Glass _Jlta3Jl_
Book ,M(p%
Copyright N°
COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT.
Photo by Joel Feder, New York. REDUCING THE CHIN.
Health and Beauty Hints
BY
MARGARET MIXTER
Illustrated from Photographs by
JOEL FEDER
NEW YORK : CUPPLES & LEON COMPANY
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Copyright, 1910, by THE NEW YORK HERALD CO.
All Rights Reserved
©CLA271065
CONTENTS
CHAPTER I
8
Massage — How to massage the face — Massage creams and lotk ns — Creams and lotions that whiten the face — Simple facial massage rules — Neck massage that prevents wrinkles — To prevent wrinkles at corners of eyes — That will beautify the neck , I
CHAPTER II
Hair — To cure oily hair — Daily care of hair — Home made tonics that nourish the hair — Night treatment for hair — Treatment for falling hair — Cold weather hair treatment— Tonics that may prevent grayness — To prevent hair being sunburned — Treatment for sunburned hair — Straight hair may be made to curl with oil — Lotions that keep hair in curl — To keep false hair clean and natural looking — How to delicately perfume the hair — Simple methods of removing superfluous hair — Simple treatment for dandruff — A cure — When dandruff causes hair to fall 12
CHAPTER III
Shampoos — Shampoo mixtures for blonde and brunette — How to give a dry shampoo — Hair needs air more than shampoos in summer — Drying hair with heat injures the roots 39
CHAPTER IV
Bleaches and Dyes — Lemon is bleach for tan and sunburn — Recipes for bleaching cream — Bleaches for red face — For re- moving yellow stains from neck — Black and brown dyes for gray hair — To color hair a beautiful golden tint — To restore
bleached and dyed hair to original shade 45
v
CONTENTS
PAGES
CHAPTER V
Hands — To soften and whiten — Cure in cold weather — Pastes that whiten — Dish washing beautifies — How stains may easily be removed — Treatment for perspiring hands 58
CHAPTER VI
Nails — Suggestions about manicuring — Grease beautifies — Care in
winter — To strengthen 67
CHAPTER VII
Arms — Cures for rough elbows — Oily bandages for rough arms
— To beautify by exercise 76
CHAPTER VIII
Complexion — Astringent tonics that contract the large pores — Treatment for black heads and pimples — How to lance and cure a pimple — How to steam the face — How to use a com- plexion brush — To prevent freckles — Whiteners that remove freckles — Excessive drinking of coffee often causes eruptions Water drinking beautifies — Physical exercises that clear — Diet of fresh fruits and vegetables improves the skin — Brisk walk in rain clears 81
CHAPTER IX
Wrinkles — Summer preventatives of lined skin — Treatment to keep skin unwrinkled in spring winds — Care of eyes will keep away wrinkles — To prevent wrinkles caused by headache — To prevent cold weather causing wrinkles — Rest, not cosmetics, prevents wrinkles Beauty treatment to keep skin fresh.... 100
CHAPTER X
Face Powders — How to develop red cheeks — To put on powder so
it will not rub off — To protect skin in winter 1 15
vi
CONTENTS
PAGES
CHAPTER XI
Preparations — Nourishing cold creams — Buttermilk nourishing skin food and drink — How to make toilet lotions usually con- sidered luxurious — Suggestions about compounding cold cream ingredients — Delicate purfumes compounded at home — Skin tonics for use in bath — Benzoine is excellent — Cleansing pow- ders used instead of cold cream — Oily lotions for face instead of water — Glycerine lotion whitens and refines — To compound incense for burners 121
CHAPTER XII
Baths — When cold baths are healthy — Turkish baths may be taken at home — Sponge baths are as cleansing as tub baths — Hot baths for insomnia — Luke warm tub is refreshing in sum- mer— Temperature must not shock nervous system — Perspira- tion cleanses the system — Remedies to regulate perspiration.. 144
CHAPTER XIII
Eyebrows and Lashes — To make eyebrows beautiful — To make eyebrows and lashes shapely — Expression of face is determined by eyebrows < 160
CHAPTER XIV
Eyes — Preparations that may prevent inflammation — To make eyes
bright 166
CHAPTER XV
Ears — Care in winter — To cure earaches — Correction for pro- jecting ears 171
CHAPTER XVI
Noses — To cure chronic redness — Simple remedies for red noses. . 176
vii
CONTENTS
PAGES
CHAPTER XVII
Teeth — Bleaching tooth powders — "Donts" to be remembered — To prevent fruit stains injuring teeth — Treatment for receding gums — To prevent accumulation of tarter — Mouth washes that purify the breath. 179
CHAPTER XVIII
Feet — Removing and curing painful corns — Care to give tender feet in summer — Home treatment for broken arches — Simple remedies for chilblains — To secure relief from chilblains — To make unshapely ankles pretty 190
CHAPTER XIX
Developing the Figure — Exercises improve more than corset — Correct sitting posture beautifies — Sweeping and dusting develop 203
CHAPTER XX
To Reduce Flesh — Diet that helps reduction — Summer is ideal
time to take off flesh — Hot soda baths reduce 209
CHAPTER XXI
Simple Remedies — Diet that will improve torpid liver — To remove liver spots — Hot water treatment for rheumatism — For sore throat — To prevent a cold — Cuts, bruises, etc. — Prickly heat — Preventatives of skin irritation — Poison ivy treatment — Cures for pains in head — Headache caused by heat — Weak nerves — Hot water is panacea for ills — Health drinks purify the blood — Exercises that may prevent indigestion — Fever blisters — Cracked lips — To cure habit of biting lips — For removing warts 214
CHAPTER XXII
Miscellaneous — How to acquire a soft-speaking voice — To culti- vate a graceful walk — How unattractive mouths may be beauti- fied— Suggestions for keeping warm in winter 245
viii
SPECIAL RECIPES
Page. BLEACHES—
Bleach for Tan 45
COMPLEXION—
Astringent Tonic Skin Lotion 81
For Blackheads 83
Freckle Lotion , 89
EYEBROWS AND LASHES—
Eyebrow and Lash Tonic 160
FACE POWDERS—
Harmless Rouge 115
For Brunettes 117
FIGURE
Vaucaire Bust Developer 203
HAIR—
Tonic for Oily Hair 12
Tonic for Dry Hair 16
Dandruff Cure 35
HANDS—
To Whiten Hands '. 58
MASSAGE—
Elder Flower Cream 1
NAILS—
Polishing Nail Powder 67
TEETH—
Tooth Powder 179
IX
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
Page.
Reducing the Chin Frontispiece.
Massage Showing Upward Stroke on Cheek — Must be Hard. . 2
Rotary Movement for Massaging the Neck 6
Giving a Dry Shampoo 40
Trimming Cuticle in Manicuring 68
Massaging to Improve the Arms 78
Eradicating Wrinkles by Using Adhesive Plaster 102
Keeping Waist Line Small , 112
Tinting Pale Eyebrows 164
Massaging to Reduce Swollen Eyelids 166
Cleaning Nails on Feet 194
Massaging thei Cheeks ., 218
Health and Beauty Hints
CHAPTER I
MASSAGE
ELDERFLOWER CREAM FOR MASSAGE
Almond oil, one and one=half ounces; white wax, two and one- half drams; spermaceti, two and one=half drams; lanoline, one=half ounce; oil of bitter almonds, one=half dram; elderflower water, one and one=half ounces; witch hazel, one=half ounce.
Melt the wax and spermaceti in an earthen dish set in a basin of boiling water, add the lanoline, and beat in the oils slowly. Remove vessel from the heat and add the witch hazel and elder- flower water.
Apply at night or before going out of doors. In the latter case dust on powder.
HOW TO MASSAGE THE FACE
TO massage the face, rub gently to increase the flesh and make the cheeks round; or, if a double chin or superfluous flesh is to be removed, rub vigor- ously to wear away the fat by friction.
Besides affecting the contour, massaging is to smooth away wrinkles by keeping the surface smooth and working to strengthen the cords, not to pull them down. It is a fact always to be remembered that the tendency of flesh on the face is to droop downward with age, so all muscles and cords must be rubbed up, to prevent their stretching.
2 HEALTH AND BEAUTY HINTS
Before massaging the face wash it thoroughly with hot water, not only to remove all dust, but to open the pores, getting them ready to absorb the unguent. Then the fingers are dipped into the cream, and work may begin at the fore- head, rubbing it smooth all the time, while using a rotary motion, always with the upward part of the stroke harder than the downward. The cheeks are treated in rotary fash- ion, and so are the temples, while the chin must be given its share of attention. Around the corners of the eyes only the tip of one finger may be used, trying with each motion to smooth away the lines. Under the throat the stroke must be firm and strong, going up toward the ears in order not to cause the flesh to gather beneath the chin point.
In these movements, that the fingers may slide over the skin without pulling, and also to benefit the tissue, a lotion or cream should be used. Just which should be selected de- pends upon the original condition of the face: if too fat, an astringent lotion would be best; if thin, a flesh-making cream may be employed.
For an astringent an ounce of pure gum benzoin, dis- solved in half a pint of pure alcohol, is excellent. It is also bleaching.
A flesh-making cream, which may be used when the face is thin, is made from two and a half ounces of lanoline, a quarter of an ounce of spermaceti, two and a half ounces of freshly tried mutton tallow, two ounces each of cocoanut oil and oil of sweet almonds, half a dram of tincture of ben- zoin, and ten drops of oil of neroli.
To mix the ingredients, melt the lanoline, spermaceti and mutton tallow in a china basin, and set in a dish of hot water. Do not let the fats become hot. As they soften
Photo by Joel Feder, New York FACE MASSAGE, SHOWING UPWARD STROKE ON CHEEK— MUST BE HARD.
HEALTH AND BEAUTY HINTS 3
add the oils, remove from the heat, and beat, slowly adding the benzoin and neroli. This should be a cream when cold. A less elaborate cream is composed of thirty grams of lano- line and twenty grams of sweet oil. These two are melted, as told for the foregoing cream, and when liquid one-half a gram of tannin is beaten in.
Any of these is applied in the same way. It takes at least fifteen minutes to massage the face, and longer time may be given. At the close of the treatment cold water should be dashed over the flesh to tighten and harden the skin, that has become soft from rubbing.
MASSAGE CREAMS AND LOTIONS THAT WHITEN SKIN
WHEN it becomes necessary to treat the complexion with a massage cream or lotion it is desirable to select one that will soften and also whiten. As a rule, any preparation that softens is likely to have a slightly bleaching effect, because the latter is included in a scheme of general improvement. But a woman who wishes the cream action to be less slow may like to try a paste made from two ounces of sweet almond oil, 160 grains each of white wax and spermaceti, fifty grains of powdered and sifted benzoin, 160 grains of rice starch, and seven and one-half grains of pure carmine.
The wax and spermaceti are melted in a cup set into hot water, the benzoin being added at the time. The oil is poured in as the fats are melted, and the cup removed from the heat. The liquid is beaten a moment with a fork, and the carmine and starch are mixed at the same time. Blend- ing must be carefully done to prevent lumps. If perfume
4 HEALTH AND BEAUTY HINTS
is wished, two drops of oil of violets should be added just before the grease hardens.
This cream, which, owing to the benzoin, is particularly whitening, is especially adapted to use on skin in the eve- ning, before applying powder. It may also be rubbed over the cheeks during the day, wiping off any superfluous quan- tity before putting on powder. Its action on the skin is beneficial.
A person who objects to the use of grease, and still wishes to use a tonic, may like a lotion made from one and one- half drams of citric acid, five and one-half ounces of hot water, a dram of borax and half an ounce of glycerine. The borax and acid are dissolved in the liquid, the glycerine going in last. This may be freely used on the face at any time, wiping it off before going out of doors. When com- ing in from the street, if the skin is dusty, this lotion may be used as a cleansing agent, mopping the face freely before washing in warm water, then finishing with a cold rinse. Another lotion is made of two ounces of pure honey, half an ounce of glycerine, half an ounce of rectified spirits, and one and one-half drams of pure citric acid. The honey and glycerine are put together in a cup set into hot water, and, as the two mingle, the spirits in which the acid has been dissolved is added.
The grease must be cold before the spirits is mingled.
This, like the first lotion, may be used at any time, and the skin will be kept in better condition if the liquid is ap- plied as a cleansing agent before water is used.
HEALTH AND BEAUTY HINTS
SIMPLE FACIAL MASSAGE RULES
FACIAL massage consists of the manipulation of the flesh in such manner that the tissues and muscles are stimulated and the surface circulation increased, so the ultimate effect strengthens and reinforces against the ravages of age and weather.
To accomplish these results both rubbing and kneading are necessary. For the former movement the fingers must slip over the skin firmly and evenly, and at the same time must work the muscles below the surface.
Before beginning either process the face must be washed, preferably with warm water, that the pores will be in a receptive condition for the soothing agent that is applied. Generally, cold cream is best, but if there is prejudice against it an astringent lotion or plain rose water may be substituted. The principal object is to use some emollient to prevent the fingers from sticking and bruising the skin.
Whatever application is chosen must be rubbed in large quantities over the flesh, and then the skin is in condition to treat.
Throughout this treatment it must be remembered that the object is to smooth as well as to strengthen the flesh; also that under no conditions must the muscles be pulled down. As a rule, the rotary motion is best, which is merely rubbing in circular fashion, making the upward sweep harder than the downward. Cheeks, chin, nose and tem- ples require this stroke. The forehead should be smoothed if it is lined, otherwise it, too, will take the rotary treatment. About the nose, rubbing is done up and down, working into
6 HEALTH AND BEAUTY HINTS
a rotary movement with the tips of two fingers when the region about the eye is reached.
To prevent or reduce a double chin both hands must be used at the same time, beginning at the point of the chin and rubbing up hard toward either ear. For the throat the circular movement is most effective. For this motion all the fingers of both hands are required, while the thumbs are used as braces, being firmly placed so they make the finger work stronger. It is only when ' 'kneading" that the thumbs actually work. Then they are needed to take up the flesh in large rolls, working and gently pinching it. ,
It is well to begin massage in the cheeks, starting with a small circle that is increased to extend over the entire face. During this process the thumbs may be placed under the jawbones, working up with a rotary motion until the posi- tion under the eye is reached, when only two fingers are required. Continuing, the temples should be reached next.
From there work on the chin, and then rub hard, and always up, along the jawbones, and under them, to the ears.
The operation will take at least half an hour, and should be done sitting before a mirror. At the close there should be a distinct sensation of glow in the face, and bright color. Washing in warm and then cold water is done.
Massage is better not done oftener than once a week.
NECK MASSAGE THAT PREVENTS WRINKLES
BY the time a woman is twenty-five years old she should devote at least ten minutes, night and morning, to massaging her throat under the chin. She may see no reason at that period for massage, but should she take the
HEALTH AND BEAUTY HINTS 7
trouble, by the time she is forty she will not have the hang- ing "dewlap/' which, more than anything else, proclaims her no longer young.
Besides massage a good skin food is necessary. To make such, one dram of tincture of benzoin to an ounce of glyce- rine is essential, and when properly mixed is both astrin- gent and tissue feeding. Better, however, is a lotion made from the yolk of a fresh raw egg, a tablespoonful of sweet oil of almonds, a teaspoonful of tincture of benzoin, and two teaspoonfuls of rose water.
This must be kept in a cool place when not being used, or it will spoil. It is used quite as any other massage cream, wiping off any superfluous quantity later.
'As to the treatment, it consists first in washing the neck thoroughly, that no dust shall remain to be rubbed in. The water must be as hot as can be borne with comfort, and the washing will take at least three or four minutes, because the pores are to be opened by the gentle heat.
Wiping must be carefully done, and the surface, from chin to the base of the throat, covered with the cream. Then massage can be started. For this both hands are required, and the motion must be chiefly a rotary one, using the tips of the fingers and making the upward stroke stronger than the downward. The stroke should come up toward the ears at the finish. Incidentally, this treatment will do much toward reducing or preventing a double chin.
During this process the fingers must constantly move over the surface, and the base of the throat must not be neglected, for an observing woman, who remembers, knows that the tell-tale cords that are so homely stretch from the collar bone line to the chin. The greatest attention is given
8 HEALTH AND BEAUTY HINTS
always to the very center of the throat, rubbing rather hard there to stimulate muscles and tissues.
That done, the movement is alternated by a stretching, beginning by bringing the finger tips together directly un- der the chin and pulling up hard toward each ear. This is precisely the same motion that is gone through with to re- duce a double chin.
The end of this treatment should leave the throat red and smarting a little, but the sensation will soon wear off, and the skin regain its normal condition. The tissue builder given is whitening, as well as softening, and may be used for the hands, putting on gloves afterward.
MASSAGE TO PREVENT WRINKLES AT CORNERS OF
EYES
THAT part of the face about the eyes requires especial attention to ward off an appearance of old age, and I would like to impress all women, but especially young girls, with the importance of daily massage about the eye corners, for such treatment tends to prevent that net- work of tiny lines that is so apparent in a strong light, and that makes one seem haggard. The least defect in the sight renders these lines more conspicuous, for such trouble makes an unconscious rigidity of the muscles near the lids which develops pronounced wrinkles.
It would be excellent if a girl would devote about five minutes to the care of her eyes every night. Let her dip a finger into cold cream after the face has been washed, and rub this, with a gentle rotary motion, all over the cheek bone, beginning just in front of the temple and working slowly down over the bone beneath the eye. At no time
HEALTH AND BEAUTY HINTS 9
may the fingers be more than half an inch below the line of the lower lid. Such treatment as this will keep the tis- sues of that section constantly nourished and the skin soft at a time when most women begin to look drawn.
Puffiness under the eyes, which is most disfiguring, some- times is merely from fatigue, although not uncommonly it indicates internal trouble. In the former case rest will re- store the normal condition. As soon as any swelling be- comes evident a person should lie down in a darkened room. By the bed or couch there may be a basin of hot water, and two cloths are required. One of these, hot and wet, is kept constantly over the eyes. A rubber bag is not a substitute in this case, for it will not adhere to the skin. The cloths must be kept as hot as the skin can endure without smarting, and they should be kept on for fifteen minutes.
In ordinary cases a further rest of half an hour will com- plete the cure, but sometimes the application of a cream is beneficial after the final cloth has been removed. This lotion should be gently massaged into the flesh. An excellent lotion for this treatment is made from ten grams each of lanoline and vaseline, five grams of sweet almond oil, and three grams of sulphate of aluminum. To prepare, melt the lanoline in a cup set into hot water, adding the almond oil as soon as the former is soft. Remove from heat, and beat in the sulphate before the cream hardens. This is rubbed in with an even, gentle stroking that will take five minutes. After that any superfluous amount is wiped off.
Swollen lids usually yield to the same treatment as that given for puffiness under the eyes, which includes an astrin- gent that is soothing. The formula for this consists of five grains each of powdered alum and sulphate of zinc in a gill
io HEALTH AND BEAUTY HINTS
of distilled water. It is bottled, and shaken until the pow- ders are dissolved, then filtered through coarse brown paper. Boiled water may take the place of filtered. To use, the lotion is poured on a soft cloth and the eyes are mopped.
MASSAGE THAT WILL BEAUTIFY THE NECK
WITH attention the homeliest neck may be made pret- ty, a fact that is of importance these days, when gowns cut out at the throat are so fashionable. This care, however, does not include a mere washing of the skin with a wet wash cloth, as many women do. For, unless nature has endowed one with a pretty throat, it is only per- sistence that will develop beauty.
To begin the improvement, I consider massage necessary, and because that cannot be given without an application of some soothing agent that helps the fingers to glide over the skin, the selection of a quality that nourishes and refines is a special consideration. If the skin is naturally white and soft, the simplest kind of cold cream will be effective; but if, as is often the case, the flesh is brown and muddy, it be- hooves the toiler for beauty to select a preparation that will clear and bleach.
A treatment of this kind that I like consists of mixing equal parts of the raw white of one egg and almond oil. These are beaten thoroughly and rubbed into the flesh. When there are hollows in the neck, and the throat is in- clined to scragginess, the massage must be firm and brisk, to promote circulation. To do this to best advantage the fingers should be placed against one spot and held there while the knuckles are bent, thus kneading the skin below
HEALTH AND BEAUTY HINTS n
the surface. Then the finger tips are dragged over the sur- face in rotary motion, trying to work the food into the pores. If the throat is sufficiently developed, massage may be very gentle, only enough to create a little friction, which will cause the pores to absorb more than they otherwise would.
