SURE AIDS TO BEAUTY
To give all the beauty recipes I have tested and can personally
recommend would require three or four volumes as large as this. There
are many helpful ones which I have been unable to find room for in the
chapters where they rightly belong. So I am going to group here in this
last chapter a number of “Sure Aids to Beauty” which I feel confident
every sensible woman will be glad to know.
Among the recipes and bits of advice which I can least afford to miss
the opportunity of passing on to other women are many which have to do
with the hair. The woman who wants to wear her hair parted, but finds
this manner unbecoming because the roots of the hair are darker than
the ends, will welcome this treatment:
Shampoo at least once a week. Use the juice of two lemons in a quart of
water for the shampoo. Occasionally substitute for the lemon juice a
tablespoonful of ammonia. Rub this well into the roots when washing the
hair.
The best way to make dead brown hair rich and glossy is to upbuild
one’s general health. The hair and teeth are fairly safe barometers of
the vitality. Abundant, glossy hair is usually the index of perfect
health. Take the tonics of plenty of fresh air, of exercise out of
doors, of simple, nourishing food, and your hair will share your vigor.
Much brushing should make it more lustrous. To darken it some brunettes
wash it in this:
Claret, 1 quart; sulphate of iron, ⅛ ounce.
No one could ask for a more satisfactory shampoo than the following:
Water, one cupful; one egg; tincture of green soap, 1 teaspoonful;
cologne, 1 teaspoonful. Mix thoroughly and rub well into the scalp.
A simple and harmless hair dye that has been vouched for by honest folk
is the water in which potato parings have been boiled. Walnut stain,
prepared in the same way, is uninjurious. Experiment until you have
secured the right shade. But I would advise stimulating the hair by
massaging the scalp every day and by vigorous brushing.
To get rid of dandruff without making your hair either oily or dry,
first give the scalp frequent shampoos. Every other day, or even daily,
is not too often, for a week or two, if the case be an obstinate one.
After shampooing and on other nights rub carefully into the scalp a
tablespoonful or more of the following:
Bay rum, 2½ ounces; olive oil, ½ ounce; tincture of cantharides, ½
ounce.
Sometimes after a serious illness like typhoid fever one’s scalp
becomes very dry. For such a condition massage well into the roots
every morning and evening the following:
Oil of sweet almonds, 45 grams; essence of rosemary, 45 grams; oil of
mace, 2 grams.
Brown hair that is becoming streaked with gray may be darkened with
henna water. One handful of henna to a quart of water is the right
proportion. Boil down until there is only a pint of liquid.
The best method of shampooing the hair is, in my opinion, to rub two or
three handfuls, or as much as is needed, through the hair and upon the
scalp. Draw the long ends of the hair together to the top of the scalp
and lather well about the neck. Massage the hair well with the soap.
Then pour upon the head pitcher after pitcher of warm water, or play
upon it with the bath spray. Gradually reduce the temperature of the
water until it is cool, though never cold. Cold water causes a shock to
the scalp that is detrimental to the nerves.
I have told of the simplest shampoo I know. For brunettes who wish to
preserve the glossy duskiness of their hair, this is beneficial:
Rum or red wine, 1 wineglassful; yolk of one egg.
There is no arbitrary usage in the matter of singeing the ends of the
hair. When the ends are split singe them. There is no need at any
other time. But I have noticed that the need is liable to occur in my
hair about once in two months. The singeing should always precede the
shampoo, for the odor of burnt hair is not a desirable fragrance.
One word more concerning the hair. Be scrupulous about your brushes. If
necessary dip them into a bowlful of lather made of white castile soap
every day after the morning brushing. A half dozen drops of ammonia in
the water will help to cleanse them. Rinse them thoroughly, so that no
particle of the soap remains.
I have said that the scalp must be kept cool. Brushing helps to
preserve this condition. I have known girls, who came home tired after
a day at business, to wrap a few bits of ice in a towel and place it
upon the flushed and burning scalp, feverish from a day of intense
mental activity. This soon cools the scalp, relieves the congestion in
the head and sends the blood dashing back toward other centers. Massage
also relieves the congestion.
Avoid a dry scalp as much as you do a hot one. Indeed, the dryness
is the effect of the heat. This can be corrected by massage. Lotions
containing oil are many. If the triweekly massage fails to release the
oil from the sebaceous glands there may be a few applications of this:
Castor oil, 2 ounces; alcohol (95 per cent.), 1½ pints; oil of
bergamot, 10 drops.
