ROYAL LOVE OF PERFUMES AND COSMETICS.

Auckland Star, Volume XXXV, Issue 50, 27 February 1904, Page 11 (Supplement)

ROYAL LOVE OF PERFUMES AND COSMETICS.

Tie Empress of Russia, according to a. Paris report, spends £2000 a year on perfumes,- pastes, soaps, and toilet ■waters, which she has sent to her exclusively from the French capital. Violet is Her Majesty's favourite scent, but her taste in perfumes is so catholic and general that every day she vaporises the royal apartments witfi the concentrated essences of lilac, jasmine, narcissus, jonquil, tuberose, and white violets. It is not surprising to learn that the air is so heavily impregnated with scent that the members of Her Majesty's suite are occasionally indisposed and have to retire from her presence. Tae Empress' toilet water is perfumed ■■with violets, which are gathered specially at Grasse, between five and seven o'clock in the eventcjj —the time when, according to Her Majesty, their perfume is the most delicate. The Queen mother of Spain Is particnlariy fond of the essence of a special var-" iety of orchid, which is only found in the Philippines. But since the Spanish-Ameri-can war the Queen has lost her liking for. this perfume, and now only enjoys "can d'Espagne," specially made for thor in Madrid. The Queen of Koumania, who is naturally proud of her white hair an<3 fresh complexion, which, in spite- of her GO years, does not betray a single wrinkle, attributes it to a marvellous toilet water, of which "Carmen Sylva" alone knows thtr secret. The water, it is added, is believed to be made from flowers gathered in an unknown forest by certain women sworn to secrecy, vnho collect the precious leaves under the watchful eye of a cordon on sentinels charged to keep away inquisitive intruders.