For Elegance and Beauty

A clear, fresh complexion is one of the most striking marks of beauty; and however beautifully proportioned and harmoniously composed the features of the face may be, nothing will bring out their beauty and confirm their harmony but the clearness and softness of the skin that covers them.

The skin, as one of the organs of the body, is among the most sensitive of these organs and the most affected by the body's internal condition, over and above outside influences. The skin is affected in particular by the state of the nerves; hence we find that the demands and constraints of modern city life quickly leave their traces upon the face: the complexion loses its color, wrinkles form in the various parts of the face, and the face as a whole puts on a sad, despairing look that adds tens of years to one's age.

The beauty of the complexion is bound up, generally speaking, with the condition of the body as a whole: too little physical exercise, or excess in eating sweets, pastries, and rich foods, or a disturbance of the process of secretion, and likewise sleeplessness, fatigue, or mental strain, and so on — their effect quickly shows in the face. If excess in eating, for example, is the cause of the pimples or blotches that may appear on the face, then the moment you take note of this fact and reform your diet, its effect will show upon the face with a speed that invites wonder.

Natural complexions are of three kinds: they are either dry, or oily, or a mixture of the two together, in which some parts of the skin are dry and other parts oily.

The dry complexion is the one that needs care more than any other, because it leads quickly to the formation of wrinkles; it is also always the more sensitive, and the marks of old age show in it more plainly than in the case of the oily complexion.

The following steps are the ones you would do well to follow daily if you complain of a dry, lusterless complexion:

1 — Lift the hair back, and it is best to tie it with a band so that the whole face remains uncovered.

2 — Apply the cleansing cream and spread it over the face gently; the use of gentleness in this operation is no less important than the direction of the spreading movement, which must be from below upward.

3 — After you have made sure that the whole face has been coated with the cream, from the hairline to the chin, and from one ear to the other, and likewise the whole of the neck, leave the cream on for a few minutes so that the skin may absorb as much of it as possible. During this interval you can clean your teeth or comb your hair, for example — but do not let these minutes exceed three.

4 — Then remove the cream, using a soft sheet of cleansing tissue, taking note to use the utmost gentleness in passing the tissue over the face.

5 — Wash the face with water and soap, using for this an ordinary kind of soap; then dry it well.

6 — If you use paint on your eyelids, take good care to cleanse the skin in that area.

7 — Warm water may be used with the soap, on condition that the washing operation ends with cold water.

8 — Moisten a piece of cotton with cold water, then wring it out well; dip it after that in the astringent lotion, and pat the face with it, tapping lightly. Dry the face again, and with that it becomes perfectly clean.

If you believe that your face has been much exposed to the weather during the day, repeat this operation a second time in the evening.

Nor should I fail to mention, on this occasion, that many ladies refrain from using water and soap in cleansing the face, and they state frankly that they owe the soundness of their complexion to not using water and soap in washing the face. But there are many others besides these who also confess that the one secret of their preserving the soundness of their complexion lies in the use of water and good soap. In the face of this contradiction I can only assure you, Madam, that there is no harm whatever in using water and soap, so long as the water is free of salts, and the soap is of a good kind, neutral in its chemical composition, and provided that care is taken, in using it, to leave no traces of it upon the skin, and to dry the face after washing thoroughly. The best kinds of soap suited to this case are those into whose composition a good deal of animal fat enters, such as lanolin. And the way to recognize good toilet soap is to make certain that the following properties are present in it:

1 — Abundant lather

2 — An alkaline taste

3 — A quiet scent, not a penetrating one

4 — It causes no irritation or dryness of the skin

And you would do well to avoid soap colored green or red, for into the composition of these colors enter certain substances harmful to the skin.