If you insist on using a dye to hide the approaching gray hairs, I
recommend the time-honored walnut stain, made as follows:
Walnut bark, 1 ounce; alum, ½ ounce; water, 1 pint. Boil the bark in
the water for an hour. Add the alum to “set” the color. Apply the
liquid with a sponge or bit of cotton. Wrap an old veil about the head
or wear a night cap after the application, on retiring, else the stain
will perform its functions on the bed linen as well as your hair.
I would much rather recommend your massaging the scalp vigorously and
using one of these applications to retard the appearance of gray hair,
for I believe in tonics, but not in hair dyes:
Bay rum, 2 ounces; sulphur, ½, ounce. Wash the hair and the roots in
the liquid. Sulphur is a well known agent in retarding grayness of hair.
Brown hair that is fading into gray is freshened by this wash:
Claret, 3 ounces; sulphate of iron, ½ dram. Let the iron dissolve
thoroughly in the wine. Wash the hair as frequently as necessary in it.
Persian women who want black hair apply a paste of henna to the hair,
leaving it on a half hour or more. They then wash this off and apply a
paste of indigo, leaving it on at least three times as long. When this
is washed off they oil the hair, usually with perfumed olive oil. A
simpler method is to mix three parts of indigo with one part of henna,
adding enough water to make a paste. The longer it is on the hair the
darker it grows.
Camphorated chalk is cleansing for the teeth and tonic for the gums,
but I do not advise using it too often. Once a day, and that at night,
is often enough to use tooth powder, for there are few powders that do
not more or less wear the surface of the enamel, as constant grinding
wears away what is much harder than teeth, a stone. Powders are
objectionable in one respect. If strong, they cause the lips to pucker
and dry unbecomingly. Instead of using powder so often, rinse the mouth
often with strong salt water, especially after a meal, and brush the
teeth with a brush dipped into salt water, or with water in which a
pinch of bicarbonate of soda has been dissolved.
When the teeth are in fairly good condition this simple powder is
sufficient:
Precipitated chalk, 5 ounces; powdered orris root, 3 ounces; camphor
gum, 1 ounce.
This is a tonic to teeth and gums:
Magnesia, 2 ounces; powdered orris root, 1 ounce; bicarbonate of soda,
½ ounce; ground cloves, 5 drams; green anise seed powder, 5 drams;
powdered charcoal, 4 drams.
This is one of the strongest of tooth powders and should be used only
occasionally and in extreme cases:
Precipitate of chalk, 3 ounces; crushed cuttle fish bone, 3 ounces;
powdered orris root, 2 ounces; myrrh, 2 ounces; burnt hartshorn, 2
ounces.
This is a remedy for receding gums, and for those that are sensitive
and addicted to bleeding:
Sugar of milk, 3 ounces; tannic acid, 3 drams; red lake, 1 dram; oil of
anise seed, 8 drops; oil of mint, 8 drops; oil of neroli, 5 drops.
Salt water, strong and warm, is an excellent mouth bath. So is
bicarbonate of soda in a one part to three solution. This is the famous
Eau de Botot:
Alcohol, 1¾ quarts; anise seed, 100 grams; ground cinnamon, 35 grams;
ground cloves, 32 grams; essence of mint, 20 grams; cochineal, 10
grams; quinquina, 10 grams.
This is a mouth wash easily prepared at home:
Water (filtered if possible), 1 quart; alcohol, 1 pint; salicylic acid,
7½ drams; oil of peppermint, 15 grains; orange flower water, 15 grains.
This myrrh lotion is one of the best for the mouth:
Orange flower water, 5 ounces; tincture of myrrh, 3 grams; pulverized
gum arabic, 2½ drams; pulverized gum mastic, 2 drams; balsam of Peru, ½
dram.
A red spot on the white of the eye is a sign of inflammation and that
indicates some strain of the eye. First remove the strain. Give the
eyes all the rest possible. Sleep more than usual. Give up sewing and
reading for a time. Take a midday nap if you can. If not close the eyes
as often as circumstances will permit for a few seconds at a time. Keep
them closed while on a train. Study how to get the best light you can
on your task. Avoid the direct light upon the eye. Bathe the eyes with
an eyecup in a mixture of boric acid, 1 ounce; rose water, 6 ounces.