The paste recommended is left on over night, and in the morning washed off with tepid water, or, instead of water, camphor water with one-third glycerine may be used as a substitute.
In addition to this cream a lotion made from fifty grams of rose water, two and one-half grams of borax, five grams of spirits of camphor and two and one-half grams of tincture of benzoin must be used. The latter dries on, and may be applied during the day — indeed, as often as one wishes. It is an excellent complexion wash.
If the neck be decidedly thin, a cream that will give more nourishment to the skin is desirable, and for this purpose there is a formula consisting of two ounces of sweet almond oil, 1 60 grains each of white wax and spermaceti, fifty grains of powdered benzoin, 160 grains of rice powder, and seven and one-half grains of pure carmine.
To mix these ingredients melt the fats in a cup set in a pan of boiling water, and as they heat add the benzoin. Do not allow the grease to become too hot, or it will not con- geal. Remove from heat, beat, and put in the rice powder and carmine as the mixture cools. Scent, if desired, with any essential oil.
This is best used when dressing for the evening, or when- ever a low gown is used. It is an excellent "make-up" cream, and feeds the tissues. If evenly applied, powder dusted on afterward improves the appearance of the neck.
CHAPTER II
HAIR
TONIC FOR OILY HAIR
Tincture of alcoholic cantharides, one dram; tincture of capsi- cum, one=haIf dram; tincture of nux vomica, two drams; cocoa oil, three-quarters of an ounce; alcohol, two and one=half ounces. Shake before using.
Massage nightly into the scalp with the finger tips.
TO CURE OILY HAIR
EXCESSIVELY oily hair is the result of a diseased condition of the scalp, that is sometimes serious, as it makes the glands enlarge and throw off exudations too rapidly. This trouble is usually caused by an unhealthy condition of the system, and is difficult to control, except by internal treatment.
For instance, a person so afflicted, who suffers from indi- gestion or other internal ailments, must give her body proper nourishment, to bring it to a comparatively normal state, before local applications will be effective.
An oily scalp must be shampooed with discretion, and a tar or sulphur soap should be used, in connection with raw eggs, when cleansing the hair.
One of the best of such cleansing agents is a combination of a tablespoonful of lime water to each raw egg, the mix-
12
HEALTH AND BEAUTY HINTS 13
ture beaten together, and massaged into the scalp. The lime water has a beneficial effect upon the enlarged glands.
Washing must be done in warm water, using no soap, and the final rinse should be with cold water, in order to contract the pores. Even in extreme cases of exudation shampooing is not to be done oftener than once in three weeks. Should the hair become heavy with grease during the intervening weeks much of it can be removed by sprink- ling the locks thickly with fine corn meal, which is brushed out after absorbing the dirt, with a long but soft-bristled brush. It is important that the bristles shall be soft, for stiff ones overstimulate the scalp.
A mixture of three drams of glycerine and four ounces of lime water should be kept on the dressing-table, and the scalp wet with it every night. This lotion must be rubbed in with the finger tips. At the end of three weeks half an ounce of tincture of cantharides should be added to the original proportions, treatment continuing in the same way. The reason that cantharides is not used at first is because of its stimulating properties, and the fact that the scalp must be soothed, as it were, before it can be toned to normal condition.
A decided change of treatment sometimes benefits a per- son, who may discontinue the use of the lime water com- bination at the end of three weeks, substituting a tonic made from half an ounce of castor oil, half an ounce of strong liquid ammonia, an ounce of best French brandy, and three ounces of rose water. This may be applied every other night.
Still another suited to the condition is two gills of old whiskey, with as much rock salt as will dissolve in it, a tea-
14 HEALTH AND BEAUTY HINTS
spoonful of glycerine and half a teaspoonful of flour of sulphur. This may be used every night.
I believe it is not possible to bring into good condition a scalp that is excessively oily, if pompadour cushions are used, for they heat and excite the glands to an unhealthy degree. Another important factor is gentle usage of the scalp. It should not be irritated. A fine-tooth comb must not touch it, and a hard brush must be avoided. In dressing the hair each day the locks should be carefully treated. Only by such attention to details can a cure be effected.
DAILY CARE OF HAIR
HAIR is greatly affected by the treatment it receives each day. For example, I believe it impossible for a woman who does not brush and braid her tresses every night to have as luxuriant locks as one who regards this routine, which includes, among the so-called "trivial" points, that hair shall be thoroughly dried after shampooing, and that the center of the scalp shall not be damp when pins are put in.
Incidentally, a sun bath gives the head as much tone and , vigor as it does the body, and to dry one's hair in the sun after washing it is ideal. Some rubbing with soft, thick towels should be given at first, and as the moisture begins to disappear one should settle oneself comfortably in the sun, let the locks be loose, turning them occasionally, that all shall have an equal chance to absorb the bright rays. So important do I regard this treatment that I consider it an error to wash the hair on a damp or cloudy day.
Direct heat should not be used for drying after a sham-
HEALTH AND BEAUTY HINTS 15
poo. For example, to spread the hair on a radiator or before a register is to invite grayness, because in this man- ner the natural nourishing oils are dried and the hair is starved into losing its color. Friction and sunlight are the only two beneficial agents.
There is a curious superstition among hair specialists that singeing should not be done except when the moon is new. Many persons believe this superstition, though not one can give a reason for it. All maintain that unless burned at the beginning of a moon the hair will not grow.
Singeing is undoubtedly one of the best ways of treating hair that is impoverished or not in normal condition. Even the healthiest tresses sometimes require the ends treated in this manner, as it gives a new impetus to growth without running danger of "bleeding," as it may from clipping. When the ends are dried and split they should be subjected to burning, which is done in this way by professionals: Take strands of hair, twist them tightly — that there will be no draught — and then quickly run over each a lighted taper, that burns the tiny ends sticking out and does not affect the long growth. It is an operation that seems simple, but requires great skill. It should not be done oftener than once in three months, and sometimes at longer inter- vals.
There is a theory, strongly advocated by some specialists, that a child's hair should never be allowed to grow more than six inches. The basis for this statement is that the longer the hair the more difficult it is to draw nourishment from the scalp, and that a child's head should not be sub- jected to such a strain. When there is pronounced weakness in the hair this may be tenable, but in ordinary cases I think
16 HEALTH AND BEAUTY HINTS
a child's locks may be left to grow at will, taking care that they are well brushed and carefully treated.
TONIC FOR DRY HAIR
Sweet almond oil, one and one-half ounces; oil of rosemary, one-half ounce; oil of cinnamon, seventeen drops. Mix well, and massage with the finger tips into the scalp nightly, or every other night, as required.
HOME-MADE TONICS THAT NOURISH SCALP
WHEN roots of the hair are dry, either from lack of natural nourishing, excessive use of curling irons, or from the temperature, that often makes the scalp too dry, oils must be applied.
When these health-giving lotions are used they must be thin, and of a penetrating quality, that will not choke the glands and pores.
Petroleum products are extremely stimulating and bene- ficial, and though some persons declare against vaseline, on the ground that it is too thick for scalp application, I think they are mistaken, for it is quickly absorbed, becoming liquid at a gentle temperature. Occasionally I am asked if kerosene is a good tonic. It has some virtue, but by no means enough to make up for the disagreeable odor it gives. On general principles, therefore, I think it should not be used.
While mutton tallow, being an animal fat, should be excellent for the scalp, theoretically, I think it clogs the pores.
HEALTH AND BEAUTY HINTS 17
All oils made from herbs are gentle hair tonics, and those from spices have the same merit.
Sweet almond oil is good, and so is castor oil, though, as a rule, each should be used in combination with some other ingredient.
An old English tonic that is supposed to be health giving is made from half a pint of almond oil, two ounces of bur- dock root, a quarter of an ounce each of oils of rosemary and thyme, two and one-half drams of bergamot, and a dram each of triple rose extract and oil of lemon.
The burdock root is put into the oil, and the jar contain- ing it kept warm for forty-eight hours. It is then strained and the other ingredients added.
Another excellent tonic is made by putting one and one- eighth ounces of coarsely powdered alkanet root into half a pint of almond oil, the two being kept warm until the oil is colored a deep red. This will take several days. Then nine and one-half grains each of oils of cloves, mace and rose, and half a dram of oil of cinnamon are added. This mixture may be perfumed with seven grains of musk.
The objection that grease applied to the scalp makes the hair heavy is obviated by a knowledge of how to rub it on. Before putting any oil on the roots all tangles must be re- moved and the tresses divided into two parts. Into this line the grease is rubbed, a little at a time, using the finger tips. Then another clear line, close to the first, is made, and the operation repeated, until the whole scalp has been covered. Done in this way, the hair is not greasy, and the scalp is nourished. Except in cases where the hair is no- ticeably dry, every other day is sufficiently often to make such an application.
18 HEALTH AND BEAUTY HINTS
NIGHT TREATMENT FOR HAIR
I BELIEVE that it is impossible for a girl to have pretty hair, and I know that she cannot possess luxuriant tresses when an old woman, unless she brushes and combs her tresses before going to bed. To remove the pins, and twist the locks, or let them hang, is as injurious as it is to cloth to lay it away without smoothing. Both must be made ready to rest if they are not to wear out quickly.
It does not take more than five minutes to treat the scalp in such a way as to stimulate it. Of course, if one has the time and energy for massage, so much the better, but this is by no means necessary when the hair is in a normally healthy condition. When it is not, the improved circula- tion that will result from rubbing is so beneficial in effect that effort should be made to accomplish it.
For the regular evening treatment there should be at least twenty long strokes of the brush after all snarls have been removed with a comb. The stroking should be even and firm, without causing pain. Such brushing as this keeps the hair glossy and pliable, making it far easier to twist into becoming coiffures.
For the final work a loose braid should be made. It is not well to twist the hair and pin it, however lightly, for the scalp should be relieved of any weight through the night.
TREATMENT FOR FALLING HAIR
CALLING hair, an indication of a diseased condition of the scalp, may be remedied in two ways. One is to take a tonic internally, to build up the general strength; the other is to treat the scalp externally. The
HEALTH AND BEAUTY HINTS 19
latter does not take much time or thought, and is not diffi- cult. In fact, any person can apply it herself, but the ser- vices of a member of the family make the treatment simpler.
Unless the hair is coming out literally by handfuls, as after a severe illness, I believe brushing is most efficacious. The brush must have long bristles, rather far apart, in order that they shall reach to the scalp, and the stroke stimu- late as much as polish the hair.
If the scalp trouble is due to illness, and a new growth of hair is coming in with the old, brushing is not advisable. The old hair, under these conditions, does not sap nourish- ment from the new. But when there is no apparent reason for the trouble, and the shedding is not great, then I believe in the use of the brush.
Also there must be massage given every night. A tonic put on at the same time is likely to hasten improvement, and a mixture I like is made from a dram of alcoholic tinc- ture of cantharides, half a dram of tincture of capsi- cum, two drams of nux vomica, three-quarters of an ounce of cocoa oil and two and a half ounces of cologne. If the hair happens to be heavy with natural grease, one more likely to agree is made from half an ounce of alcoholic tincture of cantharides, three-quarters of an ounce each of spirits of rosemary, glycerine and aromatic vinegar, with an ounce and a half of rose water.
Either of these is applied in the same way, and should be used~ every night. A portion of this treatment consists in combing the hair thoroughly and brushing it, not only flat to the head, but putting the brush underneath and draw- ing the hair loose and free, so that all parts are ventilated.
20 HEALTH AND BEAUTY HINTS
Each stroke must begin on the scalp so the tips of the bristles are felt.
This done, the tresses should be divided into two sec- tions, one-half pinned so it will not get in the way when the other is treated. Then some tonic should be poured into a saucer and applied with a soft toothbrush or tiny sponge to the scalp.
The hair is again parted, not more than an inch from the middle, and with the little brush or sponge the scalp line is wet. Another division not more than an inch away is made, that line wet, and the hair laid over, repeating the partings and applications until the entire scalp has been treated.
This done, massaging should begin. It consists merely in holding the fingers firmly on different portions of the scalp and bending the knuckles so that the scalp moves but the fingers remain stationary. This is continued all over the head, the operation taking fifteen minutes or more. At the finish there should be a distinct sensation of glow in the head. With these movements the hair is not tangled, because the fingers do not rub it.
A final brushing is given, and the hair loosely braided for the night.
COLD-WEATHER HAIR TREATMENT
IF women would remember that cold weather dries the hair and makes it unmanageable they might be able to treat the scalp so the tresses would be healthy and could be coiled into pretty coiffures. Water, while it is efficacious as an external application, sometimes does more harm than good by increasing the stiffness of the hair as the
HEALTH AND BEAUTY HINTS 21
liquid dries out. Only brushing and the application of some mixture that contains oil will make the hair lie smooth.
Oils, besides neutralizing the condition of dryness and making the hair easier to handle, has the added virtue of tonic properties, and if it massaged into the scalp the benefit after some weeks is pronounced.
A tonic of this kind is made from sixteen ounces of pure cologne and two ounces of castor oil. Far from being greasy or unpleasant, this mixture is easily put on, and has an agreeable odor.
Containing less oil, but stronger in tonic properties, is a combination of four ounces of cologne, half an ounce of tincture of cantharides, and a quarter of a dram each of oils of lavender and rosemary.
The best way of applying either of these is to make many parts, close together on the scalp, and rub the liquid into each, using either the finger tips or a small brush.
If the hair is extremely dry, the application may be used every day, but in many cases every other day is sufficient. Too much of the tonic will make the hair heavy with grease and altogether unmanageable.
When the hair is falling, and is dry and hard in texture, a stimulating mixture to use may be made from one and one-half ounces of cocoanut oil, two and a quarter drams of tincture of nux vomica, one ounce of bay rum and twenty drops of oil of bergamot.
This tonic should be thoroughly rubbed with the finger tips into divisions made along the scalp. To apply it every other night is sufficient, and on alternate nights there may be used another formula composed of one dram of alcoholic tincture of cantharides, half a dram of tincture of capsicum,
22 HEALTH AND BEAUTY HINTS
two drams of tincture of nux vomica, three-quarters of an ounce of cocoa oil and two and one-half ounces of cologne. Nothing will so quickly cause the hair to turn gray as an absence of nourishing oils, and it is for this reason that tonics containing such ingredients are invaluable. When there is a decided tendency to whiteness a formula that has been found useful, if massaged nightly into the head, is one dram each of terebene, borax and sulphur and six ounces of lavender water.
TONICS THAT MAY PREVENT GRAYNESS
INSTEAD of resorting to dyes when the hair becomes gray and loses the first color of youth, why will not women adopt a course of treatment that will be im- proving and not injurious? As far as I know there is no harmless dye, because to "hold" a color the hair must be entirely freed of natural oils. And the absence of these immediately takes away nourishment, and falling and break- ing of the locks is a matter of a short time.
Scalp massage, brushing and carefully selected tonics, on the contrary, may so improve the condition as to bring the hair to a most attractive state. There is positively no excuse for the "dead" aspect of so many women's heads, for it is owing to carelessness in one form or another.
Premature grayness, unless caused by illness, may almost always be traced to an absence of oils in the scalp. There- fore, when a woman too young to lose the natural color finds that her tresses are changing she should resort to applica- tions containing stimulating oils, or such ingredients as nux vomica or iron.
HEALTH AND BEAUTY HINTS 23
For example, there is a mixture of an ounce each of mer- cury oleate and oil of ergot. This is to be perfumed with a few drops of oil of lavender, and used when the hair is lusterless. Every night the tresses should be divided into many parts and into each line a little of the tonic applied, either with the finger tips or a small brush. Massaging must then take place, over each section of the head.
A lotion that is easier to apply, because there is less likeli- hood of the hair becoming greasy, is made from half a dram each of terebene, borax and sulphur and three ounces of lavender water. It is put on the same way as the first.
Decidedly more stimulating than either of the fore- going, and for that reason better when the hair is in a dead condition, is a tonic made from one quarter of an ounce of violet ammonia, a gill of rectified spirits, an eighth of an ounce of sublimed sulphur, a quarter of an ounce of tincture of cantharides, an ounce of glycerine, an eighth of an ounce of phosphate of lime and a quarter of an ounce of tincture of cinchona. The sulphur should be put into the spirits, adding the lime and tinctures, followed by the glycer- ine, and the ammonia last. It must be well shaken.
If the scalp is in a delicate condition this may be irri- tating, in which case it can be diluted with an equal amount of glycerine and water. Should it still irritate it must be put aside, to use when the surface is stronger.
Were tonics to be employed regularly when the woman is young, hair would be prettier with advancing age. Not to apply something frequently is quite the same neglect that one would be giving to plants by depriving them of the nour- ishment of water daily, or at least frequently. An appli- cation that supplies food in usual conditions, and is adapted
24 HEALTH AND BEAUTY HINTS
to almost any scalp, is made from half an ounce of alcoholic tincture of cantharides, three-quarters of an ounce each of spirits of rosemary, glycerine and aromatic vinegar, and an I ounce and a half of rosewater. In mixing, the glycerine is put in last. This should be applied nightly to the scalp.
TO PREVENT HAIR BEING SUNBURNED
CONSTANT exposure to the strong light of summer has precisely the same effect on hair as an overdose of hot curling irons; that is, it makes the tresses dry and crisp and lacking in polish or life. Eventually it causes the locks to fall, because the nourishing oils have been drawn cut and the follicles starved.
Incidentally, sunburn causes the color to change, not evenly, but in streaked effects. For example, light brown hair may become soiled yellow in spots, black locks rusty, while naturally blonde tresses take on the look of ash. The dryer the hair originally the worse the shade.
When there is an excess of oil in the scalp the applica- tion of artificial aids becomes less necessary, and will not be required every day. But such hair should be watched carefully, and at the first appearance of any change of shade it must be given a touch of glycerine and water. A tea- spoonful of the former to half a pint of the latter does not make a sticky lotion, but it does supply a little food that serves as a protection. It is the outer covering, and so is first taken by the sun. By the time that is absorbed exposure to light may cause no damage for the time. The application should be used morning and night, applying it by putting a little in the palm of one hand, rubbing the two together, and
HEALTH AND BEAUTY HINTS 25
then patting the head evenly ; this to be done after combing, and just before making the coiffure.
When the hair is inclined to dryness under normal con- ditions it requires a pronounced oil to neutralize the sun's effect. One I like for the purpose is made from an ounce and a half of cocoanut oil, two and one-quarter drams of tincture of nux vomica, an ounce of bay rum and twenty drops of oil of bergamot. This is shaken before using, and should be put on with the finger tips all over the scalp. For the finish a few drops must be put into the palms and rubbed as directed for glycerine and water.
TREATMENT FOR SUNBURNED HAIR
WHEN the hot summer sun has faded the color and dried the scalp, a beneficial application to use is beef marrow pomade, made by mixing a gill of strained marrow with a tablespoonful of olive oil.
The marrow is easily obtained by buying beef bones con- taining it, and scraping it into a small saucepan to melt, but not get hot. It is then strained and the oil added. It may be perfumed, if desired, and twenty drops of tincture of benzoin may be stirred in to preserve it. Persons who object to this as being too greasy will prefer another, made of one ounce of pure olive oil, half an ounce of cologne, one- quarter ounce of gum benzoin and four ounces of alcohol. The benzoin is dissolved in the alcohol and the other in- gredients added. After straining through coarse paper or muslin, two ounces of castor oil and half a dram each of oils of geranium and bergamot are added. This should be shaken before using. I consider it particularly good.
26 HEALTH AND BEAUTY HINTS
As far as the beef-marrow pomade is concerned, it will not grease the hair more than the other preparation if parts close together are made on the scalp and the tonic is rubbed on carefully with the finger tips, the way all tonics should be applied, except thin ones, which should be put on with a small sponge or brush. With all, the object is to saturate the scalp but not the long hair. No nourishment is given in the latter way.
Added to either of the tonics suggested, brilliantine may be used temporarily to give luster and polish before treat- ment has restored it. This polisher, as it may be called, is made from one-half ounce of honey, strained, a quarter of an ounce each of glycerine and cologne and an ounce of alcohol. The mixture must be made smooth, and, to use, the surface of the hair must be slightly moistened in the morning. Too much will cause a sticky „ effect.
