Scents And Sensibility: The Art Of Regency Perfumes And Aromatherapy

An Aromatic Bath

Boil, for the space of two or three minutes, in a sufficient quantity of river-water, one or more of the following plants; viz. Laurel, Thyme, Rosemary, Wild Thyme, Sweet-Marjoram, Bastard-Marjoram, Lavender, Southernwood, Wormwood, Sage, Pennyroyal, Sweet-Basil Balm, Wild Mint, Hyssop, Clove-july-flowers, Anise, Fennel, or any other herbs that have an agreeable scent. Having strained off the liquor from the herbs, add to it a little Brandy, or camphorated Spirits of Wine.

This is an excellent bath to strengthen the limbs; it removes pains proceeding from cold, and promotes perspiration.

An excellent Perfume for Gloves

Take Ambergrise, a drachm; the same quantity of Civet; and of Orange Flower Butter, a quarter of an ounce; mix these ingredients well, and rub them into the gloves with fine Cotton Wool, pressing the perfume into them.

Or,

Take of Essence of Roses, half an ounce; Oil of Cloves and Mace, of each a drachm; Frankincense, a quarter of an ounce; mix them, and lay them in papers between your gloves. Being hard pressed, the gloves will take the scent in twenty-four hours, and afterwards hardly ever lose it.

Scented Tables or Pastils

Beat into a fine powder, and sift through a hair sieve, a pound of the Marc or Residuum left in the still, after making Angelic Water; then put it into a mortar, with a handful of fresh-gathered Rose Leaves, and a small porringer full of Gum Tragacanth softened with Rose Water.  Beat the whole into a Paste; roll it out on a dresser with a rolling pin, and cut it into Lozenges with a knife.

To form scented Pastils, roll up bits of this Paste in the shape of a cone, that they may stand upright, and set them by to dry. These kind of Pastils are lighted in the same manner as a candle. They consume entirely away; and, while burning, exhale a fragrant smoke.

A Pleasant Perfume

Take a drachm of Musk, four Cloves, four ounces of Lavender-seed, a drachm and a half of Civet, and half a drachm of Ambergrise; heat your pestle and mortar, and rub the Musk, Cloves, and Lavender-seeds together, with a lump of Loaf Sugar and a wine-glass full of Angelic or Rose water. Take a handful of powder, and incorporate it well with this mixture, then sift it through a sieve; add two or three pounds more powder, or even a larger quantity, till the perfume is brought to a proper degree of strength. As to the Civet, put it on the end of a hot pestle, and rub it well with a handful of powder; after which add, by little and little, six pounds of powder; then sift the whole through a hair sieve to incorporate it with the other perfumed powder. The Ambergrise must be well rubbed in the mortar; and by degrees two pounds of powder, either white or grey, must be added to it, till the Ambergrise is thoroughly incorporated with the powder; then sift through a hair sieve, and mix all the three powders together. This perfume is to be kept in a Leather Bag, the seams of which are well sewed with waxed thread.

Common Perfumed Powder

Take Florentine Orrice, a pound, dried Rose Leaves, a pound; Gum Benjamin, two ounces; Storax, an ounce; Yellow Sanders, an ounce and a half; Cloves, two drachms; and a little Lemon Peel; reduce the whole to a fine powder, and mix with it twenty pounds of Starch, or rather of grey or white powder; incorporate them well, and sift them through a lawn sieve.

A Cassolette

Incorporate the Powders of Florentine Orrice, Storax, Benjamin and other aromatics, with Orange-flower Water; and put this Paste into a little Silver or Copper Box lined with Tin. When you have a mind to use this perfume, set the Box on a gentle fire, or on hot ashes, and it will exhale a most delightful odour.

To Perfume a House, and Purify the Air

Take a root of Angelica, dry it in an oven, or before the fire, then bruise it well and infuse it four or five days in White Wine Vinegar. When you use it, lay it upon a brick made red hot, and repeat the operation several times.

A Perfume to Scent Powder

Take a drachm of Musk, four ounces of Lavender Seeds, a drachm and a half of Civet, and half a drachm of Ambergrise. Beat the whole together into powder, and sift through a hair sieve. Keep this perfume in a box that shuts very close, to scent powder with, according to your fancy.

