The toilet and cosmetic arts in ancient and modern times : with a review of the different theories of beauty, and copious allied information, social, hygienic, and medical, including instructions and cautions respecting the selection and use of perfumes, cosmetics, and other toilet articles, and a comprehensive collection of formulae and directions for their preparation

Front matter

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Preface

HE present volume is not intended to instruct the learned, nor to amuse the idle, but simply to impress the reader with the importance of paying reasonable attention to the matters of which it treats, 'to enforce this as well as to interest him by historical facts and references, and to furnish him, in a popular form, with directions and information for his guidance. The aim has been to make the work useful and practical, rather than learned; showy, or sensational; and to address society at large, rather than any select class of it.

The matter which forms the three concluding Chapters of this work has been greatly extended beyond the author’s original intention, in deference to the views of his able and experienced publisher. The formuke in them have been carefully reduced from the author’s wholesale laboratory-formulary, in order to adapt them to the requirements of private individuals and small venders ; and ample directions and cautions have been added, to enable those uninitiated in chemical manipulations to employ them, and their products, with success and safety.

It may be stated here, that the orthography.

VI

PREFACE.

punctuation, and typographical arrangement, of the present work differ, in some respects,, from the manuscript copy of it; and that, for thes6 alterations, whether improvements or otherwise, the author is irresponsible. This remark appears necessary, as this volume, in the points alluded to, differs from the author’s later works, and the system publicly advocated by him.

A very copious analytical Index has been added, in order to increase the usefulness of the work, by facilitating reference to its multifarious contents.

It need only be added, that the author has done his best to make this work as useful and accurate as possible. Whether he has successfully carried out his intentions remains for others to decide. His book, like a little skiff, is ready for the launch. Fair winds and a prosperous voyage betide it. He promises his readers, that the next time it reaches his hands it shall leave them more richly freighted, and more worthy of their approval and patronage.

A. J. C.

London, May 1st, 1866.

THE TOILET AND COSMETIC ARTS.

INTRODUCTORY REMARKS.

THE importance of tlie subjects of which this volume treats may be gathered from the following chapters, and therefore need only be generally referred to here. That “ cleanliness is next to godliness ” has been long a household proverb ; and that many other duties connected with the “ toilet” are subordinate only to personal cleanliness will, I think, be readily admitted. The choice and use of appropriate clothing, both as an ornamental and protective covering for the body, are also matters of equal importance. At the present day a due attention to the requirements, usages, and habits of society in these matters, as in others apparently more important, forms a portion of the common and necessary routine of daily life. Apart from health and comfort, to which I shall again allude, our social position, our welfare and advancement, often materially depend on these points, and are liable to be seriously implicated by their neglect. “A. pleasing appearance” is said to be “ the first letter of recommendation,” — a simple truth, which it would be insulting the reader to attempt

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either to gainsay or to strengthen. Happily the Creator, in His wisdom, has not merely endowed man with an instinctive love of personal cleanliness, but has also implanted in his bosom a feeling of self-pride, or rather say, of self-respect, which, when controlled by reason and good taste, incites him to a laudable, but not an excessive attention to those duties and particulars which it is my desire to enforce and explain.

Besides those matters just referred to, there are others connected -with our daily life, and the state in which we live, which demand the earnest attention of us all, since without it neither health nor beauty can be promoted, and even when existing, must rapidly decay. The complex structure of our bodies, and the various functions of the numerous organs on which both physical and mental life depend, are governed by certain laws, and require for their integrity and well-being certain concomitant conditions that cannot be violated, nor even neglected, with impunity. Among these last, pure air, good and appropriate food, exercise, sleep, and some other matters noticed in the following chapters, may be mentioned.

