Chapter III: Part 3

If womankind half realized the beauty benefits of plenty of restful, refreshing sleep, all femininity would be crawling into bed at sunset. I've often wondered why the great sisterhood that is praying and working and fretting for physical loveliness does not understand that more real help comes from rational, hygienic living than can be squeezed out of all the cosmetic jars that ever enticed weak feminine hearts.

Beauty sleep! Why, we've heard of it since the long-ago days when our blessed mothers sung it, lullaby-fashion, into our ears! As little girls it brightened the "sand-man" hour and made us go contentedly to bed. As women it should rightly continue its good work, and the dear Lord knows we need it more now than we did then, for--perhaps--the crow's feet have begun to show their ugly little tracks and the fine complexion of early girlhood is losing its luster and brightness, and is growing a bit dull and yellowed--like a leaf first touched with the autumn chill.

Perhaps you won't believe it, but there are right ways of sleeping and wrong ways as well. The girl who curls up like a shrimp is the one who will be writing to me in a great flurry and worry, telling me that her shoulders are round, and that she simply can't make them nice and square as they should be for the new tailor-made that is to transform her into a happy little Easter girl! The woman who is horrified to find wrinkles appearing like wee birds of omen does not have to tell me that she is a pillow fiend and sleeps with her head half a foot higher than her heels. It stands to reason that a pillow will push the flesh of the face up into little lines. There is no necessity for pillows at all, and girls don't need them for comfort any more than a little puppy dog needs patent leathers or overshoes. The bed should be hard and perfectly flat, with springs that do not sag or give and let the poor sleeper roll down in the middle in a jumbled-up heap. A hair mattress is the best for health and comfort, but others will do nicely if they are only perfectly flat and not too soft.

The first thing to do, then, is to dispense with the pillow. If this change cannot be accomplished all at once, then let your pillow be gradually made smaller and smaller until none at all is desired. Your sleep will be much better, and after the habit is once formed a pillow is looked upon with derision. I know foolish mothers who put their children to sleep on pillows as big as a school-girl's love for caramels, and the poor babies tumble and toss, and the next morning those mothers dose them for a pain in the "tum-tum." Alack-a-day! Babies don't need pillows--unless it be those little soft cushions of down that are as flat as pancakes.

But to return from babies to beauty. If your sleep is restless and you awaken with a dull headache and the feeling of weariness that makes you want to begin the night over again so as to get refreshed, you may be sure that something is wrong--either you are worried or troubled or are working too hard for your own good. Perhaps your digestion is out of order, or the room is not properly ventilated. It may be any of these things that keep you from getting the rest that is really so very necessary for health and comfort and good looks.

Heavy bedding is also distressing, and as good a maker of nightmares as deviled crabs or plum pudding. Light blankets make the best covering. Let the window be open at top and bottom, so as to have perfect ventilation. Don't eat an indigestible lunch before retiring; this is the greatest of all beauty follies. Lie on the abdomen, with your hands at your sides. This position will keep your shoulders back, will give you a good figure and a better carriage. When you have followed these directions and still find that you spend most of the night crawling around over your bed vainly seeking a comfortable and restful spot, then you can make up your mind that you need a good tonic and a doctor's counsel, for your nerves or your digestive organs are not as they should be.

To sum it all up in a nutshell: You must sleep well, and you must sleep a great deal if you wish to be the "woman beautiful." Sitting up late at night will cause grey hair as will nothing else. It makes those dark circles about the eyes, and causes the "windows of the soul," to lose half their luster and softness and beauty. Who ever saw a pretty woman with dull, lifeless eyes? She wouldn't be pretty were she so afflicted. By sleeping properly, the body is kept stronger and fresher, and thus the complexion is benefited greatly. Wrinkles do not come so soon, the skin does not take on that muddy, yellow hue as it would otherwise, and cheeks are pink and rosy with that greatest of all rouges--Health.

There's a heap of truth in all this. If you do not believe it, then give up late hours--be they for study or pleasure--and see if the problem won't work itself out nicely with you. I think it will. In fact, I am really quite sure of it.

