Part 6 (1/2)
=The Finger Nails= require special attention if we desire to preserve them in their highest condition of beauty and usefulness. To keep them clean, the nailbrush and soap and water should be used once or oftener daily, as circ.u.mstances demand. Once a day at least, on wiping the hands after was.h.i.+ng them, and whilst they are still soft from the action of the water, the free edge of the scarfskin, which, if not attended to, is apt to grow upward over the nails, should be gently loosened and pressed back in a neatly rounded form, by which the occurrence of cracks and sores about their roots (agnails, nail springs, etc.) will be prevented, and a graceful, oval form, ending in a crescentlike s.p.a.ce of white, will be ensured. The skin, as a rule, should never be cut, pared, picked or torn off, as is commonly done, and the less it is meddled with, otherwise than in the way just mentioned, the better. The ends or points of the nails should be pared once every week or ten days, according to the rapidity of their growth, which somewhat varies with the season of the year and the habit of the individual. This is best done with a sharp penknife or nail-knife. Scissors are less convenient for the purpose, and have the disadvantage of straining and distorting the nails during the process.
The length and shape of the nails, both for beauty and use, should exactly correspond with the tips of the fingers. Nails extending beyond the ends of the fingers are vulgar, clawlike, and inconvenient; whilst if shorter, particularly much shorter than the fingers, they are unsightly and of little use, and cause the tips of the fingers to become thick and clumsy. Biting the nails should be avoided as a dirty and disagreeable habit, and one utterly destructive to their beauty, strength, and usefulness.
To remove stains and discolorations of the nails, a little lemon juice or vinegar and water is the best application. Should this fail, a few grains of salt of sorrel, oxalic acid, or chloride of lime, each diluted with warm water, may be applied, care being taken to thoroughly rinse the hands in clean water, without soap, afterwards.
Occasionally a little pumice stone, in impalpable powder, or powdered cuttlefish bone, putty powder (polisher's peroxide of tin), may be used along with water and a piece of wash-leather, flannel, or the nailbrush, for the same purpose. The frequent use of any of these substances is, however, injurious to the healthy growth, strength, and permanent beauty of the nails. The common practice of sc.r.a.ping the surface of the nails cannot be too strongly censured, as it causes them to become weak and distorted. Blows on the nails, and, indeed, violence to them in any form, also distorts and marks them.
The ladies of Oriental nations commonly dye the nails; and amongst many savage tribes the same practice is adopted, and is not confined to the gentler s.e.x. Amongst Western Europeans, and Americans, white and regularly-formed nails are alone esteemed.
=Chapped Hands= are common among persons with a languid circulation, who are continually ”dabbling” in water during cold weather, and particularly among those with a scrofulous taint, who, without the last, expose their ungloved hands to bleak, cold winds. The best preventives, as well as remedies, are the use of warm gloves out of doors, and the application, night and morning, of a little glycerine, diluted with twice its weight of water, or a little cold cream, spermaceti cerate, salad oil, or any other simple unguent or oil, which should be well rubbed in, the superfluous portion being removed with a towel. This treatment will not only preserve the hands from the effects of cold and damp, but also tend to render them soft and white.
Deep chaps which have degenerated into sores should be kept constantly covered with a piece of lint wetted with glycerine or spread with spermaceti ointment, the part being at the same time carefully preserved from dirt, cold, and wind. It is said that a once favorite actress, celebrated for the beauty of her hands, even when in the ”sere and yellow leaf,” covered them nightly with the flare of a calf or lamb, with the fat attached, over which was drawn a glove or mitten of soft leather. The application of a little glycerine or fatty matter, in the way just indicated, would have been equally effective.
=Warts=, like chilblains, are too well known to require description.
They chiefly attack the hands, and particularly the fingers, but sometimes occur on other portions of the body. They may be removed by rubbing or moistening their extremities every day, or every other day, with lunar caustic, nitric acid, concentrated acetic acid, or aromatic vinegar, care being taken not to wash the hands for some hours after.
The first is an extremely convenient and manageable substance, from not being liable to drop or spread; but it produces a black stain, which remains till the cauterized surface peels off. The second produces a yellow stain, in depth proportioned to the strength of the acid employed. This also wears off after the lapse of a few days. The others scarcely discolor the skin.