The necessity of attention to the above subjects being a point which I shall here assume as granted, the causes which lead to their neglect may claim a passing notice. These may be severally referred to absence or a low condition of the nobler moral feelings, to thoughtlessness, indolence, or ignorance, or to excessive vanity or vulgarity. The errors of some persons in these matters may be traced to a degraded or a morbid indifference to their present condition and future welfare, or to absolute inability to appreciate pleasures and luxuries which do not yield immediate

INTRODUCTORY REMARKS.

pecuniary advantage or sensual gratification • whilst those of others, and not a few, arise from the misdirection of the attention to points of minor importance and temporary display. The relations between the subjects referred to and health, and between health and personal beauty, as between cause and effect, are commonly forgotten. Present convenience and present appearance are the deities on whose fatal altars the health and fair looks of after-life are commonly sacrificed by the multitude. “ Familiarity breeds contempt’5 of duties, as it frequently does of men. The necessity of constant repetition and frequent attention, instead of leading to greater skill and care, has often a contrary effect. Of the truth of these remarks, there are thousands of living illustrations in every direction we may choose to seek them. Premature baldness, grey hair, pallid cheeks, haggard looks, bilious skin, death-like eyes that once were sparkling, produced neither by unavoidable disease nor by the original curse of man’s disobedience, are now so common in our larger towns and cities as no longer to attract attention, or to provoke inquiry as to their cause. But should this be ? It would be useless to argue on the subject. The reader will, I trust, find an answer to the question in the facts recorded in the following pages.

It has been affirmed, and I think correctly, that, from the relative attention paid in any country to cleanliness, the cosmetic arts, dress, and hygiene, and from the respective prevalence, influence, and mutations of custom and fashion, may its claims to civilization, refinement, and luxury be vindicated. Indeed, there appear to be abundant historical, as well as

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THE TOILET AND COSMETIC AKT8.

living data, in support of this opinion. They are national characteristics which are almost constantly associated together. We may thus, in general, safely infer the advancement of the last, from the known condition of the others. The disregard of these matter.-, and the rigid adherence to antique usages and forms, are, in like manner, certain indexes to a state of little progress, or of imbecility and barbarism. I shall avail myself of these facts in the “ historical notice ” that follows this chapter.

And here a few remarks respecting certain words which form a leading portion of the “ title ” of this little volume may, probably, be interesting to some of my readers : —

The word “ toilet ” comes from a nearly similar word in the French language.* Originally it simply denoted the cloth or cover of a “dressing-table;” but, like many other words, it rapidly acquired a more extensive application. By a common figure of speech, it soon came to be employed as the name of the table itself, and subsequently as a general term expressive of the mode and various operations of dressing, including all matters immediately connected with personal cleanliness, arrangement, and cosmetic treatment. In the expression “ to make one's toilet,” it denotes the “ careful or usual adjustment of the person, dress,” &c. In this way the word has gradually acquired a wide range of signification, and the limited sense, in which it was originally and is still sometimes employed, is almost sunk in the extended figurative ones which usage has assigned to it.

* Toilette (Fr.), diminutive of foile, linen cloth : from t la (Lat.), a Avcb of cloth, or te-xo, I weave.

INTRODUCTORY REMARKS.

Tiie word “ cosmetic ”* means “ beautifying ” or “ that promotes personal beauty;” and, substantively, “ anything that possesses this quality.” Hence “ cosmetics ”f are “ external applications for the promotion, preservation, or restoration of personal beauty.” Formerly the term was generally understood to refer chiefly to substances applied to the skin, to improve the colour and clearness of the complexion ; but later writers usually class under this head every topical application used with the like intention, and thus include a wide range of articles and preparations.

The “ cosmetic arts ” are all those that have for their object the beautifying of the person, or the improvement of the personal appearance, by external applications and treatment, and include the preparation and use of cosmetics.

In the following pages an attempt will be made to elucidate the subjects of our “ title,” in all their more important bearings and details — historical, personal, social, hygienic, and medical.

* KorTfiiriKuc, from Koafitio ( orno , Lat.), I embellish or adorn ; cosmetiquc, Fr.

t Cosmetica, Lat. pi.

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Chapter II. Historical Notice : — Early Ages

“ History, with all her volumes vast,

Hath hut one page.”

( Childe Harold, iv. 108.)