EXERCISE

"Better to hunt in fields for health unbought
Then fee the doctor for a nauseous draught
The wise for cure on exercise depend;
God never made His work for man to mend."

--_Dryden._

It would have done your heart good to see her.

She came into the room with the briskness of a March flurry of snow. Her cheeks were poppy-red, her eyes sparkled with the mere joy of living. And she chuckled happily as she tucked back the curly scolding locks that were flying about, all helter-skelter, like feathers unloosed or fluffy chicks blowing away from the mother wing.

"Isn't it jolly?" she chirped, as she threw her muff on the floor and made a dive for Peter Jackson. Peter Jackson is a cat, as black as the ace of spades and as pugilistic a feline as ever walked a fence.

"Isn't what jolly?" I queried. "The weather or your sprightly self? Do you know, you'd make a splendid poster now for some new-fangled cork-soled walking shoe? Or perhaps a bearskin ulster for Klondike wear. I'm sure a feather boa concern would pay a fortune for your picture. I would I were an artist man, with a little brush and a little pencil and a little palette with nice little paint puddles on it----"

"What-in-the-world? Here I start in to dilate upon the joys of exercise and off you go, just like a musical top with your buzz-buzz-buzz, and your incomprehensible talk about little painters and little palettes and little paint puddles. I'm sure it's not a bit nice of you."

Peter Jackson was shoved to the floor.

"But walking is jolly!" she piped, "and I've just had the very gloriousest tramp and I feel as fine as a--what is it they say? Oh, as fine as a violin--I--I mean fiddle. I walked miles and miles--perhaps not quite so far--and the wind was blowing a blue streak right in my face. Ugh! first it made me shiver and creep up into my collar. But bimeby I got nice and warmy, and my cheeks tingled. I felt as if I could walk from here to the place where the sun goes down. Do you know, I never before realized how much fun it was to take a good tramp. I've half a mind to reform from my role of lazy-bones and walk every day, whether it snows, blows, cyclones, or turns warm, and fells us all with sunstrokes and heat prostrations."

"Health is the vital principle of bliss, and exercise of health," said I, quoting Thomson.

"Oh, well," and my pretty, rosy-cheeked guest arose. "I must be going. You know how it is when one gets to preaching physical culture and spouting poetry. Ta-ta!" and away she went, like the fleeting memory of last night's dream.

* * * * *

If women paid as much attention to exercise as do men there would not be so many wrinkles and stooped shoulders among the feminine sex, and old age wouldn't rap on the door ahead of time. The girl who goes in for outdoor sport, who isn't afraid of walking a block or two, who loves the cold air and who revels in wheeling and swimming and skating, is the one who won't be an old woman in appearance while she is still young in years. Keep the muscles firm and healthy by exercise. This will not only improve your carriage and add to your general development, but will aid the digestive organs in their work and keep you animated and cheery. Who of us does not know the inspiration of a walk in the open air after a few days spent in the close atmosphere of the house? Fresh air is the elixir of life. We can't have too much of it, and--oh, my girls--think of the exceeding cheapness of it! It can be got for the asking, which is more than one can say for the various beauty pomades and lotions that beckon us toward poverty.

Walking and skating are the best exercises during the winter, but all kinds of exercises are acceptable, providing they are gone about in the proper manner. It is easy enough to see why thorough and regular exercise is absolutely necessary to health.

We all know--at least, we all should know--that the general size of the human body depends on muscular development. The same bony frame which makes a slim-jim girl that tips the scales at seventy-five pounds can be padded with good solid flesh until it boasts of a triple chin, fingers like wee roly-poly puddings, and a full 200 pounds in weight. The framework of the body counts little toward size.

The muscles are like the various bits of machinery which go to make up a steam engine. In performing their work they produce heat and motion. The fuel which supplies this force is taken into the body as food, prepared for use in the intestinal tract, and from there carried by the blood to be stored up in the muscles and various tissues as latent force. Through the circulation of the blood the whole body is heated by muscular exercise. It stands to reason that continual exercise of a certain kind will develop certain muscles. For instance, there's the arm of the blacksmith or the firmly developed legs of the danseuse. The same muscle that grows when used within certain limits will waste away when deprived of proper exercise.