=To Cause the Skin to become Satin-smooth, and to Smell like a bunch of Violets.=-Any one using the following preparation will be noted for the fair softness of her complexion and the delicate perfume which emanates from her person. For ladies who like perfume, and care for a satin-smooth skin, the following is an invaluable toilet preparation:-
Have your druggist mix for you one ounce tincture of orris, one ounce tincture of benzoin, ten drops oil of neroli, and ten drops oil of lemon. To use this perfume, add a tablespoonful of it to about a pint of warm water. It will turn as white as milk, and the real perfume will be given off, whereas while in the bottle it has anything but a pleasing odor. Now, after your bath, just take a soft cloth and go over yourself with this milk, dry thoroughly, and you will smell like a bunch of violets. The perfume may be altered to suit you, or you may add any handkerchief extract, but don't omit the benzoin, for that is what gives permanence to the perfume and softness and smoothness to the skin.
=To Cause Those Who have Lost the Bloom and Fairness of Early Youth to Regain Them.=-Many ladies who as young girls were fair with a lovely rosy bloom, lose these beauties very early in life; very many do this at twenty, or very little later, and become sallow and heavy-eyed, thus losing their princ.i.p.al charm. Now, this is very easily remedied.
Go to your druggist and ask him for some iron pills and for some simple purgative to take with them. Get from him directions for taking both, and take strictly according to his directions. In a very short time you will again be fair and rosy and your eyes bright and sparkling; in fact, you will seem to have renewed your youth, and, indeed, you will feel like another person, so light-hearted will you become, in addition to your return of beauty.
THE HAIR.
=Its Estimation, Structure, Growth, Management, Etc.=-The hair is not only invaluable as a protective covering of the head, but it gives a finish and imparts unequalled grace to the features which it surrounds. Sculptors and painters have bestowed on its representation their highest skill and care, and its description and praises have been sung in the sweetest lays by the poets of all ages. Whether in flowing ringlets, chaste and simple bands, or graceful braids artistically disposed, it is equally charming, and clothes with fascination even the simplest forms of beauty.
O wondrous, wondrous, is her hair!
A braided wealth of golden brown, That drops on neck and temples bare.
If there is one point more than another on which the tastes of mankind appear to agree, it is that rich, luxuriant, flowing hair is not merely beautiful in itself, but an important, nay, an essential, auxiliary to the highest development of the personal charms. Among all the refined nations of antiquity, as in all time since, the care, arrangement and decoration of the hair formed a prominent and generally leading portion of their toilet. The ancient Egyptians and a.s.syrians, and other Eastern nations, bestowed on it the most elaborate attention. The ancient Jews, like their modern descendants, were noted for the luxuriance and richness of their hair and the care which they devoted to it. Glossy flowing black hair is represented to have been the glory of the ancient Jewess, and in her person to have exhibited charms of the most imposing character; whilst the chasteness of its arrangement was only equalled by its almost magic beauty. Nor was this luxuriance, and this attention to the hair, confined to the gentler s.e.x, for among the pagan Orientals the hair and beards of the males were not less sedulously attended to. Among the males of Judah and Israel, long flowing ringlets appear to have been regarded as highly desirable and attractive. The reputed beauty and the prodigious length and weight of the hair of Absalom, the son of David, as recorded in the sacred text, would be sufficient to startle the most enthusiastic modern dandy that cultivates the crinal ornament of his person. Solomon the Wise, another son of David, conceived the beauty of hair sufficiently dignified to express figuratively the graces of the Church.
The hair, though devoid of sensibility and unsusceptible of expression under the influence of the will and the ordinary mental feelings, like the mobile portions of the face, and though it may be popularly regarded rather in the light of a parasitic growth than as an essential portion of the body, is capable of being affected by the stronger emotions and pa.s.sions, and even of aiding their expression in the features. Who is there that, at some period or other of his life, if only in childhood, in a moment of sudden terror or horror, has not experienced the sensation popularly described as ”the hair standing on end?” Or who is there that, at some time or other, has not witnessed the partial erection of the hair in children or females under like violent emotions, or seen the representation of it in sculptures or paintings? Those pa.s.sions, so aptly styled by Gray the ”vultures of the mind,” frequently affect with wonderful rapidity the health of both the body and the mind, which wreck the hair soon sympathizes with and shares. Instances are recorded in which violent grief in a few weeks has blanched the hair and antic.i.p.ated the effects of age; and others in which intense terror or horror has affected the same with even greater celerity, the change having occurred in a few days or even in a few hours.
