TOILET PREPARATIONS Recipes for the Toilet.—The enor mous array of mixtures of all sorts for the toilet evinces equally the popular interest in these recipes, and the whims, caprices, and vagaries of their makers. At first glance the number and variety of recipes rec ommended by standard authorities is bewildering. A careful study of these preparations, however, and their tabulation in the form of charts for comparison, discloses the fact that the number of remedial agents con tained in them is relatively small. The various forms in which these recipes appear are merely so many attempts to attract the notice of the public, whether by appealing to its taste or its convenience. The same ingredients, for example, may be compounded so as to form washes, lotions, emulsions, creams, or pastes, according to the degree of dilution preferred by the individual user. Standard recipes differ also by vary ing the proportions of the same in gredients recommended. Very often these ingredients will be the same with the exception of the perfumes. Needless to say the latter may be varied to suit the preference of the user.
There are, of course, certain stand ard types of toilet preparations. These vary according to the different bases, remedial agents, and the kind and amount of liquids employed for diluting them. A few words on each of these subjects will assist the read er in making a satisfactory selection.
To Save Money.—Practical sugges tions and instructions for preparing all kinds of toilet preparations are of universal interest and value. Many toilet preparations made according to recipes given in this section are widely advertised for sale. The cost of advertising these articles and plac ing them upon the market is usually from 50 to SO per cent of their retail price. The purchaser has to pay all this in addition to the original cost of the ingredients and the labor of compounding. Moreover, it is impos sible to tell what the ingredients are or whether they are of good quality. Very often they are injurious and even poisonous. Adulteration and substitution are very common. Any one can save from 75 to 95 per cent on the cost of these by compounding them himself. He will know exactly
what the preparations are composed of, and also that the ingredients are fresh and of good quality: To Make Money.—Some persons, however, have little skill in com pounding, or have not the time or the proper facilities for the work. While anyone can prepare these arti cles, it is, of course, true that a per son may become very expert by giv ing special time and attention to them, and especially by the practice of making up prescriptions in fairly large quantities. Hence anyone who has an aptitude for work of this kind can make a good deal of money by preparing these articles in quantity, putting them up neatly in jars, bot tles, boxes, etc., and affixing to them neat printed labels. These can be sold on shares at the local stores, or bought by friends and neighbors, or peddled from house to house by em ploying young people on d commis sion basis. Mail-order business can also be worked up for the sale of these preparations. The recipes are taken from the formulas of manufac turers of standard toilet articles. Such preparations also make a, very popular bazaar at a church fair. The work of compounding them in such cases can he delegated to a com mittee.
Bases. — The standard bases for solid and semifluid preparations, as pastes, creams, and emulsions, are white wax, spermaceti, suet, lard, yolk or white of egg, and various soaps.
/Animal fats, as lards, suet, and the like, must be specially refined and Nrepared for toilet purposes. This may be done at home by melting and simmering the fat slowly with gentle heat, and straining it through linen one or more times. On the farm these animal fats are easily obtained and consequently inexpensive, but unless alcohol or other preservatives are mixed with them they tend to become rancid. Hence small quanti ties at a time should be prepared, and care should be taken not to em ploy such preparations when they become in the least degree sour. The same caution applies to compounds containing the white or yolk of eggs and honey.