In physical culture the object is the symmetrical development of all the muscles, not one at the expense of the other. So, for that reason, don't pin your faith to dumb-bells and Indian clubs and neglect more necessary exercise. If you do you will in time find yourself possessed of big Sandow arms that will make the rest of you look as spindle-like as a last year's golden-rod stalk.

Walking is as good a form of exercise as anything yet discovered. But walking as most girls and women walk won't do you one bit of good. You might just as well spend your time trying to count 700 backward or while away the hours talking 1880 fashions with the woman next door, for all the health or happiness or physical development that you will get out of it.

Corsets and bands and belts must be done away with. You must have full, free use of your lungs. Then, don't wear heavy petti-coats that will retard the free movements of your legs and make your hips ache with their tiresome weight. Dress warmly but as lightly as possible.

Above everything else don't stick your fingertips into a muff and waddle along like a little duck in sealskin and purple velvet trimmings. Your arms must swing easily at your sides. Thus equipped walking should not be a task, but a great, big, lovely joy, no matter if the frost does nip your nice little nose and make your cheeks feel as if they had been starched, dried, ironed and hung on the line to air.

English women who come to America can tell us a thing or two about long walks. Only the other day a pretty Englishwoman with a complexion like apple blossoms casually divulged the information that a walk of ten or fifteen miles was an old, old story to her. So, when I say that three miles a day--the three miles ought really to be covered inside an hour--is not a bit too much to give one's muscles the necessary exercise, I hope you won't lean back in your chair and gracefully expire. Some of you will gasp, no doubt, for a walk of five blocks to a suburban station is usually looked upon as a heroic martyrdom to circumstances and environments.

Alas, for woman's fickleness! And alas, for her playful habit of going to extremes! Suppose, for instance, that Polly Jones says she is going to take a nice long walk every day of her life; that she knows the bountiful blessings and benefits of a brisk tramp, and that she will take that tramp in spite of obstacles as big as the Auditorium or as immense as her longing for a cherry-colored silk petticoat.

The first day--and, mind you, she has not walked a mile for weeks, the lazy girl--she covers five miles in an hour and ten minutes.

And when she comes home she's such a wreck that the whole family is up in arms in a jiffy, and whisk out the tomahawks ready for war. That's the end of Polly Jones' pedestrian exercises.

And Daisy Brown. She does quite the same thing, only not so violently. The first day she walks four miles, the next two, and then comes a trip around the corner to get arnica and liniments for her poor, aching bones. Thus also terminates Daisy's stern resolution to take daily constitutionals.

But the wise woman. Daisy's and Polly's methods are not hers. Far from it! When she begins to walk for health and beauty she dons loose, comfortable clothes, and with swinging arms and head well back, strides along briskly and easily. Her first day's walk is scarcely a mile. The second tramp is longer; and gradually the distance is increased until the three miles are covered in about fifty minutes.

The wise woman does not take her exercise in the afternoon, but in the morning, an hour or so after breakfast, when the day is young and everything seems bright and hopeful and cheery. Then it is that the babies are out in their go-carts and carriages, and the "chillens" are trooping to school. It's heaps pleasanter than an afternoon walk when one has more of the worries and events of the day on one's mind.

It is the regularity of exercise--and living, in fact--that brings the best results. A stated time for baths, meals, rests and walks is the proper plan for those fortunate ones who are not rushed into a condition of decrepit antiquity trying to do fourteen different tasks in thirteen small, limited minutes. Some of us, the very busy ones, cannot have the necessary rests during the day, but baths and exercise can usually be arranged and carried out. They should be, for they are of more vital import than most of us realize.

Running is splendid exercise, but we city folk have few opportunities for exhilarating fun of that sort. A woman sprinting for a cable car might quite as well be a trained bear in a pink mosquito netting petticoat for the sensation and giggles she creates. With a bonnet perched over one ear or dangling dizzily from an escaping empire knot she is neither a dignified nor an inspiring picture.

