BEAUTY HINTS
Every woman wants to be considered good looking, even though she is not beautiful. Our features need not be perfect to be beautiful; it is a rare thing to find a face on which every feature is perfect, yet there are many beautiful women in the world. It is possible for every woman to be good looking. Now, just what do we mean by good looking? Many of us have the idea that good clothes make us beautiful, but this is a mistake. What is a more disgusting sight than a woman dressed in fine clothes and in contrast her face showing a muddy, neglected and abused complexion? A pleasing expression is requisite to the beautiful face, but it is impossible to have a set rule for the cultivation of a good disposition, because of the variation in our individual personalities. However, I will suggest a few things that will help to make us more beautiful.
Suppose we start with the skin. The knowledge that our skin is clear and attractive will doubtless help us to wear a smile and give us the much-desired cheerful countenance.
Our skin is naturally beautiful—what could be more exquisite than the skin of a baby? And it would remain so if we did not continually violate the laws of Nature. Sins of diet are so common; overeating, eating in haste, eating between meals, and we overdress and underventilate, many of us get little or no exercise and spend too much time in the confinement of our homes. While it is, of course, impossible to alter the conditions of modern life, with intelligent care you can counteract their disastrous effects on your complexion.
Your face, unlike the rest of your body, is continually exposed to wind and weather, dirt and dust, and demands especial care. In very few cases, indeed, can the skin be neglected and yet retain its freshness and purity. The greater the natural beauty and refinement of your complexion, the more perishable it is and the more faithfully should you attend to its preservation.
Help your skin to overcome every obstacle, to combat every enemy. Go to your mirror. Ask yourself these questions: Has the skin a good, clear coloring, a natural glow? Has it a smooth, soft finish? Fine, even pores? Is it fresh looking, firm and pliable?
Look upon your skin as an organ, an organ that must continually perform an important duty in relieving the system of impurities.
Like the rest of your body, the skin requires nutrition and the utmost cleanliness if it is to be healthy.
It is easy to appreciate the importance of keeping the pores active, when we stop to think that when the surface skin is destroyed, and the pore action interrupted, as in cases of severe burns, the danger is grave and that when as much as one-third of the body is so affected death is inevitable.
The skin of the face is constantly exposed. In every tiny pore dust and dirt are bound to accumulate. Unless your skin is kept in perfect health, with every tiny pore active, these impurities make themselves evident in the form of blackheads. These little black pests are frequently found where the circulation is sluggish and the pores less active—on the forehead, between the eyes, over the nose, about the chin and sometimes on the ears.
Cleanliness is the principal secret of the clear, blackheadless skin and nothing will so effectively get down into the pores as a cream. A good face cream is easy to work into the pores—the skin welcomes it. And its ingredients are such as to make its results far-reaching and successful. Use this treatment:
Wring out a soft towel in hot water and apply it to the face. This will relax the pores. Apply the face cream liberally, rubbingit in well and allowing it to remain on for five or ten minutes. Wipe off gently and it will then be easy to remove the blackhead with a comedone extractor, which may be purchased at any drug store for ten cents. Take care not to bruise the sensitive skin. When the face is cleared of blackheads, douche with cold water or use cold compresses. This is most important after steaming or massage, for it closes the pores and keeps the flesh firm.
When the pores are allowed to fill with dust, dirt or the impurities discharged by the system, irritation is quick to start. Inflammation sets in. Pimples, skin eruptions and kindred ailments, in many cases, are directly traceable to this cause—uncleanliness. If every pore is kept immaculately clean, free from all impurities and in good working order, danger of infection is greatly minimized.
Give a few minutes a day to these simple exercises if you would forestall the first wrinkle or banish betraying lines. To be beneficial, massage must be regular, firm and gentle. A rotary motion should be used on the chin, cheeks and forehead. No rubbing should ever be done until the face is washed perfectly clean in warm water and soap. Because of its cleansing, skin-softening properties, a green soap is well suited to use in preparing the face for massage. Then apply a good massage cream to the dry skin and rub well into the pores. Continue massaging the skin until the cream rolls out. The thorough rubbing out of the cream is important.
Massage one side of the face at a time; otherwise the skin is drawn in opposite ways, unless one is very adept.
After the massage—and this treatment should never be extended over more than ten minutes—apply a cold compress to contract the relaxed pores. This is important if you would retain the fine even texture of your skin.
Many people have just the opposite of an oily skin—they have a dry tight skin which often needs oil. As we grow older, also, it is the tendency with everyone for the natural oils of the skin to decrease somewhat and for the skin to lose much of its pliancy and suppleness. This dry, tawny condition is usually accompanied by roughness and is almost invariably the forerunner of a fine crop of wrinkles. Unless you supply the deficiency, the skin loses its power of resistance when its elasticity is gone.
Feed your skin—keep it well lubricated. The famous beauty, Mme. Patti, said it was impossible to overestimate the importance of keeping the skin well fed with oils and cream.
Beware of powders that create dryness of the skin. The purity of a face powder is more important than many realize. The presence of bismuth, arsenic, white lead and other mineral or alkaline substances make many powders unfit for use on the skin. A good, pure complexion powder is beneficial to the skin, in protecting it from dirt, wind and sun.
The modern fashion of acquiring a rich, heavy coat of tan is to be heartily decried. The skin can be bleached and cleared after a summer out of doors, to restore its tone, but it is quite another matter to recover the fine, even texture of your skin after the summer sun has toughened and coarsened it. A thick skin is most unlovely to look upon. And, furthermore, it wrinkles more easily and is far less responsive to treatment than when in its natural elastic state. In some cases, heavy tanning results in relaxed tissues and a condition of general weakness that is most difficult to build up.
A famous dermatologist has recently said: “Oil your skin—oil it well, or the sun will bake out every bit of natural oil and leave your skin dry and tawny.” If you would keep your skin so delicate and transparent as to show its natural coloring, protect it by the generous use of a very good Cold Cream. Rub it well into your pores before you go out, dust your face over with a good Face Powder, in the shade that blends best with your complexion, and, thus safeguarded, you will find that you can spend a day out of doors, at the beach, without the slightest injury.
Cleanliness, immaculate cleanliness, is the first essential to a healthy skin. If you would rejoice in a skin that is fresh-looking, clean and therefore beautiful, never let a day go by without bathing the entire body with a good, pure Toilet Soap.