Make your own toiletries? [View all]

[Little Star]

For a very long time people did just that!

These toiletry recipes come from The Project Gutenberg's The Whitehouse Cookbook (1887), by Mrs. F.L. Gillette.

Here’s a sample:

HAIR WASH.
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.

There are some pretty good free food recipes in the cookbook too. A free recipe book is a good thing, no? If nothing else it's free entertainment.

http://www.gutenberg.org/files/13923/13923-h/13923-h.htm#Page_577