So it's quite as well all around to run in one's own room. In fact, the best way to run is to run in one small spot and not go ahead. That sounds befuddled, but it is easily explained. Get into loose clothes, throw open the window, place your hands on your hips and go through the movements of running. It is best to be in stocking feet or light slippers, else that odious woman in the flat below may knock on the steam pipe as a signal for peace and quiet.

After fifteen minutes of mock running take an invigorating, tepid sponge bath with just a dash of benzoin in the water. After that comes vigorous friction with a rough towel. Then take a nap if you can spare the time. Of course one must guard against exposure to cold after one is heated by the exertion of exercise.

Dancing would be one of the best of exercises were it not for the close, ill-ventilated rooms, the tight clothes, the exposed shoulders and the nervous strain which is always on hand at large social affairs.

As for skating, there is nothing better. It makes a woman feel like a new man. I say that quite consciously, as, in my opinion, to feel like a new woman--that poor, long-ridiculed creature--would be more humiliating than joyful. Don't you think so?

Horseback riding is questionable exercise. The side saddle is apt to increase the tendency to curvature of the spine, while tight corsets prevent the good that would come to the heart and lungs and digestive organs. Swimming is good, particularly for nervous, high-strung persons. And the wheel? Well, that best of all exercises--for it is the best when indulged in by the wise woman, not the crooked-back, scorching, silly--is a story in itself.

STOOPED SHOULDERS

"Her grace of motion and of look, the smooth
And swimming majesty of step and tread,
The symmetry of form and feature, set
The soul afloat, even like delicious airs
Of flute or harp."

--_Milman._

Stooped shoulders is one beauty ill that is wholly unnecessary. Any girl with real brains and a little energy and will power can make herself straight and bestow upon herself a good carriage. It is entirely a matter of doing and persevering. Most of us know remedies for our small failings, but how many of us apply them persistently until a cure is brought about? Few indeed, and more's the pity.

When starting the reform always bear in mind that the chest must be held upward and outward. When this is done it is not necessary to keep the shoulders back in a forced, strained position, and so make little crowfeet in the back of your gown. The benefits of holding the chest thus are more than one--or two, either, for that matter. If practiced continually it will strengthen the lungs. It will also develop the chest and neck as no masseure of miracle-working fingers can ever hope to. Breathing exercises are also excellent.

Incorrect positions during sleep cause many stooped shoulders. The big fat pillow of our grandmother's day is the worst kind of a horror. No pillow at all is best, and after one becomes accustomed to sleeping that way it will be found much more restful and altogether comfortable. The best position for sleep is to lie face downward, with the arms straight at the sides. Of course, I am fully aware that most women sleep curled up like kittens, but they can change their ways if they will but try.

The woman with straight, good shoulders never carries her arms heaped full of bundles, for that draws them forward and makes them droop as dismally as an ostrich plume in a blizzard. Instead, the "budgets" are carried with the arms down at the sides. Neither does she clutch the back of her skirt in that bantamlike fashion practiced by the woman of less judgment. The back breadths of her new tailor-made are grasped about six inches from the belt, and held up just so that they clear the ground. Hats worn deep over the eyes are not desirable, this wise woman also knows, for however tightly they are pinned to one's back hair, they are mighty likely to keep one's body at an uncomfortable slant.

The plump woman who wears her hose supporters pinned to the front of her corsets seldom knows that the constant pulling of the elastics has a tendency to make her shoulders droop. Shoes of high heels and narrow toes are equally bad, for the wearer is plunged forward in an ungraceful and line-destroying attitude. The low-heeled, square-toed shoe--that is now in vogue--is the thing to wear, and blessed be the Lord for at last bringing womankind to a rational understanding of what she should wear on her much-abused little feet!

The tailor-made gown is serviceable as a promoter of good figures, for usually, unless one keeps one's shoulders back, the front of the bodice proceeds to lay wrinkles in itself and so spoil the good effect that women love as they do their pet jelly dishes and their Dresden teacups.

