Toilet water
Encyclopedia
Eau de toilette is a lightly scented perfume
used as a skin freshener. It is also referred to as "aromatic waters" and has a high alcohol content. It is usually applied directly to the skin after bathing or shaving. It is considered a "weak" perfume. Toilet water is defined as a dilute perfume. It was originally composed of alcohol and various volatile oils.
Toilet waters are usually named after a principal ingredient; some being Geranium Water, Lavender Water, Lilac Water, Violet Water, Spirit of Myrcia and 'eau de Bretfeld'. Because of this "toilet water" is sometimes referred to as "flower water." It is often used as a "body splash" that is applied liberally, especially after showering.
Perfume oils are often diluted with a solvent, though this is not always the case, and its necessity is disputed. By far the most common solvent for perfume oil dilution is ethanol or a mixture of ethanol and water. Perfume has a mixture of about 10-20% perfume oils mixed with alcohol (acting as a diffusing agent delivering the fragrant odor) and a trace of water. Colognes have about 3-5% perfume oil mixed with 80-90% alcohol with about 5 to 15 percent water in the mix. Originally, eau de cologne
was a mixture of citrus oils from such fruits as lemons, oranges, tangerines, limes, and grapefruits. These were combined with such substances as lavender and neroli (orange-flower oil). Toilet water has the least amount of perfume oil mixture among the three main liquid "perfumery" categories. It has only about 2 to 8 percent of some type of perfume oil and 60-80% alcohol dispersent with water making up the difference. Toilet waters are a less concentrated form of these above types of alcohol based perfumes. Traditionally cologne is usually made of citrus oils and fragrances, while toilet waters are not limited to this specification.
s with or without the addition of other fragrant substances. It can also be distilled waters with the smells of flowers. Eau de cologne
, eau de lavande
, eau de bouquet are examples of the first; and eau de rose, eau de fleurs d'oranges
are examples of the second. Toilet waters with the word eaux in them are confined to imports to the United States from the south of France and Italy. English toilet waters with "eau" or "eaux" in the name are generally considered inferior to those from France and Italy.
reported in 1905 that a toilet water spray restores energies lost in business, social, and domestic situations. History shows that toilet waters have been used for cosmetic purposes. During the fourteenth through sixteenth centuries a type of toilet water called "plague waters" was supposed to drive away the bubonic plague
.
using perfumes and toilet waters. Wilhelmina of the Netherlands
used an entire champagne bottle of toilet water in her 7 minute baths. Elizabeth of Russia was partial to having her toilet water made of violets picked near the onset of darkness specifically near the town of Grasse
.
In the fourteenth century Hungarian toilet water, predecessor of eau de cologne
, was produced. Queen Elisabeth of Hungary (1305–1380) had created a fragrant oil mix with alcohol that evaporated slowly on her skin. Hungary Water was the first toilet water developed. Legend has it that when 70 year old Queen Elisabeth of Hungary received this new 'toilet water' her poor health was reversed. She was then a very healthy queen that the king of Poland proposed to. This toilet water was called "eau de la reine de hongrie" because it was based on rosemary.
, musk
, orange flower
, rose water and other spice
s.
Perfume
Perfume is a mixture of fragrant essential oils and/or aroma compounds, fixatives, and solvents used to give the human body, animals, objects, and living spaces "a pleasant scent"...
used as a skin freshener. It is also referred to as "aromatic waters" and has a high alcohol content. It is usually applied directly to the skin after bathing or shaving. It is considered a "weak" perfume. Toilet water is defined as a dilute perfume. It was originally composed of alcohol and various volatile oils.
Toilet waters are usually named after a principal ingredient; some being Geranium Water, Lavender Water, Lilac Water, Violet Water, Spirit of Myrcia and 'eau de Bretfeld'. Because of this "toilet water" is sometimes referred to as "flower water." It is often used as a "body splash" that is applied liberally, especially after showering.
Types of alcohol based perfumes
The concentration of aromatic ingrediences is as follows (ascending concentration):- Splash and After shave: 1-3% aromatic compounds
- Eau de CologneEau de CologneEau de Cologne or simply Cologne is a toiletry, a perfume in a style that originated from Cologne, Germany. It is nowadays a generic term for scented formulations in typical concentration of 2-5% essential oils. However as of today cologne is a blend of extracts, alcohol, and water...
(EdC): Citrus type perfumes with about 2–6 percent perfume concentrate aromatic compounds - Eau de Toilette (EdT): 5-15% (typical ~10%) aromatic compounds
- Eau de Parfum (EdP), Parfum de Toilette (PdT): 10-20% (typical ~15%) aromatic compounds. Sometimes listed as "eau de perfume" or "millésime".