Take four ounces of Gum Benjamin, two ounces of Storax, and a quarter of an ounce of Aloes-wood. When these ingredients have been well bruised, simmer them about half an hour over a slow fire, in a glazed earthen pipkin, with as much Rose-water as will cover them, and then strain off the liquor for use. Dry the Residuum or Marc, and pulverize it in a warm mortar with a pound of Charcoal. Dissolve some Gum Tragacanth in the reserved Liquor, then add to your powder a drachm of fine Oriental Musk dissolved in a little Rose-water, and form the whole into a Paste, of which make pastils about the length and thickness of the little finger, narrower at top than at bottom, that they may stand firm and upright. When they are thoroughly dry, light them at the narrow end, and let them burn till they are wholly consumed. While burning they afford an exquisite perfume. To render the perfume still higher, add six grains of Ambergrise.

Or,

Pulverize together two ounces of Gum Benjamin, half an ounce of Storax, a drachm of Aloes-wood, twenty grains of fine Civet, a little Sea Coal, and Loaf Sugar; boil the whole in a sufficient quantity of Rose-water, to the consistence of a stiff paste. If you are desirous of having your pastils higher flavoured, add twelve grains of Ambergrise just before you take the composition off the fire; and the ingredients being thoroughly mixed, form them into pastils.

 Fragrant Pastils Made Use of By Way of Fumigation

Take the purest Labdanum and Gum Benjamin, of each two ounces; Storax and dry Balsam of Peru, of each three quarters of an ounce; choice Myrrh, half a drachm; Gum Tacamahac, a quarter of an ounce; Olibanum, a drachm; Liquid Balsam of Peru, half an ounce; Ambergrise, a quarter of an ounce; Musk and Civet, of each a scruple; Essential Oil of Rhodium, thirty drops; Essential Oils of Orange-flowers, Lemons, and Bergamot, of each four drops; Gum Lacque, in fine powder, two ounces and a half; Cascarilla, Aloes-wood, Rose-wood, St. Lucia-wood, Yellow Sanders, and Cinnamon, all powdered, of each a drachm. With the assistance of a vapour-bath reduce them to a mass, which form into pastils in the usual way.

Pastils of Roses

Pulverize a pound of the Marc or Residuum left in the still after making Angelica Water; likewise a large handful of Roses; and with a sufficient quantity of Gum Tragacanth dissolved in Rose-water, beat them into a stiff paste, which is to be rolled out upon a marble with a rolling-pin, and cut into Lozenges, or formed into pastils. If you have a mind to ornament them, cover them with Leaf Gold or Silver.

Now, let’s turn to some translations from L’Art de la Toilette. You’ll notice that the author, Elisabeth Celnart, does not share Pierre-Joseph Buc’hoz’s fondness for musks and amber.

Perfumes

One must be excessively sober in the use of perfumes, and if one is delicate, one must absolutely abstain from them. Pallor, thinness, dark circles under the eyes, dejection, nervous shivers are the common fruits of the excessive use of odors in people whose nerves are more or less irritable. One ends up suffering all these ills in vain, because, according to the picturesque expression of Queen Marie Leczinska: “Perfumes are like grandeur, those who wear them hardly smell them.” Far from being a means of pleasing, overly strong perfumes cause distance; many people flee amber and musky ladies like plague victims. Moreover, it denotes coquetry and pretension.

But, on the other hand, the total absence of odors is a useless, and sometimes even disadvantageous, deprivation. It is good, in certain cases, to spread a few drops of eau de Cologne on one’s shirt, stockings, handkerchief; despite the greatest cleanliness, the human body is subject to so many unpleasant exhalations, general or particular, that one should not neglect these precautions, especially when one has a husband whose sense of smell is very sensitive. One can perfume one’s linen in the wardrobes, the ointment with which one tangles the hair, the cerate which serves to protect the lips from cracks, the water with which one washes the face, almond pastes, soaps suitable for cleaning the hands, but always with sweet, balsamic, not very penetrating odors, such as those of iris, heliotrope, mignonette, violet, rose, etc. Aromatic perfumes, such as carnation, cinnamon, vanilla, should be used rarely, in very small quantities, and softened by a mixture of weaker odors, fragrant odors, such as lily, tuberose, jasmine; ambrosial odors, such as amber, musk should be entirely banished from your person and your apartments.