Another tonic recommended for use on sunburned hair is made from half a pint of sweet almond oil, one and one- eighth ounces of alkanet root, nine and one-half grains each of oils of clove, mace and rose, half a dram of oil of cinna- mon and seven and one-half grains of tincture of musk. The alkanet is dropped into the almond oil, which is placed where it is warm, the root remaining until the liquid is well colored. It is then strained off, the root rejected, and the other oils added to the almond.
Where the hair is dry, and like straw, through excessive exposure to the sun, this tonic should be put on every night.
With these tonics ready for use, a woman who comes back to town in the late summer should set herself to work for the improvement of her hair quite as much as she does to make her gowns pretty.
HEALTH AND BEAUTY HINTS 27
When retiring, fifteen minutes, at least, should be con- sumed in brushing and massaging.
Bearing in mind to have a fairly stiff brush to aid in stimulating the glands, and a coarse-tooth comb, she should first take out all tangles. To do this she must not pull, for that breaks the hair, but must work gently, always below, not above the knot. This will draw apart and smooth in- terwoven hairs without pulling them out. This done, many divisions of the hair must be made, rubbing the tonic into each line of the scalp. Very awkward this is at first, and it is always better to have another person do it, but if there is no assistant it must not be neglected.
This finished, begin massaging, giving special heed to that section above the temples where the hair is likely to grow thin.
STRAIGHT HAIR MAY BE MADE TO CURL WITH OILS
AT times I wonder if hair naturally wavy would be so uncommon if oil or grease in some form were used on the head instead of the drying agents. It is, I know, the common idea that in order to curl hair must be dry, but this is a mistake, and any woman who doubts the statement will realize its truth if she remembers that some of her friends' tresses that are usually straight show a de- cided inclination to curl if the atmosphere is damp.
The reason for this is obvious, for dampness gives weight and body to the hair. On this same principle, hair inclined to wave would be curly all the time if oil were applied every two or three days.
As for the oil, I doubt if it makes much difference what
28 HEALTH AND BEAUTY HINTS
is chosen as long as it is pure. Sweet almond oil migfit Be scented; cocoanut oil would also be good. None has the virtue of being a curler in itself; it is only that the grease supplied may be a necessary element hitherto lacking.
Little should be used at a time, and the best way of put- ting it on is with the palms of the hands, as I have already told. For in this way too much is not applied. Should the hair seem heavy after the grease is put on it may be omitted for a day.
Always, after using the oil, there must be effort to lay the hair in waves. Tying a thin veil over the tresses so arranged helps to keep them in place.
It is a mistake to think that brushing straightens the hair. To the contrary, it is good for that which is dry, by helping to stimulate natural oils, and it is equally desir- able for that which has too much grease, because it takes out some of the superfluous oil.
It must not be forgotten that hair once trained, or having the habit of waving, will be easier to manage than when it is straight. It may take weeks to develop the possibili- ties of curls that I believe exist in almost all tresses, and the most persistent effort is necessary during this time of training.
LOTIONS THAT KEEP HAIR IN CURL
OF the many preparations recommended to keep the hair in curl none is easier for amateurs to make, or is more effective, even in damp weather, than bando- line, made from quince seed. It is harmless, and keeps straight locks in curl.
HEALTH AND BEAUTY HINTS 29
The only objection to it is that when dry it assumes a powdery aspect suggestive of fine dandruff.
An old method for preparing this toilet preservative is to add a tablespoonful of the seeds, bruised, to a pint of soft water. Boil gently until the quantity is reduced to three gills. Then strain, and, when cold, two tablespoonfuls each of cologne and alcohol are added. If the hair is naturally oily, one-half a teaspoonful of powdered alum may be added, dissolving it first in the alcohol. For applying to the hair a small sponge is the best agent. This lotion must be put on before using curlers.
Another compound that imparts luster to the hair is made from one and one-half ounces of carefully picked gum arabic, dissolved in a gill of rosewater. It is strained through a muslin, and a drop of aniline dye is added.
This is put on before arranging the hair, and acts as a bandoline as well as a polish.
A third preparation of which I have heard, but do not vouch for, would be suited to oily hair. It is composed of one ounce of gum arabic and half an ounce of the granu- lated sugar which is moist — "coffee" sugar I think it is called. These are dissolved in three gills of hot water, and when the mixture is cold two ounces of alcohol are put in, first dissolving in the latter six grains each of bichloride of mercury and sal ammoniac. Enough water is then added to make a pint. I am positive the mixture should not be used if there is the slightest abrasion of the scalp, and I believe that because of the mercury it would be harmful to the hair.
30 HEALTH AND BEAUTY HINTS
TO KEEP FALSE HAIR CLEAN AND NATURAL LOOKING
FALSE hair will last longer and look better if properly cared for, and as the best quality is not inexpensive, and should be carefully selected, it behooves a woman, now that quantities of it are worn, to know how to make it last.
To begin with, then, a cheap quality is the most expensive, for after little wear it becomes either scrubby-looking or so harsh that it cannot be used. Cheap pieces lose color and either streak or fade quickly.
One of the most important and difficult details of caring for chignons is to keep them free from dust. Like hair growing on the head, they hold impurities, and unless cleansed will grow dull-looking and old. In their care a soft brush is an essential, and every night when the pieces are removed they should be stroked lightly but thoroughly with bristles in such a way that the dust is taken out. This should not be omitted even for one night, for once the switch or puffs become dust laden they are difficult to clean.
No false hair, when not being worn, should be exposed to the light, for sun and air will absorb its dressing un- necessarily. After being worn it must never be put away until it has been smoothed.
To wash a switch or puffs is practically impossible, but as cleansing is necessary at intervals, corn meal should be applied. The meal must be rubbed gently but thoroughly through the strands, and then, fastening the top of the piece securely, a long-bristled brush must be applied vigor- ously to remove the grains. Before this, however, the long
HEALTH AND BEAUTY HINTS 31
hair must be rubbed between the hands so the meal will absorb the dust.
Once in a long while, about every two months, a little oil rubbed on the false piece will keep it in condition, and aid in preserving the dressing. For this glycerine is excel- lent, and the manner of applying should be carefully fol- lowed. Too much of the grease will almost ruin, while too little will not be effective. When using the glycerine the tip of the piece must be securely fastened where the long hair will hang free. Then a few drops, scented, may be rubbed between the palms of the hands, to distribute it evenly, and then put directly upon the hair, the only diffi- culty being that unless care is exercised the grease will ad- here to only one part of the switch. This is most apt to be avoided by pressing the palms lightly when first they are put on, making the stroke heavier as the grease is absorbed. Under no circumstances must there be an appearance of grease.
HOW TO DELICATELY PERFUME THE HAIR
PERFUMING the hair is among the simple and dainty details of a complete toilet that can be done by any woman at little trouble or expense. To apply, scent caps should be worn, for they cover the hair, and have the added virtue of protecting it so that it neither snarls nor tumbles during the process. This makes combing in the morning a simpler operation, and the hair is benefited by being protected from the air.
For this headpiece a dusting-cap pattern is practical, the covering being merely a circular cloth large enough to keep the hair free and allow circulation of air. It is fitted to
32 HEALTH AND BEAUTY HINTS
the head by an elastic, care being taken that the latter is not too tight, or circulation will be stopped. The material for the cap depends entirely upon the amount of money a girl wishes to spend. Silk, of course, is best — a thin China or India. Silkolene is an excellent substitute. Besides this fabric for the cap there should be an interlining of thinnest cashmere, a wool material being necessary to hold the odor satisfactorily. For the lining stiff goods should not be chosen, or the head may be overheated.
Between the inner and outer cap any kind of sachet desired is sprinkled thickly. I am always a strong advocate of orris root, for it is sweet, lasting, and never cloying. If the cap is tufted at intervals there will be less danger of the powder settling in one part.
To use the cap for best results the hair should be thor- oughly brushed and combed at night and then done in a loose braid. The more every hair is exposed to the cap the more it will take the sweet odor. It is not well to make any kind of coiffure that requires pins, for the braid is simply tucked up and the cap pulled on, covering the head entirely. It is worn all night.
To perfume a pompadour roll is simple, and this should be done whether or not the cap is used, for the roll will pre- vent the hair from losing its perfume through exposure to the air. To fix the pompadour, a gash about three inches long is cut. In this aperture the powder is thickly laid, choosing the same that is in the cap. Sewing silk the color of the pompadour is then used for closing the gap.
The powder will last for several weeks. There will be no chance of its sprinkling out if first put into a piece of
HEALTH AND BEAUTY HINTS 33
thin silk and sewed, but this work sometimes destroys the shape of the pompadour.
As any odor evaporates quickly when constantly exposed to the air, something more is required to make the hair hold any sweetness. To put little sachet pads into all one's hats takes only a short time and little trouble, and it helps re- markably in accomplishing the desired end.
Another way of helping to retain the perfume is to put the same scent, in liquid form, into the palm of the hand and on the brush bristles. It is at once rubbed and brushed over the head, imparting a slight fragrance. Care must always be taken that conflicting scents are not used.
SIMPLE METHODS OF REMOVING SUPERFLUOUS HAIR
FROM the beginning of time, probably, there have been external applications for the removal of superfluous hair, and some undoubtedly have more virtue than others. But I know of none that is a permanent cure, though some kill the growth temporarily. The reason that hair grows again, however, is easy to understand when it is known that each hair fits into a little cuplike receptacle, and unless this is destroyed the hair will be constantly renewed, as it is from the cup that nourishment is drawn. External applications kill only the hair itself, that might be called the "shoot," leaving the root to flourish anew.
There are, of course, occasional instances where the source of nourishment is dried by frequent use of an exterminating agent, but there is also this consideration, that the renewed growth is likely to be thicker than the original, the treat- ment acting as a pruning treatment.
34 HEALTH AND BEAUTY HINTS
Peroxide sometimes acts beneficially, but although I in- tend to give some formulas for external application. I do not wish it to be thought that I recommend them. More powerful ones, that sometimes scar the skin, I decline to give, but the simpler ones will not injure the surface.
An old-time remedy is composed of two parts of sul- phurate of calcium to one part quicklime. The ingredients are powdered separately, thoroughly mingled, and kept dry in a tightly corked bottle. When applied they are made into a paste with water, and spread over the growth, and allowed to remain fifteen minutes or more, or until there is a sen- sation of smarting. The paste is then washed off with soap and tepid water. If the irritation is pronounced zinc oint- ment may be rubbed on. The hairs will drop shortly. An- other, said to be quite safe, is a quarter of an ounce of quick- lime, half an ounce of carbonate of soda and two ounces of lard. They are made into a paste and applied as the first.
Electrolysis is by no means an infallible cure, because, unless properly done, it merely kills the growth and not the roots. It works by the application of an electric needle that is supposed to go beneath the skin surface to the root. But unless the angle of the hair root is followed the result is no better than from external application. That this is fre- quently the case is attested by the number of times super- fluous hair comes in again after electrical treatment, and for that reason the utmost care should be taken to have a reliable operator.
Peroxide, while it acts slowly, sometimes gives the best results of any external application, for the reason that it bleaches the hairs, rendering them less conspicuous, and so dries the nourishment as to kill the root entirely. It is used
HEALTH AND BEAUTY HINTS 35
merely by wetting the surface, but attention must be given that the skin is not injured by becoming overdry.
DANDRUFF CURE
Boracic acid, one dram; lavendar water, two and one-half ounces.
Mix, and massage into the scalp every other night.
SIMPLE TREATMENT FOR DANDRUFF
A CONDITION of the scalp which is merely one of dandruff requires the most careful attention or it will become a disease. This state shows in a con- stant itching and in the presence of scabs on the head, and unless checked will cause the hair to fall in patches. In different cases the crusts may be hard or soft, but if in the former condition they must be dissolved before shampooing, or the soreness will be painful. The whole head should be anointed with olive oil, letting this remain on for at least two hours. At the end of that time a combination of tgg and lime water must be used in shampooing.
Whether the crusts be hard or soft, tgg and lime water are best, but it is only when the crusts are hard that oil must be the preliminary application.
One raw egg to half a pint of lime water forms the pro- portion. They are beaten together and are to be well rubbed over the scalp and through the hair. If the head is sensi- tive, as it must be when in such condition, the application should be made with the finger tips, taking care not to in- crease the soreness. Washing is done in clear warm water, soap not being required.
Where dandruff is excessive without soreness of the scalp,
36 HEALTH AND BEAUTY HINTS
quillai bark makes an excellent shampoo. The bark is put into warm water, left for several hours, and shaken at in- tervals, to infuse. The liquid will be soapy, and precludes the necessity for other cleansing agents.
Should the scalp be so sore it is sensitive to the touch, it may be necessary to resort to zinc ointment, which has healing qualities. This should be rubbed gently into the scalp before shampooing, parting the hair frequently, that all sections of the skin may be treated. Egg and lime water may then be put on to cleanse before rinsing in clear water.
Washing is to be done not oftener than once a month, and the daily application of a tonic in the interim is to be considered imperative. One specially suited to the condition — or whenever the scalp is so dry it causes powdery dan- druff— is made from three ounces of cocoanut oil, four and one-half drams of tincture of nux vomica, two ounces of bay rum and forty drops of oil of bergamot. These should be shaken to mix, and are rubbed into the scalp at night with a piece of sponge, or, better, with the finger tips, the hair being parted frequently that the skin, not the hair, shall be anointed.
A CURE— WHEN DANDRUFF CAUSES HAIR TO FALL
AN excellent method for stopping the falling of hair when dandruff causes the trouble, is to give the scalp a gentle shampoo without soap, using the yolks of two eggs beaten in half a pint of lime. This must be thor- oughly massaged over the head and washed out in clear warm water, finishing with a douche of cold to contract the pores.
HEALTH AND BEAUTY HINTS 37
A lotion for use at such times is made from one and one- half drams of pure glycerine and two ounces of lime water. This is mixed thoroughly, and once every two weeks the scalp is anointed with it, a soft brush being the best way of putting it on. One the size of a tooth brush should be selected. The hair is parted at close intervals, and the wet brush is drawn through each line. After this treatment the scalp must be massaged by holding the finger tips closely against it and then bending the knuckles. This is done to every part of the scalp, the purpose being to stimulate circulation and bring health.
After having made two applications of the lime-water lotion add to the original quantity one-quarter of an ounce of tincture of cantharides. This is put on every night for two weeks.
When that quantity has been exhausted the treatment may be changed to the use of another tonic, made from one-half ounce each of castor oil and strong liquid ammonia, one ounce of best French brandy and three ounces of rose water. This is put on only every other night, although mas- sage must be given every night.
Should the latter tonic irritate the scalp, causing the slightest itching or pain, it must not be used again, and the first tonic, in which is tincture of cantharides, must be ap- plied. As the scalp grows stronger the second lotion may be used.
No matter how oily the scalp may become, washing must not be done oftener than once a month. When the greasy condition is excessive a small quantity of lime water may be put on with a little sponge, using just enough to moisten the scalp but not to make it damp.
38 HEALTH AND BEAUTY HINTS
At the end of three months, if this treatment is followed, the head will be in a far healthier condition than before. The process is a slow one, as building up always is.
CHAPTER III
SHAMPOOS
SHAMPOO MIXTURES FOR BLONDES AND BRUNETTES
TO keep the hair at its best a shampoo suitable to the scalp must be used. For, contrary to the general opinion, what is effective for one person may be detrimental to another. For instance, dark hair requires different cleansing ingredients than would be used for blondes, because certain kinds affect the color. For exam- ple, a blonde should never use anything containing sulphur or iron, any more than a brunette should apply soda.
The last chemical, ammonia, and borax, are brightening in effect, but drying, so that if yellow hair is washed in either close attention must be given that the bath is not doing it harm. Brunettes will do well to apply yolks of eggs, subcarbonate of potash and claret, the latter being a popular ingredient in countries where the wine is inexpen- sive. Containing iron, as it does, it is excellent both as a tonic and for coloring matter.
A cleansing mixture adapted to light hair, that brightens without dyeing, is made from equal parts of dried rhubarb and strained honey, steeped for twenty-four hours in three parts of white wine. At the end of that period the mixture, which should have been tightly covered, must be strained, and the head and long hair entirely covered with it. The
39
40 HEALTH AND BEAUTY HINTS
preparation should stay on for at least half an hour, and until dry. It then must be washed off in clear water, with a little bicarbonate of soda in the final rinse.
Oils are likely to have a darkening effect upon really light hair, and should be eliminated from all applications.
A simple soap cleaning jelly is made by scraping a cake of castile soap and putting it into a clean saucepan with a pint of boiling water. Then let the kettle stand where it will keep warm until the soap is dissolved, when the liquid is poured into a wide-mouthed jar. It is jelly when cold.
To use, it is diluted with one raw white of egg to each teaspoonful of the jelly and a tablespoonful of water. One- half teaspoonful of bicarbonate of soda for each tablespoon- ful of soap may be added, unless it dries the hair too much.
Whites of eggs are among the most gentle and cleansing applications that can be made. They are slightly beaten and then thoroughly rubbed over the head and through the hair. No soap is needed unless the scalp is particularly dirty.
A shampoo suited to brunettes is made by beating two yolks of raw eggs into half a pint of claret, adding a gill of water. This is thoroughly rubbed over, without more water until the shampoo has been worked in.
For sticky and oily hair a strong cleansing mixture is made from two ounces of green soap (potash) to an ounce of alcohol, the two being thoroughly mingled before being rubbed over the scalp. This is drying, and not to be used for hair of ordinary texture.
Photo by Joel Feder, New York. GIVING A DRY SHAMPOO.
HEALTH AND BEAUTY HINTS 41
HOW TO GIVE A DRY SHAMPOO
MANY women injure their scalps by shampooing too often. Of course, cleanliness is as necessary for a hygienic condition of the head as it is for the body, but too much washing dries the oils, deprives the hair of nourishment, causes it to have a dry and lusterless aspect, and finally to fall.
A dry shampoo is one of the best kinds of treatment that can be given, and if one can take this the third week after washing, and wait another two weeks before the next wet shampoo, the scalp may be kept clean without exhausting the oils.
For the dry process an application that aids is made from two gills of New England rum, a gill of bay rum, one ounce of glycerine and a quarter of an ounce each of carbonate of potash, borax and carbonate of ammonia. The borax, am- monia and potash must be put into the alcohols, and when dissolved the glycerine should be added. A thorough shak- ing is required to mingle these ingredients, and the mixture must be shaken before it is used.
Less expensive is another preparation, made from two ounces of lavender water, half an ounce of borax, one and one-half ounces of orange-flower water and one-quarter of an ounce of tincture of cochineal. The last and borax are put into the cologne, the sweet water being added when mingling is complete.
Both of these preparations are applied in the same man- ner, using a small sponge and then rubbing the scalp. They are left to dry in.
As to the actual work of a dry shampoo, the first essential
42 HEALTH AND BEAUTY HINTS
is to comb and brush the hair to remove all tangles. Then a shampoo mixture is poured into a saucer, and with a sponge is put on the scalp after the hair has been divided into many parts. In applying a liquid a part is made close to the forehead, the sponge is dipped into the fluid and then rubbed along a line in the scalp. Another division is made close by and the rubbing repeated. This is continued until every portion of the scalp has been cleansed. This work will take fifteen or twenty minutes.
After that the hair is brought back, and a little massage may be given, paying special attention to the portion over the temples, where hair is apt to grow thin. This massage is nothing more than holding the finger tips firmly on the scalp, then bending the finger joints so the skin of the head moves over the skull. This drives in the external appli- cation, at the same time stimulating circulation. It is an excellent treatment.
This done, if the patience is not exhausted, a tonic may be put on. The latter is not necessary, for both of the shampoo creams suggested have tonic properties; but if the scalp is inclined to be dry it is an excellent plan to rub in a mixture of an ounce and a half of white vaseline, three- quarters of an ounce of cold drawn castor oil, three-quarters of a dram of gallic acid and fifteen drops of oil of lavender. This is best applied by dipping the finger tips into the cream, which must then be worked into the scalp.
A final brushing and combing complete the treatment, which, if given with a degree of regularity, will be of great- est benefit to the scalp and hair.