A COMPLETE history of our subject would necessarily begin with that of our first parents in Eden, and, following the progress of our race in numbers and civilization, would embrace the long and interesting periods, both antediluvial and postdiluvial, prior to the commencement of written history, respecting which all is now involved in doubt and conjecture. That the practice of personal ablution, and even of bathing, has existed from the commencement of the world, is not merely highly probable, but almost certain; since it is founded in the most natural wants and desires of man, and in a well-defined instinct common to almost the whole animal creation. The necessity and comfort of personal cleanliness, of defending the body from the heat of a burning sun and the effects of climate, and the proneness to seek refreshment after the fatigues of the chase, war, or labour, must have taught man, from almost the earliest period of his history, the advantages derivable from bathing. In the beautiful and genial regions of the East, nature supplied him with baths in the rivers, streams, fountains, and

EARLY AGES.

lakes, on the banks or margins of which he was located ; nor was it probably long before simple ntensils were formed out of the natural objects by which he was surrounded, and he had learned the convenience of bringing water into the shady bower or the rude hut that formed his earlier dwelling, in order to satisfy his thirst and to wash t his person, without the necessity of visiting, at unpropitious times and seasons, the more distant stream or fountain.

The first “ toilet” of man we may, therefore, fairly assume, consisted in mere personal ablution or bathing, followed occasionally by simple adjustment of the hair -with the fingers, or with some extemporized implement, to keep it from falling over the face, to prevent it matting together, or to free it when entangled. Soon repetition and convenience would render these operations habitual, and experience and taste improve on them, and suggest others of a more complicated character. Then came the Fall, the use of dress, and the expulsion of our first parents from Eden.* After the prostration produced by this calamity had passed away, and “ children were born unto Adam,” the “ toilet” and dress would undoubtedly have received more attention ; and then it was that “ fashion” had its birth. For some time the toilet and dress continued of the simplest kind, and the fashions that prevailed were equally simple and innocent. The twisted foliage of trees and the skins of beasts were

* “ And they sewed fig-leaves together, and made themselves aprons” (Gen. iii. 7). In the original, “things to gird about them. And again, “Unto Adam also and to his wife did the Lord God make coats of skin, and clothed them ” (Gen. iii. 21).

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the only garments that then clothed the human race. Wild flowers plucked from the bush, the sunny bank, or the natural pasture, the richly-tinted berries of the trees and shrub, and the delicate shells of their lake and river margins, were their only ornaments. The only cosmetic that then tinted the beloved one's cheek and lips was the genial sunshine ; and the only jewels that decked her person were the diamonds that sparkled in her health-beaming eyes.

As mankind increased in number and gathered in societies, and the various tastes, affections, desires, and passions of human nature — love, vanity, rivalry, ambition, war, &c., came into play, the “ toilet” and dress would necessarily receive more attention, and the operations of the former would become more numerous and complicated. In many cases these would have for their object increase of the personal attractions, as well as mere comfort and cleanliness. In this way, in all probability, gradually arose the first “cosmetic processes,” properly so called. In some form or other they appear to have been practised among all nations whose minor archaeology has descended to modern times.

It is stated that even the rudest of the ancient barbarians were sedulous in their endeavours to brinef their personal charms, real or imaginary, as near as possible to the condition, considered by the prevailing taste of their tribe or nation, to be the standard of beauty and perfection. Among those tribes characterized by then’ fierce and warlike habits, who were constantly engaged in social contentions or in the enterprises of arms, this taste principally developed itself in efforts to modify the natural form and colour

EARLY AGES.

of the body, and in tlie employment of articles of personal adornment of a gaudy and outre character. With the males these efforts were chiefly intended to impart a ferocious or warlike appearance, for the purpose of striking- terror into their enemies. In happier regions, -where gentler habits prevailed, and the arts of life and luxury had made some little progress, the tastes and inclinations of the people took a corresponding turn. Here the more peaceful routine of their daily pursuits, the inoffensive occupations of pastoral life, and the consequent cultivation of the social virtues and affections, led to the adoption of more delicate and complicated, but also more effeminate operations for the promotion of personal beauty, or for obviating defects arising from its absence. In many cases these were probably chiefly prompted by, or borrowed from, the beautiful scenes of nature, and the more genial circumstances by which they were surrounded. The dress and personal ornaments worn by such a people were of a corresponding character. At first the latter probably consisted entirely of natural objects, as in the earlier ages ; next, of imitations of them executed in inexpensive materials ; and afterwards, with more taste and artistic skill, in rare and costly materials, until, at length, considerable elegance and beauty were attained. The rapid strides made in the same direction with the further progress of population and society may be readily imagined. The love of change and display, the gratification of vanity, and the desire of personal distinction, together with tastes and habits acquired by experience and example, or created by refinement, luxury, and -wealth, or recommended by