- Perfume extract (Extrait): 15-40% (IFRA: typical 20%) aromatic compounds
Perfume oils are often diluted with a solvent, though this is not always the case, and its necessity is disputed. By far the most common solvent for perfume oil dilution is ethanol or a mixture of ethanol and water. Perfume has a mixture of about 10-20% perfume oils mixed with alcohol (acting as a diffusing agent delivering the fragrant odor) and a trace of water. Colognes have about 3-5% perfume oil mixed with 80-90% alcohol with about 5 to 15 percent water in the mix. Originally, eau de cologne
Eau de Cologne
Eau de Cologne or simply Cologne is a toiletry, a perfume in a style that originated from Cologne, Germany. It is nowadays a generic term for scented formulations in typical concentration of 2-5% essential oils. However as of today cologne is a blend of extracts, alcohol, and water...
was a mixture of citrus oils from such fruits as lemons, oranges, tangerines, limes, and grapefruits. These were combined with such substances as lavender and neroli (orange-flower oil). Toilet water has the least amount of perfume oil mixture among the three main liquid "perfumery" categories. It has only about 2 to 8 percent of some type of perfume oil and 60-80% alcohol dispersent with water making up the difference. Toilet waters are a less concentrated form of these above types of alcohol based perfumes. Traditionally cologne is usually made of citrus oils and fragrances, while toilet waters are not limited to this specification.
Eaux and Eau
The word eaux, in perfumery, is defined as a solution of spirited fragrant essential oilEssential oil
An essential oil is a concentrated hydrophobic liquid containing volatile aroma compounds from plants. Essential oils are also known as volatile oils, ethereal oils or aetherolea, or simply as the "oil of" the plant from which they were extracted, such as oil of clove...
s with or without the addition of other fragrant substances. It can also be distilled waters with the smells of flowers. Eau de cologne
Eau de Cologne
Eau de Cologne or simply Cologne is a toiletry, a perfume in a style that originated from Cologne, Germany. It is nowadays a generic term for scented formulations in typical concentration of 2-5% essential oils. However as of today cologne is a blend of extracts, alcohol, and water...
, eau de lavande
Lavender oil
Lavender oil is an essential oil obtained by distillation from the flower spikes of certain species of lavender. Two forms are distinguished, lavender flower oil, a colorless oil, insoluble in water, having a density of 0.885 g/mL; and lavender spike oil, a distillate from the herb Lavandula...
, eau de bouquet are examples of the first; and eau de rose, eau de fleurs d'oranges
Orange flower water
Orange flower water, or orange blossom water, is a clear, perfumed distillation of fresh bitter-orange blossoms.This essential water has traditionally been used in many French and Mediterranean dessert dishes, such as the gibassier and pompe à l'huile, but has more recently found its way into...
are examples of the second. Toilet waters with the word eaux in them are confined to imports to the United States from the south of France and Italy. English toilet waters with "eau" or "eaux" in the name are generally considered inferior to those from France and Italy.
Health benefits
Some toilet waters were once considered restorative skin toners and to have some medical benefits. The journal Medical RecordMedical Record (journal)
The Medical Record: A Weekly Journal of Medicine and Surgery was founded in 1866 by George Frederick Shrady, Sr. who was its first editor-in-chief. Thomas Lathrop Stedman became assistant editor in 1890 and editor-in-chief in 1897....
reported in 1905 that a toilet water spray restores energies lost in business, social, and domestic situations. History shows that toilet waters have been used for cosmetic purposes. During the fourteenth through sixteenth centuries a type of toilet water called "plague waters" was supposed to drive away the bubonic plague
Bubonic plague
Plague is a deadly infectious disease that is caused by the enterobacteria Yersinia pestis, named after the French-Swiss bacteriologist Alexandre Yersin. Primarily carried by rodents and spread to humans via fleas, the disease is notorious throughout history, due to the unrivaled scale of death...
.
Roots of women's toilet water
Cleopatra seduced Mark Antony on the banks of the Berdan RiverBerdan River
The Berdan River, also called the Tarsus River , is a river in Mersin Province, south Turkey. The historical city of Tarsus is by the river.- Geography :...
using perfumes and toilet waters. Wilhelmina of the Netherlands
Wilhelmina of the Netherlands
Wilhelmina was Queen regnant of the Kingdom of the Netherlands from 1890 to 1948. She ruled the Netherlands for fifty-eight years, longer than any other Dutch monarch. Her reign saw World War I and World War II, the economic crisis of 1933, and the decline of the Netherlands as a major colonial...
used an entire champagne bottle of toilet water in her 7 minute baths. Elizabeth of Russia was partial to having her toilet water made of violets picked near the onset of darkness specifically near the town of Grasse
Grasse
-See also:*Route Napoléon*Ancient Diocese of Grasse*Communes of the Alpes-Maritimes department-External links:*...
