A Budget for Beauty

I said to a friend: Beauty care does not call for a costly, extravagant effort; it only requires that you know exactly what you need.

My friend answered: I would not mind making that effort if I had the money and the time. And since I possess neither, I shall not attempt any effort in that direction.

I said: As for time, I believe you can spare a few minutes a day for the care of your looks, plus half an hour a day for additional beauty treatments.

As for money, I believe you should keep an exact, carefully checked budget, and set aside from it what you need for your beauty care. Here is a list of the creams and powders you need, such that they will not cost you a large sum and will stay within the range of your income — the income of any thrifty housewife... And here is my advice:

First you must have a cleansing cream (CLEANSER); besides its task of cleaning the face, it benefits ladies whose skin is dry. Ladies whose skin is normal or oily may use the liquid cleanser. The price of this cream is about a lira and a half. The time to use it is at night, before going to bed, to remove everything the day's toil has left clinging to the face.

Next you should get the nourishing cream for the face (NOURISHING CREAM); it is essential to use it before going to bed, after the cleansing cream. Set aside three minutes a night for it, and you will keep your face fresh for twenty years; the tube will cost you no more than two liras.

Nor can you do without the foundation cream (FOUNDATION CREAM), which is used before the powder; a tube costs a lira and a half.

Then you should buy a box of good powder; you can get a small-sized box for a lira and a half.

And finally you should get a lipstick; it is available in abundance, and you will find in it all the lovely shades that will always suit you. The stick costs about a lira and a half.

There are other preparations used in cases of enlarged pores, slack skin, and other exceptional conditions; but what I wanted to prove to you with this list is that you can set up a budget for your beauty care and for keeping your freshness that comes to no more than eight or ten liras a month.

Money and time are yours to command, if only you want them to be.