HEALTH AND BEAUTY HINTS 43
HAIR NEEDS AIR MORE THAN SHAMPOOS IN SUMMER
MORE necessary, even, than washing, is airing the hair in summer, when, no matter how oily the scalp may be, it should not be shampooed oftener than once a month. As to the airing, a woman whose tresses are thick should never fail to do them in two braids at night. To twist them on the head, and pin there, is to invite thin- ness. One braid is better than that, but the scalp gets no refreshment even then ; but by making two braids ventilation may be secured.
Preparatory to the airing a part should be put through the center, from forehead to the nape of the neck, and each half then brought over the ear, in order to leave the middle of the head free. The braids should be loose.
This is not to be done until a thorough brushing and airing of the locks has been given. For this treatment a long bristle brush should be chosen, and the hair divided into strands. Each of these, taken separately, should be brushed, beginning by placing the tips of the bristles on the scalp. The brush must then be drawn through the locks down to the ends. This should be repeated several times, and each, strand placed out of the way as it is finished.
The instant a sour odor comes, washing must be done. Only shampooing will cleanse them, and nothing is more disagreeable than the effect of perspiration. If there is a tendency to oiliness, and because of warm weather an odor comes quickly, I think an egg shampoo is the best. For this raw eggs are beaten, a tablespoonful of water being added to each tgg. For an ordinary head of hair two are enough.
44 HEALTH AND BEAUTY HINTS
These eggs are rubbed into the scalp and over the hair, no soap being used. Should there be the least trace of perspira- tion afterward there may be a final rinse in soda water, using a level teaspoonful of bicarbonate to a basinful of water.
As this is drying in effect it should not be used unless necessary. When drying it is well to let the sun strike the head a little, but not for more than five minutes.
It is restful to the scalp if the hair is dressed a different way in the morning, in warm weather. In the early part of the day, when simple frocks are worn, it may be twisted or braided at the back, making an elaborate coiffure for afternoon. This insures the head being cool in all places at different times.
DRYING HAIR WITH HEAT INJURES THE ROOTS
ONE of the most common errors in washing hair is to dry it by heat. This is harmful, for shampooing extracts so much of the necessary natural oil which acts as nourishment that to absorb more by steam or elec- tricity is decidedly hurtful. Therefore, no matter what the necessity for a "quick dry," the temptation to hang the tresses over a radiator or before a register must be resisted, and the locks must be dried by rubbing with towels, letting the mass hang loose at times while resting the arms. The most attention must be given the scalp and the upper parts of the hair near the scalp, for the lower will dry itself. If there is the slightest disposition to waviness, when dry, only a comb should be used in removing the snarls, for a brush straightens too much.
CHAPTER IV
BLEACHES AND DYES
BLEACH FOR TAN
Put half a pint of rich milk into a porcelain kettle and bring it to a boil. Skim carefully, and add one=quarter of an ounce of strained lemon juice. Remove from the heat and pour in one-half ounce of white brandy.
Bottle when cold, and apply to the face at night with a soft cloth, letting the mixture stay on all night. Wipe over the face again in the morning after washing.
LEMON IS BLEACH FOR TAN AND SUNBURN
ON summer dressing-tables lemons should always be placed, for this fruit is an excellent bleach, and light freckles, a thin coat of tan, and stains of various kinds that assail the skin, disappear with its use. Be it understood, however, that the acid is not strong enough to remove deep color, and that only by applying it constantly will it be efficacious. Also, like every other such whitener, it has disadvantages, and constant application of it is dry- ing. For this reason its effect must be watched, and if there comes an appearance of chapping for a few days use of the acid must be omitted. This is less likely to occur in warm than in cold weather.
One merit of lemon juice as a cosmetic is its cleansing properties, so that it may be brought into requisition both, before and after washing.
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46 HEALTH AND BEAUTY HINTS
For the face, unless badly sunburned or freckled, it is an excellent plan to wipe over the complexion with the juice, then wash, and again put it on, letting this last moisture dry into the skin.
Rather than squeeze the juice, and put on with a cloth, as is sometimes done, I like to rub it on directly. To do this the lemon may be cut in two, and one-half becomes a swab or pad that is thoroughly rubbed over the surface. After a few minutes the outer slice should be cut off, leav- ing a new surface with which to work. Then, if cleansing is the point, a soft cloth must be mopped over the skin to take out the dust. Rubbing and wiping should continue until the cloth shows no trace of grime. When bleaching is the object, as for sunburn and tan, a final rub with the fruit is essential, letting the last application dry in.
Water must not be used when the skin is discolored, or burning, from exposure to sun or wind .
An excellent cleanser for the hands may be made by melting or softening cold cream and adding to it lemon juice and powdered pumice. An ounce of cream to a tea- spoonful of pumice and a teaspoonful of juice is a good proportion, and the pumice must be put in before the juice. When the last is added the mixture must be stirred con- stantly to combine it all.
RECIPES FOR THE MAKING OF BLEACHING CREAMS
BLEACHING creams should be used by girls and women who spend their vacations at the seashore or moun- tains, where their skins tan or freckle, for it is a mistake not to remove burns or freckles before cold weather, as the chill has an unpleasant way of settling the color.
HEALTH AND BEAUTY HINTS 47
Before giving formulas for any cold creams I wish to state this about mixing them: More than half the fail- ures are due to the fact that, in preparing, the fats used are allowed to become hot. Once this happens the chance of their congealing is small, or, if they do, the quality is not apt to be good. Spermaceti and white wax — indeed, any such ingredients — should be softened, this includes a slight warming, but nothing more. If they are broken into small bits before being put into the mixing bath success will be greater.
Another secret in the art of mixing creams consists in beating them. Some persons use a new eggbeater for the purpose, but I prefer a silver fork, wishing that only pure metal shall come in contact with the cream. It is not enough to stir; beating, precisely similar to that given to eggs, is best.
The vessels in which the creams are prepared must be of china or glass. Metal of any kind is highly undesirable, and will probably take away from the pure whiteness of the mixture. A plain china cup is excellent.
A cream especially recommended for the aftermath of sunburn and tan is made from two ounces of sweet almond oil, three drams each of white wax and spermaceti, one dram of borax, three-quarters of an ounce of glycerine, one ounce of orange-flower water and eight drops each of orange-skin oil, oils of neroli and petit grain.
The spermaceti and wax must be broken and put into a cup placed in a pan of boiling water. The almond oil should then be poured in, and as soon as the fats are soft the cup removed. In the glycerine the orange-flower water must be mingled, the borax being well mixed with them. This
48 HEALTH AND BEAUTY HINTS
preparation is then added to the fats, beating constantly. If the cream begins to harden before the mixture is complete, it is replaced in the bath for a moment. The perfumed oils go in last. When finished the cream should be of the con- sistency its name implies.
Cucumber cream is adapted for such use. It is made by mixing two ounces of almond oil and half an ounce each of white wax and spermaceti with an ounce of cucumber juice. The latter is made by washing a cucumber and cut- ting it into small bits, peel and all. About a teaspoonful of water is added, and the cucumber placed on the fire where it will heat slowly and simmer gently until the mass is pulpy. It is strained through a cloth, and when cold is beaten into the cream. Ten drops of tincture of benzoin improve it. Mixing is done as was described for the first formula.
BLEACHES FOR RED FACE
EXTREME redness of the face, when it does not come from the use of intoxicants, is likely to be caused by impoverished blood, which does not circulate prop- erly through the veins, or from indigestion. Either one may cause flushing of the entire face or of one portion, such as the nose or cheeks and chin. Of that there is no doubt, and it sometimes happens that external applications may aid in a cure.
One that may be improving is made from one dram of iodide of potassium, half a pint of distilled water and half an ounce of glycerine. To mix, the water and iodide should be thoroughly blended before the glycerine is added. It is rubbed over the face morning and night with a soft bit of
HEALTH AND BEAUTY HINTS 49
linen, and its use must be discontinued for a time if the skin begins to chap under it.
Another, suited to redness of the nose and surface appli- cation to the face in any other portion that becomes unduly red, is made from fifteen grains of tannic acid dissolved in live ounces of camphor water. This is put on several times a day, drying in. Like the first, its effect upon the skin must be watched, and should it cause dryness must be discon- tinued for a time.
For surface bleach, when the skin and not the blood ves- sels is to be treated, an application which acts slowly but well is made from two ounces of lactic acid, one ounce of glycerine and half an ounce of rosewater. It is applied as is the first two. Mercurial lotion, which may not be used if there is any eruption of the face, is the strongest bleach made and is to be brought into requisition with great dis- crimination, I think. It is made by dissolving ten grains of corrosive sublimate crystals in half a pint each of rose and distilled waters. The work should be done by a chemist.
It is used by wiping over the face morning and night with a soft cloth. The liquid is poison if taken internally.
SUGGESTIONS ABOUT REMOVING YELLOW STAINS FROM NECK
HIGH collars are almost sure to ruin even pretty necks by making yellow lines and fine wrinkles in the skin. For the tight neck dressings interfere with the free circulation of the blood, thus starving the tissues and caus- ing the local muscles to become flabby.
50 HEALTH AND BEAUTY HINTS
To avoid such injury the collars should not be worn so tight that the neck cannot be moved freely inside the band.
I recommend to every woman that she shall give special attention to this detail when having frocks made, and that her collar may be as high as she likes, but with breathing space, as it were, for the skin they cover.
Massaging every night I believe a sovereign course for preventing discoloration and keeping the throat firm and in generally good condition. A cream I like for this purpose is made of an ounce of benzoated oxide of zinc ointment and two drams of strong spirits of camphor. This, by the way, is an excellent astringent, and may be worked into the face about twice a week.
For the neck treatment, the skin should be thoroughly washed every night with warm water and soap, letting the water stay on long enough to open the pores. All soap must be rinsed out. While the skin is still soft the cream is rubbed in, applying it always with a rotary motion, especially under the chin where the cords first lose their strength. The stroke should be a firm one, continuing all the way around, the greatest effort being directed about on the line where the collar ceases. This massage must take five minutes and even longer. When it is over the throat should be patted with a soft bit of dry linen.
Another piece of muslin is then dipped into cold water and patted wet over the flesh. This serves to contract the pores opened by washing and rubbing. To be efficacious the water must be positively cold and generously applied. Dry- ing is done by mopping, not rubbing.
In the morning, instead of using water for cleansing, the throat may be wet with a lotion of a quarter of an ounce of
HEALTH AND BEAUTY HINTS 51
powdered borax, half an ounce of pure glycerine and a pint of camphor water. This is patted in and wiped off, drying with a rotary motion, as in massaging.
When the line about the throat has developed until it is yellow, some persons favor bleaching by a gentle burn. For this a paste is made of dry English mustard, taking a table- spoonful and mixing it into a paste with a teaspoonful of sweet almond oil and as' much lemon juice as may be re- quired. This is rubbed on the discoloration night and morn- ing and left until the skin smarts. It is then washed off with warm water. After several days the skin will peel, usually without hurt, and the discoloration should disappear. The camphor water lotion last given is then used.
A fact to be taken into consideration is that the same bleach will not do for every skin. That which is admirably suited to one, and may restore the neck to pristine freshness, would be entirely inefficacious for another. This is because the quality of the skin differs, the epidermis of one being thicker than that of another, and so less easily affected.
Citric acid, the basis of many bleaches, is made from lemons, and incidentally simple lemon juice, if used steadily, will accomplish whiteness for many persons, but citric acid seldom fails. It is the strong agent in a formula composed of one and one-half drams of the citric acid, five and one-half ounces of hot water, a dram of borax and half an ounce of glycerine. The acid and borax are dissolved in the water, the glycerine being mixed in later. It should stand over night and then be strained through fine muslin. If wished, the glycerine may be omitted until after straining and a few drops of rose essence then combined.
52 HEALTH AND BEAUTY HINTS
This mixture should be wiped over the discoloration morning and night and allowed to dry on.
Of equal strength, but more suited to some persons, is a lotion made from two ounces of lactic acid, one ounce of glycerine and half an ounce of rosewater. This is put on not only morning and night but during the day with a soft piece of linen.
BLACK AND BROWN DYES FOR GRAY HAIR
NO dye gray hair black use sage tea, a harmless color- ing lotion that is made by steeping gently two ounces each of green tea and dried sage in three quarts of water until only two quarts are left. When reduced in this manner it must stand for twenty-four hours, then the liquid should be strained off. More than one application of this is required to get the best effects, and a small brush or fine comb that will put on the tea evenly is best. It must be applied nightly, and unless care is taken will stain the pil- low. The tea does not keep long without souring, and I know of nothing to preserve it.
Walnut shells also make a stain that is almost black, and an English preparation for walnut dye suggests buying the hulls from a druggist, chopping, and putting loosely into a large-mouthed jar. A preserving jar is good. Over this enough alcohol to cover is poured. This stands for a week, tightly covered, then the liquid is poured off. The husks are pressed then and the second liquid added to the first. This done, the husks are covered with water and simmered for fifteen minutes. Again they are strained, and the water, when cold, put with the alcohol. A heavier shade is made
HEALTH AND BEAUTY HINTS 53
by boiling the water, always slowly, until the husks are reduced to a pulp. This is also strained through a muslin, and when cold the alcohol is mixed with it.
This stain or any other will be useless if the hair has not been previously washed and dried before the coloring mate- rial is put on. The least trace of grease prevents the dye from adhering, and for this reason soda or ammonia in the washing and rinsing waters becomes imperative. And the dyeing agents are what injure the roots, for they make the scalp unnaturally dry.
MINERAL BLACK AND BROWN DYES FOR GRAY HAIR
BROWN and jet black mineral dyes for gray hair that are more powerful, and hence more lasting, than the preparations described in the last chapter, are mixed in this way :
For a pronounced black coloring use a solution of a dram and a half of nitrate of silver to two ounces of distilled water.
A dark brown is made by adding to this solution an equal amount of distilled water, while double the amount of water put to the original solution will make a light brown. To give exact directions for a shade is impossible, for the color, after it dries, is governed by the original shade of the hair. It is only by experimenting that a person will find what suits.
Besides the dye a mordant is required to make the color hold. One of the simplest of these is made of one and a half drams of sulphuret of potassium, an ounce of distilled water, three-quarters of a dram of liquor of potassa and two
54 HEALTH AND BEAUTY HINTS
drops of oil of anise seed. When used this is diluted with five times the amount of water.
To dye the hair, begin by washing it, for no color will "take" without a preliminary shampoo.
Then comes the mordant. This is applied with a fine- tooth comb ; every strand is covered, evenly and quickly, care being taken not to wet the scalp. This preparation dries on, v and then the dye may be applied.
No person can color her own hair. The work must be done by another, and as with the mordant, a fine-tooth comb is necessary. To put on, the coloring is poured into a deep plate, like a soap dish, and the comb is wet and evenly and quickly pulled through every part of the hair, taking care not to get on more dye in one place than in another, or the after effect will be streaked. It takes skilful work to do this dyeing, simple though it may seem. If the scaly be- comes colored the spots should be washed off with a wet cloth. The dye dries in a short time.
Coloring should not be done oftener than once a month, and every few days a little oil carefully rubbed over the tresses will neutralize the action of the dye. Some persons prefer brilliantine rather than oil to counteract the effect of coloring.
TO COLOR HAIR A BEAUTIFUL GOLDEN TINT
TO bleach the hair is quite as injurious as to stain it dark, for breakage and drying follow inevitably. Besides peroxide there are one or two other applica- tions that will make a tone golden, but I have yet to see any bleached hair, even that done with henna, which has not a certain straw shade nature's color never evidences.
HEALTH AND BEAUTY HINTS 55
When peroxide is used the hair is washed and thoroughly dried. Indeed, a shampoo must always first be given, and there must be soda or ammonia in the rinsing water in order to cut all natural oils from the hair, for the least trace re- maining will prevent a bleach from working. Drying must also be complete.
This done, peroxide of hydrogen is poured into a deep receptacle, into which a comb may be thrust, or into a large shallow one suited to the bristles of a brush. A comb as an agent for applying will make a more even finish, but a brush is less apt to wet the scalp, and great effort must be made to keep the head skin untouched by the application.
Whichever implement one decides to use, the bleach must be put on evenly and the hair allowed to dry. If the color is not sufficiently reduced a second and even a third appli- cation should be made. The hair will inevitably be ruined by the treatment, for it will be stiff, coarse and dry after a time.
Henna is thought to be less harmful, and with some hair produces more of a golden tint than may be secured by using peroxide.
A paste for this purpose is made from four ounces of powdered henna and four drams each of acetic acid, white honey, strained, and powdered rhubarb. These are well mingled before enough hot water is put in to make a paste. After the shampoo and drying, as previously directed, the paste is applied evenly over every inch of hair, and one sits in the sun for two hours. At the end of that time the prep- aration is washed off in water in which is no soap, but about a teaspoonful of ammonia. All traces of paste are to be removed, and drying is done in the sun again.
56 HEALTH AND BEAUTY HINTS
TO RESTORE BLEACHED AND DYED HAIR TO ORIGINAL SHADE
SAD is the predicament of a woman who has bleached or dyed her hair. For, having changed the color through chemical process, it becomes necessary for her to con- tinue the treatment or have a head of hair that is streaked. And yet, to continue the process indefinitely is out of the question, because both bleaches and dyes so dry and break the locks that the longer the treatment lasts the worse the hair becomes.
Advanced though science is, there is nothing yet known that will bring back the original condition quickly. Time and care alone will do it, and the interval of transition is one calculated to bring sorrow and desire for seclusion. The change will begin of its own accord at the roots, as new hair grows out, but the long tresses will stay almost as they were when being treated, save that the shade will become dingy and worn, and a general "many-colored" aspect evi- dent.
It is true that attention which will help to stimulate the natural oils while providing a substitute for them at first, will hasten an improvement.
The treatment after bleaching or dyeing is the same. Massage, brushing and grease are to be applied every day.
At night, after the hairpins have been taken out, a long-> bristled brush should be drawn through the tresses, from) scalp to ends, for at least five minutes, and preferably ten. The hair is to be divided into sections, that are stroked separately, that each portion shall have a thorough going over. I would then suggest using a tonic made from one
HEALTH AND BEAUTY HINTS '57
and one-half ounces of cocoanut oil, two and a quarter drams of tincture of nux vomica, one ounce of Jamaica bay rum and twenty drops of oil of bergamot. This is greasy, and is to be kept from the long hair.
Divisions are made, one at a time, close together on the scalp, and the tonic rubbed in with the finger tips, until every part of the surface has been gone over. Then the scalp requires massage to drive in the application, the finger tips being rested securely on the head and the joints moved with- out displacing the tips. This causes the scalp to move over the skull. It is better to apply the tonic a little at a time each day than to put on a great deal every other day. If too large quantities of it are employed the hair will become so clogged that to dress it is impossible.
In the morning there should be another thorough brush- ing, the bristles made to touch the scalp at every part.
CHAPTER V
HANDS
TO WHITEN HANDS
Strained honey, one ounce; lemon juice, one ounce; cologne, one ounce.
Mix, and rub well into the hands at night, then wear a pair of large kid gloves, the palms split for ventilation.
TO SOFTEN AND WHITEN HANDS
TO whiten and soften the hands is such a simple and inexpensive task that there is no excuse for coarse- skinned ringers and broken nails. In treating the hands gloves are the first essential to beauty, and for this purpose a cast-off pair belonging to the man of the family should be selected, for his are more desirable than a woman's because the large fingers do not cramp muscles in the woman's hand. As to the kinds of men's gloves, white ones are better than dark, because oc- casionally the dye rubs off. This, however, is not common. Next to gloves, grease is necessary. Taking it all in all, for real solid work, when the hands are often put into hot water and come in contact with strong soaps, I believe vase- line is better than any other oil. It is more penetrating, being quickly absorbed by the pores, and it counteracts the drying effect of an excess of water. In my opinion, a pot
58
HEALTH AND BEAUTY HINTS 59
of vaseline on the sink of a woman who does her own work is more important than a cake of toilet soap. The latter will not get into the pores of her skin — that is, will not thoroughly clean her fingers: while by using a quantity of vaseline as though it were soap, rubbing it in well, and then washing off with hot water, the soil is quickly removed. In addition to applying this grease a mild soap is certainly desirable, but it is not imperative.
