Where is the woman who would not be beautiful? If such there be--but
no, she does not exist. From that memorable day when the Queen of
Sheba made a formal call on the late lamented King Solomon until the
recent advent of the Jersey Lily, the power of beauty has controlled
the fate of dynasties and the lives of men. How to be beautiful, and
consequently powerful, is a question of far greater importance to the
feminine mind than predestination or any other abstract subject.
If women are to govern, control, manage, influence and retain the
adoration of husbands, fathers, brothers, lovers or even cousins, they
must look their prettiest at all times.
All women cannot have good features, but they can look well, and it
is possible to a great extent to correct deformity and develop much of
the figure. The first step to good looks is good health, and the
first element of health is cleanliness. Keep clean--wash freely, bathe
regularly. All the skin wants is leave to act, and it takes care of
itself. In the matter of baths we do not strongly advocate a plunge
in ice-cold water; it takes a woman with clear grit and a strong
constitution to endure it. If a hot bath be used, let it come before
retiring, as there is less danger of taking cold afterwards; and,
besides, the body is weakened by the ablution and needs immediate
rest. It is well to use a flesh-brush, and afterwards rinse off the
soap-suds by briskly rubbing the body with a pair of coarse toilet
gloves. The most important part of a bath is the drying. Every part of
the body should be rubbed to a glowing redness, using a coarse crash
towel at the finish. If sufficient friction can not be given, a small
amount of bay rum applied with the palm of the hand will be found
efficacious. Ladies who have ample leisure and who lead methodical
lives, take a plunge or sponge bath three times a week, and a vapor
or sun bath every day. To facilitate this very beneficial practice, a
south or east apartment is desirable. The lady denudes herself, takes
a seat near the window, and takes in the warm rays of the sun. The
effect is both beneficial and delightful. If, however, she be of
a restless disposition, she may dance, instead of basking, in the
sunlight. Or, if she be not fond of dancing, she may improve the
shining hours by taking down her hair and brushing it, using sulphur
water, pulverized borax dissolved in alcohol, or some similar
dressing. It would be surprising to many ladies to see her carefully
wiping the separate locks on a clean, white towel until the dust
of the previous day is entirely removed. With such care it is not
necessary to wash the head, and the hair under this treatment is
invariably good.
One of the most useful articles of the toilet is a bottle of ammonia,
and any lady who has once learned its value will never be without it.
A few drops in the water takes the place of the usual amount of soap,
and cleans out the pores of the skin as well as a bleach will do.
Wash the face with a flesh-brush, and rub the lips well to tone their
color. It is well to bathe the eyes before putting in the spirits, and
if it is desirable to increase their brightness, this may be done by
dashing soapsuds into them. Always rub the eyes, in washing, toward
the nose. If the eyebrows are inclined to spread irregularly, pinch
the hairs together where thickest. If they show a tendency to meet,
this contact may be avoided by pulling out the hairs every morning
before the toilet.
The dash of Orientalism in costume and lace now turns a lady's
attention to her eyelashes, which are worthless if not long and
drooping. Indeed, so prevalent is the desire for this beautiful
feature that hair-dressers and ladies' artists have scores of
customers under treatment for invigorating their stunted eyelashes and
eyebrows. To obtain these fringed curtains, anoint the roots with a
balsam made of two drachms of nitric oxid of mercury mixed with one
of leaf lard. After an application wash the roots with a camel's hair
brush dipped in warm milk. Tiny scissors are used, with which the
lashes are carefully but slightly trimmed every other day. When
obtained, refrain from rubbing or even touching the lids with the
finger-nails. There is more beauty in a pair of well-kept eyebrows
and full, sweeping eyelashes than people are aware of, and a very
inattractive and lusterless eye assumes new beauty when it looks out
from beneath elongated fringes. Many ladies have a habit of rubbing
the corners of their eyes to remove the dust that will frequently
accumulate there. Unless this operation is done with little friction
it will be found that the growth of hair is very spare, and in that
case it will become necessary to pencil the barren corners. Instead
of putting cologne water on the handkerchief, which has come to be
considered a vulgarism among ladies of correct tastes, the perfume is
spent on the eyebrows and lobes of the ears.
If commenced in youth, thick lips may be reduced by compression, and
thin linear ones are easily modified by suction. This draws the blood
to the surfaces, and produces at first a temporary and, later, a
permanent inflation. It is a mistaken belief that biting the lips
reddens them. The skin of the lips is very thin, rendering them
extremely susceptible to organic derangement, and if the atmosphere
does not cause chaps or parchment, the result of such harsh treatment
will develop into swelling or the formation of scars. Above all
things, keep a sweet breath.
Everybody can not have beautiful hands, but there is no plausible
reason for their being ill kept. Red hands may be overcome by soaking
the feet in hot water as often as possible. If the skin is hard and
dry, use tar or oat-meal soap, saturate them with glycerine, and wear
gloves in bed. Never bathe them in hot water, and wash no oftener than
is necessary. There are dozens of women with soft, white hands who do
not put them in water once a month. Rubber gloves are worn in making
the toilet, and they are cared for by an ointment of glycerine and
rubbed dry with chamois-skin or cotton flannel. The same treatment is
not unfrequently applied to the face with the most successful results.
If such methods are used, it would be just as well to keep the
knowledge of it from the gentlemen. We know of one beautiful lady who
has not washed her face for three years, yet it is always clean, rosy,
sweet and kissable. With some of her other secrets she gave it to her
lover for safe keeping. Unfortunately, it proved to be her last gift
to that gentleman, who declared in a subsequent note that "I can not
reconcile my heart and my manhood to a woman who can get along without
washing her face."