.
In the fourteenth century Hungarian toilet water, predecessor of eau de cologne
Eau de Cologne
Eau de Cologne or simply Cologne is a toiletry, a perfume in a style that originated from Cologne, Germany. It is nowadays a generic term for scented formulations in typical concentration of 2-5% essential oils. However as of today cologne is a blend of extracts, alcohol, and water...
, was produced. Queen Elisabeth of Hungary (1305–1380) had created a fragrant oil mix with alcohol that evaporated slowly on her skin. Hungary Water was the first toilet water developed. Legend has it that when 70 year old Queen Elisabeth of Hungary received this new 'toilet water' her poor health was reversed. She was then a very healthy queen that the king of Poland proposed to. This toilet water was called "eau de la reine de hongrie" because it was based on rosemary.
Roots of men's toilet water
King of France Louis XIV (1638–1715) used a concoction of scents called "heavenly water" to perfume his shirts with toilet water. It consisted of aloewoodAgarwood
Agarwood or oodh is a dark resinous heartwood that forms in Aquilaria and Gyrinops trees when they become infected with a type of mold...
, musk
Musk
Musk is a class of aromatic substances commonly used as base notes in perfumery. They include glandular secretions from animals such as the musk deer, numerous plants emitting similar fragrances, and artificial substances with similar odors. Musk was a name originally given to a substance with a...
, orange flower
Orange (fruit)
An orange—specifically, the sweet orange—is the citrus Citrus × sinensis and its fruit. It is the most commonly grown tree fruit in the world....
, rose water and other spice
Spice
A spice is a dried seed, fruit, root, bark, or vegetative substance used in nutritionally insignificant quantities as a food additive for flavor, color, or as a preservative that kills harmful bacteria or prevents their growth. It may be used to flavour a dish or to hide other flavours...
s.
Types of toilet water
- Carbolic Toilet Water — crystallized carbolic acid, 10 parts; essence of millefleurs, 1 part; tincture of quillaya sapouaria, 50 parts; water, 1,000 parts.
- Carmelite water - a toilet water of lemon balm, orange flower, angelica root, and spices prepared for Charles V of FranceCharles V of FranceCharles V , called the Wise, was King of France from 1364 to his death in 1380 and a member of the House of Valois...
, first made in 1379 by the nuns of a CarmeliteCarmelitesThe Order of the Brothers of Our Lady of Mount Carmel or Carmelites is a Catholic religious order perhaps founded in the 12th century on Mount Carmel, hence its name. However, historical records about its origin remain uncertain...
abbey. - Carnation Toilet Water - extract of Jasmine 2.5 pints, extract of Orange Flower 2.5 pints, extract of Rose 5 pints, tincture of Vanilla 20 ounces, Oil of Pink (synthetic) 2 ounces.
- Creole Toilet Water - to 6.75 ounces of orris root cut in small pieces put 1.5 pint of French brandy. Allow this mix to stand for 2 weeks, stirring frequently. Then filter the mix and add 3 pints of French brandy and 3 drops of oil of orange blossoms. Add 0.75 fluid ounce of oil of geranium. Distill and add a little coumarin essence.
- Eau de lavand ambre - a favorite with Spanish women who use it in their hair as well as on the skin after bathing.
- Florida WaterFlorida WaterFlorida Water is an American version of Eau de Cologne, or Cologne Water. It has the same citrus basis as Cologne Water, but shifts the emphasis to sweet orange , and adds spicy notes including lavender and clove...
- based on the nineteenth century formula for a commercially prepared toilet water that mixes floral essential oils. - Geranium Toilet Water - oil of rose geranium, 2 ounces; tincture of orris root, 2 ounces; tincture of musk, 1 droop; rose water, 8 ounces: alcohol, 4 pints.
- Heliotrope Toilet Water - heliotropine, 2 drops; rose oil, 15 minims; bergamot oil, a half drop; neroli oil, 5 minims; alcohol, 10 ounces; water, 6 ounces.
- Home made toilet waters - there are various styles, including lavender toilet water and rose toilet water.
- Honey water - an old-time English toilet water. The British Pharmaceutical Codex gives the formula.
- Jasmine toilet water - made with spirits of cologne, jasmine, and alcohol.
- Kananga WaterKananga WaterKananga Water is a cologne based on a foundation of the essential oil of Ylang Ylang . Plantations for producing Kananga Water were established by the British in Jamaica in the 19th century. Kananga Water, like Florida Water, is used in various rituals including spiritual cleaning, and appeasing...