Other things to be remembered are: Always stand on the front or ball of the foot and keep the knees straight. Carry yourself so that a string extended downward from your chest would reach the floor without touching another part of the body. Do not push your head forward and do not be in a hurry so that you will waddle along like a little duckling with absolutely no grace or carriage. Dress comfortably, have your clothing well fastened, and your gown loose enough to give your lungs opportunity for the full expansion that, for the sake of your health, they should have. Make sofa cushions of your pillows and sleep always face downward, flat on the mattress. Last, but not least, don't be a woeful lady and amble along in a disconsolate, sloppy-weather fashion that is so utterly hopeless that I could never set before me the awful task of suggesting a remedy. One of the secrets of happiness and success is cheerfulness. Men and women and even babies like cheerful folk, while they will race their overshoes off trying to get away from the unhappy ones of dismal tales and many worries. Be cheerful, even though the laundress has washed your best handkerchief into a real-lace sieve, or the rains and snows of December have descended upon your best Sunday bonnet and made a pocket edition of a rag-bag thereof, or even if the gas range has blown itself and all the kitchen windows into the next block. Be cheerful at all hazards! It pays! Really it does!

BREATHING

"The common ingredients of health and long life are,
Great temp'rance, open air,
Easy labor, little care."

--_Sir Philip Sidney._

Among the first lessons that the beauty student must learn is how to breathe properly. I know, my girls, that that sounds awfully stupid, but there are yards and acres of truth in it nevertheless, and the subject is well worth your while--you can depend upon that. Haven't you ever noticed that most of the women who have gone in for vocal culture have round, pretty waists? Almost invariably the singer is a woman of fine figure, well-poised head, firmly-set shoulders and easy carriage. And the reason is simple. She has learned from the beginning that she must breathe properly, that every breath must come from the abdomen and not from the chest, and that to breathe in that way she must hold up her chin and expand her lungs.

We often mistake carriage for fine figure. It is the woman who poises her head well and who keeps her shoulders back that attracts the eye of other women. There is something brisk and energetic and active about her that makes of her a sight good to look upon; while another woman with perhaps a much better figure will trail about with a down-in-the-mouth air and a slow, doleful gait that will give one the blues and an absence of appetite for weeks to come.

You cannot possibly breathe properly and have your shoulders stooped--at least you cannot make such a combination without a mighty big lot of discomfort. If you breathe as you should you will develop the chest and bust, give better lines to the shoulders and--unless you are naturally inclined to be plump and rotund--will make your waist become round and slender and pretty. If you doubt this, try for yourself and see.

I wish that I could impress my readers with the fact that improper breathing brings many ills. Breathing is a highly important function, and bad breathing not only produces symptoms of consumption, but makes the waist unduly large. The reason for this is that holding the chest up will keep all the internal organs in their proper places, and so not allow them to spread the waist in the unsightly way that usually denotes deficient vitality instead of the "Greek health" upon which physicians are wont to dilate. Good breathing strengthens muscles and makes the flesh firm. The reward is a perfect, round, slender figure and a trim waist.

Begin your breathing lessons in the morning just after getting out of bed, when you will have no tight skirts or bands to hinder the full expansion of the lungs. Raise every window and get all of God's blessed air that you can, and, above all things, let not this practice cease when the winds of winter blow as if from Greenland's icy mountains. The breathing exercise is all the better then. Place your hands on your hips and walk slowly across the room, your chest held upward and outward, and every breath coming deeply from the abdomen. After three trips you will find yourself pretty well tired out. Rest for a few moments and try again. The next morning make the exercises longer, and as soon as the muscles that hold your chest up become firm and strong there will be little exhaustion. Vary the exercise by standing still, taking as long a breath as possible and holding it for several seconds. This practice, indulged in for five or ten minutes every day, is most beneficial. But the main motive in all breathing exercises is to get into the habit of standing straight with the shoulders held back and the chest up. "Play" that you are trying to make your chest creep up and touch your chin.