Next in effectiveness to vaseline is sweet almond oil. I believe in it more than in cold cream, because the action of the latter is less rapid than that of the other two kinds of grease, and therefore they are more desirable for the hands, but not for the face.
On occasions when it is necessary to put the fingers into water, vaseline should be rubbed on as soon as the skin can be wiped. If strong soap has been used in housecleaning there should be two distinct applications of grease, the first being worked in after drying the flesh, when a wash with gentle soap must be given, as already suggested; then fol- lows another rubbing with vaseline, which remains when the gloves are fitted in place. These gloves become soaked, and then are the best that can be had for softening and whit- ening the skin.
At night a special pair should be used, and on going to bed sweet almond oil must be generously rubbed on the flesh, and then the hands should be thickly covered with powdered French chalk before the kid coverings are pulled on. In the morning the fingers will be dry and appreciably softer.
6o HEALTH AND BEAUTY HINTS
CARE OF HANDS IN COLD WEATHER
ONLY proper care will keep the hands soft and white in winter if there is the least sluggishness of circu- lation, for unless the blood flows freely cold tem- perature either causes it to settle in the fingers, making them extremely red, or prevents it from reaching them, and so they become pinched and dry.
Between these two conditions there is no choice, and when the latter prevails the skin hardens and that about the nails gets into a painful condition. Treatment for the two, how- ever, differs widely after the first aid, which consists in try- ing to prevent them from being chilled, is accomplished.
As to the treatment, contrary to general opinion, a muff does not always make the flesh warm. Kid gloves are cold, and when the hands are thus covered a muff becomes neces- sary. The warmth afforded by the fur and the lack of air on the hands induces perspiration, so the kid becomes wet. Then the first moment the gloves are withdrawn from their protection they get cold, and hold the chill, which is in- stantly passed to the skin. The moist kid prevents the chill from leaving, and injury to the hands is then started.
The best way of keeping the fingers warm is to wear loose kid or dogskin gloves, pulling heavy woolen ones over them. The leather holds the natural warmth and the outer woolen prevents the cold from striking through.
If in addition to the wearing of two pairs of gloves a woman can rub on cold cream, her hands will become, in time, beautifully soft. In applying this nourishing food it should be worked into the fingers and backs of the hands,
HEALTH AND BEAUTY HINTS 61
especially on the cuticle at the base of the nails, before the gloves are pulled on. And unless too much grease is ap- plied it will not soak through the leather.
As a rule, by the time one comes in from walking, and removes the gloves, the cream will have been absorbed. Then the fingers must be washed and wiped with glycerine and rosewater, in proportion of a third of the former to two-thirds of the latter, having five drops of carbolic acid to each gill of the mixture. The superfluous amount on the skin may be wiped off.
An excessive degree of heat injures the hands if applied when they are cold or are predisposed to chill. Washing should be done only in tepid water, and the condition will be much helped if a teaspoonful of glycerine is added to every pint. Natural heat must be restored by rubbing and exer- cising, never by holding the hands over a register or radi- ator.
At all times grease should be kept on, for this feeds the tissues from which the normal amount of oils is lacking. Always, after wetting the hands, grease in some form must be applied, even though it is wiped off directly afterward.
PASTES THAT WHITEN THE HANDS
A PASTE that will quickly restore reddened skin to whiteness is made from one ounce of powdered myrrh, four ounces of strained honey, two ounces of yellow wax and six ounces of rose water. The wax is melted in a cup set into a pan of boiling water. While the liquid is warm the myrrh goes in, the cup then being removed from the heat. After a thorough beating the honey and
62 HEALTH AND BEAUTY HINTS
rosewater are used, adding the latter slowly. If the paste is too thick to spread easily it should be thinned with glycer- ine. The application is excellent for the arms and throat, as well as the hands.
More delicate is a mixture of a dram of oil of sweet almonds, half a dram each of glycerine and rice flour, a dram of fresh yolks of eggs, half an ounce of rosewater, and eighteen drops of tincture of benzoin. The ingredients are mixed in a china or glass bowl and beaten to a smooth paste. Because of the presence of eggs, the paste will not keep longer than three days, so must be made in small quantities. It should stand in a refrigerator when not re- quired.
When the hands are so chapped as to be painful a more healing application is made from one ounce each of cocoa butter and sweet almond oil, a dram each of oxide of zinc and borax, and six drops of oil of bergamot. The cocoa butter is broken into a cup and set in a basin of hot water, the oil of sweet almonds added as the first ingredient melts. As soon as blended the zinc and borax are put in, stirring quickly and thoroughly. If the cream begins to harden before mixing is complete the cup may be returned a moment to the hot bath. The bergamot goes in just before the hard- ening is complete.
Before annointing the hands with this bathe with a pulp of linseed oil and bitter almond oil. After a moment this is washed off in water which contains a small percentage of benzoin.
HEALTH AND BEAUTY HINTS 63
DISH WASHING BEAUTIFIES HANDS
HOWEVER much a girl may dislike dish washing, she need not evade it because she thinks it will hurt her hands, for even the hottest water and strong soap will do no damage if a little "before and after" treatment is taken.
The object to be attained is to prevent laundry soap from drying the skin, making innumerable almost invisible cracks. Small as these are, they are still sufficiently deep to catch and hold dust, making a grimy aspect. This same condition will result from the use of any soap that has too much alkali, even though one does no housework. The counter irritant in either case is grease. Greasy water is not the same thing, however.
One who must wash dishes regularly should keep a large jar of cold cream, a nail brush and a nail stick, with a bit of absorbent cotton, at the sink. A cream admirably suited to the purpose is made from two ounces each of rosewater and almond oil, and half an ounce each of white wax and spermaceti. It is made by breaking the two last into small pieces and putting them into a cup set into boiling water. As soon as the pieces soften the almond oil is added and the cup is then removed from the bath. The rosewater is beaten in slowly, using a silver fork. If the cream begins to harden before all the sweet water is in, the cup must be returned to the bath for a few moments. The cream must not be allowed to become hot.
Before washing any dishes the hands should be rubbed with cream, putting it on carefully at the base of the nails. Over this, if liked, some powdered French chalk may be
64 HEALTH AND BEAUTY HINTS
thickly dusted, but the latter is not required. The hands may then be put into the soapy water and the work done without injury.
As soon as the last dish is washed warm water should be drawn into a small basin and the hands washed carefully, using a mild toilet soap. The nails must then be brushed and cleaned with as much care as though one had been dig- ging in the dirt. Following this, wiping is done in the usual fashion.
This bath is for the purpose of removing any grease that may have adhered to the skin, but it will not counteract the effect of hard and soiled water. To accomplish this, more cold cream is rubbed over the hands and nails, using it as though it were soap. Wiping, not washing, follows, and great care must be taken that all surface cream is removed, or the hands will soon become soiled. If friction is done with a soft towel, and all parts of the ringers are rubbed, there will be no sensation of greasiness, and at the same time the pores will have been filled with a preparation that prevents damage from the work.
STAINS MAY BE EASILY REMOVED FROM HANDS
PUMICE stone, either powdered or in tablet form, is invaluable on a dressing-table for the removal of stains from the hands, and when supplemented by lemon juice there are few discolorations it will not dissipate. Nothing of this sort must be applied any oftener than neces- sary, for it will undoubtedly make the skin hard.
In my opinion, a rubbing with some refining lotion should be given after such a washing. I am a strong advocate of glycerine and rosewater, as it is both efficacious and inex-
HEALTH AND BEAUTY HINTS 65
pensive. Common water may be substituted for the rose, when expense is to be considered, and one-third of glycerine is put to two-thirds of water. Ten drops of carbolic acid to half a pint of the mixture makes it more bleaching and healing. A few drops are applied after washing, before drying, and are wiped off at once. It is not unpleasant to use in warm weather.
Pure cucumber juice is another excellent whitener, the vegetable being washed, cut, skin and all, and gently sim- mered until the mass is pulpy. It is then strained through muslin. Only enough water is put with it before cooking to keep it from sticking to the pan. When cold enough tinc- ture of benzoin, to make the liquid milky, is added. This is rubbed on through the day and at night. Should it make the skin feel overdry, cold cream must be employed at the same time.
TREATMENT FOR PERSPIRING HANDS
EXCESSIVE perspiration of the hands, as a rule, indi- cates a run-down condition of the system that re- quires internal treatment to cure. Of course, local applications will temporarily relieve the unpleasantness, but powders and lotions that close the pores eventually dry the skin, so their effect must be closely watched.
A tonic that affects some beneficially is made from four ounces of alcohol and half an ounce of tincture of bella- donna. With this mixture the palms are wiped several times a day, the liquid drying on. It evaporates quickly. This, however, should not reach the backs of the hands, or it will affect the skin unfavorably. If wished, talcum powder or orris may be dusted on as soon as the liquid dries.
66 HEALTH AND BEAUTY HINTS
Another tonic believed to have virtue is made from three ounces of rosewater, one ounce of elder-flower water, a quarter of an ounce of tincture of benzoin and five grains of tannic acid. This may be used frequently, and also ap- plied to the face when the complexion is oily.
A strong French preparation will sometimes be effectual when others fail. It is made from two drams each of isin- glass and turpentine and four drams of oxide of zinc oint- ment. The turpentine is warmed by setting in a pan of hot water, but must be kept from direct contact with hot air, or it will explode. The isinglass is put in- and the turpentine kept warm until the former is dissolved. The zinc ointment is then rubbed through smoothly. The paste is applied to the palms of the hands, rubbing in two or three times a day, and at night. When put on during the day a dusting of orris powder is advocated, as the odor of the paste is not pleasant.
If one's hands perspire it is a mistake to wear too tight kid gloves, because they exclude the air, thus stimulating perspiration. Gloves at least half a size larger than the hand should be chosen until the pores are in normal condi- tion.
Any agent that stimulates circulation will be beneficial, although its effect will not be immediately noticed. For instance, exercise, waving the hands briskly from the wrists, not from the elbows, is one movement that is recommended ; another is to open and close the fingers quickly and tightly. This may be done at any time during the day. Water warmer than tepid should not be used; the object of the treatment being to do nothing that will open the pores and much that will contract them to normal condition.
CHAPTER VI
NAILS
POLISHING NAIL POWDER
Oxide of tin, one-half ounce powdered carmine, one grain; powdered orris root, one grain.
Mix by sifting three times through coarse muslin.
SUGGESTIONS ABOUT MANICURING TSTAILS AT HOME
INJUDICIOUS ways of trimming nails are partly re- sponsible for badly shaped finger tips. Nails serve as a brace for the flesh, and if the prop is unwisely cut away the skin will sag. Thus the effect of cutting the nails too far at the corners is easily understood. For the flesh that should be upheld has nothing to cling to, and a broad, flat tip is developed.
It is absolutely impossible to make a wide nail almond shape, and this being the case, the sooner heroic measures are dropped in an effort to make the change the better. It is this unwise attempt to make narrow a surface which is wide that is the beginning of the trouble. An inexperienced person imagines that by cutting away the nail at the side its aspect will be altered. This is true, but only for the worse, a fact to be remembered each time a file or a pair of scissors is used.
Consolation for a woman with homely finger tips lies in the fact that much improvement is gained merely in shaping the tops, letting the sides alone. If narrowness is achieved it will be by making them oval on the edge. A pointed top merely makes the rest of the nail look broader by con-
68 HEALTH AND BEAUTY HINTS
trast, whereas one slightly rounded does not call attention to the wide surface.
It is always a mistake to clip the nails with scissors unless the final finish is given with a file. Even then scissors should not be used, for their effect is to thicken the nail and take away the transparency. Once the use of a file is learned it works quickly, and better lines are made with it.
Better not use a manicure knife unless one has had pro- fessional training. Even so, many of the best manicures no longer operate with one, substituting an orange-wood stick, flat at one end. For this task a little basin of hot, soapy water, some curved manicure scissors, a file, some polishing powder and absorbent cotton will be needed. Twist the merest wisp of cotton around the end of the orange-wood stick, and run this beneath the nail edges. The cotton wipes out dust or particles far more thoroughly than a bare stick or piece of steel. This is a trick worth remembering, for it keeps the skin soft beneath the nails and makes them less likely to pick up dust. If one has been using a. sharp instrument for cleaning, its use should be stopped. Several days must elapse before the skin smoothes after the heroic treatment it has had, but the result is worth the waiting.
To manicure, begin by filing the nails in any shape wished. Do both hands and lay the file aside, though it may be needed again for smoothing rough edges.
Then put one hand into the basin of soapy warm water and soak it for five minutes; longer, if you wish. Then wipe gently, by no means thoroughly, and use the orange stick. With this push the cuticle gently toward the base of the nail. Wet the stick end and rub it to and fro over the nail on the line where the cuticle has been.
HEALTH AND BEAUTY HINTS 69
The skin will be so soft from soaking that the friction will take off any adhering particles. Wipe carefully this time, and with the sharp-pointed scissors trim off project- ing points of flesh that are too firmly fastened to come with the stick. Take care not to cut deep or to draw blood. Better take off too little cuticle than too much.
Go over each nail in this fashion, keeping the stick a little moist to prevent the skin from drying. Should this happen it will be impossible to get good results. As soon as each nail is finished annoint it with cold cream to coun- teract the effect of so much water, otherwise the nails be- come too dry.
Soak the other hand as was done with the first, and work at that. If it is the right, more time will be required, for working with the left is awkward. Both done, cover each nail copiously with powder and polish with a chamois burn- isher. Then wash and scrub the hands, wiping carefully. Inspect the finger tips closely, cutting or rubbing off with the stick any points of skin ; then polish with dry chamois, and the hands should look infinitely better. Polishing must be done every day, but once a week is often enough for filing and soaking.
GREASE BEAUTIFIES TEXTURE OF NAILS
USE grease to make the nails shapely. Use grease all the time ; cleanse finger tips with it instead of soap. It tends to give them a satinlike appearance with a tinge of pink, which is the desirable condition for finger nails.
When the surface shows ridges, and there is a general look
*>
70 HEALTH AND BEAUTY HINTS
of coarseness, I would advise soaking the finger tips for five minutes every night in warm sweet almond oil. The same bath may be used over and over again. The temperature of it should be only tepid. This warmth will cause the fluid to soak in more thoroughly.
I like vaseline better than cold cream wThen the nail struc- ture really requires nourishment. So when one has treated her fingers to the almond oil bath she should pat them gently with a piece of old muslin and proceed to fill the cracks at the base of the nails and around the cuticle with vaseline. Then, with a piece of chamois, she should rub each separately to drive in the grease. Much will be taken up in this fashion, so that another application of vaseline should be made. But before this second dose an orange stick should be applied to the cuticle. With the flat end of this stick the flesh at the bottom of each nail must be pushed back gently, increasing the effect by putting the thumb of the other hand on the flesh below the nail and drawing it down gently. Should there be ragged pieces of skin about the nail they may be cut with manicure scissors, but no attempt must be made to cut strips of the cuticle.
After the second bath of vaseline old gloves must be put on, for the warmth of the kid will drive in the grease. This part of the treatment is to be continued for a week at least.
In the morning, when the gloves are drawn off, a chamois burnisher containing no grease or powder should be rubbed briskly over each nail. Powder may be used only once a week, for while effort is being made to supply the nourish- ment frequent applications of powder that is drying in effect would defeat the purpose of the cure.
The greatest care should be taken to use only such soap
HEALTH AND BEAUTY HINTS 71
as does not dry the skin, and after each washing a little grease must be rubbed over the base of the nails, wiping, but not washing, it off afterward, so there will be no greasy- aspect to the fingers. The burnisher, if used often, will soon bring a polish to the surface. It also helps to smooth the nails. Once a week they may be rubbed with powdered chamois, but before this is done the burnisher must be wet, so the moisture will prevent the powder from scratching the surface. Pumice does not polish it — just smooths.
If white spots appear on the nails they may be rubbed at night with an equal mixture of turpentine and myrrh, olive oil being required the next morning to remove it. Several applications usually cause the spots to disappear.
HOW TO CARE FOR NAILS IN WINTER
IN cold weather oily lotions must be rubbed on the nails often, and a cream excellent to use in this way is made from a quarter of an ounce of sweet almond oil, six- teen grains of table salt, sixteen and a half grains each of powdered resin and alum (powdered), forty grains of white wax, and a grain of carmine. The wax and resin should be put into a china cup and set into hot water to melt, but not get hot. As it softens add the oil, salt and alum. The carmine is put in last. Then the latter is removed from the bath and beaten to a smooth cream. It is then rubbed on the nails through the day, leaving it on when convenient.
Polishing powders should be little used, as their effect is excessively drying. A tinted cream that will give a slight shine is made from half a dram of powdered carmine, a dram of fresh lard, twelve drops of oil of bergamot and six drops of essence of Cyprus. The latter may be omitted.
72 HEALTH AND BEAUTY HINTS
This is mixed as the foregoing, softening the lard, but not allowing it to become liquid. To use, apply with a bit of absorbent cotton, letting the paste remain on for a few moments. It is then carefully wiped off and the burnisher used.
Under no circumstances should one go out of doors in cold weather without gloves. Frosty air will be a positive cause of finger nails breaking or cracking, and will also produce unsightly ridges, which are merely an overdry con- dition.
A sharp instrument must not be used for removing soil beneath the edge of the nails. A stick of any kind is best, and though those made especially for nails are to be bought at almost any shop, others which are home made will answer every purpose. A butcher's skewer may be whittled down, not to a sharp point, but to one having a little width. When the nails are soiled the stick may be dipped into lemon juice or rubbed into the soap, together with a little water, forming a paste. This, applied to the soil, will make it disappear, and the under part of the nail will not be roughened by the treatment.
TO STRENGTHEN NAILS THAT BREAK
WHEN the nails break constantly they should be soaked every night in slightly warm sweet almond oil. The liquid may be put into a cup at a depth just sufficient to cover the finger tips. The same oil may be used several times. The soaking must be for ten minutes at least. Then the fingers must be wiped, but not washed.
Also, they must be generously smeared with cold cream each time before washing. It might be thought that warm
HEALTH AND BEAUTY HINTS 73
water would neutralize the action of the grease, but it does not, and the nails are cleaned without becoming overdry in the process.
In extreme cases it is well to tie the finger tips in oil for the night. For this small pieces of absorbent cotton may be wet with it and bound on with narrow bits of muslin. This will not soil the bedding, and after a week's application the nails will surely be in better condition.
Wearing old gloves when doing even the simplest kinds of housework is one of the best precautions against drying the skin. They will keep out dirt and do wonders toward rendering the skin and cuticle soft and white. If it is neces- sary to plunge the fingers into strong soap water, plenty of the grease must be rubbed on afterward and a thorough washing given with a bland soap. This treatment will en- tirely prevent any harm from coarse soap.
After washing and wiping, the hands should be rubbed with a mixture of glycerine and rosewater in proportion of one-third of the former to two-thirds of the latter. Plain water may be substituted for rose, and five drops of car- bolic acid to two gills of the mixture will add to its merits. It should be wiped off after using.
CURES FOR HABIT OF BITING NAILS
A WOMAN who bites her nails should go to a phy- sician for treatment, because this habit is almost always the result of an unhealthy physical condi- tion that needs special care.
To say "don't," and that one should not disfigure the finger tips is but a waste of breath. No person who does it is aware of the moments they are biting until a pain in-
74 HEALTH AND BEAUTY HINTS
flicted by the teeth makes itself felt. By that time the dam- age is done.
Both grown persons and children are sometimes aided in breaking this habit by dipping the finger tips into aloes. For these are, of all bitter tasting decoctions, about the worst, and usually a child who has had it on the lips once or twice remembers not to repeat the dose. Oddly enough, a grown person offends longer than a little one.
If the nails have been subjected to injury from the teeth the finger tips should be bandaged at night, each one done separately, the cloths being firmly tied on. Before using the bandages, and after washing and drying the fingers care- fully, they should be rubbed with vaseline. Then strips of linen two inches wide must be put on.
To make this aid the nail to grow into shape the ban- dage should begin on the under part of the tip. It must be held so firmly that the cloth can be drawn over to hold up that side of the cuticle. The bandage should be knotted at once, and another put over, beginning underneath and drawing it over to hold the other side. This takes several minutes, but if continued for some time nightly it assists in restoring the lost shape of the tips.