THE TOILET AND COSMETIC ARTS.

their propriety or usefulness, rapidly multiplied and varied these practices, and invented new ornaments and styles of ornamentation, and established them, in some or other of their many forms, and in different degrees, among all civilized nations.

The progress just referred to was accompanied by a corresponding attention to personal cleanliness and dress, and particularly by an increased taste for bathing, which led to the introduction of artificial baths, and ultimately of the warm bath. The observation of the simple fact of the more agreeable sensation produced by water when heated by the sun, or the discovery of hot springs, which must have existed then, as now, on various parts of the earth’s surface, no doubt suggested, at a comparatively early period, the happy idea of artificially communicating heat to water, in receptacles more convenient for bathing, and less dangerous than those provided by nature. It was not, however, until the inhabitants of the world had sufficiently increased in number for the existence of extensive and opulent communities, when architecture had made considerable progress, and art generally had begun to afford its material aid in supplying conveniences, pandering to the luxuries, and providing for the growing wants of life and civilization, that this suggestion was practically and systematically carried out by the formation of artificial reservoirs for bathing, and the erection of suitable apparatus for imparting an agreeable and salutary temperature to the water. At first these baths were probably of a simple character, confined to the neighbourhood of royal residences, and indulged in only by princes, courtiers, and nobles ; but from this sparse beginning, they

EAKLY AGES.

multiplied rapidly, and grew in completeness and magnificence, until their use, with all their complicated manipulations, had become an institution of the people. The enormous extent, the architectural beauty, and the completeness of many of the ancient baths, gorgeous even in them ruins, have excited the admiration and wonder of succeeding- ages.*

Hence, ultimately, arose all those numerous operations of the bath, the toilet, and the cosmetic arts, and all that variety, elegance, and richness of bijouterie, tire-ornament, and dress, which were so elaborately and carefully performed, and were so highly prized among many of the more polished Eastern nations of antiquity.

From Asia these tastes and usages were carried into Europe by the colonists who successively established themselves in Greece, Italy, Iberia, and Gaul ; and, from these effeminate descendants of the old eastern monarchies, they have come down to modern time, and, variously modified and distributed, exist even at the present day.

In the immediately succeeding chapters I shall endeavour to gather a few fragments, in connection with my subject, from the history and ruins of individual nations.

* See Index.

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Chapter III. Historical Notices Continued: The Jev».~

HE most ancient written history which we possess that found in the books of the Old Testament— furnishes no inconsiderable amount of information respecting the social arts and habits of the earliei inhabitants of the world. The Jews appear to have been early characterized by a predilection for showy dress, for cosmetics, jewelry, and perfumes, and for the care which they bestowed on various operations of the toilet, particularly those connected with the hah-. According to Moses, the art of working in silver, gold, and precious stones, very early reached a state of considerable facility and excellence, as these substances were then commonly manufactured into ornaments to decorate the person.* * * § Abraham, we are told, “ was very rich in cattle, in silver, and in gold;' h so much so, indeed, that he paid “ four hundred shekels of silver, current money,” for a “ burying-place 3 for his family. § The description given us of his

* Probably earlier than B.C. 2221 ; the date assigned by some chronologists to the first Chaldean monarchy, supposed to have been founded by Nimrod, about 25 years after the dispersion at Babel.

t Genesis, xiii. 2.

X The silver shekel was about equal in value to an English halfcrown.

§ Genesis , xxiii. 1G.

