COSMETICS IN INDIA retaining an optimum moisture in the cream. The careful choice of certain emulsifying agents also helps in attaining a high degree of emulsification (hence contributing to the retention of moisture and stability of the product). But all these mean a lot of manipulation, requiring specialised knowledge at every stage. It has been customary with many Indian manufacturers and retailers to keep the cream jars inverted so that, should the product sink in the unopened jars during storage and/or shelf-life, the jars may appear full when opened ! Hold the jars erect and lightly tap them on the palm you will be surprised to find that quite a portion of the jars will be empty. No perfect remedy has yet been found for this defect, which seems to be peculiar to India, and people have taken for granted that this defect is an intrinsic property of the vanishing cream itself. H•tIR OILS Other cosmetic preparations, like cold creams, lipsticks, rouges, nail polishes and enamels, liquid shampoos, deodorants, etc., are slowly finding their place in the make-up kit. Another class of cosmetic preparations, which compares very favourably with vanishing creams in popularity, i• represented by hairdressing prepara- tions, perfumed and medicated oils representing the most important items. Medicated oils have been very well accepted in the Indian market, the oils most commonly used for the purpose being castor oil, sesame oil and coconut oil. There are many more specialised hair oils which enjoy far greater popularity than any other hairdressing preparations in India, because of their real or supposed medicinal properties. The manufacture and use of such oils have been known in India since time immemorial. Most of them are prepared by maceration processes (some, with j asmin, rose and henna per- fumes, being prepared by a modified enfleurage process). There are many medicinal herbs like Trifle, Shekakai, Brahmi, Jaborandi, Amla, etc., which are used in the preparation of hair tonics and, in effect, these have stood the test of time very well. Sesame oil has been the most commonly used base for such oils, though one firm specialises in using coconut oil in their preparation. Hair oils are prepared in India by a number of processes, viz.: (1) hot maceration process (2) cold maceration process (3) water extraction process (4) modified enfleurage process. In the hot maceration process, the dried medicaments are crushed to a coarse powder and soaked in the oil base. The oil-medicament mixture is then slowly heated, with constant stirring, taking care to see that no charring of the oil takes place. When the oil has extracted all the medicinal principles (which stage can be judged by the colour and odour of the oil) the residue is allowed to settle after removing from the fire. The clear oil is drawn off

54 JOURNAL OF THE SOCIETY OF COSMETIC CHEMISTS from the top and filtered. Needless to say, the oil used must be fresh and low in free fatty acids, etc. The danger of the oil becoming charred always accompanies the process. In the cold maceration process, the crushed herbs are freed from unwanted portions and allowed to remain in the purified oil for several days with constant stirring. When the oil has absorbed the active principles of the medicinal herbs, as will be evident from the colour and odour of the treated oil, it is filtered, dried and bottled. The product obtained is of very high quality, and is correspondingly expensive. In the water extraction process, the active principles of the herbs are first extracted by boiling them with water and the extract further boiled with the oil base. This process does not seem to be very effective, as many of the constituents which would have been easily taken up by the oil may not be fully compatible with water. Further, the oil will be in direct contact with Water, traces of which, if left in the oil, invite problems of rancidtry. The only advantage of this process is that it is a hot maceration process without the risk of charring. The modified enfleurage process, as practised in India, is based on the fact that fresh sesame seed kernel has a very good a•nity for the volatile constituents of flowers and leaves. Bags of sesame seeds are soaked in water for about two to three hours, by which time the husk becomes loosened. The bags are then removed from water and gently rubbed by hand, when all the husk separates. The bags are then emptied into large tubs of water. The light husks which float are removed by skimming and the heavier seed kernels are thoroughly dried in the sun. The seeds thus treated form the base for absorbing the odorous constituents of flowers. Only fresh flowers are selected for the process. A thin layer of seeds is spread over a clean sur- face and over it is spread a layer of fresh flowers. A man sits at one corner of the room and skilfully throws the seeds and flowers in alternate layers on the ground in such a way that the layers are very uniform in thickness. After all the flowers are covered up like this, the whole set-up is left undis- turbed for a good twenty-four hours, when most of the essential oil from the flowers will have been transferred to the seed kernels. The residual flowers are then separated by sifting and the seeds treated over again w•ith a fresh batch of flowers. (The used flowers, which have not lost their entire content of essential oil, are used to pre-treat fresh seeds before the latter are charged with fresh flowers.) When enough of the essential oil has been absorbed by the seeds--a stage which the operator knows by experience-- the seeds are dried in the sun to remove traces of moisture and stored in bags. They are crushed as and when required and the freshly crushed oil has the fine, delicate odour of the natural flower, with a background of the warm sesame oil note. The chances of rancidtry developing in the dry seeds