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Though it is true a beautiful face is the first thing requisite to a beautiful face, yet how much more charming will the whole become through the aid of a fine complexion? It is not easy to overrate the importance of complexion.
The features of a woman with a dull skin would never fascinate. The forehead, the nose, the lips, may be faultless in size and shape; but still, they can hardly look beautiful without the aide of a bright complexion. Even the finest eyes lose more than half their power, without the aid of a bright complexion. It is in the coloring or complexion that the artist shows his skill in giving expression to the face. Overlooking entirely the matter of vanity, it is a woman’s duty to use all means in her power to beautify and preserve her complexion. It is fitting that the “index of the soul” should be kept as a clean and bright and beautiful as possible.
A stomach frequently crowed with greasy food, or with artificial stimulants of any kind, will be in a short time spoil the brightest complexion. All excesses tend to do the same thing. Moderation in all food and drink is critical for a unique and stunning complexion. Frequent ablution with pure cold water, followed by gentle and frequent rubbing with a dry napkin can be one of the best cosmetics ever employed.
No Hiding an Ugly Face
It is amusing to reflect upon the tricks which vain beauties will resort to in order to obtain this paramount aid to female charms. Nor is it any wonder that woman should exhaust all her resources in this pursuit; for her face is such a public thing, that there is no hiding the least deformity in it. She can, to some extent, hide an ugly neck, or shoulder, or hand, or foot-but there is no hiding place for the ugly face.
Fashionable Women Throughout History
In the past women in fashionable ladies in Paris who used to bind their faces, ever night before going to bed, with thin slices of raw beef, which is said to keep the skin from wrinkles, while it gives a youthful freshness and brilliancy to complexion. There is no doubt to its efficacy. The celebrated Madam Vestris used to sleep every night with her face plastered up with a kind of paste to ward off the threatening wrinkles, and keeping her charming complexion from fading. If you look into the looking-glass and it warns of dimness and wrinkles of age are extinguishing the roses of youth:
The whites of 4 eggs boiled in rose water, half an ounce of alum, half an ounce of sweet almond oil. Beat the whole till it assumes the consistency of a past.
The above, spread upon a silk or muslin mask, and worn at night, will not only keep back wrinkles and preserve the complexion fair; but it is a great remedy where the skin becomes too loosely attached to the muscles, as it gives firmness to the parts. The trick is so utterly French that there is little danger of it getting into general practice in this country.
What lengths have women gone in the past for a timeless beautiful complexion?
- In Bohemia ladies use arsenic springs and drink the waters. The folly of this was that they became obligated to keep it up the rest of their days or die.
- The ladies in the Court of George 1 took quicksilver (mercury) to obtain a fair complexion.
- Young girls in the 19th century ate chalk, slate, and tea-grounds to give themselves a fair complexion. It might be good for the complexion but it destroys health and drives away beauty, in stead of a bright complexion, produces a wan a sickly one. Every young girl ought early to be impressed that whatever destroys health spoils her beauty.
Tincture of Benzoin
One of the great beauties ever known was said to reside in the Court of Charles II is made from a simple tincture of benzoin precipitated by water. All you need to do is take a small piece of the gum of benzoin and boil it in spirits of wine till it becomes a rich tincture. Fifteen drops of this, poured into a glass of pure water, will produce a mixture which will look like milk and emits a most agreeable perfume. You could also mix the tincture of benzoin with rose-water for luminous skin.
This delightful wash seems to have the effect of calling the purple stream of blood to the external fibres of the face, and gives cheeks a beautiful rosy color. If left on the face to dry, it will render the skin clear and brilliant. It is also an excellent remedy for freckles, pimples, and eruptions, if they are not long-standing.
Resources:
Timeless Beauty
Lola Montez
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