, then steep it in rose water for 24 hours, and drain it in a cloth till dry. Take an ounce of storax, gum benjamin, odoriferous Cypress powder, or of Florence, half an ounce of cinnamon, two drachms of cloves, and two drachms of nutmeg, all finely powdered; mix them with the marrow, then put the ingredients into a three-pint pewter pot, make a paste of the white of egg and flour, and lay it upon a piece of rag, over that, put another piece of linen to cover the top close. Put the pot into a large copper pot with water, and keep it steady that it may not reach to the covering of the pot that holds the marrow. As the water shrinks, add more, for it must boil four hours without ceasing; strain the ointment through a linen cloth into small pots, and when cold cover them up close with bladder and paper. Don’t touch it with anything but silver.
277. PEARL WATER, FOR THE FACE.
Put half a pound of best Spanish oil soap, scraped very fine, into a gallon of boiling water. Stir it well for some time, and let it stand till cold. Add a quart of rectified spirit of wine, and half an ounce of oil of rosemary; stir them again.
This compound liquid, when put up in proper phials, in Italy, is called tincture of pearls. It is an excellent cosmetic for removing freckles from the face, and for improving the complexion.