Every morning an orange stick should be employed to push down cuticle that is growing too high over the nail. This task will not be difficult, as the skin is so soft from the grease bath that stray pieces and points can be pushed back in an endeavor to make a proper shape to the cuticle at the bottom and sides. The instant the nails grow enough to permit of the use of a file it should be rubbed over the top, and for a time the nails must be kept short to improve the quality.
HEALTH AND BEAUTY HINTS 75
Scissors should not be used for shortening them, for clip- ping coarsens the texture, while filing makes it finer and smoother.
Whether or not one likes the nails polished, a burnisher should be rubbed over the nails several times a day, for fric- tion with chamois is a part of the treatment that smooths the surface and aids in giving a desirable transparent look. One who is observant can tell at a glance whether finger tips are treated in this fashion every day, even though no powder is applied.
Ridges in the nails, which, while not disfiguring, cannot be called pretty, are caused from insufficient nourishment by the tissues which feed them. Constant applications of grease improve them, and also a daily rubbing with pow- dered pumice. Pumice must not be used oftener than once a day.
CHAPTER VII
ARMS
CURES FOR ROUGH ELBOWS
ELBOWS that ordinarily might be pretty, almost of necessity are hardened by net sleeves, because the material is irritating. A girl will realize this after she has placed her elbow on a table or at any angle where the lace is pressed against it. For the threads are so unyielding they redden and roughen the surface, a condition easier to prevent than to cure, once it exists.
Rubbing the joint every night with almond oil or some other application equally soothing, I believe most essential. A stiff flesh brush should be employed regularly, every day being none too often, and a bland soap, Castile for instance, if it agrees with the skin, must be put on sufficiently to make a thorough lather, with plenty of hot water. This done at night, frictioning with the bristles, should be followed by carefully drying with a soft cloth. Then, while the surface is still warm, and the pores open, an oil should be rubbed in. To do this a few drops may be poured into the palm of one hand and this manipulated over the joint until as much grease as the skin will take has been absorbed. It is well to complete the entire operation on one arm before commencing on the other.
When, as not infrequently happens, the surface is already rough and coarse, a greased pad should be bound on at night. The best way of doing this is to take a small wad of absorb-
76
HEALTH AND BEAUTY HINTS J7
ent cotton, wet it with oil, and with muslin bandage on. The confining strip should be at least two inches wide, or it will cut into the arm, making the wearer uncomfortable.
Eruption that appears not infrequently upon the back of the upper arms is disfiguring and as a rule due to lack of sur- face circulation. Daily use of a bath brush is one of the quickest and most logical cures. The bristles stimulate cir- culation and at the same time prevent an accumulation of dead skin. Sometimes ten days or two weeks of using a brush constantly will bring the arms into a state of softness and smoothness. Inasmuch as they are about as conspicuous these days as is the face, it is well to have them in good con- dition.
OILY BANDAGES IMPROVE THIN ARMS
WHEN arms can be so beautiful it seems a pity that more girls do not possess them, for it is possible to cultivate them without much work.
The treatment essential to the improvement of the arms is bandaging them at night. This process takes only a few minutes, and the results after a time will be most gratifying. It is best done by soaking some soft old linen in either sweet almond or olive oil. It is well to have the wrappings about four inches wide. These are placed firmly about the arms, but not so tight as to stop circulation. It is important to put thin oiled silk over these wrappings to prevent grease from rubbing off. A person who does not wish to go into this treatment will get results by rubbing the arms with oil.
Whether they are merely massages or wrapped the pre- liminary is the same. The skin, from wrist to shoulder, should be mopped with warm, but not hot, water, the opera-
78 HEALTH AND BEAUTY HINTS
tion taking at least ten minutes. The object is not only to cleanse, but to soften the skin and open the pores, so the sur- face will be in condition to absorb the massage oil.
In applying the unguent the motion should be circular and rather gentle. These movements must not be made until the arm is entirely dry. If any water remains on, the grease will not be absorbed.
Beginning at the wrist, the arm is clasped by the other hand that has previously been covered with oil. This lotion is then rubbed slowly round and round all the time, so every part of the surface is massaged. It will be necessary to put on more occasionally, there being no danger of applying too much.
After this operation has been continued for five minutes the skin may be wiped with a dry and soft cloth, and then the entire surface should be patted with cold water. This makes the skin firm and hard, closing the pores, that should be full of oil.
If exercises are to be taken it is better that they should be gone through with before oiling.
TO BEAUTIFY THE ARMS BY EXERCISE
FEW girls seem to realize that the condition of the arms is an indication of the state of their general health, and that it is impossible to possess a beautiful arm if the health is habitually neglected and disregarded. The girl who is careless about her feet, who allows herself to run down and get in a poor state of health, must expect to pos- sess thin, ill-nourished arms.
One whose circulation is poor from insufficient exercise
HEALTH AND BEAUTY HINTS 79
and sedentary habits will have red arms, while improper feeding will have as harmful an effect upon the skin of the arms as upon the complexion. Much can be done by judi- cious treatment to improve arms which are naturally ungain- ly and to give softness and roundness of outline.
The first point one must attend to is exercise. Arms, to be at their best, require regular exercise like the rest of the body. The simplest exercises will answer the purpose; in- deed, violent, excessive exercise, which makes the muscles hard and prominent, is not desirable.
Indian club exercises make the arms graceful and supple, and develop without over-exercising the muscles. With the arms stretched out level with the shoulders, swing the clubs around the head in all directions. That develops the muscle which forms the roundness of the upper arm and shoulder and improves the chest muscles at the same time. Then, with the elbows bent, try various exercises for the forearm and wrist.
If you cannot get Indian clubs, invest in a pair of dum- bells, or try the old-fashioned expander exercises learned at school, which are excellent for developing the arms and bust. Exercise regularly for fifteen or twenty minutes each day ; if possible, exercise ten or fifteen minutes night and morning.
Massage is also essential in the beautifying of the arms. The girl with thin arms will do wonders by daily exercise and proper massage with simple olive oil or equal parts of lanoline and lard. Massage the arms every night, taking as much of the lanoline and lard as will lie in the palm of the hand, and work it in while knealing and pinching the arms to bring the blood to the surface. Then, with long strokes up and down the arms, rub firmly from shoulder to
8o HEALTH AND BEAUTY HINTS
elbow and elbow to wrist. Then, with thumb and forefinger, begin at the wrist and massage corkscrew fashion up the arm to the top.
If properly done, this should make the skin glow and tingle, which means that there is plenty of blood at the surface and that the cream or grease or oil used is being absorbed through the tiny pores. Red arms will benefit marvelously by the treatment because it improves the circu- lation, and the redness is simply an indication that the blood is not circulating as freely and rapidly as it should.
Thin arms will also improve, because the grease or cream nourishes the skin and underlying tissues.
Arms that are rough and red should first be treated by washing with plenty of good soap at bedtime and drying briskly with a rough towel. Afterward rub in a little of a mixture of equal parts of glycerine and rosewater. If the arms are rough, avoid hot or cold water; use tepid water, good soap and a soft towel.
CHAPTER VIII
COMPLEXION
ASTRINGENT TONIC SKIN LOTION
Rosewater, three ounces; elderflower water, one ounce; simple tincture of benzoin, one=quarter ounce; tannic acid, five grains.
Mix, and wipe over the face with a soft cloth several times a day. Discontinue using when dryness results.
ASTRINGENT TONICS THAT CONTRACT ENLARGED
PORES
MANY astringents, though not all, are slightly bleach- ing, and probably one of the most valuable is made from one ounce of tincture of benzoin combined with one-half pint of pure alcohol of the best quality. Such a lotion is wiped over the face not of tener than twice a day and before going to bed, after the skin has been cleansed from impurities. The benzoin should dry on. It may be used as a substitute for water by adding a tablespoonful to a gill of water and half of one teaspoonful of glycerine. A soft old white muslin cloth, dipped into this, will clean the face far better than plain water, and the skin is tonicized at the same time.
Another and less expensive preparation, although the first is not costly, is made from one pint of camphor water, one- half ounce of pure glycerine and one-quarter of an ounce of borax, powdered. This may be applied frequently, both as a cleanser and a lotion, in the latter case the liquid drying
Si
82 HEALTH AND BEAUTY HINTS
on. Care must be taken when it is applied to remove dust thoroughly, otherwise it will be carried into the pores.
Alcoholic toilet preparations are always astringent, but as a rule may be used only sparingly, their action being posi- tive. If a toilet water of any kind is wiped over the com- plexion after cold cream, or grease in any form, has been applied, it will be entirely cut, and prevent injurious action.
White wine vinegar does this to perfection, and is excel- lent for the complexion. It should not be used oftener than once a day, and may be diluted with an equal quantity of water. It is slightly bleaching.
ASTRINGENT LOTIONS THAT REDUCE LARGE PORES
IF camphor water, an astringent, is used regularly on en- larged pores of the nose, they will decrease in size. This astringent is made by dissolving a quarter of an ounce of borax and half an ounce of glycerine in a pint of camphor water.
This liquid should be put on with a piece of soft old mus- lin, wiping gently, to cleanse without irritating the skin. Another wash is usually required to remove the soil, and the second application dries on. This may or may not be rinsed off with warm water.
If the skin on the nose shows a tendency to chap another astringent wash may be better suited, for occasionally the camphor-water lotion will be too drying. Incidentally, if the preparation seems to have a drying effect, it may be tried without the borax. Camphor water by itself is also desirable.
A lotion that will act favorably, especially if the nose is
HEALTH AND BEAUTY HINTS 83
inclined to redness, is made from a dram of iodide of potas- sium, half a pint of water and half an ounce of glycerine. The iodide should be dissolved in the water before the glycer- ine is added. It should be mopped over the nose and allowed to dry on. It may also serve as a complexion wash, and faithful use of it as a substitute for water will sometimes clear the skin.
Another inexpensive lotion that is adapted for use on the nose when the pores are large and there is inclination to redness, is made from fifteen grains of tannic acid to five ounces of camphor water. This is applied frequently through the day and at night as a cleansing as well as healing appli- cation. If after a time it causes the slightest irritation its use should be discontinued.
If one is so unfortunate as to have a decidedly red nose, an agent having more strength may be tried. Such a one is made from one hundred grams of mallows water, two and a half grams of benzoate of soda, ten grams of glycerine and five grams of alcohol. Like the others, it is applied fre- quently, and dries on.
FOR BLACKHEADS
To cure blackheads make an ointment of one ounce of soap liniment and one ounce of ether; mix. At night scrub the face thoroughly with hot water, using a complexion or other soft brush. After wiping, apply the mixture to each of the spots and let it remain on over night. Wash off in the morning with hot water. Continue until the spots have disappeared. Then twice a week wash the face with this mixture, removing the liquid at once by rinsing with clear water. If there are large pores, wipe over each with a little alcohol.
For pimples that frequently appear with blackheads make an ointment of two grams of beta napthol, twenty grams of sulphur
34 HEALTH AND BEAUTY HINTS
precipitate and twenty grams of potash soap. Rub over the pimples at night.
This may be used at the same time as the blackhead mixture.
TREATMENT FOR BLACKHEADS AND PIMPLES
PIMPLES and blackheads may be the result of so many different causes that what will cure them for one per- son will be useless for another, so all one can say is that if faithful trials of external remedies do not benefit, a physician should be consulted. Often, applications of a lo- tion made from half an ounce of glycerine, a pint of cam- phor water and a quarter of an ounce of powdered borax will prevent pimples. In any event, this mixture is good for the skin, if used as a substitute for water. It must be allowed to dry on.
A teaspoonful of powdered alum dissolved in half a pint of water is strongly recommended by many persons, who use it several times a day, and before going to bed at night. It is so astringent in action, however, that its effect must be carefully watched, or it will be too drying.
A physician declares that a two weeks' trial is time enough to give to either of these, and if at the end of that period they have not improved the skin the applications should be stopped and a remedy more drastic applied.
An excellent treatment begins by washing the face with liquid green soap and a brush. Then an application of a paste made from flowers of sulphur and camphor spirits. This is smeared over the complexion, and stays on all night, being washed off in the morning. The face is wiped over with glycerine. The latter may be omitted, if desired, but it is desirable.
HEALTH AND BEAUTY HINTS 85
In order to improve the condition and texture of the skin a bath should be taken every day, if one is not in the habit already of doing it, and a brush instead of a cloth used, because the former is more stimulating in effect. Once a day the face must be scrubbed lightly with a complexion brush, for it is of the utmost importance that circulation shall be active and the pores freed from impurities. Both of these are best accomplished with a brush.
There are "white" pimples that are unsightly, but less common. Their treatment differs a trifle, in that soap con- taining tar is recommended. The spots are to be opened, as with the ordinary kind, first soaking the skin with hot wet cloths to soften and make the secretion more easy to eject by gentle pressing. A drop of spirits of camphor may then be applied to contract the hole.
HOW TO LANCE AND CURE PIMPLES
TO cure facial eruptions by external treatment one must first carefully open the pimples, for if hastily and improperly done large pores inevitably ensue; but this is quite unnecessary, as the operation consists of lancing with a fine cambric needle, preferably one that is new. If it has been used before for any purpose it should be steril- ized, either by dropping it into boiling water, or in alcohol, and lighting it, in order to burn impurities. The eruption should always be soaked for at least five minutes to soften the skin. Holding hot wet cloths against it will accomplish the purpose. Then the spot may be opened and pressed gently, but not hard, to extract the secretion.
Immediately afterward it may be touched with a paste
86 HEALTH AND BEAUTY HINTS
made from five-eighths of an ounce each of lanoline, almond oil and sulphur precipitate, with three-eighths of an ounce of oxide of zinc and half a dram of violet extract. To mix, the sulphur and zinc are combined with the oil in a smooth paste, the lanoline melted in a cup set into hot water, and poured into the oil as the former softens. The extract goes in last. This is applied at night to each pimple.
Less complicated to make is a lotion of one-half dram each of precipitate of sulphur, tincture of camphor and glycerine, with two ounces of rosewater. The sulphur and glycerine are smoothly combined, before thinning slowly, with the other liquids. This is used like the first prescrip- tion.
A third, more like cream, may be rubbed over the face at any time, and is useful when there is a tendency to pim- ples, for, taken in time, they may be checked. The formula is a gram of beta napthol and ten grams each of precipi- tated sulphur and potash soap. Should it irritate the skin, wiping with toilet vinegar will counteract the effect.
The paste may be used night and morning, wiping off that which shows.
Under no circumstances should a pimple ever be opened without putting on something afterward to contract the hole which has been made. Pure alcohol, tincture of cam- phor, or cologne water are suitable, each acting as an astrin- gent. It is not necessary to apply these astringents when the pastes or lotion given above have been put on, though it is beneficial even then to wipe the face in the morning with an alcoholic preparation.
HEALTH AND BEAUTY HINTS 87
HOW TO STEAM THE FACE
FACE steaming is a method of treatment that may be highly beneficial or injurious, according as it is done. Too frequent applications of steam will cause wrin- kles, by making the skin flabby, but an occasional bath of this kind serves the purpose of opening the pores to remove dust and helping to keep the skin supple and in good con- dition.
Special arrangements for this treatment may be bought, but they are expensive, and quite as good results may be secured from simple contrivances if they are made to hold the steam. A chafing dish answers the purpose admirably ; indeed, so will any receptacle in which water may be kept just below the boiling point. Any kind of vessel over an alcohol lamp, or gas if the jet be low and easily reached, can be adapted. It remains then to put over the flame a fairly large surface pan, or basin, with enough water to throw out a good volume of steam.
It is worth remembering, before going through this cleansing experience, that boiling steam will burn the skin, and so the temperature of the wrater must be a trifle lower than the boiling point, yet sufficiently high to throw out heat that will generate perspiration.
After everything is arranged for the bath the face should be well rubbed with cold cream, applying it thickly with the finger tips and rubbing vigorously in rotary motion over the entire face, making the upward part of the stroke stronger than the downward. This will take at least five minutes, and longer if properly done. The bath should
88 HEALTH AND BEAUTY HINTS
then be ready, and the face bent over, holding a towel so the steam is thrown directly on the skin. If necessary to get fresh air to breathe, the mouth may be uncovered for about two seconds.
After the face is hot, and perspiration starts, it should be wiped with soft old linen to remove the grease, and then the face should be steamed again. This wiping is repeated until there is no trace of grease. Fifteen or twenty min- utes should be devoted to the bath, and at the end of this period the face must be wiped for the last time. For the final treatment cold water may be dashed over to tighten the skin, and if there is no eruption an excellent lotion, made from a gill of alcohol and an ounce each of spirits of camphor and spirits of ammonia, two and a half ounces of sea salt, with enough boiling water to make a pint, may be applied to the flesh. This is not used until it is cold, and then the skin is soaked with it. It is an excellent tonic, and may be massaged into the neck, throat and arms, as well as the face.
Steaming by this method should not be resorted to oftener than once a week. Carefully done, it will soften and refine the skin and clear the complexion.
HOW TO USE A COMPLEXION BRUSH
SKIN of a coarse quality may often be improved by the daily use of a complexion brush, if the bristles are rubbed over the surface with a rotary motion. When cleansing the face in this way liquid green soap should be used occasionally, but only occasionally, for it is
HEALTH AND BEAUTY HINTS 89
extremely strong, and its effect upon the skin is drying. Twice a week is sufficiently often.
As some sort of application to enable the brush to move over the skin easily is essential, a mixture of half a dram of iodide of potassium and an ounce of glycerine to half a pint of plain water will answer the purpose. With this the face is wet, and the brush applied. This is a cleansing liquid, and serves as a soap substitute. Its effect upon the skin is refining.
After brushing for three or four minutes the face must be rinse3 in warm water and then with cold. If liked, a few drops of tincture of benzoin, about half a teaspoonful to a pint of water, may be used in the final rinse.
This whole procedure should be done every night.
When pimples have developed, or blackheads exist, the care becomes more elaborate.
FRECKLE LOTION
Two drams oxide of zinc, one-quarter dram subiodide of bis= muth, one and three=quarter drams of dextrin, one and a half drams of glycerine.
Spread the paste upon the freckles at night, before going to bed. In the morning remove what remains with a little powdered borax and almond oil.
TO PREVENT FRECKLES
WHEN freckle season comes, a girl whose skin is prone to blemish from light or dark brown spots, may save herself by adopting a method of prevention. It is a fact that in extreme delicacy of skin scarcely anything
90 HEALTH AND BEAUTY HINTS
will entirely keep away sun stains, but thick veils and special cleansing are worth trying.
In my opinion, no girl whose complexion is fair should go out of doors in the summer without preparing herself to withstand the sun's rays. If cold cream agrees with her flesh the proposition becomes simple, for she has then only to anoint her face, dust on plenty of powder, and tie on a chiffon veil loosely.
When time to remove the mask, the face must be thor- oughly washed with a saturated solution of borax. This cuts the grease. It in turn is washed off with clear warm water, which removes the last vestige of cream. A final wiping with an astringent lotion should follow.
A make-up such as this requires little time, and the knack lies entirely in getting it on evenly. It may be done in the morning before taking a journey to town, and will last all day with an occasional slight application of new powder. Unless allowed to stay indefinitely on the skin, there is no danger of its causing injury, but it must never be forgotten that this treatment clogs the pores and that they must be freed after a time to "breathe" properly. Otherwise, en- larged pores are inevitable.
The fact that freckles only appear on delicate skins makes the problem of their removal more difficult, because any- thing that tends to bleach makes the surface more sus- ceptible. That is one reason why protection becomes such a necessary part of the treatment, for without it the second condition will be worse than the first.
Constant use of buttermilk as a wash is recommended for freckles. It is softening and bleaching. Fresh horse- radish, grated, adds potency to the application. A table-
HEALTH AND BEAUTY HINTS 91
spoonful of the root is put into half a pint of the milk, the two covered, to stand for twelve hours. After that it is strained, and applied as a bleach, to dry on.