+ 4*

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chief man-servant presenting “ a golden ear-ring of half a shekel weight,* and two bracelets for the hand of ten shekels weight of gold,” to the beautiful liebekah, as she tripped with her pitcher from the fountain, t may serve to illustrate the usages, taste, and progress of this period j as may also the text which relates that the same “ servant ” subsequently “brought forth jewels of silver, and jewels of gold, and raiment, and gave them to Rebekah ■” and “ gave also to her brother, and to her mother precious things.”];

From the period last mentioned, the taste for personal decoration and display must have steadily progressed, as in the time of Moses it had become a passion among the -Jewish people, as well as their Egyptian persecutors^ When the Israelites begged Aaron to make them “gods” which should “go before them,” he replied, “ Break off the golden ear-rings which are in the ears of your wives, of your sons, and of your daughters, and bring them unto me.” || Eor must the garments and insignia of the priestly office, and the operations connected with it — familiar to every Scripture reader — be passed over here ; since they show the addiction to dress and personal decoration, and the high estimation in wdiich they were thus early held, by this people. The ephod

* The shekel-weight was about half an ounce avoirdupois.

t Gen. xxiv. 22.

X Gen. xxiv. 53. About B.O. 2000 ; or nearly 4,000 ( i.e . 3,900) years ago.

§ Exod. xi. 2, et seq.

I Ei cl. xxxii. 2. About B.C. 1500 ; or more than 33] centuries prior to the present time.

14 THE TOILET AVI) COSMETIC ALTS.

and breastplate were formed “ even of gold, of blue and purple and scarlet and fine twined linen/’ curiously wrought ; and were enriched with precious stones of the most costly description, gorgeously mounted, and engraved “ like the engravings of a signet •” the whole being secured to the person and connected with each other by means of _ ■ and chains of “pure gold” and “ wreathen gold,” and “ a lace of blue.” The “ robe of the ephod” was “ all of blue and “ beneath, upon the hem of it,” were “ pomegranates of blue, and of purple, and of scarlet, and bells of gold between them round about.” The coat was embroidered, and “of fine linen “ the mitre of fine linen,” and “the girdle of needle-work.” These formed “ the holy garments for Aaron thy brother, for glory and beauty.”*

From the above, and from other like passages in the Pentateuch, relating to dress, jewelry, and the adornment of the person, we might fairly infer that an equal amount of attention was bestowed, by this ancient and singular people, on their toilet ; since, as already noticed, a taste for the one is inseparable from a predilection for the other. This inference is shown to be correct by various subsequent passages in the sacred writings. Perfumes, precious ointments, spices, waters, and other articles connected with the ceremonies of “anointing” and “purification,” and their use as cosmetics, are frequently referred to. Bezaleel “ made the holy anointing oil and the pure incense of sweet spices according to the work of the apothecary. ”f The Psalmist compares the communion

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of saints and brethren to “ the precious ointment ( pommade ) upon the head, that ran down upon the beard;”* and Job, in deprecating the burden of his afflictions, exclaims, “ If I wash myself with snow-water, and make my hands never so clean,” &c.f When David “ returned and came to Jordan,” after the conspiracy and death of Absalom, “ Mephibosheth, the son of Saul, came down to meet the king (David), and had neither dressed his feet, nor trimmed his beard, nor washed his clothes from the day the king departed until the day he came again in peace.” J It also appears that very long before this period the arts of medicine and mummification, introduced from Egypt, were not merely known, but evidently studied and practised. “ And Joseph commanded his servants, the physicians, to embalm (Jacob) his father, and they embalmed Israel.” § Again, on the death of Joseph, “ they (his brethren) embalmed him.”||

At a later period, but one not long subsequent to the death of Moses, the operations of the toilet are more distinctly alluded to. It appears probable that about this time “ barbers ” and “ hairdressers,” as well as “ perfumei’s,” similar to those of modern times, were common amongst the Jews.

Whether these trades wrere of native growth, or imported from the monarchies by which the Jews

* Psalm cxxxiii. 2.

t Job , ix. 30. It is generally thought that the Book of Job was written by Moses. If so, it proves that astronomy, mineralogy, natural history, and their sister arts and sciences, had attained a high degree of advancement at that time.

§ Gen. 1. 2. About B.C. 1700 ; or nearly 3,600 years ago.

jj Gen. 1. 26. See the last note.