We will provide the means to perfume oneself as appropriate to chase away bad natural odors, to make oneself pleasant, to complete a careful toilet, and this without damaging one’s health, inconveniencing delicate people, and attracting the very unflattering name, in my opinion, of small mistress and wonderful.

Simple and Easy Way to Perfume your Laundry and other things effects

Take pieces of dried Florentine iris root, such as are sold at chemists’ shops, and store them in your wardrobes and chests of drawers; they will generally give a light scent of violet to all your belongings. If you want the fragrance to be stronger and more pleasant, you can insert a piece of root between each fold of your shirts, camisoles, skirts, etc. It is also slipped into the piping of the trimmings of kerchiefs. Nothing is so gently sweet and so hygienic at the same time.

You can collect rose petals, carnation petals, and pieces of mignonette that you will use in the summer, and put them in your drawers: as they dry, they will give off a sweet, balsamic scent; but the use of iris roots seems much preferable to me.

Scented sachets for perfuming linen in wardrobes and sets in boxes

Gather rose petals, musk carnation, simple hyacinth, lavender flower, balsam leaves, and a few white horehound leaves. Dry them well in the shade. When they are completely dry, sprinkle them with powdered cloves and nutmeg: enclose everything in taffeta bags, of any color you like, and place these bags on the belongings.

Montpellier Herb Sachet

The leaves of thyme, lavender, hyssop, lemon verbena, sage, rosemary, basil, mixed with a few cloves and crushed nutmeg, make up this sachet. All these items can be gathered in a piece of colored cloth, and this sachet can be placed in the night table, in the bathroom, in the toilet, etc.

Powder Sachets

Take iris root, six ounces; dried orange flowers, one ounce; dried rose flowers, six ounces; dried bergamot peel, Portuguese orange peel, ditto ; storax, two ounces: pound them well, pass them through a sieve, and make pretty taffeta sachets, suitable for putting in necessaries, work baskets, kerchiefs, gloves, and all delicate objects.

Scented Lozenges for Burning

Take three ounces of benzoin, a large one of dried orange peel, a large one and a half of rose nutmeg, a large one of ambergris, a large one and a half of red sandalwood, half an ounce of sugar; pulverize all these things, and incorporate the very fine powder with the mucilage of gum tragacanth diluted in rose water or orange flower water, to make a paste which you will divide into small circles, cones, hearts or squares, which you will dry in the sun or over a low heat.

When one wishes to use these lozenges, one of them is set on fire and placed on a stone table or any other thing that cannot be damaged. It burns, scintillating and giving off a pleasant odor: this practice drives out bad air and purifies the apartments.

Pastilles made from dried aromatic herbs, such as sage, tarragon, lavender, hyssop, rosemary, which, dried and reduced to powder, are diluted with very strong vinegar, will be excellent for purifying a sick room; they can be placed on the red shovel, after first setting it on fire. Their tonic smoke, similar to that of burnt vinegar, will be even more balsamic, and will not cause the inconvenience of staining the floor, as vinegar sometimes does when bubbling.

Chimney flasks

Only eau de Cologne, eau de la reine de Portugal, eau de la reine de Hongrie, and eau d’ange should fill your bottles.

Pocket bottles

As they are intended to prevent in you or in others the accidents of mephitic airs, to combat weaknesses, nervous spasms, vinegar salts with rose, bergamot, or lemon, balsamic eau de Cologne, eau de Luce, and even sulfuric ether, are the only things which should be chosen for these flasks.

To Perfume Handkerchiefs

Cologne, lemon balm, angel, violet, and imperial water.

To Perfume Partial and General Baths

Lavender water, Cologne water, Queen of Portugal water, honey water, benzoin water.