Keep cool bandages as cold tea leaves or finely cracked ice on the
eyes. Rest, rest, rest, the eyes. If a few weeks of this care does not
clear the spot from the eye consult an oculist for the trouble may be a
deepseated one.
You cannot change the color of your eyes, but you can accentuate their
color by taking especial care of your eyebrows and eyelashes, so that
they will grow longer and thicker and lend their shadows to the eyes.
Brush them every night and morning with an eyebrow brush to keep them
free from dust. The brush may be dipped into lanolin at night. There
will be plenty of time for the lanolin to be absorbed by the skin
during the night.
Since I advise against hair dyes I can not conscientiously advocate
dyeing the eyebrows and eyelashes. To massage lanolin into the eyebrows
and touch the edges of the eyelids with the same may in time cause the
growth of new hair. As it comes in it may be a trifle darker. That is
the only experiment I advise.
Eyebrows that look uneven and “scraggly” should be treated every night
with an eyebrow brush dipped in this mixture:
Olive oil, 1 ounce; tincture of cantharides, ½ dram; oil of nutmeg, ¼
ounce; oil of rosemary, ¼ ounce.
If by any accident the lids have become granular, as may have chanced
to be the result of excessive golf, or excessive automobiling, the
wholesome girl does not permit the disorder to grow. She knows that
rest is to some extent corrective of the evil. If this does not quickly
remove it I advise seeing a physician at once. I cannot conscientiously
recommend any lotion for a disorder so serious and disfiguring. A
physician’s advice is necessary.
For heavy, flabby, soft eyelids, which will wrinkle early into a
prematurely aged appearance, the wholesome girl seeks first the extra
sleep and rest that are the greatest tissue repairers. To gently assist
nature in the work of rejuvenation she may resort to this ointment:
Fresh lard, 150 grains; sulphate of potash of aluminum, 25 grains;
tannin, 10 grains; borax, 20 grains.
If her eyes be inflamed and extra amount of rest does not banish the
unlovely condition she may supplement the rest with this applied--from
three to five drops--by an eye-dropper:
Distilled water, 50 grams; quince seed mucilage, 5 grams; water of
cherry laurel, 3 grams; borax, ½ gram. This is recommended to be used
with three times the quantity of water by the famous Dr. Vaucaire.
Another French remedy is this compound:
Distilled water, 1 pint; sulphate of zinc, 10 centigrams; orris root
powder, 1 gram.
If on awakening in the morning the wholesome girl, who is also an
intelligent girl, finds that her eyelashes are encrusted by secretions
from the eyes, she will first soften those encrustations by rosewater,
if that be available. If not, by warm, strong salt water, or by equal
parts of witch hazel and water. There are many ointments recommended
for such purposes. This is by Dr. Vaucaire, an acknowledged authority
on the care of beauty. It should be applied after the lids and
lashes have been washed in warm water. Never attempt to remove the
encrustations while dry or the lashes will come with them:
Oxide of zinc, 10 centigrams; oil of sweet almonds, 100 centigrams;
subacetate of lead, 10 centigrams; vaseline, 10 grams; tincture of
benzoin, 12 drops.
While Dr. Vaucaire prescribed this ointment he preferred to administer
it himself, and he advised the greatest caution about the application
of it lest some part of it get into the eyes. In this, as in other
formulæ of this nature, I urge my readers to have the compounds
prepared by the best pharmacists.
The eyebrows may be made thicker by massaging them every night with
finger tips that have been dipped into lanolin. It promotes their
growth to brush them daily with an eyebrow brush. This removes the
dust that collects about and chokes the roots of the hair. The growth
of eyelashes is stimulated by brushing them daily with an eyebrow
brush dipped into lanolin. Keep the eyes cool and clean by washing
them morning and evening in an eye-cup filled with a mild solution of
boracic acid, a teaspoonful of the pulverized boracic acid to a pint of
water. Pour the boiling water over the acid and strain it.
To make the eyelashes grow dip a soft brush or cloth into lanolin and
touch the edges of the lids with it. Repeat this every night before
retiring.
