Milk of Roses, 1865

MILK OF ROSES Milk of roses, as it is called--a very stupid title--is an inexpensive wash, and really efficacious. 

The materials are--one ounce of almonds, five ounces of rose water, one ounce of spirits of wine, half a drachm of curd soap, and several drops of attar of roses. Pound the almonds, which should be well dried after blanching, or the pounding in question will be difficult, till they become a soft paste; then pound the soap and mix intimately with the almonds. Then add the rose water and the spirit. Strain through fine muslin, and add the perfume--the attar of roses. 

--The Handbook for Ladies' Maids (1865)

In modern terms, that's 1 oz almond, 5 oz rose water, 1 oz brandy/ethanol, 1/16 oz soap, and a few drops of essence of rose (rose oil). The only differences from the milk of almonds recipe are the extra 1 oz rose water, the alcohol, and the attar of roses.

I did make a point of drying the blanched almonds more thoroughly (letting them sit overnight after towel-drying, instead of using immediately). It does make them slightly easier to crush, but the whole almonds still tend to bounce around as you start crushing them.

Milk of Roses

I didn't bother photographing the intermediate steps, since they look exactly like the milk of almonds steps--blanch almonds, crush in mortar, shave off soap, pound that into the almonds, add liquids, strain. I used brandy for the "spirits of wine", which gives a faint brown cast to the final product (though it isn't visible in the photograph). While I was straining it, the intermediate liquid had mingled rose, brandy and almond scents, but after adding 5 drops of rose essence, the final product smelled only and completely of roses. 

As with the milk of almonds, the only immediate effect I noticed was the scent. Four hours after dotting a little on my hands, I'm still surrounded by an aroma of roses. 

Edited to add: the spirits of wine apparently serve a preservative function. I made this and the milk of almonds at the same time, and after approximately two weeks the milk of almonds is going off, while the milk of roses is still sweet.