Besides daily attention to the hair, something else is necessary to insure its cleanliness and beauty and the perfect health of the skin of the head from which it springs. For this purpose the head should be occasionally well washed with soap and water, an abundance of water being used and great care being subsequently taken to thoroughly rinse out the whole of the soap with the water in which the head has been washed. The water may be either tepid or cold, according to the feelings or habit of the person; and if the head or hair be very scurfy or dirty, or hard water be used, a few grains of soda (not potash or pearlash) may be advantageously added to the water. This will increase its detersive qualities. After the hair has been washed, which should be done quickly, though thoroughly, it should be freed as much as possible by pressure with the hands and then wiped with a soft, thick towel, which should be done with care, to avoid entangling it. After laying it straight, first with the coa.r.s.e end of the dressing comb and then with the finer portion, it may be finally dressed.
In ordinary cases once every two or three weeks is often enough to wash the hair and head. The extreme length of ladies' hair will sometimes render the process of was.h.i.+ng it very troublesome and inconvenient. In such cases the patient and a.s.siduous use of a clean, good hairbrush, followed by was.h.i.+ng the partings and the crown of the head with soap and water, may be subst.i.tuted.
The occasional was.h.i.+ng of the head is absolutely necessary to preserve the health of the scalp and the luxuriance and beauty of the hair when much oil, pomatum or other greasy substance is used in dressing it.
Medical writers have frequently pointed out the ill effects of the free or excessive use of oily or greasy articles for the hair; but their warnings appear to be unheeded by the ma.s.s of mankind. Some object to their use altogether. There are, however, exceptions to every rule, and some of these exceptions are noticed elsewhere in this volume. The ill effects referred to chiefly occur from their being used when not required, and in excess, and are aggravated by the neglect of thorough cleanliness.
To improve the growth and luxuriance of the hair, when languid or defective, the only natural and perfectly safe method that can be adopted is to promote the healthy action of the scalp by increasing the vigor of the circulation of the blood through its minute channels.
For this purpose nothing is so simple and effective as gentle excitation of the skin by frequent continued friction with the hairbrush, which has the convenience of ease of application and inexpensiveness. The same object may be further promoted by the application of any simple cosmetic wash or other preparation that will gently excite or stimulate the skin or exercise a tonic action on it without clogging its pores. Strong rosemary water or rosemary tea, and a weak solution of the essential oil of either rosemary or garden thyme, are popular articles of this kind. They may be rendered more stimulating by the addition of a little ammonia or a little spirit, or both of them. The skin of the head should be moistened with these on each occasion of dressing the hair, and their diffusion and action promoted by the use of a clean hairbrush. Aromatized water, to which a very little tincture or vinegar of cantharides (preferably the former) has been added, may also be used in the same way, and is in high repute for the purpose. When the skin is pale, lax, and wrinkled, astringent washes may be used. Strong black tea is a convenient and excellent application of this kind. When the skin and hair are dry, and the latter also stiff and untractable, a little glycerine is an appropriate addition to each of the preceding washes or lotions. The occasional use of a little bland oil, strongly scented with oil of rosemary or of origanum, or with both of them, or with oil of mace, or very slightly tinctured with cantharides, is also generally very serviceable when there is poorness and dryness of the hair. When the hair is unnaturally greasy and lax (a defect that seldom occurs), the use of the astringent washes just referred to, or of a little simple oil slightly scented with the essential oil of bitter almonds, will tend to remove or lessen it.
All the articles named above promote the glossiness and waviness of the hair, and are also among the simplest, safest, and best applications that can be employed when the hair is weak and begins to fall off.
To impart some degree of curliness or waviness to the hair when it is naturally straight, and to render it more retentive of the curl imparted to it by papers or by other modes of dressing it, various methods are often adopted and different cosmetics employed. The first object appears to be promoted by keeping the hair for a time in a state intermediate between perfect dryness and humidity, from which different parts of its structure, being unequally affected in this respect, will acquire different degrees of relaxation and rigidity, and thus have a tendency to a.s.sume a wavy or slightly curly form, provided the hair be left loose enough to allow it. For this purpose nothing is better than was.h.i.+ng the hair with soap and water, to which a few grains of salt of tartar (carbonate of potash) have been added; or it may be slightly moistened with any of the hair washes mentioned in the last paragraph, in each half-pint of which a few grains of the carbonate (say ten or twelve), or a teaspoonful of glycerine, has been dissolved. The moistened hair, after the application of the brush, should be finally loosely adjusted as desired with the dressing-comb. The effect occurs as the hair dries. When oils are preferable to hair washes, those strongly scented with the oil of rosemary, to which a few drops of oil of thyme or origanum may be added, appear to be the most useful.
To cause the hair to retain the position given to it in dressing it, various methods and cosmetics are commonly employed. When the arrangement is a natural one and the hair healthy and tractable, the free use of the hairbrush will usually be sufficient for the purpose.