Baldness

Rub the head night and morning with a decoction of boxwood. One ounce to a pint of water, boil for a quarter of an hour in a covered vessel, cool and strain, add an ounce and a half of Eau de Cologne or lavender water to make it keep.

Or: A valuable stimulant to promote the growth of the hair is made as follows:- Eau de Cologne 2 ounces, tincture of cantharides 2 drachms, oil of rosemary 10 drops. To be rubbed on the bald part every night.

Source: Fray’s Golden Recipes for the use of all ages, E. Fray

Pearl Water for the Complexion

Castile soap, one pound; water, one gallon. Dissolve, then add alcohol, one quart; oil of rosemary and oil of lavender, each two drachms. Mix well.

Source: Our Knowledge Box, ed. G. Blackie

Cologne

Put into a bottle half an ounce of oil of lavender, one drachm of oil of rosemary, two of essence of lemon, two of essence of bergamot, forty drops of oil of cinnamon, and a little musk, if you like it; pour on it three pints of best alcohol.

Source: Domestic Cookery, Useful Receipts, and Hints to Young Housekeepers, Elizabeth E. Lea

Hair Wash

One penny 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.

Source: The Canadian Family Cookbook, Grace E. Denison

A Good Hair Oil

Tincture of Spanish fly one ounce;
Oil of rosemary half an ounce;
Oil of thyme half an ounce;
Best castor oil four ounces;
Cologne water two ounces;
Mix well together.

Source: Household Recipes, Constance Hatton Hart

Hair Lotion for Use After Illness

Spirit of ammonia, 1 1/2 oz.; glycerine, 1 1/2 oz.; oil of rosemary, 1/2 oz.; spirits of wine, 4 oz. To be applied at night with a small sponge.

Source: Still Room Cookery, C.S. Peel

Cologne Water

No. 1:

1 drachm oil lavender.
1 drachm oil bergamot.
2 drachm oil lemon.
2 drachm oil rosemary.
50 drops tincture of musk.
8 drops oil of cinnamon.
8 drops oil of cloves.
1 pint of alcohol.

No. 2:

60 drops oil of lavender.
60 drops oil of bergamot.
60 drops oil of lemon.
60 drops orange-flower water.
1 pint of alcohol.

Cork and shake well.

Source: Common Sense in the Household, Marion Harland

Elder Flower Ointment

Lard, twenty-five pounds; prepared mutton suet, five pounds; melt in an earthen vessel; add elder flower water, three gallons. Agitate for half an hour, and set it aside; the next day gently pour off the water, remelt the ointment, add benzoic acid three drachms; otto of roses, twenty drops; essence of bergamot and oil of rosemary, of each, thirty drops; again agitate well, let it settle for a few minutes, and pour off the clear into pots.

Source: Our Knowledge Box, ed. G. Blackie

Liquid for Curling the Hair

Two ounces scrapings of lead, half ounce Litharge, one-quarter ounce Gum Camphor. Boil all in one pint of soft water for half an hour. Let it cool; pour off liquid and add to it one drachm Rosemary Flowers. Boil all again and strain, when it is ready for use. Apply about once a week.

Source: One Thousand Secrets of Wise and Rich Men Revealed, C. A. Bogardus

Anti-Freckle Lotion

Take tincture of benzoin, 2 ounces; tincture of tolu, 1 ounce; oil of rosemary, 1/2 a drachm. Mix well and bottle. When required to be used, add a teaspoonful of the mixture to about a wine-glassful of water, and apply the lotion to the face or hands, &c., night and morning, carefully rubbing it in with a soft towel.

Source: The Ladies’ Book of Etiquette, and Manual of Politeness, Florence Hartley