The "Woman's Voice" Seminar: The Expert in the Art of Beauty Reveals Her Secrets

At the home of Dr. Karim Azkoul, the "Woman's Voice Seminar" met this time with the Parisian expert in the art of beauty, Miss Holzman, representative of Helena Rubinstein. The session brought together Mesdames Olga Choucri Chammas, Angelique Kazan, Bekita Khoury, Minerva Barbari, Edvick Shayboub, and the hostess, Eva Karim Azkoul.

Miss Holzman was the best advertisement for her subject, with her bright, clear face and her beautiful smile... The women's eyes looked up, and the questions flew, inquiring into the secrets of beauty care and how they might preserve their beauty and show it in its best form.

The first question was put by Eva Azkoul:

Are the beauty of the face and the complexion affected by internal disturbances?

Of course, answered Holzman! But the study and treatment of such symptoms is the province of the medical doctor, not of the beauty center, which concerns itself only with the skin and complexion and treats external symptoms such as acne and blackheads, which result from carelessness in treating the skin and cleansing it as it should be, with pastes and creams.

1 — But, inquired Angelique, doesn't cream harm the face, cut off its air, and keep it from breathing freely...?

That belief is mistaken, said Holzman. Cream is nothing but a light covering laid on the skin to keep off the dust and dirt that are in the air... This thin film cuts off neither air nor breathing... And in the evening the face is washed with cold cream and recovers its vitality and vigor.

It is essential to remove one's makeup before sleeping, or before an afternoon rest, so that the complexion may rest during that interval and regain its freshness.

What is the best way to wipe off makeup, Olga Chammas asked her?
Cream and tonic, of course, came the answer once more...

Yes, Holzman went on, that is the best of methods... When you apply cleansing cream (or cold cream), work it well into the face with light circular motions that do no harm to the skin and the muscles, and wipe away the excess after it has seeped into all the pores... Then use the tonic, a solution that removes the cream; it contains a little alcohol, which cleanses pimples without burning them as rubbing spirits and cologne water do...

Cleansing the complexion is done in two stages: the first to remove the dust, and the second to remove the cream, the foundation, what the pores secrete, and the dead cells that cause so much trouble.

And never use water and soap at all!

Here Edvick broke in to object, though she had not wished to force her way into the discussion: I believe nothing cleanses the face like pure native soap and water. My proof is my own complexion, on which all my life I have used nothing but our soap — the soap of Lebanon, made from olive oil — and never once have I been troubled by any complexion problem...!

We looked long at Edvick's face and agreed that her fresh complexion had never been harmed by olive soap. And each of us began to recall how her mother, or her aunt, or some other possessed a pure and beautiful complexion and had never in her life used anything to wash her face but soap and water...

Holzman laughed and said, I admit that olive soap is good, but the quantity of alkaline matter it contains is large; it harms the skin and burns it, nor does it cleanse as it should... And I can prove it to you: if I put a little cream on a piece of cotton and wiped Edvick's face with it, some dirt would appear on the cotton, for all the purity that shows itself to you.

2 — (At that moment Holzman could not carry out this experiment, but she did carry it out some hours later. And the result was as Edvick had said. Holzman was forced to concede that there was no trace of dust on her face!) Then Angelique came forward with a question about the age at which a woman ought to begin caring for her complexion and using cosmetics.

To our astonishment she answered, "At sixteen... and that age is none too early... For knowing the ways of caring for the face is among the necessities, because it helps her preserve the freshness of her complexion and rid herself of acne without leaving those ugly marks in the skin... Moreover, gentle and suitable massage protects the muscles from slackness and from hateful wrinkles before their time... It is done with the fingertips, in light circular motions directed upward, from the chin to below the ear.

And does sea bathing do harm, asked Minerva Barbari.

Sea bathing is refreshing to the whole body, and above all to the complexion. Salt water is more refreshing than fresh water, which contains hard substances that harm the face.

Then Eva asked her for some advice on applying makeup... Holzman smiled at her, studying her face with admiration, and said: You yourself, Madam, are an artist at applying makeup, and there is no need to advise you in this field. But I will say, for everyone, that makeup is an individual matter; it has no general rules to be applied to all. There is, however, one very important observation: the face grows more beautiful if it keeps its own character and its original lines. Successful makeup is that which conceals the weak points of the face and shows its good points at their very finest. It is not a wholesale transformation! If a woman has a small mouth, it is ignorance to make it large with rouge, for the face is usually proportioned in its features, and harmony requires leaving the mouth as it is...

And that is the classic makeup which every woman can do in her own home without any fear of exposing herself to society's mockery.

So you do not encourage fancy work in makeup, inquired Bekita Khoury?

Unusual makeup is beautiful... but it is not for every day, nor does it suit every woman. If, however, a woman wishes to follow certain points of "makeup fashion," there is no harm in it, provided it suits her personality and her face. This year, for example, the Eastern style has swept over makeup — the eyebrows are thick, and raised at their outer end toward the temple. This shape gives the face an Eastern cast and an artistic air...

3 — There also appeared in Paris this winter the Etruscan makeup, after antique pieces of Etruscan (pre-Roman) art were put on exhibition: the eye appears lined with kohl, drawn out toward the temple... And on my journey to Iran and Egypt I noticed that blue kohl is used a great deal in those countries — and it is the latest fashion in Europe this year! It is beautiful, but...

It is fit only for the evening, is that not so? Olga interrupted her...

Just so, Holzman continued. For here the sun and the strong light give the face those beautiful lights and shadows that make up for it...

I know that one must do different makeups at different times, said Eva, but that is very difficult... What is the solution?

Of course, Holzman agreed; two kinds of makeup are difficult enough — how then if we wanted to do more than that?! If we followed artistic principles, makeup should differ in cloudy, rainy weather from what it is in sunny weather, and likewise differ in natural light from what it is under lamplight, and so on! But the important thing in all this is to know that makeup in electric light must be darker than by day. And if the electricity is neon, the rouge and the foundation must tend toward the lemony, so that the desired splendor appears under this light, which changes colors.

Colors this year are moving strongly toward the lemony. It is a shade beautiful on brunettes and blondes alike. (Some will know that Christian Dior this year created a collection of lip colors falling between lemony and pale yellow!)

How should the makeup foundation be — lighter or darker than the complexion, Angelique asked her? Foundation cream should be the color of the neck, for the color of the neck shows the true color of the complexion. And if we use a dark foundation with a light powder over it, we obtain a very good result: this method lends the face radiance and freshness!

And before our circle broke up, I asked her the question that had stirred in my mind ever since Miss Holzman mentioned her travels: which Eastern woman cares most for her beauty?

She said, the Iranian woman — of the upper class, naturally — and she spends most lavishly on her adornment...

4 — As for the Lebanese woman, she knows she is beautiful, and so she does not trouble to add to her beauty...

Here the expert in the art of beauty, "Helena Rubinstein's envoy," consulted her watch and realized that the hour of another engagement had come... The ladies rose briskly, thanking her warmly and bringing the discussion to a close — though they would have wished it to run on longer!... For what subject in all the world so delights a woman's ears, and makes all her senses crane toward it, as the subject of her beauty and its adornment?!!