The extensive use of preparations for hiding nature's bloom on the
human countenance, and presenting to our view a sort of metallic
plaster, suggests the inquiry, "how are these pigments made?" Without
going into an unnecessary analysis of the "Bloom of Youth," the
"Rejuvenator," the "Corpse Decorator," or the other inventions for
destroying the skin, with which the druggists' stores abound, we
may state again the fact, always unheeded, that all the detestable
compounds are injurious. They are nearly all metallic poisons, and,
if there be any that are innocent of this charge, they are in every
instance harmful to the health. The color and surface of the skin
cannot be changed by any application which does not close the pores;
the pores, which are so exquisitely fine that there are millions of
them to the square inch, and which must be kept open if a healthy and
cleanly body is to be preserved. There is more breathing done through
the pores of a healthy person than through the lungs; and we need not
remind our readers of a ghastly piece of cruelty once enacted in Paris
(that of gilding the body of a child, for a triumphal procession,
which killed the subject in two hours), to show that the stoppage, in
any degree, of the natural functions of so important an organ as the
skin, is injurious. The immediate effect of the use of such compounds
is to destroy the vitality of the skin, and to render it, in
appearance, a piece of shriveled parchment. We must warn our readers
that a temporary and meretricious "bloom" can only be attained at the
cost of future freshness and lively appearance, so that a year or two
of "looking like paint" is followed by a long period of "looking like
dilapidation."
* * * * *