Rose petal perfume Perfume through the ages Easy soap making

Cameo
glass
fragrance
bottle
(1884)
SUNDAY, DECEMBER 8, 2013
By Laurie Triefeldt
Easy soap making
This soap-making process is
very easy, but adult supervision
is recommended.
What you need:
• Clear glycerin soap blocks
(found at craft stores)
• Liquid food coloring
• Stir sticks
• Essential oil (optional)
• Petroleum jelly or cooking spray
• Microwave oven and
microwavable container
• Ice cube tray or candy mold or
soap mold
Step one: Coat an ice cube
tray or mold with petroleum
jelly or cooking spray.
The earliest soaps are thought to have been used more to clean wool
and textiles than for personal hygiene. Some people preferred smelling
good to actually being clean and thought perfume did the trick nicely.
Through the ages, the medical benefits of cleanliness were well-known
to many cultures, but forgotten or ignored by others. It has been suggested that modern society is too clean and that an excessive use of
soaps, detergents and sanitizers may lower our immune systems and
could be responsible for a rise in allergies.
Soap basics
Perfume basics
Soap can be made from a variety
of ingredients. Animal fat, called
tallow, and vegetable oils such
as castor, olive or coconut oil are
combined with chemicals called
alkalies. The most common alkali
used to make soap is sodium
hydroxide, also known as lye.
Step two: Place glycerin in
a microwavable container.
Heat in microwave oven.
Time varies depending on
microwave wattage. Stir
every 10 to 15 seconds until
completely melted.
Step four: Pour the melted
glycerin into the tray or mold,
fill almost to the top.
Perfume through the ages
What you need:
• Clean bottle for finished perfume
• Essential rose oil (optional)
• Red food coloring
• Measuring cup and strainer
• Cooking pot with lid
• 2 cups of fresh rose petals
• Glass bowl and spoon
Step one: On a stove top, bring
2 cups of water
to bowl. Turn off
heat.
Step two: Add
rose petals and
let steep until
water is cool.
Essential oils can be natural (from
plants or animals) or synthetic.
These oils are very strong and
must be combined with alcohol
or water for use in a perfume.
The concentration or dilution level
of essential oils is an important
characteristic of a perfume. A true
perfume is the costliest form of
fragrance with 22 percent essential
oils. Eau de parfum has between
15 and 22 percent essential oils.
Eau de toilette is made with 8 to
15 percent oils. And Eau de cologne uses 4 percent essential oils.
There are many kinds of soap.
Some are liquid, others hard or
shaved into flakes. Personal
soaps are made to wash our skin
or hair. Soaps made for bathing
are called toilet soaps. Detergents are designed to clean dishes or laundry. Household cleansers often have mild abrasives that
can clean a variety of surfaces.
Step five: Cool for an hour
or so before removing from
the mold. Placing them in the
freezer can speed up this
process. They should
just pop out.
This perfume recipe is gentle and
nontoxic, but adult supervision is
recommended.
Perfumes are made of many components, sometimes hundreds.
Soap manufacturers add fragrances, colors, germicides, builders
and active agents to their soaps,
depending on the purpose of the
soap. The industry is always
working to improve and create
new formulas.
Step three: Carefully remove the melted glycerin
from oven and stir in a small
amount of food coloring. If
you wish, stir in a drop or two
of scented oil.
Rose petal perfume
Step three: Add
a drop of red
food coloring. If
you wish, add a
drop of essential
rose oil to the
mix. Stir.
Step four:
Strain the cool
water into a
glass bowl.
Squeeze as
much liquid out
of petals as
you can.
Perfumes are designed to unfold
their scent over time. What you
smell initially is called the top
note, it lasts 10 to 30 minutes.
The middle note follows as the
top note evaporates; it lasts 10 to
45 minutes. The base notes are
heavier, and some last 24 hours.
Step five: Pour
the mixture into
a clean bottle
and label your
perfume with a
name of your
choosing.
Stored in a cool,
dark place, the
perfume should
keep for about
two weeks.
Perfume has been used since ancient times. It has also played an important role in the religious ceremonies of many cultures.
Scholars believe that the use of perfume began in ancient Egypt. The Persians used scent as a sign of rank. The Romans began
to use perfume around 750 B.C. to celebrate the goddess Flora. Attractive scents go hand in hand with attractive containers.
Perfumes
in the form
of burning
incense
are used in
religious
ceremonies.
The use of
perfume
spreads
to Greece,
Rome,
Persia and
the Islamic
world.
2000 B.C.
Egyptian
scent
bottles
(c. 5000 to
3050 B.C.)
The first alcoholbased perfume is
made for Elizabeth of
Hungary in 1370.
Roman green
glass scent
bottle from the
second or third
century A.D.
Ancient Egyptian glass
perfume bottle from the
New Kingdom period
3000 B.C.
Arabian physician
Avicenna is the first
to extract attar, an
oil from flowers.
Diluted with water,
this became the first
modern perfume,
rose water.
1000 B.C.
A.D. 1000
1100
“Eau de Cologne” is invented
by the Farina brothers in
Cologne, Germany. The scent
is used in everything from ointments to mouthwash.
Irish-cut crystal
with mushroom
stopper (1820s)
Semiprecious
stone perfume
flasks (1860-70s)
1200
English engraved
silver-gilt bottle
(c. 1690)
Corinthian
Greek terra-cotta
Fragrant ointments are terra-cotta bottle
scent bottle
used in toiletries and (650–550 B.C.)
(610–650 B.C.)
cosmetics. Cinnamon
and honey scents are
The use of perfume declines Lavender water
popular and the fragrant
with the fall of the Roman
is distilled by
myrrh was more
Empire, but continues in
a German
precious than gold.
Muslim communities.
Benedictine nun.
1300
1400
Chanel No. 5 hits
the market in 1920.
Joy, one of the
most expensive
perfumes ever
made, is created
in 1926.
Charlie becomes
a modern marvel
of perfumes in
the 1970s.
Joy bottle
(1926)
1500
1600
1700
1800
2000
Wedgwood
jasper ware bottle
(1785–90)
Perfume becomes
very popular in the
17th century. Louis
XV’s court was
nicknamed “the
perfumed court”
because scent was
used on everything.
The town
of Grasse in
Provence,
France,
becomes
a major
source for
fragrant raw
materials.
Celebrities
Lalique glass for begin to
L’ Air du Temps by have their
Nina Ricci (1947) own scents
created.
LEARN ABOUT BREADS IN THE NEXT INSTALLMENT OF WORLD OF WONDER
Perfume
makers
search the
globe for
new scents.
SOURCES: World Book Encyclopedia, World Book Inc.;
www.soaphistory.net; www.soapmakingfun.com;
www.perfumers.org; www.perfumeandfragrances.com;
www.pbs.org; www.ehow.com; http://www.soaphistory.net;
www.scentiments.com; www.fashion-era.com
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© 2013 Triefeldt Studios, Inc.
Distributed by Universal Uclick for UFS
1900