More fascinating early 20th century hair and skin care after the jump, including a recipe for freckle removal.
{Part One}
Boil an ounce of walnut bark in a pint of water for an hour. Add a lump of alum the size of a filbert, and when cold apply with a camel's-hair brush.
One penny's worth of borax, half a pint of olive oil, one pint of boiling water.
Pour the boiling water over the borax and oil; let it cool; then put the mixture into a bottle. Shake it before using, and apply it with a flannel. Camphor and borax, dissolved in boiling water and left to cool, make a very good wash for the hair; as also does rosemary water mixed with a little borax. After using any of these washes, when the hair becomes thoroughly dry, a little pomatum or oil should be rubbed in to make it smooth and glossy---that is, if one prefers oil on the hair.
One marrow bone, half a pint of oil, ten cents' worth of citronella. Take the marrow out of the bone, place it in warm water, let it get almost to boiling point, then let it cool and pour the water away; repeat this three times until the marrow is thoroughly "fined." Beat the marrow to a cream with a silver fork, stirl the oil in, drop by drop, beating all the time; when quite cold add the citronella, pour into jars and cover down.
Clop them and annoint with a little sweet oil. Should the hair fall out, having been full, use one of the hair invigorators.
To one quart of rose-water add an ounce and a half of gum tragacanth; let it stand forty-eight hours, frequently straining it, then strain through a coarse linen cloth; let it stand two days, and again strain; add to it a drachm of oil of roses. Used by ladies dressing their hair, to make it lie in any position.
Put in a vial one drachm of benzoin gum in powder, one drachm of nutmeg oil, six drops of orange-blossom tea, or apple blossoms put in half pint of rain-water and boiled down to one teaspoonful and strained, one pint of sherry wine. Bathe the face morning and night; will remove all flesh-worms and freckles, and give a beautiful complexion. Or, put one ounce of gum of benzoin in a pint of whisky; to use, put in water in wash-bowl until it is milky, allowing it to dry without wiping. This is perfectly harmless.
Cream cures sun-burn on some complexions, lemon juice is best on others, and cold water suits still others best.
Five cents' worth of bay rum, five cents' worth of magnesia snowflake, five cents' worth of bergamot, five cents' worth of oil of lemon; mix in a pint bottle and fill up with rain- water. Shake well, and apply with a soft sponge or cloth.
Take a quarter of a pound of wheat starch pounded fine; sift it through a fine sieve, or a piece of lace; add to it eight drops of oil of rose, oil of lemon thirty drops, oil of bergamot fifteen drops. Rub thoroughly together.
The French throw this powder into alcohol, shaking it, letting it settle, then pouring off the alcohol and drying the powder. In that case, the perfume is added lastly.
The following lotion is highly recommended: one ounce of lemon juice, a quarter of a drachm of powdered borax, and half a drachm of sugar; mix in a bottle, and allow them to stand for a few days, when the liquor should be rubbed occasionally on the hands and face. Another application is: Friar's balsam one part, rose-water twenty parts.
Powdered nitre moistened with water and applied to the face night and morning is said to remove freckles without injury to the skin.
Also, a tablespoonful of freshly grated horseradish, stirred into a cupful of sour milk; let it stand for twelve hours, then strain and apply often. This bleaches the complexion also, and takes off tan.
Into a pint of rum put a tablespoonful of flour of sulphur. Apply this to patches once a day, and they will disappear in two or three weeks.
One teaspoonful of carbolic acid and one pint of rose-water mixed is an excellent remedy for pimples. Bathe the skin thoroughly and often, but do not let the wash get into eyes.
This wash is soothing to mosquito bites, and irritations of the skin of every nature.
It is advisable, in order to clear the complexion permanently, to cleanse the blood; then the wash would be of advantage.
To obtain a good complexion, a person's diet should receive the first attention. Greasy food, highly spiced soups, hot bread and butter, meats or game, rich gravies, alcoholic liquors, coffee---all are injurious to the complexion. Strong tea used daily will after a time give the skin the color and appearance of leather. Coffee affects the nerves more, but the skin less, and a healthy nervous system is necessary to beauty. Eating between meals, late suppers, over-eating at meals, eating sweetmeats, candies, etc., all these tend to disorder the blood, producing pimples and blotches.
Washing of the face ior skin is another consideration for a good complexion; it should be thoroughly washed in plenty of luke-warm water with some mild soap---then rinsed in clear water well; dry with a thick soft towel. If suds is left or wipe off the skin, the action of the air and sun will tan the surface, and permanently deface the complexion; therefore one should be sure to thoroughly rinse off all soap from the skin to avoid the tanning, which will leave a brown or yellow tinge impossible to efface.
Posted by Kathy at February 4, 2006 11:50 AM | TrackBack