I am opposed to face steaming, except as a last resort, when the pores
are deeply clogged with dust. The evils of face steaming are two. It
causes the skin to relax, stretch and become flabby and eventually to
form wrinkles. And it so relaxes the pores that some of them refuse to
draw together again, leaving unsightly holes in the face. Apply with a
piece of medicated gauze the following:
Camphor water, ½ pint; glycerine, ¼ ounce; borax, ⅛ ounce.
For a face that is beginning to look heavy I advise exercise out of
doors and abstinence from rich foods. A chin band of rubber or of
strong muslin worn at night will help to support the muscles, also
prevent one of the habits which produce sagging cheek muscles. Form
the habit of holding your head high, with chin a little uptilted. The
application of cloths wet in cold water makes the muscles firmer. Many
pat the face with ice. Others pass the ice over it with long upward
strokes from chin to forehead. The ice should be wrapped in cotton or
in a piece of muslin.
A red nose is caused usually by excessive use of alcohol or by some
form of indigestion or imperfect circulation. Loosening your clothing
wherever it is tight, whether it be in collars, garters, belts, gloves
or shoes. Eat plain foods, little meat and many vegetables and salads
and much fruit. Drink water very freely.
You can often improve the shape of an ugly nose by gently pulling it,
beginning at the bridge, between the eyes, and pressing the cushions of
the thumb and first finger against the sides of the nose and drawing
them slowly, gently, but with firm pressure, to the tip. Dip a soft
complexion brush into green soap, which you probably know is a liquid,
and scrub the parts affected by blackheads. The more obstinate of
them may have to be pressed gently out with the fingers or a comedone
extractor. Afterward apply cold cream to heal the skin irritated by the
treatment.
For an oily nose try dusting it with this powder:
Bicarbonate of soda, 2 ounces; pulverized orris root, 1 ounce;
pulverized spermaceti, 1 dram. Mix thoroughly and keep in a dry place.
A sparing diet chiefly of fruit and liquids and copious water drinking
should soon clear the complexion. Alternate applications of hot and
cold cloths to the skin help to clear it. A pinch of iodide of lime
in a glass of water, in daily doses, for a week, will aid in the body
cleansing which is necessary to banish the tendency to boils. A few
Turkish baths will aid the work.
For blackheads I sometimes recommend scrubbing the affected parts with
green soap, using a complexion brush. When they have been softened,
pressing out the blackheads with the side of a needle that has been
sterilized by passing it through a flame or through boiling water, is
the best and simplest means. After pressing out the blackheads place
cold cream on the affected parts to heal the irritation.
I have known double chins to be removed by bandaging them persistently
in cloths wet in witchhazel, which is an astringent. Also press the
muscles upward from the side of the face, using all the strength you
can coax into your hands.
Cocoa butter in itself does not cause the growth of hair, but friction
of rubbing any cream into the skin may cause the growth of hair if one
is inclined to such growth.
Lemon juice should remove tan. It is too strong to use undiluted on the
face. Use an equal quantity of water or of rose water with it.
This is a good lotion for decreasing the size of open pores, also for
checking the greasiness of the face:
Rose water, 3 ounces; elder flower water, 1 ounce; tincture of benzoin,
¼ ounce; tannic acid, 5 grains.
All save oily faces are improved by the use of cold cream. But I know
no reason for using a cloth in applying it. The cloth wastes the cream,
and using it will probably cause the face to wrinkle. Pat the cold
cream into the face with your palms or the cushions of your fingers.
There is no unfailing remedy for superfluous hair on the face, for
even electrolysis sometimes fails. Try various remedies until the
hair is killed. Tweezers often remove the hair permanently. Try them
first, pulling each hair out gently, being sure first to sterilize the
tweezers by passing them through a flame or dipping them into boiling
water. After removing the hairs bathe the skin with witchhazel or pat
into it a soothing cold cream. Washing the skin repeatedly with equal
parts of peroxide of hydrogen and water weakens the hairs, as well as
bleaches them, so that they will be far less conspicuous than if dark.
I advise no woman to undertake increasing the size of the bust without
first consulting her physician. If he thinks it wise apply with muslin
cloths to the breast this lotion:
Lanolin, 50 grams; vaseline, 50 grams; tincture of benzoin, 20 drops;
iodide of potassium, 3 grams.
Here is an excellent remedy for an oily skin, especially on the nose,
where such a condition often enlarges the pores. It is a drying lotion
which tends to draw the pores together and is made like this:
Rose water, 6 ounces; elderflower water, 2 ounces; tincture of benzoin,
½ ounce; tannic acid, 10 grains.
