The Arts of Beauty/Chapter 9

There are many disorders of the skin which are induced by culpable ignorance, and which owe their origin entirely to circumstances connected with fashion or habit. The frequent and sudden changes in this country from heat to cold, by abruptly exciting or repressing the secretions of the skin, roughen its texture, injure its hue, and often deform it with unseemly eruptions. And many of the fashions of dressing the head, are still more inimical to the complexion, than the climate. The habit the ladies have of going into the open air without a bonnet, and often without a veil, is a ruinous one for the skin. Indeed, the fashion of the ladies' bonnets, which only cover a few inches of the back of the head, is a great tax upon the beauty of the complexion. In this climate, especially, the head and face need protection from the atmosphere. Not only a woman's beauty, but her health requires that she should never step into the open air, particularly in autumnal evenings, without a sufficient covering to her head. And, if she regards the beauty of her complexion, she must never go out into the hot sun without her veil.

The custom, common among ladies, of drying the ​perspiration from their faces by powdering, or of cooling them when they are hot, from exposure to the sun or dancing, by washing with cold water, is most destructive to the complexion, and not unfrequently spreads a humor over the face which renders it hideous for ever. A little common sense ought to teach a woman that, when she is overheated, she ought to allow herself to cool gradually; and, by all means, to avoid going into the air, or allowing a draught through an open door, or window, to blow upon her while she is thus heated. If she will not attend to these rules, she will be fortunate, saying nothing about her beauty, if her life does not pay the penalty of her thoughtlessness.

Ladies ought also to know that excessive heat is as bad as excessive cold for the complexion, and often causes distempers of the skin, which are difficult of cure. Look at the rough and dingy face of the desert-wandering gipsy, and you behold the effects of exposure to alternate heats and colds.

To remedy the rigidity of the muscles of the face, and to cure any roughness which may be induced by daily exposure, the following wash may be applied with almost certain relief:

Mix two parts of white brandy with one part of rosewater, and wash the face with it night and morning.

The brandy keeps up a gentle action of the skin, which is so essential to its healthy appearance, also thoroughly cleanses the surface, while the rose-water counteracts the drying nature of the brandy, and leaves the skin in a natural, soft, and flexible state.

At a trifling expense, a lady may provide herself ​with a delightful wash for the face, which is a thousand times better than the expensive lotions which she purchases at the apothecaries. Besides, she has the advantage of knowing what she is using, which is far from being the case where she buys the prepared patent lotions. These preparations are generally put up by ignorant quacks and pretenders; and I have known the most loathsome, beauty-destroying, indolent ulcers to be produced by the use of them.

The following is a recipe for making another wash for the face, which is a favorite with the ladies of France.

Take equal parts of the seeds of the melon pumpkin, gourd and cucumber, pounded till they are reduced to powder; add to it sufficient fresh cream to dilute the flour, and then add milk enough to reduce the whole to a thin paste. Add a grain of musk, and a few drops of the oil of lemon. Anoint the face with this, leave it on twenty or thirty minutes, or overnight if convenient, and wash off with warm water. It gives a remarkable purity and brightness to the complexion.

A fashionable beauty at St. Petersburgh gave me the following recipe for a wash, which imparts a remarkable lustre to the face, and is the greatest favorite of a Russian lady's toilet.

Infuse a handful of well sifted wheat bran for four hours in white wine vinegar; add to it five yolks of eggs and two grains of musk, and distill the whole. Bottle it, keep carefully corked, fifteen days, when it will be fit for use. Apply it overnight, and wash in the morning with tepid water.

​Pimpernel Water is a sovereign wash with the ladies all over the continent of Europe, for whitening the complexion. All they do to prepare it is simply to steep that wholesome plant in pure rain water. It is such a favorite that it is regarded as almost indispensable to a lady's toilet, who is particularly attentive to the brightness of her complexion.