"What a delightful thing rest is! The bed has become a place of
luxury to me. I would not exchange it for all the thrones in the
world."--_Napoleon I._
If womankind half realized the beauty benefits of plenty of restful,
refreshing sleep, all femininity would be crawling into bed at sunset.
I've often wondered why the great sisterhood that is praying and
working and fretting for physical loveliness does not understand that
more real help comes from rational, hygienic living than can be
squeezed out of all the cosmetic jars that ever enticed weak feminine
hearts.
Beauty sleep! Why, we've heard of it since the long-ago days when our
blessed mothers sung it, lullaby-fashion, into our ears! As little
girls it brightened the "sand-man" hour and made us go contentedly to
bed. As women it should rightly continue its good work, and the dear
Lord knows we need it more now than we did then, for--perhaps--the
crow's feet have begun to show their ugly little tracks and the fine
complexion of early girlhood is losing its luster and brightness, and
is growing a bit dull and yellowed--like a leaf first touched with the
autumn chill.
Perhaps you won't believe it, but there are right ways of sleeping and
wrong ways as well. The girl who curls up like a shrimp is the one who
will be writing to me in a great flurry and worry, telling me that her
shoulders are round, and that she simply can't make them nice and
square as they should be for the new tailor-made that is to transform
her into a happy little Easter girl! The woman who is horrified to find
wrinkles appearing like wee birds of omen does not have to tell me that
she is a pillow fiend and sleeps with her head half a foot higher than
her heels. It stands to reason that a pillow will push the flesh of the
face up into little lines. There is no necessity for pillows at all,
and girls don't need them for comfort any more than a little puppy dog
needs patent leathers or overshoes. The bed should be hard and
perfectly flat, with springs that do not sag or give and let the poor
sleeper roll down in the middle in a jumbled-up heap. A hair mattress
is the best for health and comfort, but others will do nicely if they
are only perfectly flat and not too soft.
The first thing to do, then, is to dispense with the pillow. If this
change cannot be accomplished all at once, then let your pillow be
gradually made smaller and smaller until none at all is desired. Your
sleep will be much better, and after the habit is once formed a pillow
is looked upon with derision. I know foolish mothers who put their
children to sleep on pillows as big as a school-girl's love for
caramels, and the poor babies tumble and toss, and the next morning
those mothers dose them for a pain in the "tum-tum." Alack-a-day!
Babies don't need pillows--unless it be those little soft cushions of
down that are as flat as pancakes.
But to return from babies to beauty. If your sleep is restless and you
awaken with a dull headache and the feeling of weariness that makes you
want to begin the night over again so as to get refreshed, you may be
sure that something is wrong--either you are worried or troubled or are
working too hard for your own good. Perhaps your digestion is out of
order, or the room is not properly ventilated. It may be any of these
things that keep you from getting the rest that is really so very
necessary for health and comfort and good looks.
Heavy bedding is also distressing, and as good a maker of nightmares as
deviled crabs or plum pudding. Light blankets make the best covering.
Let the window be open at top and bottom, so as to have perfect
ventilation. Don't eat an indigestible lunch before retiring; this is
the greatest of all beauty follies. Lie on the abdomen, with your hands
at your sides. This position will keep your shoulders back, will give
you a good figure and a better carriage. When you have followed these
directions and still find that you spend most of the night crawling
around over your bed vainly seeking a comfortable and restful spot,
then you can make up your mind that you need a good tonic and a
doctor's counsel, for your nerves or your digestive organs are not as
they should be.
To sum it all up in a nutshell: You must sleep well, and you must sleep
a great deal if you wish to be the "woman beautiful." Sitting up late
at night will cause grey hair as will nothing else. It makes those dark
circles about the eyes, and causes the "windows of the soul," to lose
half their luster and softness and beauty. Who ever saw a pretty woman
with dull, lifeless eyes? She wouldn't be pretty were she so afflicted.
By sleeping properly, the body is kept stronger and fresher, and thus
the complexion is benefited greatly. Wrinkles do not come so soon, the
skin does not take on that muddy, yellow hue as it would otherwise, and
cheeks are pink and rosy with that greatest of all rouges--Health.
There's a heap of truth in all this. If you do not believe it, then
give up late hours--be they for study or pleasure--and see if the
problem won't work itself out nicely with you. I think it will. In
fact, I am really quite sure of it.