For Elegance and Beauty

Written especially for "The Woman's Voice"

I can almost swear that I am unable to imagine a beautiful, attractive woman who does not enjoy an ample share of health, or that a woman in full health and overflowing vitality should fail to suggest a great deal of beauty and charm. Health and beauty, then, are twins and equivalents: neither can do without the other, and neither is complete without the other. There is no doubt that the woman who wishes to be happy in her life is the one who knows that her happiness lies hidden in a health that pervades her and a complete womanliness that bursts forth from her; and who knows, beyond that, that she will never be able to obtain these two things from a bottle in a pharmacy filled with health and strength, nor from a false paint upon the face lending her luster and charm. Rather they are within reach of her two hands, and are provided to her by the orderly, healthful living she acquires, and by her avoidance of certain harmful appurtenances of modern civilization. If, by following healthful ways in her daily living, she gains health, energy, and vitality, so too, by shunning the ways that modern civilization ordains, she preserves her beauty and increases her charm,

and after a little time she becomes an object of envy to those of her own age who drifted with the current and accepted bondage to the beguiling dominion of civilization — so that their faces grew pale and their skin grew wrinkled, and they tried to hide it behind a temporary screen of artificial paint; or their bodies grew flabby and their muscles slack, and they gathered them up under a harsh, violent corset that only adds to the pains of the regret and envy in which they live.

The first thing that draws a man to a woman when he looks at her is, without doubt, the freshness of her face and the smoothness of her skin, free of every trace of wrinkles and pimples. And how can a woman boast of such charm if she suffers from chronic constipation or poor digestion or a lack of foods rich in vitamins, or if she is addicted to drink or to late nights, or if she fears the daylight sun and the pure air, or finds hardship in performing a few exercises or in practicing some sport!

Here is another example of what draws a man to a woman: the sight of healthy lips, full of youth and vitality. Do you not see, Madam, that that attractive rosy color which nature has refined in her crucible is the nearest thing possible to the level of perfection, and more finely drawn than what the hand of the most skillful artist could draw with artificial paint — paint with which she tries to cover the cracks or roughness beneath it, the result of poor nourishment, or excessive smoking, or addiction to drink, or the neglect of cleanliness and the consequent exposure to all manner of germs?

And what I have said of the lips applies to the teeth — those pearls whose stringing the Creator wrought so marvelously, and in whose description the poets have exhausted their art — set in a beautiful rosy frame of healthy gums, the fruit of minute daily care, which gives them a sparkle and a whiteness pleasing to the eye.

And the eyes — the very emblem of a woman's beauty, the mirror of her soul, and the storehouse of her charm — their brightness increases and their magic grows stronger with a little daily care, such as protection from harsh light and from air laden with dust, and from other such agents as are sure to extinguish that natural brightness and surround the eye with dark circles, or pouches and wrinkles, that add tens of years to a woman's age — and how cruel it is for a woman to lose her youth while she is in the very prime of youth...

And what I have said of the skin, the lips, the teeth, and the eyes may also be said of the hair, whose roots are strengthened and whose sheen is heightened by complete cleanliness, complete nourishment, and constant daily care.

If we pass on to the remaining members of the body, we find that any neglect in any department of general health — such as incomplete nourishment, and the neglect of physical exercise, of the various baths, of massage, of healthful sleep, of deep breathing, or the wearing of tight shoes or those with high heels — all of this, or part of it, works to remove the body from the level of beauty and charm: the muscles lose their strength and their roundness and waste away or grow slack, and the body acquires

an unbecoming personal stoutness or a repellent thinness, and the breast enlarges and sags — and so on through the rest of beauty's enemies and disfigurers.

Know then, Madam, that your beauty is your capital in life, and that this beauty lies in beauty of body and beauty of face, as it lies in beauty of soul and perfection of mind, and in fullness of health and strength; and that every woman can be beautiful in all these respects with a little good understanding and strength of will. And if she loses this beauty, let her not blame nature — the blame falls entirely upon her, as the result of her own neglect.

And since I have set out to take you by the hand, to bring you to a new world of happiness founded on overflowing health, magnetic vitality, and complete womanliness, I shall take up all these factors in my inquiry one by one, so that, God willing, and by the strength of your will, you may reach that goal we all seek — namely, happiness.

The Woman's Voice — Mr. Ahmad al-Urfali wrote this article from Egypt especially for the magazine. Mr. al-Urfali holds a diploma in medical massage and beauty culture from the University of Chicago. He has kindly accepted the magazine's invitation to contribute, and to devote to The Woman's Voice his articles on elegance and beautification. Our readers may address to him, through the magazine, any inquiries and questions relating to this subject.