Only extreme measures will relieve an aggravated case of blackheads
or acne. With a flesh brush dipped into a lather made of warm water
and white castile soap, rub the afflicted part of the face vigorously.
If the ugly black specks have not then become loosened it will be
necessary to steam them. Fill a bowl with hot water, press the face
into the bowl, just avoiding touching the face with the water, and
cover the head and bowl with a large thick towel, so that the steam
will not escape. This should be done for from ten to twenty minutes.
When this bath is finished the acne will be so loosened that it will
be possible to press the blackheads out bit by bit, using a sterilized
needle. Afterward massage the part of the face treated with pure cold
cream.
A famous French skin specialist recommends for acne:
Salicylic acid, 50 grams; pure lard, 50 grams.
Women who fear to apply to their faces anything which might grow hair
may safely use the following cold cream:
Almond oil, 2 ounces; rose water, 4 ounces; spermaceti, ½ ounce; white
wax, ¼ ounce; tincture of benzoin, 2½ drams; elderflower water, 10
drops.
Cocoanut oil is a good substitute for the more expensive cold creams.
It both cleanses and feeds the skin. But be sure the oil you buy is
absolutely pure.
Unsightly, bristle-like hairs on the chin can often be removed by
massaging the skin around them with cold cream or with olive oil.
Then sterilize a pair of tweezers by holding them in boiling water or
dipping them into peroxide of hydrogen, and pull out the hairs one by
one with short, sharp jerks. Bathe the skin from which they have been
removed with peroxide or some healing lotion and anoint it with cold
cream to relieve the irritation.
If the flesh about your nails breaks and tears it is because you have
permitted it to get too hard. Press it back from the nails after
washing the hands. Meanwhile, rub cold cream into the skin at the base
of the nails before retiring; or soak them in a bowl of olive oil daily
until they become soft.
For a scalp wash for summer I know nothing better nor more grateful
than this:
Steep a pound of rosemary twigs in boiling water. Let them remain in
the water for twelve hours. Strain the liquor and add to it half an
ounce of Jamaica rum.
This, my favorite hair tonic, has the approval of experts in this
country and in Europe:
Sulphate of quinine, 30 grains; tincture of cantharides, 1 ounce;
glycerine, 1 ounce; powdered borax, 15 grains; alcohol, 2 pints; water,
2 pints. Dissolve the quinine in alcohol and the borax in water. Add
the other ingredients. Allow the mixture to stand for one week. Then
filter through paper.
In summer when too ardent attention from the sun makes your skin coarse
try wearing at night a face mask coated with this honey paste:
Ground barley, 3 ounces; honey, 1 ounce; white of one egg. Wash off in
the morning with tepid rose water.
Disfiguring blotches sometimes appear on the forehead without any
apparent cause. I have known them to be removed by applying the
following mixture with a tiny camel’s hair brush:
Glycerine, ½ ounce; rosemary water, 1¼ ounce; carbolic acid, 10 drops.
For a bust that is not firm, this preparation is sold in France:
Oil of sweet almonds, 100 grams; white wax, 50 grams; tincture of
benzoin, 25 grains; rosewater, 25 grams; pulverized tannin, 15 grams.
For enlarging an undeveloped or atrophied bust, Dr. Vaucaire recommends
a flesh-making diet. He forbids the application of any pastes or
lotions to the meager breasts, but prescribes this internal remedy:
Liquid extract of galega (goat’s rue), 10 grams; laco phosphate of
lime, 10 grams; tincture of fennel, 10 grams; simple syrup, 400 grams.
He advises two soupspoonfuls in water before each meal.
The drinking of malt extracts is recommended by some specialists.
Personally, I advise all exercises that develop the chest for this
purpose. One of the best is called “ceiling gazing.” With the head
bent as far back as possible, stare steadily at the ceiling, breathing
deeply while counting for each inhalation ten, for each holding of the
air in the lungs ten, and for each exhalation ten.
Bathing the face with a mild solution of borax and water will help dry
any superfluous oil. Relief for this unpleasant condition will also be
found in this lotion:
Sulphate of zinc, 2 grains; distilled water, 1 ounce; compound tincture
of lavender, 8 minims.
