COSMETICS. The chemistry of the toilet table has provided many preparations under the name of Cosmetics, for external adornment or artificial beautifying. Hair dyes,pomatums, pomades, depilatories, dentifrices, tooth-powders, &a., may all be deemed more or less as belong ing to the class of cosmetics ; but the names is usually confined to those preparationi which are applied to the skin.
The best cosmetic is plain soap and water. To soften the skin, however, many substances are used, such as almond soap, Naples soap, Castile soap, milk of roses, cold cream, or almond paste. Sometimes it is desired to harden the cuticle or outer skin, and this is done by spirit, astringents, and acids. For removing or hiding freckles, various lotions and washes are employed. To give an artificial tint or bloom to the skin is the chief work of the cosmetic artist. Rouge and carmine are much employed to give a red tint : starch and magnesia to impart a delicate whiteness. Several of the salts of bismuth and of lead, under the various fine names of pearl white, flake white, cream of roses, &c., are often em ployed as cosmetics ; but they have an injurious effect on the skin, and sometimes produce a sort of skin-poisoning.
A want of attention to the chemical action of colours has sometimes led ladies into an embarrassing predicament. Bismuth-powder,
sometimes sold as a substitute for genuine pearl-powder, has the property of turning black when in contact with fumes of sulphur, or with sulphuretted hydrogen gas. A lady who painted with this cosmetic, happened to bathe in a mineral water impregnated with this gas ; and the consequence was, that the artificially whitened skin turned nearly black, and so remained for several weeks. Another lady, who used the same cosmetic, attended a lecture at Harrogate on mineral waters ; and the lecturer handed round a bottle containing sulphuretted water, that its odour might illus trate the point on which he was directing attention ; the lady did as others did—smelt at the bottle ; and the result was that she be came, not merely figuratively, but literally ' black in the face.' Even the coals of a com mon English fire often contain enough sul phur to produce in a slighter degree an analogous effect. Instances have been known , in which a lady, seated near a large fire at Christmas time, has had one side of her white neck tinged with a darkness which puzzled all, except those who were aware of the effect of sulphur fumes upon bismuth cosmetics.