WHITENERS THAT REMOVE FRECKLES
FRECKLES, as a rule, can be eradicated, but I do not encourage drastic treatment, for the reason that it makes the skin more sensitive to the trouble which one tries to remove. For the little spots caused by sun and wind are under the skin, not on top, and in order to bleach these blemishes something sufficiently strong to go below the surface is needed. This obviously renders the top layer more tender and delicate than usual, and freckles, therefore, reappear more quickly than before the treatment.
When the blemishes do not yield to simple bleaches I think none others should be tried. For by protecting the complexion with veils and parasols the spots will fade out slowly. There are, of course, so-called "obstinate" freckles, decidedly worthy of their name. For only by the very strongest applications can they be removed, and, as a rule, they return.
A simple bleach efficacious in some instances is made from two ounces of lactic acid, one ounce of glycerine and half an ounce of rosewater. This is applied morning and night, and several times through the day, and is allowed to dry on. Should it seem to irritate the skin, an effect an acid may have, then it must be diluted by adding more glycerine, or applying cold cream afterward.
An astringent lotion that sometimes fades freckles is made from fifty grams of rosewater, two and a half grams of
92 HEALTH AND BEAUTY HINTS
powdered borax, five grams of spirits of camphor and two and a half grams of tincture of benzoin. It is used as the first, and is an excellent complexion wash even when freckles are not present.
An old English cure is to make a paste from a teaspoonful of dry mustard, a tablespoonful of flour, and enough water to make them smooth. This is spread over the skin and allowed to remain until the surface burns. The paste is then washed of! and the skin smeared with cold cream. This might be tried on the hands or arms, but it seems drastic.
EXCESSIVE DRINKING OF COFFEE OFTEN CAUSES ERUPTIONS
EXCESSIVE use of coffee so affects the nerves and di- gestion that eruptions on the skin are often caused. But despite these blemishes I fear I cannot persuade many girls to forego this beverage, but I wish that they would be content with one large cup in the morning and none through the day. It always makes me sorry when I notice the number of bright, keen-looking girls downtown who, when luncheon time comes, order things to eat which are not sufficiently nourishing and screw their nervous force with a cup of strong coffee. It cannot fail to affect com- plexion and eyes, as well as nerves.
The only way to retain freshness and strength, especially when it is being taxed by daily work, is by careful nourish- ment and rest, when the latter is to be had. The girl whose hair is not touched with gray when she is thirty years of age is she who has taken care of herself, not burned the candle at both ends.
HEALTH AND BEAUTY HINTS 93
Girls should substitute milk or food for the many cups of coffee in which they indulge. They will find, should they experiment, that fatigue, which they frequently have taken coffee to allay, will disappear as surely, and without nervous exhaustion later, if they take a little nourishment. If milk does not agree with one, she might try one of the malted varieties. These can be made with water. Hot milk is sometimes digested by persons who could not drink that which is cold.
Tea is less likely to be an over powerful stimulant than coffee through the day, but with both, and especially tea, a little solid food should be taken. One cracker will serve the purpose, which is to absorb the tannin, protecting the stom- ach lining from its effects.
WATER DRINKING BEAUTIFIES COMPLEXION
TO say that drinking at least three pints of water a day would make a girl beautiful would be grossest ex- aggeration, but it is perfectly true that such an amount of liquid, taken judiciously every day, will be a won- derful aid in acquiring or increasing good looks, and it is such a cheap way of improving one's appearance that to ignore it is a pity.
Water, properly taken, flushes the system as a pipe is cleansed by pouring down it a large quantity of pure clean- ing liquid. And, as with the pipe, impurities are carried out, leaving only that which is beneficial.
In order that this good effect shall be gained two facts are important. One is that the liquid shall not be taken with meals and the other that it shall not be of icy temperature.
94 HEALTH AND BEAUTY HINTS
In the former case it dilutes the gastric juices, sometimes Causing indigestion, and certainly neutralizing some of the liourishing properties of food ; in the latter it stops digestion, and may be the cause of severe pain.
Many dietitians now agree that water should not be taken with meals, and that many cases of indigestion may be traced directly to the fact that this theory is unheeded. To derive benefit a glassful should be taken at a time, sipping it slowly, not gulping in large quantities. Ten minutes for each glass is none too long. The temperature may be cool, but not sufficiently so to chill the stomach.
The first drink is not to be taken later than half an hour before a meal, and water is not to be put into the stomach sooner than half an hour after a meal.
The matter of not taking water with food is one that con- tains more reason than may appear at first. Many persons do not masticate their meals properly, but wash it down in pieces that test the strength of the digestive organs to as- simulate. In other words, the stomach is made to do the work of the teeth. When unable to do so acute indigestion follows, and in any event the unnecessary labor strains the organ.
If liquid is avoided when eating extreme mastication be- comes necessary or food will choke the person. Failing arti- ficial means to send it into the stomach, it must go, if at all, in such condition that the digestive organs have none but their own work to do and are therefore more likely to be kept strong and healthy.
The exclamation I have heard some business girls make, that they get no opportunity to drink water through the dav. is a mistake. It is always possible to place a glass on a desk
HEALTH AND BEAUTY HINTS 95
where it can be easily reached. A stenographer I know keeps a glass on her desk all day, refilling as soon as she drinks all the water. Another girl, behind the counter, keeps her glass of water out of sight, but within reach. Both of these girls have clear complexions that are the envy of many of their friends, and neither has enough out of door exercise to be responsible for it. The truth lies in the fact that their systems are kept in healthy condition by the constant wash- ing away of impurities.
PHYSICAL EXERCISES THAT CLEAR COMPLEXION
GIRLS will benefit complexions and figures if they will go through some physical exercises every morning. These need not last for more than five minutes if done regularly.
To begin with, they must be taken before dressing, when no tight bands are placed around the body. An excellent garment to wear when going through these movements is a light flannel dressing sacque that will give warmth without impeding the freedom of movement. I mention this article of wearing apparel because the exercises must be taken before an open window to clear the complexion, and if one is not properly clad, the flesh might become chilled. Felt or woollen slippers must also be worn.
When thus clad, a person must throw back her shoulders, raise her head, expand her chest and draw a long breath, with the lips tightly closed. Exhaling is done through the mouth. Begin the exercise by drawing three long breaths, one after the other, to expand the lungs.
Some small object in the hands makes the "setting up"
96 HEALTH AND BEAUTY HINTS
exercises easier, but they are not necessary. Should nothing be held, the hands are to be tightly closed.
One point to be remembered through the movements is to throw the hands out from the shoulders and not from the elbows. There will be no benefit in the latter case, while, if the former is done, the chest is broadened and the waist is made slender.
Standing erect then, with the lungs expanded and the chest raised, the abdomen being drawn in, clenched hands are laid on the shoulders. First one and then the other fist is thrown out hard as far as it may be sent, first at the sides and then in front. This should be done five times, both ways, ending by exercising both hands at the same time.
Next the hands are to be thrust high above the head at arm's length and exercised. First the right should be used and then the left. Finally both moved together.
The waist is more directly affected by motions that bend the body at the hips. Every one knows that to be able to touch the floor with the finger tips without bending the knees denotes, unfailingly, a slim figure, but also the exer- cise, if practised, will make for slimness, even when the floor cannot be touched the first time, nor, indeed, during the first month. Answering the same purpose is another motion that consists in bending from the waist line sidewise, twisting way over so that cords and muscles on the opposite side begin to pull. This must be done an equal number of times on both sides to make even development.
In all, not more than five minutes need be consumed in doing the work suggested, and at the close circulation will be rapid and there should be a general sense of glow.
HEALTH AND BEAUTY HINTS 97
DIET OF FRESH FRUITS AND VEGETABLES IMPROVES
THE SKIN
IN the spring season the physical condition and complex- ion are improved by adding new food elements to the diet. For example, with the beginning of spring the system often craves acids, and human beings need "new" food qualities, quite as cattle require fresh grass.
Not a meal except breakfast should be served fast, with- out at least one new vegetable. Spinnach is invaluable, and every day is none too often to have it. The green contains natural elements most wholesome to the system, and the craving for acid may be satisfied by pouring a little vinegar on the vegetable. Beets, either hot or cold, with cinegar, are also good, both being especially suited to persons having kidney trouble. Canned beets do not take the place of fresh ones at this season.
New carrots are another vegetable that may be appetizing ; dandelions are not expensive. All kinds of "boiled" greens are excellent, for they act directly upon the system and blood.
Green salads, in my opinion, are excellent, and if a sweet cannot be afforded at the same meal, salad should have the preference. Lettuce is always in market and the list of growing green foods is not small. Persons who do not like olive oil may eat the greens with sugar and vinegar, but it would be well to cultivate a liking for oil. It is wholesome and nourishing and forms an excellent combination as a dressing, the proportion being one-third vinegar to two- thirds oil. Less oil and more of the acid may be used if
98 HEALTH AND BEAUTY HINTS
wished. A bit of raw onion tossed through the salad while mixing greatly improves the flavor.
BRISK WALK IN RAIN CLEARS THE SKIN
WALKING in the rain, for persons who are not sus- ceptible to cold, is an excellent tonic for the com- plexion, but one that must be prepared for in order to get the most benefit.
For instance, when taking such a tramp the clothing must be warm, the skirts of a length not to drag wetness about the ankles, for nothing will give cold more quickly than the con- stant slopping of wet garments about the feet.
The ideal walking costume for wet weather consists of a thick and warm, but not heavy, short skirt. The length need not be so abbreviated as to be conspicuous in city streets, and a blouse of thin French flannel and a short jacket are best for the upper portion of the body. A jacket is far better for walking than a long coat, as the latter is apt to drag or pull when the wearer is exercising, and a short garment gives freedom of movement.
A soft felt hat of a color to match the suit should be trimmed with one or more wings and a band of soft silk. Water, unless floods descend, will not hurt it, and thus the carrying of an umbrella is obviated.
No boots are as serviceable as those that are a trifle higher than regulation. These walking boots come about half way to the knee, are thick soled, lace, and will protect ankles and calves from dampness. It is an unfortunate fact that any skirt longer than knee length becomes damp about the bottom, as it is rubbed by the heels during walking.
HEALTH AND BEAUTY HINTS 99
Bloomers of silk are to be preferred to petticoats for this particular costume.
Clad ii such fashion the risk of dampness or chill pene- trating td the skin is almost impossible. One may be in a drenching rain and come forth unscathed, for should the jacket be wet through the shoulders the latter are still pro- tected by the flannel blouse.
But to derive benefit it is essential that the exercise shall be rapid. Just ten minutes' brisk walking in a steady down- pour will make the blood circulate with vigor and put the pedestrian into a delightful glow. However, it is absolutely imperative to keep moving rapidly as long as one is out of doors, and the length of time one walks in the rain must be regulated by individual strength, as well as by inclination. One who has not been accustomed to walking is apt to be tired in fifteen minutes, and care should be taken not to get so far away from home as to delay in returning. To become overtired is too often the means of contracting cold, nor must it be thought that to go home in motor or trolley will be healthful. Constant motion of the muscles is the only thing that will prevent cold.
On going into the house damp garments must be removed immediately, and if there is the least suspicion of moisture on the feet stockings as well as shoes should be changed. Different petticoats and, of course, another dress must be donned.
I wish girls who have not tried this rainy-day treatment would give it a fair test, for I am sure they would enjoy it and would be benefited, if only they would take the precau- tion not to contract cold.
CHAPTER IX
WRINKLES
SUMMER PREVENTIVES OF LINED SKIN
IN my opinion it is not possible for a woman who wishes to preserve smoothness of complexion to go much into the glare of light at the seashore unless she is willing to wear dark glasses or a dark, thick veil. A parasol is not protection sufficient, for, while it softens the strong light in the immediate circle, it does not affect that beyond the shade, and every time one looks any distance the eyes, in protection, shut a little, or "squint," and crow's feet are evident years before they should appear.
Colored glasses are unsightly; there is no question as to that, but they disfigure for less time than do those age sug* gestive lines.
I also believe that never should a morning be spent on the beach, whether or not a swim is to be part of the amuse- ment, without plastering the face with cold cream and pow- der. An absolute paste may be put on in this manner and not show, or if it does, it will look merely like an unusual amount of powder, if done with care.
With this treatment there must be a foundation of cold cream rubbed in with the finger tips. Over this must be powder dusted on with a puff. Then it is necessary to take a soft cloth or old handkerchief and lightly rub in the cos- metic. At the end of a few minutes, if there are places where the grease shows, a fresh supply of powder, followed
:o6
HEALTH AND BEAUTY HINTS 101
by another light rubbing, must be administered. This is repeated, adding grease or powder, as the places need, until a smooth finish has been made. This will withstand the most direct onslaught of sun or wind.
If it is removed in several hours I think there is no likeli- hood of the skin having an overdose of cream. Instead of taking water to remove this make-up I like either saturated solution of borax, a toilet water, such as lavender, or clear alcohol, if the latter be high proof. Any one of these three cuts the grease and is less likely to make the skin flabby than water, which must be very hot to have any effect.
Before going to bed the corners of the eyes should be massaged to help keep away crow's feet. For this the fore- finger should be dipped into cream and rubbed in rotary motion about the eye corners, making the upward stroke harder than the downward. A little prevention such as this obviates a later cure.
TREATMENT TO KEEP SKIN UNWRINKLED IN SPRING
WINDS
ONE preventive of wrinkles in the springtime is the use of almond milk, the oldest and simplest cosmetic employed by our grandmothers, and there is no doubt but that, used habitually, its effect is softening and refining. The addition of a little alum when there is a tendency to wrinkles improves it, and the combination con- sists of thirty grains of alum, three-quarters of an ounce of almond milk and three ounces of rosewater.
Almond milk is made by blanching and pounding twenty good sized Jordan almonds in a mortar with half a teaspoon-
102 HEALTH AND BEAUTY HINTS
ful of granulated sugar and a quarter of a pint of water. The nuts are reduced to powder in this form, and after standing all night the liquid is strained. Either clear or combined with alum it is excellent for the skin, to be gently rubbed in several times a day and at night.
Cucumber milk is another liquid especially adapted to the skin at this season of the year, when care must be taken not to make it greasy. The vegetable juice is obtained by wash- ing and drying a cucumber, then cutting it into small bits, skin and all. It is put in a little saucepan with a teaspoonful of water and slowly heated until it simmers for five minutes, when it is drawn back to cool. The strained liquid is then ready for use. Expressed juice is merely the addition of an equal amount of alcohol.
To make the lotion one requires two ounces of oil of sweet almonds, five ounces of cucumber juice, one and one-half ounces of cucumber essence, an eighth of an ounce of pow- dered castile soap and a third of a dram of tincture of ben- zoin. To mix, the essence and soap are put into a glass preserving jar, covered tightly and shaken at intervals, until the soap is dissolved. The cucumber juice is then added and the mixture again shaken.
The oil and tincture are turned together into a china basin, and the two mixtures are slowly combined, stirring all the time with a silver fork. The liquid will be milky in aspect when the work has been properly done. The clear cucumber juice is a bleach and astringent, but it is drying, if used frequently.
More simple to mix is another lotion adapted to the skim It is made from half an ounce of tincture of benzoin, a dram of tincture of musk, two and one-half ounces of rectified
Photo by Joel Feder, New York. ERADICATING WRINKLES BY USING ADHESIVE PLASTER.
HEALTH AND BEAUTY HINTS 103
spirits and four gills of rose or orange flower water. The spirits are put with the tinctures before the whole are com- bined with the perfumed water. This, like the two other lotions, may be left to dry on the skin, and may serve as a substitute for water when a cleansing agent is needed.
Almonds appear in a different lotion, made from two gills of orange flower water, four ounces of high proof alcohol, two and one-half ounces of glycerine, two ounces of pow- dered almonds and one-quarter of an ounce of salicylic acid. The orange flower water must be poured over the nuts, corked and allowed to stand all night. In the morning the alcohol, in which the acid has been dissolved, should be added to the glycerine, and the whole combined, the last mixing being done slowly, under constant agitation.
Daily use of these lotions will do much to prevent wrin- kles and other blemishes.
CARE OF EYES WILL KEEP AWAY WRINKLES
OF all "fatal-to-beauty" habits I should say the one of totally disregarding the way of using the eyes is among the worst. Certainly none exceeds it for a detrimental effect, because carelessness of conditions will cause crows' feet just as quickly as will squinting. For instance, unless the light is so placed that the object is easily seen a woman unconsciously twists those facial muscles about the eyes, and then the trouble is begun.
Another injurious act is to face the light so it strikes directly upon the eyes, while the object looked at is in shadow. It is a common sight to see a woman sitting on the deck of a ferryboat or on a train reading a newspaper or a
104 HEALTH AND BEAUTY HINTS
book with the light in her face, while the print she gazes on is in the shade. As a combination calculated to work trouble his one cannot be excelled.
From time immemorial we have been told that to read on the train is bad for the eyes and accept the fact but continue the practice. The pity of this, however, is not only that the sight itself is thus strained, but that the facial muscles are made tense in an effort to follow the printed words, and are constantly shifting with the movement of the train, so the result is crows' feet and lines so deep they become wrinkles.
I do wish that women who need glasses when reading or working would wear them. Perhaps a pince-nez is not be- coming, but neither are the involuntary facial contortions made in an effort to see clearly. When the prejudice is strong against the use of glasses a woman may comfort her- self by remembering that if they are required merely for reading or working she need wear them only when it is nec- essary to concentrate her sight. On the other hand, if glasses are needed and are not worn, the resulting lines about the eyes will be in evidence at all times, and will surely increase in depth as age advances.
"Let me look at a woman's eyes and I will tell you how old she is," a clever man said recently.
And, sad to relate, the theory of this remark is sound, for it is about the eyes that age first begins to show. For this reason, if for no other, special care of the optics should be taken, and while benefit may not be noticed from day to day, the freshness of the eyes after one reaches middle age will more than repay for the trouble necessary to protect the sight.
To rest the eyes by closing the lids, even while it is not
HEALTH AND BEAUTY HINTS 105
possible to lie down, is an excellent preservative, and this may be done for a couple of minutes at any time in a street car or on a train and when at home. This help to the eyes must include relaxation of the muscles about the optics when one closes the lids. That this does not always happen a woman has only to observe to realize, for the average person is apt to find herself with eyes tightly shut, which means that all the nerves and muscles of the face near the eyes are tense. There is thus no "rest" in this condition and abso- lutely no benefit. For only when the lids go together gently are the muscles not strained.
When tired after work it is most refreshing to bathe the eyes for five minutes in hot water, using a cloth soaking wet with each application, so that the muscles are well relaxed. Then another cloth should be wet with cold water and this placed over the eyes when one lies down. If the rest can be for more than five minutes the cloth should be wet again. The cold compress serves both as a skin astringent and as an eye tonic.
Always before going to bed at night the eyes should be thoroughly washed to remove any dust as well as to relax the muscles. A few drops of camphor water or a little weak solution of boracic water is an excellent eye tonic, but neither should be used without first applying a cleansing wash.
TO PREVENT WRINKLES CAUSED BY HEADACHES
A WOMAN who suffers from headaches and as a result has a lined face, may better the condition by treat- ing her skin as does a matron whom I know, who for years has applied cold cream to her complexion at the
106 HEALTH AND BEAUTY HINTS
first indication of a pain in the head. The application is not to relieve the pain, but to prevent the skin from feeling the strain, and with her it has succeeded admirably.
Every woman knows that at the approach of a headache she involuntarily raises her brows or draws them together, the result in either case being lines. Also, her eyes being affected by pain, they close, either entirely or partly so, and the muscles about the corners become tense. That means the short cut to crows' feet, and in a year the face is unwar- rantably old.
The cold cream method is certainly worth trying. It con- sists in using a basin of hot water — and it is better that the liquid should be in a vessel that can be kept over heat — and two pieces of soft white flannel. This arrangement should be on a stand by the couch or bed.
Then the face about the forehead and the corners of the eyes is first rubbed thickly with cold cream, massaging it into the pores with the finger tips. The hot water will tend to remove it, of course, and so it becomes necessary that the grease shall be driven deep into the pores. Once this is done, one cloth is wrung from water that should be as hot as the skin can endure. This compress is folded and quickly laid over the upper part of the face and covered with a soft towel to help hold in the heat. If this is done for a time, renewing the cloth or putting on another as the first becomes cool, the heat may reduce the pain. In any event the skin receives a gentle steaming that prevents it from becoming drawn. It is not necessary to continue the application in- definitely. After fifteen or twenty minutes the treatment may be stopped, not to be renewed for a couple of hours. The entire object is prevention of muscular tenseness.