This or the lotion which follows should be applied after bathing the
face, and two or three times a day as convenient:
Camphor water, 1 pint; pure glycerine, ½ ounce; borax, ¼ ounce.
Either cologne, alcohol, glycerine and water or tincture of benzoin is
a good astringent for aiding in the reduction of a double chin. Or you
might try for the same trouble the following:
Vaseline, 100 grams; lanolin, 100 grams; iodide of potassium, 6 grams;
tincture of benzoin, 1 ounce.
I advise feeding arms that are too thin with olive oil or cocoa butter.
Both of these are fattening agents. Patience and thorough daily
applications of one of these will greatly improve the thin arms. But
the patient should try exercise also. Holding the arms straight out at
the sides and moving them round and round in a circle is a good arm
developer.
Any of the following creams are excellent for massage purposes:
Oil of sweet almonds, 500 grams; spermaceti, 500 grams; white wax, 100
grams; rosewater, 50 grams.
This is especially good for the neck, hands and arms which are to be
uncovered that night:
Glycerine, 1 ounce; rosewater, 1 ounce; oxide of zinc, 1 ounce.
The old-fashioned Nadine cream has a strong claim upon many beauties of
many nations. It is made this way:
Lanolin, 4 ounces; cocoa butter, 4 ounces; glycerine, 4 ounces;
elderflower water, 3 ounces; rosewater, 5 ounces.
This, valuable for its whitening as well as softening effect, is of
English origin:
Milk of white almonds, 3 ounces; strained honey, 2 ounces; cold cream,
4 ounces; orange flower water, 5 ounces.
From England, too, comes this recipe, which has been adopted in
slightly modified form by France:
Essence of cucumber, 2 ounces; juice of cucumbers, 2 ounces;
spermaceti, 1 ounce; white wax, 1 ounce; olive oil, 1 ounce; almond
oil, 1 ounce.
This is a well-known and valuable massage cream:
Expressed oil of almonds, 9 fluid ounces; rose water, 3 fluid ounces;
fine sodium borate, 33 grains; spermaceti, 1 ounce avoirdupois, 400
grains; white wax, 1 ounce avoirdupois, 370 grains.
For making the limbs plump enough to correspond with a well developed
body two methods are practicable. One is to rub olive oil into the
skin every night before retiring. Or, if you prefer, a cold cream.
Developing exercises that will enlarge the muscles are, for the arms,
twirling them in large circles at the sides and holding them straight
from the shoulders. For enlarging the muscles of the legs a similar
exercise from the hips, swinging the leg in large, free circles, is
valuable.
I am often asked if powder injures the skin. Pure rice powder can do no
harm if removed at night with cold cream. Washing the face with water
does not so effectually remove powder. Take the powder off with cold
cream, which mixes better with it. Then cleanse the face with warm
water and almond meal or oatmeal, or if you prefer it, with soap.
Paris physicians, also those of the Russian court, have withdrawn their
objections to perfumes, and luxurious women are using them more than
ever. They are more discreet and discriminating than formerly, relying
more upon perfumes used after the bath, when they can be well absorbed
into the skin, and causing them to remain longer than by a hit-or-miss
application of them upon the hair or clothing. This, borrowed from
England, is a delightful tonic applied to the skin after the bath:
Rosemary, 6 ounces; orange peel ground into fine powder, ½ ounce;
thyme, ½ ounce; rosewater, 1 pint; spirit of wine, 1 quart.
Bath bags filled with equal parts of orris root powder and almond
meal and bran are tossed into the baths instead of soap, and are more
refreshing and quite as whitening.
An anæmic friend finds her tepid bath much more refreshing by adding to
it a wine glass of this:
Eau de cologne, 1 ounce; spirits of camphor, ½ ounce; tincture of
benzoin, ¼ ounce.
This is a new compound for the bath which I have used for my
refreshment when fatigued from travel:
Bromide of potassium, 1 gram; carbonate of calcium, 1 gram; carbonate
of soda, 300 grams; sulphate of soda, 5 grams; sulphate of iron, 3
grams; sulphate of aluminum, 1 gram; perfume to taste, either oil
of lavender, oil of thyme, oil of rosemary, 1 gram; tincture of
stavisacre, 50 grams.
An anæmic condition is not always the cause of the lips having a blue,
parched appearance. Sometimes the cold weather will make them look so.
