SC - manual ? #4, #5

[lilinah at earthlink.net]

I don't know Spanish, so i can't exactly help you with the 
translations, but i have experience blending all natural incenses and 
scented oils and making soaps...


4.  Soap for the face
(you didn't translate this, so i'm tossing it in)

>2 ounces of white soap (lye?) scalded in water made within a
>cloth and cast in a cloth, and a quarter part of
>almaciga/another tree gum thingy,

Given its form, i suspect that "almaciga" derives from Arabic, which 
i also don't really know. Could it possibly be mastic, which is a 
Mediterranean "tree gum thingy"?

>and 1/8 of incense (not specific)

"Incense" frequently means frankincense in the Renaissance recipes i've seen.


>#5 Soap for the hands
>make paste with 2 oz. of Chipre(?) soap.

Chypre, which refers to the island of Cyprus, and pronounced 
"SHEE-pruh", has long been a long popular scent used in soaps and 
colognes. It is a blend of essential oils. The basic scent in Chypre 
is oakmoss, which has a wonderful smell. Unfortunately, the 
geographical region that has been the primary source for oakmoss in 
the 20th century was heavily contaminated by the "problem" with 
Chernobyl.

Other common components are vetivert, sandalwood, labdanum, and 
patchouli, although not all of them are in every Chypre blend and a 
Chypre blend can contain some other components (i've seen bergamot 
and lavender listed as possible additions).

Chypre's woodsy, mossy smell makes it one of my favorite scent 
families and it is a common scent component in women's fragrances 
characterized as "sporty" and in men's colognes today.

Now, i can't guarantee that Chypre as i know it dates back to the 
time of this manual, but it would be something to look into...

So the Chipre soap could be Chypre scented soap. Or maybe it's a soap 
imported from or imputed to be from Cyprus...


Both of your recipes use pre-made soap - white soap in #4 and Chypre 
soap in #5. It isn't unusual to use pre-made soap in soap recipes 
over the last few centuries.

While i've made soap from scratch, i've also made soap by grating my 
left-over soap scraps in a blender and melting them down in a 
saucepan with honey and olive oil, then poured the mush into molds. 
Many modern soap makers also use pre-made soaps to make their own, 
too.

Now, i know that just because people in the 20th century do this 
doesn't mean Spaniards in the - when is this manual from? 16th C.? 
15th C.? - but at least it is a possibility - and the text of this 
manual suggests they did.

Anahita al-shazhiyya