HEALTH AND BEAUTY HINTS 107
If the pain passes away during the day the face should be well soaked for some minutes in cold water, to act as an astringent after the softening process.
TO PREVENT COLD WEATHER CAUSING WRINKLES
GOLD weather will make wrinkles, simply because it dries the natural oil necessary for feeding the tissues, so the problem that confronts a woman who would keep her skin in fine condition is how to supply the deficiency without over-nourishing the pores. For this massage, of course, is excellent, and in many cases will be sufficient to preserve the normal state. Gentle manipulation will strengthen the tissues and stimulate circulation, causing the skin to be self-feeding, as it were. But should the dryness be excessive, more treatment is necessary, and the difficulty lies in deciding precisely what this shall be.
As to the wrinkle treatment, every morning the face should be inspected carefully in a mirror on which is a strong light. Whether the skin is in a healthy or dull state is easily told by taking a fold between the thumb and fore- finger. If it is elastic and firm, as it should be, the skin will resume a smooth surface as soon as it is released. Should it be out of condition it will be several seconds becoming flat again.
When this happens massage with a tissue builder is im- perative. Any cold cream or lotion that one prefers con- taining oil must be applied.
Gelatine has certain softening virtues. If used in combi- nation with other material, although alone it will be useless. A woman who has any prejudice against cold cream may
log HEALTH AND BEAUTY HINTS
make for herself a paste by dissolving an eighth of an ounce of best Russian isinglass in an ounce of rosewater. It is an advantage to have this in a glass, covered. It must be kept in a warm place. Several hours will be required for dissolv- ing. When the gelatine has been absorbed by the rose water the liquid should be strained through muslin, and then a dram or two of glycerine added, two drops of tincture of benzoin and a few drops of attar of rose. This should be poured into a little glass box that can be covered. After twenty-four hours the liquid should be a jelly.
Another preparation is an ounce of benzonated oxide of zinc ointment, with two drams of strong spirits of camphor. The two should be gradually mingled.
The way of applying either is the same. Morning and night the face must be thoroughly washed with warm water and gently dried. The finger tips are then moistened with the unguent and applied first to the middle of the cheeks, With a rotary motion that gradually increases in area, the skin is rubbed gently, always making the upward part of the stroke stronger than the downward, that the muscles shall not sag.
More cream is used in the rotary motion that goes over the temples, and the strokes on the forehead depend upon its condition. If there are lines from raising the brows, the massage should be from the edge of the hair down, drawing off to the temples. Each should smooth the surface. If there are frowns, the rubbing is straight from the nose to each temple.
Before going out of doors a light application of the cream should be put on the face. A soft cloth will remove any superfluous quantity, after which powder may be applied.
HEALTH AND BEAUTY HINTS 109
SPRING WAT DOES NOT DRY SKIN NOR CAUSE WRINKLES
IF a girl is in the habit of spending Sundays out of town in warm weather, or if she lives in a place where the water used for toilet purposes is hard, I know of no better investment of a little money than to buy a bottle of spring water. This, if reserved for washing the face, will keep the skin fine and soft, and so little need be used at a time that the expense is extremely slight.
This was the means thought of years ago by a woman who values her complexion, and so successful has it been that, though middle aged, she still has the freshness of youth. The skin, not having been dried, is not wrinkled, and gentle massage every day is all the aid needed.
The veriest tyro knows that hard water is drying, and therefore injurious; it is also a well known fact that it may be softened by the use of various agents. Borax or am- monia is most common, but they have one great disadvan- tage— if too much is employed they increase the injurious effect. According as the grade of water varies, so must the quantity of the softener, and to lay down a hard and fast rule is impossible. It is only by long experimenting that the correct proportions are found. To achieve this in a couple of days' visit is out of the question, and with mistakes the complexion necessarily suffers.
The woman mentioned above who solved the difficulty buys a well known spring water. She pays twenty-five cents a quart. This lasts for two weeks. She uses it daily, wet- ting a soft face cloth and mopping her complexion in the morning, treating her eyes to the same bath. Her neck and
no HEALTH AND BEAUTY HINTS
ears also are washed with the soft water. During warm weather, when her skin is inclined to be greasy, she wipes over the face once or twice during the day with a saturated solution of borax, but at night there is another bath with spring water. For traveling purposes she has a bottle hold- ing about half a pint, and this she finds enough to last for a week-end trip.
An occasional wiping with a solution of camphor water and tannic acid is undoubtedly beneficial in preserving clear- ness, and if used twice daily, alternating with the borax solution, improves the complexion. The lotion is made from fifteen grains of tannic acid to five ounces of camphor water. It is applied with a soft cloth, after cleansing with water, and dries in. It is astringent, and therefore particularly suited to warm weather.
A slight massage with the rotary motion should be given the face at least once a day, preferably twice. The work con- sists merely in rubbing in a circle with the finger tips, over the cheeks, temples and forehead sufficiently to stimulate circulation. This serves to keep the tissues in healthy con- dition and will freshen the color.
REST, NOT COSMETICS, PREVENTS WRINKLES
ALL cosmetics and toilet applications will be useless to a woman if she does not take care of her skin and health. For without a certain amount of attention to conserving energy she will be wrinkled and lined and her hair will be prematurely gray.
Shutting one's eyes is a wonderful assistance to exhausted nerves. To do this at home, when conditions are not such
HEALTH AND BEAUTY HINTS in
as to permit lying down, is far better than having the lids wide apart and unconsciously looking at some object.
The strain of a busy day downtown will be tremendously relieved if a girl will take five minutes of her lunch hour and in a dressing-room, or other comparatively quiet place, close her eyes. She must not make the mistake, however, of spending the whole of this five minutes looking at her watch to see if time is up, for in that way she will get nothing but fatigue from the effort.
Another way of resting is to relax the muscles when sit- ting. A girl who notices will be apt to find that frequently her muscles are tense, as though she were holding the chair, instead of sitting on it.
Some warm drink or easily digested food taken into the stomach will rest a person, nervously and physically. So will a cup of warm milk or one of cocoa. The latter is easily digested, and is not to be confounded with chocolate, which is rich. A cup of hot water is better than nothing, for it brings blood from the brain and is slightly stimulating. When a positive stimulant is required a cup of hot tea is to be preferred to any alcoholic form of liquid, for the latter has a bad effect upon the nervous system.
When a girl can take better care of herself than is pos- sible under working conditions she will find one of the best processes of refreshing herself when tired is to wring out hot cloths and lay them over her eyes and forehead. A hot water bag does not act as a substitute for this and the treat- ment is a little trouble. The simplest way is to have two cloths and a basin of hot water by the couch. One cloth is in the water ready to wring out and replace the one on the head that becomes cool. Fifteen minutes is enough, and the
ii2 HEALTH AND BEAUTY HINTS
improvement in the physical condition is marked. It is a wise plan to rinse the face in very cold water immediately afterward in order to prevent the skin from becoming flabby.
BEAUTY TREATMENT TO KEEP SKIN FRESH
WHERE is there a woman past thirty-five years of age who does not wish to retain a youthful appearance and who will not strive to keep away the marks of age ? The latter, brought on by worry more than from any other one cause, can be partly counteracted, if not prevented, by relaxation. But this rest, the principal element of beauty preservation, must be taken regularly as one would medicine to cure a consuming fever, etc.
For instance, at a certain time each day there must be an hour given over to rest. It is useless to say that one cannot spare the time, for if rest is not procured there is no way of combating wrinkles.
In addition to this relaxation a hot tub bath is needed, and it should be taken before lying down.
As to the bath, it should include a scrubbing with bland soap and a brush and a soaking in the warm water for about ten minutes to relax nerves and muscles and get the body into a condition that insures rest.
While bathing the face must be washed, and once a week with a complexion brush the skin must be thoroughly scrubbed, using green soap. After this wash if the skin has a feeling of tightness it may be rubbed with a lotion made of a quarter of an ounce of powdered borax, half an ounce of pure glycerine and a pint of camphor water. This will serve as a massage lotion for persons who do not use cold
Photo by Joel Feder, New York.
KEEPING WAIST LINE SMALL.
HEALTH AND BEAUTY HINTS 113
cream on their faces, and special attention should be given to the throat, rubbing that part directly under the chin that first shows age by becoming flabby.
Rubbing there should be done with a brisk rotary stroke to stimulate the tissues as well as strengthen them. The lotion may also be rubbed into the chest and arms, for it is soothing and refines the skin.
After this treatment loose clothing that will not restrict free circulation and soft shoes should be put on. Then a bedroom must be darkened, so while lying down there will be no attempt to use the eyes.
Three-quarters of an hour is to be given over to this and a woman must learn to keep her nerves relaxed during this time. She will be more than apt to discover, at first, that both nerves and muscles are tense, even though she is lying down, and it will take several long, deep breaths to make her lose the involuntary grip of herself. That she should do this is imperative.
On getting up she may dress and go into the street with- out the slightest danger of taking cold from the tubbing.
On going to bed at night a few calisthenic exercises must be taken. The easiest of these consists in doubling the fists, placing them at the shoulders and then thrusting them out at arm's length swiftly. Both arms may be used together and then alternately.
After that it is well to bend, trying to touch the floor with the finger tips without bending the knees. This will help to keep the waist line small. The exercises need not take more than five minutes and are merely to prevent circulation be- coming sluggish or the muscles tense.
I thoroughly believe in massaging the face at night, even
H4 HEALTH AND BEAUTY HINTS
though it has been done through the day. It should be well washed to remove impurities and then cold cream or the lotion, already given, applied.
It is taken for granted that only nourishing and easily digested foods shall be eaten, avoiding those that are rich and heavy.
Such is the course of beauty, which, if followed, will lead to success.
CHAPTER X
FACE POWDERS
HARMLESS ROUGE
Carmine, one=quarter dram; sweet almond oil, one=half dram; powdered magnesia, one ounce.
To mix, mingle the carmine and powder, and then slowly work into the oil. The preparation should be forced through coarse muslin several times, pressing out the lumps. It will be in powder form, the oil being absorbed.
HOW TO DEVELOP RED CHEEKS
A GIRL who has little color in her cheeks may have difficulty in developing a carmine tint in winter because she may not use certain external appli- cations possible in warm weather. Water, for example, would bring the red, but would also cause the face to chap were she to go directly into the wind after applying it. A girl I know, whose cheeks are naturally colorless, by using her own concoction of glycerine and English mustard, has worked up a pretty flush. And this is the way she has brought out the red : By rubbing into her cheeks a paste made from English mustard, one teaspoonful of flour, and enough glycerine to form a sticky mass. The theory is simply that mustard brings the blood to the surface.
As soon as there is a sensation of smarting the paste is washed off in warm water and a few drops of glycerine rubbed into the flesh to prevent irritation. Caution must
"5
n6 HEALTH AND BEAUTY HINTS
be exercised in doing this that the original paste does not remain on sufficiently long to cause blistering.
Applying first cold and then hot water to the face is rarely satisfactory, because though the color is brought to the sur- face in that way it does not remain. I have seen ice and then extremely hot water put on with excellent results, due principally, I think, to the agent employed in applying. For this two thick pads, and better, four, made of several layers of canton flannel about the size of a silver dollar, are used. The edges are overhanded to hold them together. Two of these were dipped first into iced water and laid on the cheeks where color was desired. They remain for a couple of minutes, or until the temperature begins to rise, when they are again immersed and put back on the face. In a minute more they are taken off and at once the other two, dipped into hot water, are laid on the cheeks in precisely the same spot where the cold application has been made. This operation, alternated, is repeated until there is a dis- tinct sensation of glow in the skin, which means that color has been brought to the surface. In order to prevent pos- sibility of chapping afterward, cold cream is rubbed over the skin that has been wet.
Any girl may make her own rouge, if she wishes, by tak- ing rice powder and coloring it with powdered carmine and a little ocher, about one-quarter less of the latter than car- mine. A cream being easier to apply, one may wish that which is made by adding a little cold cream, remembering that the shade of red must then be a little deeper, as the grease lessens its coloring properties.
Beet rouge, that was popular with our grandmothers, can be made by any one. The raw vegetable is thoroughly
HEALTH AND BEAUTY HINTS 117
washed and dried. It is then pressed against a grater until the juice is extracted, and this liquid is then mixed with starch or rice powder until the shade one wishes is attained. It is finally covered with a thin cloth to keep out dust, and set in the sun to dry. This is absolutely harmless when applied to the skin. A few drops of rose or lavender oil worked in will make it adhere to the skin better, but the preparation thus made requires thorough sifting through muslin to make it smooth.
FACE POWDER FOR BRUNETTES
Lycopodium powder, ten grams; talcum powder, ten grams; powdered tannin, two and one=half grams; boracic acid, two and one=half grams; essence of violet, five drops.
If desire tinted, one grain of carmine may be added.
To mix, mingle the powders and slowly work into the essence. Strain six times through coarse muslin, forcing the lumps through.
TO PUT ON POWDER SO IT WILL NOT RUB OFF
IF a woman washes powder from her face before going to bed, so the pores are not clogged over night, its application will do no harm, always providing the cos- metics contain no injurious ingredients. Many face pow- ders, however, are made with lead or bismuth, which is af- fected by the atmosphere, so the skin is discolored. Talcum is undoubtedly one of the safest cosmetics that can be used, for it is cooling and simple.
No powder should be used when stale, and those made from rice, starch, etc., will be irritating, and have the capac- ity to corrode when old. So it is always best to buy them
n8 HEALTH AND BEAUTY HINTS
in small quantities from reliable shops. A pleasant way of scenting them is to keep a stick of orris root in the jar.
Persons whose skin is extremely dry need to put on an under coating if the powder is to remain on. For this coat- ing a teaspoonful of glycerine to half a pint of rosewater is excellent. For use this is put on and quickly dried off, and the powder evenly applied.
Liquid substitutes for powders commend themselves strongly to many persons, and under some conditions have advantages. For instance, they last longer, and at night give a satisfactory finish to the complexion. But one fact always to be remembered when using them is that they must be put on with extreme care and evenness, otherwise there will be patches of white which spoil one's looks.
The simplest liquid is composel of one ounce of pure oxide of zinc, a dram of glycerine, four ounces of rosewater and fifteen drops of essence of rose. To mix, the glycerine is slowly poured over the zinc, stirring all the time to keep a smooth paste. The rosewater follows, added in the same manner. The essence goes last. When bottled there will be a white sediment at the bottom, and the preparation must always be shaken before any is put on the face. In applying a piece of muslin or linen should be used.
FACE POWDER PROTECTS SKIN IN WINTER
FACE powder, a protection when applied with discrim- ination to the complexion, may do much harm during cold weather, because the cold is drying, and powder has the same effect, and the two in combination may cause
HEALTH AND BEAUTY HINTS 119
a roughness which only months of treatment will smootti away.
In my opinion, always, in winter, before going into the street, a thin coating of cold cream should be rubbed over the cheeks and chin. The merest atom on the finger tip may be smoothed over, so that a slight amount of cream covers the whole surface, neutralizing the unhappy effects of temperature. After that powder may be dusted on. Then, when leaving the house, the skin should be rubbed with an astringent lotion that will remove the dust from the pores yet will not increase the amount of grease.
For this lettuce water is excellent, and can be made at home at any season. To prepare this lotion an entire head of the vegetable is separated and washed carefully. The leaves are then placed in a new agate or porcelain saucepan and gently warmed, when the natural liquid or juice will begin to be extracted. Warming must be slow, and the pulp kept at a high temperature, without simmering, for half an hour. The mass must then be strained through a cloth, and for every teaspoonful of the juice thus obtained ten drops of tincture of benzoin should be added. The essence may be diluted and made more astringent by adding double its quantity of high-proof alcohol.
A liquid balm agrees better than powder with some per- sons' complexions during cold weather. This is made from two drams of pure oxide of zinc, one dram each of glycerine and orange-flower water, five drops of tincture of benzoin and eight drops of essence of violets. The zinc is only cov- ered with orange-flower water and stirred. The glycerine and benzoin are put together, adding the rest of the orange- flower water, the two mixtures then being mingled.
120 HEALTH AND BEAUTY HINTS
This preparation is shaken before being put on the face evenly with a soft linen cloth. It should not stay on over night. It is harmless if washed off before retiring.
The simpler face powders are the less apt to harm the skin. The idea that powders per se are injurious is a mis- take, unless they contain powerful ingredients.
CHAPTER XI
TOILET PREPARATIONS
NOURISHING COLD CREAMS
GOLD creams are like soap, as that which agrees with one skin may not with another, so only by experi- menting can one secure a mixture that is nourishing. Some persons are strong advocates of witch hazel cream, and there is no doubt of its efficacy when it agrees. Besides being soothing, it has the added virtue of bleaching the complexion. To make it, half an ounce of spermaceti and a quarter of an ounce of lanoline are broken into bits in a cup set into a basin of hot water, and then three ounces of sweet almond oil are added. As the grease blends, and before it becomes hot, it is removed from the bath and an ounce of witch hazel is beaten in a little at a time with a silver fork. If the mixture begins to harden before the extract is in it may be returned for an instant to the bath. If at any time it becomes really hot it will not harden.
Another soothing preparation, less greasy than the first, is made from one-eighth of an ounce of best Russian isin- glass, two ounces of glycerine, six ounces of rosewater and ten drops of oil of roses. Part of the rosewater is slightly warmed, and kept at a gentle temperature while the isinglass which has been put in dissolves. As soon as the two are blended it is removed from the heat and the other ingredients added. It is a delicate jelly when cold. Cucumber extract
122 HEALTH AND BEAUTY HINTS
may be substituted for one-half the quantity of rosewater, if wished; that is, three ounces of rosewater and three of cucumber extract are used.
The foundation of many cold creams — a combination of sweet almond oil, spermaceti, white wax and rosewater — is given here because it is inexpensive, not difficult to make, and is one of the best cleansing agents that can be employed in warm weather. Any effect of grease may be entirely removed by washing the face afterward in a saturated solu- tion of borax.
The cream mentioned in the paragraph just read is made from two ounces each of rosewater and sweet almond oil and half an ounce each of spermaceti and white wax. The last two are broken into bits in a china cup set into hot water, and as they soften the almond oil is added. As soon as the hard fats have softened the cup is removed from the heat and the rosewater beaten in slowly. It is to be re- membered that the mixture must not at any time become hot.
Saturated solution of borax is merely all the powder that will dissolve in a certain amount of water. It may be mixed by pouring liquid into a bottle until partly full, and adding borax until no more is absorbed. This is applied to the complexion with a soft cloth, and cuts the grease. It is also cleansing.
One of the best preparations for the complexion is an equal quantity of tincture of benzoin and glycerine. It is applied as any cold cream. The greatest care should be taken to use no grease that is the least rancid, or has passed through any other change caused by heat or age, for when the freshness is gone it must be discarded, as its use will injure the skin.
HEALTH AND BEAUTY HINTS 123
BUTTERMILK IS NOURISHING SKIN FOOD AND DRINK
BUTTERMILK is a food and cosmetic, useful in all sea- sons of the year, but especially desirable during warm weather, when, in my opinion, no household is com- plete without it, for it is highly nutritive, is easily digested, and most refreshing to drink. Also, it is inexpensive, a fact that is not to be overlooked.
That some persons do not like the flavor of it at first is a drawback, but one that can be easily overcome. I did not like it at first, but now, in extremely warm weather, I can live upon it, and instead of getting a phosphate, or ice-cream soda, when thirsty, I recommend that a girl get a glass of buttermilk. It is excellent for the complexion, and is a benefit for the system. Incidentally, while upon the sub- ject of its palatableness, let me state that there is more than one quality of buttermilk, and that which is most healthful is not bitingly acid. It has a certain tartness, but when sour it should not be drunk, although even in this condition it is not harmful. Also, it is easier to drink when cold. It should be sipped slowly.
As a cosmetic it is used as a substitute for water, or in conjunction, as one chooses. Personally, I prefer it as a substitute, and inasmuch as it is to be bought for six cents a quart, I do not regard it as an extravagance. Accord- ingly as it is an adjunct, or a substitute, the method of using differs a little. When water is not used the milk is