Anoint them morning and night and before going out of doors with this
solution:
Honey, 1 ounce; eau de cologne, ½ ounce.
Or with this salve:
Olive oil, 1 ounce; white wax, 1 ounce; spermaceti, 1 dram.
A good salve for freshening chapped lips is:
Spermaceti, ½ ounce; oil of sweet almonds, 1 ounce; white wax, ¼ ounce;
cochineal, 1 drop; oil of roses, 6 drops.
Good for the same purpose is this:
Olive oil, 5 drams; white wax, 5 drams; alkanet chips, ½ dram.
Habits that mar beauty are as the little foxes that destroy the vines.
They are many and small and mischievous. I mention some of them
warningly for careless beauties, as signposts point the way on country
roads:
Don’t eat too much.
Don’t chew the lips.
Don’t bite the nails.
Don’t sit on your foot.
Don’t eat many sweets.
Don’t read in a dim light.
Don’t bathe in a cold room.
Don’t neglect a daily outing.
Don’t read or write facing a light.
Don’t sleep in ill-ventilated rooms.
Don’t read when the eyes are tired.
Don’t read or write on a moving train.
Don’t open the eyes upon a bright light.
Don’t stand with the shoulders forward.
Don’t stand with the abdomen thrust out.
Don’t let your hands or feet remain cold.
Don’t make faces when you talk or listen.
Don’t drink much wine. The less the better.
Don’t neglect to bathe your feet every night.
Don’t sit on the last three bones of your spine.
Don’t be afraid to yawn or stretch when alone.
Don’t thrust the hips far backward as you walk.
Don’t sit with one shoulder higher than the other.
Don’t stand with one hip higher than the other.
Don’t fail to sleep as many hours as you require.
Don’t wear too light weight clothing in winter.
Don’t sleep in a room crowded with draperies and rugs.
Don’t forget to visit your dentist once every three months.
Don’t let the chin bury itself in the neck. Keep it high.
Don’t wear tight shoes or tight gloves or tight corsets.
Don’t brush or comb the hair roughly. The scalp is tender.
Don’t go into the outer air directly after washing the face.
Don’t be afraid of rain or snow. They are tonics and beautifiers.
Don’t be discontented. Discontent engraves ugly lines in the face.
Don’t fall asleep with the features drawn in anger, worry or fatigue.
Don’t forget that the warm bath is a sedative; the cool bath a
stimulant.
Don’t use every new cosmetic you see advertised or hear recommended.
Don’t wear clothing so heavy that its weight drags upon the vital
organs.
Don’t dwell upon unpleasant things. Dismiss them if you value your
beauty.
Don’t allow the skin to grow dry. A dry skin is the parent of many
wrinkles.
Don’t rest upon large pillows. They cause round shoulders and double
chins.
Don’t lie down for rest with your nerves and muscles tied in small,
hard knots.
Don’t forget that the reclining posture is a storehouse of strength and
beauty.
Don’t let the muscles grow flabby. Firm muscles give the appearance of
youth.
Don’t lead a too regular life. A varied programme is better than an
unvarying one.
Don’t keep your rooms either too hot or cold, but at an even, moderate
temperature.
Don’t be afraid to work, and to work hard. It is only worry mingled
with work that kills.
Don’t allow yourself to become ill. Every illness subtracts from
vitality and adds to apparent age.
Don’t think that when you have brushed your hair your duty to your head
is done. The scalp must be massaged.
Don’t wriggle the feet or fingers or hunch the shoulders. Find other
and less ugly outlets for your nervous energy.
Don’t moisten the lips with the tongue to make them red. It will only
cause them to roughen and chap.
Don’t forget that the eye bath, the nasal douche and the mouth bath
are part of the daily ceremonial of cleanliness.
Don’t forget for one moment that health is the basis of beauty. And
build your beauty upon that only sure foundation.
Don’t neglect the protection for your skin when you go out or the care
for it when you come in from out of doors.
Don’t think that to keep the teeth beautiful they must be continually
brushed. After the daily brushing remember the mouth bath.
Don’t think you are ever too tired for the night toilet. The face must
always be washed and cold creamed at night if you value your complexion.
Don’t, especially if you are slenderly built, permit the shoulders and
chest to sink. If you are too tired to hold them up take a nap, or at
least recline for a time.