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were surrounded, is now uncertain. It is likely that the latter was the case.* However this may be, the instruments and operations connected with these trades are frequently noticed by the sacred writers, and that in a manner which evidently connects them with the habits and usages of the people. “ There hath not come a razor upon mine head, for I have been a Nazarite unto God from my mother’s womb. If I be shaven then will my strength go from me, and I shall become weak, and be like any other man.” And “ she called for a man, and she caused him to shave off the seven locks of his head.”t

The magnificence and luxury of the reign of Solomon were so remarkable that they have since formed the burthen of a pro verb. J The description handed down to us of his own palace, of the “house” (palace) he built “ for Pharaoh’s daughter,” and of the Temple, exhibits a degree of extravagance and voluptuousness without a parallel in the history of the Jews.§ The example of this monarch appears to have had its effect upon his people ; if, indeed, it was not itself a highly exaggerated and luxurious form of that which was already peculiar to them, blended with exotic growths. Perfumes and spices, always highly prized and expensive articles of luxury among the Jews, came into almost general use during his reign. “ Ointment macle ) and perfume rejoice the heart,” || he sung; whilst in another passage he informs us that “ myrrh,

See a subsequent allusion to this point.

t Judges, xvi. 17-19. This was before the time of David ; about A.D. 1500, or nearly 3,000 years ago.

J Solomon began his reign B.C. 1011.

§ 1 Kings, vii. 23-0. j| Pror. xxvii. 9.

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aloes, and cinnamon” were used as scents by tbe courtesans of bis day.* These substances are also mentioned by tbe Psalmist, — “ All thy garments smell of myrrh, and aloes, and cassia. ”f The singular fate of Absalom, another son of David, was occasioned, according to popular belief, by the fineness and extreme luxuriance of his hair, j

The transit of another century in the history of the Israelites places before us a distinct notice of the use of skin cosmetics. We are told that the “proud Jezabel,” when preparing to meet King Jehu, “ painted her face ” (in the original, “ put her eyes in painting”), and “tired her head.”§

The prophet Isaiah, about a century later, furnishes us with several details connected with the female costume and toilet of his day in “ the judgment which shall be for the pride of the women:” — “Because the daughters of Zion are haughty, and walk with stretched-forth necks, and wanton eyes, walking and mincing as they go, and making a tinkling with their feet,” — “ the Lord will smite with a scab the crown of the head, and will take away the bravery of the tinkling ornaments about their feet, and their cauls, and their round tires like the moon, the chains, the bracelets, and the mufflers, the bonnets, the orna-

X 2 Sam. xviii. 9. The passage says that, in his flight, his head was caught by the boughs of an oak, from which he remained suspended. According to some learned writers, his head, and not his hair, was caught and jammed between the thick forked boughs of a terebinth.

§ 2 Kings, ix. 30. B.C. 884. Here stibium or antimony was used as an eye-paint. See note (*), p. 28.

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merits of the legs, and the head-bands, the tablets, and the ear-rings, the rings, and the nose-jewels, the changeable suits of apparel, and the mantles, the wimples, and the crisping pins, the glasses, and the fine linen, and the hoods, and the veils; and instead of sweet smell (perfume), there shall be a stink ; and instead of a girdle, a rent ; and instead of well-set hair, baldness; and instead of a stomacher, a girding of sackcloth ; and burning, instead of beautv.”*

Another century and a half in the history of the Jews, chiefly distinguished by the “captivities” of Israel and Judah, and perpetual political contentions and domestic broils, brings us to the reign of Jehoiachin and the time of the prophet Ezekiel. t Here the trade of a “ barber,” as a separate and common occupation, is clearly mentioned in the prophet’s typical foreshadowing of the approaching “judgment of Jerusalem” : — “ Son of man, take thee a barber’s razor, and cause it to pass upon thine head, and upon thy beard : then take the balances to weigh and divide the hair.” J

In the lamentations of J eremiah “ for the miseries of Judah,” about the same period, he alludes to rich dress, jewelry, and cosmetics, as things in use and highly valued : — “ Though thou clothest thyself with crimson, though thou deckest thee with ornaments of gold, though thou rcntest thy face” (in the TIeb., “ eyes ”) “ with painting, in vain shaft thou make thyself fair.” §