Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1903-05-02
THE QUEST of BEAUTY
CharmingP Properties of Flower
Perfumes.
SOOTHE TIRRD NERVES
ROSES WILL Drive AWAY A
HEADACHE.
All Spring Blossoms Cure the Blues
The Method to
Use.
Written for The Evening Star by Catherine Morton.

Written for The Evening Star by Catherine Morton.
Perfume acts as a beauty spell.
The woman who wishes to fascinate De-
gins by creating a pleasant atmosphere
She perfumes her hair and imparts the
odor of roses or Of violets to her skin by a
more or less elaborate process.
There is a practical, well as an
aesthetic side, however, to this lavish use
of perfume or flowers, Many kinds-more
particularly roses-will quiet the nerves,
acting as a sedative. Inhaled instead or
salts, a fragrant rose will often soothe a
| headache. That vinaigrette may be dis
placed by a flower is charming fancy. For
} one thing woman looks much more pic
turesque when inhaling the perfume OF
flowers. A rose held in, the mouth may
keep away contagion 1t is certainly more
agreeable panacea than camphor bag. IT
the blues can be driven away by spring
flowers, as 1t is held. they certainly have a
| mission which must be considered by the
beauty seeker.
To perfume the flesh, to make 1t soft,
elastic and pink like baby's cheek.
flower bath, preceded by a milk bath, must
be taken.
If the twenty gallons of milk necessary
for a bath cannot be obtained, the body
may be sponged off with milk slightly
warmed. The flower bath follows If 1t is
OF roses, a QudutlIy OF rose petdlS are puS
into bag and covered with boiling water
The water Is allowed to boil for ten min
utes. 1t is then cooled and poured into the
bath tub, which must be half filled with
tepid water
The bather lies quietly in this for fifteen
or twenty minutes. After drying the body,
a shampoo of rose water is taken by means
of an atomfzer or bath sprinkler.
This does not conclude the process known
as flower bath. for masses of the flower
must be inhaled. The fragrance of many
roses is strong and permeating. By breath
ing in the perfume and burying the head in
great clusters of the flower. the skin, with
the pores open from the warm milk, readily
absorbs 1t. =
After beauties Of olden times had bathed
in milk. which contained the juice of straw
berries and raspberrtes. they took brisk
rub with sponges soaked in perfumes.
Rather Costly Fad.
The flower bath is the expression Of the
modern maids sybartic longings. but the
fad is too costly for ordinary mortals' In
diligence. There is a way Of pertaining the
| hair. however. which any one may try, and
the result Is always satisfactory.
With the tips of the fingers dipped in rose
! water. the scalp Is given gentle massage,
then brushed with slow gliding motion up
and down, and to the right and to the left.
Then the extract of rose violet, placed in
an atomiZer made for the purpose, is
sprayed over the head The atomizer may
be used without taking down the hair, or
without disarrangtng lock, the perfume
being sprayed through the comb-like ar
rangement attached to the atomfZer.
Queen Alexandra uses heliotrope on her
hair.
The Queen of Portugal scents her hair
with violets. Her hair is brilliantly glossy
and always arranged in the height of the
mode.
Queen Christiana Of Spain and the young
kings sisters perfume their hair with a
Spanish extract that is much like rose.
Queen Wilhelmina also likes rose. Her
hair is sprinkled and washed with rose wa
| ter daily, and several quarts OF cologne are
used in her morning bath.
Queen Elizabeth perfumed her wigs with
| Spanish leather STEPPED in musk
The incroyale of the time Of the directory
recognized one another by the peculiar and
secretly prepared odor. made from the nut
| meg, in which their curled wigs were
STEPPED
It was Medea who discovered a flower
which could make the color Of their hair
black or white. Much of her magic power
consisted in her skill as perfumer and as
| an inventor of warm vapor baths.
When a heroine tainted in the pages of
| the Arabian Nights" she was always
brought to herself again by having per
| fumed water dashed upon her face, and
| then flowers were given her to SMELL
She Knew Perfumes.
| Perfumes are associated with the great
| beauties of the world. and with many of
! its greatest men. Helen Of Troy owed
much Of her loveliness to her knowledge of
sweet essences.
Matilda, wife Of Henry I Of England. al
| ways kept rosewater on her dining table.
The Empress Josephine made lavish use
of cosmetics, which were perfumed with
the tropical flowers sent from her West
To MOI we q "a l.
BILE to the action Of perfumes and made
lavish use Of perfumed waters in the bath.
To such an extent was the love of per-
fumes carried in ancient Greece and Rome
that each part Of the body had its peculiar
unguent The neck and arms required
balsam, the cheeks and throat palm oil.
the hair sweet marjoram. the knees wild
thyme and the feet sweet basil.
Cosmetics for the use of young girls con-
tained only one scent; for older women the
mixture was more complex. while a queen
used an emollient containing no less than
twenty-seven costly Ingredients.
Scythian women according to Herodotus.
would bruise under a stone wood of cypress.
cedar and frankincense. Upon this they
poured quantity of water, and then
anointed the face and body to impart an
agreeable odor and to make the skin soft
and beautiful.
For the High Strung.
OF all scents lavender is particularly suit
ed to high-strung temperaments. 1t Is
soothing as well as refreshing. without be-
ing unduly stimulating. Jasmine should
always be used pure. Alone 1t tones and
braces the whole system. but in almost all
of its compounds It is singularly depressing.
Combined with neron. Jasmine. in faint es-
sence, Is the scent of scents for all who
have hysterical tendencies.
All the citrene scents, neroli, bergamot
and orange flower WATER are stimulating.
An economical snent to use for pertaining
the bath is made by adding 1 ounce Of
bergamot to pint Of alcohol; or u ounce
Of essential Oil of lavender and 1 dram of
cloves to 1 pint Of alcohol. Another aro-
matte water Is composed Of;
Altar of nerolf. ..- .-,...~......... drs.
Altar OF rosemary. ...s@es..s........Z drs.
Altar of orange zest. %.-s-.. .ss-.-. drs.
Altar OF citron zest. .........s-S>--s.S drs.
Altar of bergamot. ...-.~-...........4 drs.
Alcohol. .s...'~Sssss'sss..... Qt
Mix and stir we'll Letsit stand for few
days before bottling. 10
Still another is made Oft
Extract Of Tonquin bean. ...-~...... 2 gills
Extract Of geranium. .....-..-...... 2 gills
Extract Of orange flowers. -. .~.~... i gill
Extract of rose flowers ...-.-s-....- "a gill
Extract OF Jasmine. ~ gill