- is a "holy water" used for purification in revival ceremonies. - Lavender water - a formula called "upper Ten" consists of 1 fluid ounce of oil of lavender, 8 fluid ounces of deodorized alcohol, 3 fluid ounces of rose water, and 80 grains of carbonate of magnesia.
- Nosegay - distilled honey water with cloves, lavender and neroli.
- Oriental Toilet Water - an extensive list of ingredients is given in the Useful and Practical Notes section of National Druggist.
- Rose water toilet water - extract of rose 1 pint, of tuberose 1 pint, of cassia 1 pint, of jasmine 4 ounces, tincture of civet 3 ounces.
- Viennese Cosmetic Toilet Water - bruised almonds, 15 parts; water of orange flower, 62 parts; water of roses, 62 parts. Rub up the almonds with the waters, allow to stand. Later add borate of soda, 1 part; spirit of benzoin, 2 parts. Dissolve.
- White Rose Toilet Water - one ounce of triple extract of white rose, 3 drops of oil of rose, 3 drops of oil of rose geranium, 26 ounces of cologne spirits, and 6 ounces of hot water.
- Hugh C. Muldoonin submitted various toilet water formulas he called "Own-make Toilet Specialties" to the Bulletin Of Pharmacy in 1917.
Sources
- Baker, William Henry, A dictionary of men's wear..., W. H. Baker, 1908
- Better Nutrition magazine, Nov 1999, Vol. 61, No. 11, ISSN 0405-668X, Published by Active Interest Media, Inc.
- Booth, Nancy M., Perfumes, splashes & colognes: discovering & crafting your personal fragrances, Storey Publishing, 1997, ISBN 0882669850
- Bulletin of pharmacy, Volume 36, E.G. Swift, 1922
- Beauty--its attainment and preservation, Butterick Pub. Co., Ltd., 1892
- Consumer reports, Volumes 25-26, Consumers Union of United States, 1960
- Cox, Nancy C., Perceptions of retailing in early modern England, Ashgate Publishing, Ltd., 2007, ISBN 0754637719
- Cristiani, Richard S., Perfumery and kindred arts: A comprehensive treatise on perfumery, H. C. Baird, 1877
- Current opinion, Volume 32, The Current Literature Publishing Co., 1902
- Dewey, Willis Alonzo, Medical century, Volume 14, Medical Century Company., 1906
- Ebert, Albert Ethelbert, The Standard formulary, G.P. Engelhard & Co., 1897
- Fettner, Ann Tucker, Potpourri, incense, and other fragrant concoctions, Workman Pub. Co., 1977, ISBN 0911104976
- Fletcher, Ella Adelia, Woman Beautiful, Kessinger Publishing, 1998, ISBN 0766103803
- Frank, Marc Henry, Eugenics and Sex Relations for Men and Women, Kessinger Publishing, 2005, ISBN 1417989130
- Griffin, Judy, Flowers That Heal: Aromas, Herbs, Essences and Other Secrets of the Fairies, Cosimo, Inc., 2002, ISBN 193104435X
- Grolier, The New book of knowledge, Grolier, 1986, ISBN 0717205177
- Groom, Nigel, The new perfume handbook, Springer, 1997, ISBN 0751404039
- Halpern, Georges M., The Healing Trail: Essential Oils of Madagascar, Basic Health Publications, Inc., 2003, ISBN 1591200164
- Hiss, A. Emil, The new standard formulary:, G.P. Engelhard, 1910
- Keithler, William R., The formulation of cosmetics and cosmetic specialties, Drug and Cosmetic Industry, 1956
- Hopkins, Albert Allis, The Scientific American cyclopedia of formulas: partly based upon the 28th ed. of Scientific American cyclopedia of receipts, notes and queries, Munn & co., inc., 1910
- Lawless, Julia, The illustrated encyclopedia of essential oils: the complete guide to the use of oils in aromatherapy and herbalism, Barnes & Noble, 1995, ISBN 1566199905
- Lillard, Benjamin, Practical druggist and pharmaceutical review of reviews, Volume 40, Lillard & Co., 1922
- Martin, George R., The mentor-world traveler, Volume 10, George R. Martin, 1922
- Miller, William Tyler, Garden & home builder, volume 13, Doubleday, Page and Company, 1911
- Müller, Peter M., Perfumes: art, science, and technology, Springer, 1994, ISBN 0751401579
- Sherrow, Victoria, For appearance' sake: the historical encyclopedia of good looks, beauty, and grooming, Greenwood Publishing Group, 2001, ISBN 1573562041
- Stoddart, David Michael, The scented ape: the biology and culture of human odour, Cambridge University Press, 1990, ISBN 0521395615
- The National Druggist, Volume 42; H. R. Strong, 1912