One of the greatest injuries that come from wearing tightly laced corsets is the compression of the ribs. The unyielding steel and buckram will not permit a variation in the waist measure as a deep breath is inhaled or expelled. The proper and healthful corset is the one that expands or contracts with each respiration of its wearer, and that is why I am such an enthusiastic devotee of the corset waist with the elastic bands on either side. It matters not one bit how tight the clothing may be, so long as it is given elasticity and is yielding. This is absolutely necessary to perfect health and the proper development of a woman's figure.

With the breathing capacity increased, enlargement of the lungs and development of the chest are sure to be the results. But, be it understood, please, that this growth is not the work of a day or a week, or a month even. However, if it is continued religiously there will be a difference of five or six, or even seven, inches in your chest measure in the course of a year, to say nothing of the improvement in carriage and figure, and the health and strength that correct breathing will give.

There are a number of things to remember. The first is that one must secure breath control, the next that the best authorities condemn thoracic or upper chest breathing. Keep the chest up and out, and let the expansion be at the waist line. Inhale slowly and smoothly as much air as you can, swelling out the lower chest at the sides just below the arm pits as the air is drawn in. Hold this air five seconds. Then exhale it slowly and gradually, crushing in the ribs gently with the hands as the air goes out. During the exhalation be sure to keep the upper chest still. Do not let it sink, as it will be apt to if not restrained by an effort of the will. Exhale again and hold the breath for ten seconds, then for fifteen seconds, and finally for twenty seconds. This exercise will do for the first day. Increase the power of holding the breath by practicing regularly each day.

Be careful not to make any motion suddenly. In calisthenics of any kind the more slowly and carefully the exercise is performed the greater will be the benefit. But best of all, keep in mind that these breathing exercises are not only making you a pretty woman of pretty figure, but giving you that greatest of all beauty elixirs--health.

MASSAGE

"The love of beauty is one of the most firmly implanted qualities
of the human mind, and only those who are mentally deficient fail
to appreciate it. From the human standpoint there is no edifice so
beautiful as that earthly temple which enshrines the soul."--_Dr.
Cyrus Edson._

Massage is as old as the hills. Most really good things are, I've found. The Grecian and Roman women preserved their wondrous, wholesome beauty by reveling in luxuriant baths and then undergoing vigorous massage by their stout-armed slaves. Massage is a natural alleviator and comfort-giver. The first thing a baby does when he bumps his precious head is to rub the injured spot with his little fist. Relief seems to come with friction. If one's temples hurt, the hands seem to itch and tingle to get to rubbing and smoothing out the aches there. And the reason for it is that friction makes active the nerves and blood vessels and exercises the tired or fretting muscles. Massage is exercise. If we were to cease using our arms the muscles would shrink and soon become incapable of movement. The skin outside would, of course, be affected by the general warpings of the tissues, and the result would be everything that is dreadful to the mind feminine--crow's feet, wrinkles, sallowness and lack of the tints and colors of health. You who have enjoyed the pleasures of a Turkish bath must know how new and robust and fresh you feel after the invigorating cleansing and pummeling by a strong and experienced masseuse.

We all know about the system of decay and renewing which the skin constantly undergoes. It is much the same way with the muscles. The very tiny cells of which the muscles are composed are continually being repaired. As the wornout particles are rejected the new fiber is created. Does it not stand to reason that massage will facilitate this process, make the flesh firmer, restore vigor to the muscles and give new life to the entire system?

The muscles of the face, more than those of any other part of the body, are lazy and torpid. As the troubles of life descend, the wear and tear of bothersome existence begins to show. The circulation becomes defective, and this brings flabby tissues and a wrinkled, sallow skin. Then, oh, woe! woe! One feels as if one might just as well be dead and gone as to be trailing through life so afflicted.

Massage means "I knead." While the professional masseuse should be well informed concerning the muscles of the face and neck, the location of the veins and arteries, and the general formation of the skin, the little home body who wishes to rub away a few wrinkles or turkey tracks can easily dispense with the acquiring of so much knowledge. With knowing what "not to do," she will get along very well, although it has always been my opinion that the simplest and most satisfactory way to learn to massage one's own cheeks and brow is to go to a first-class professional for one or two treatments. If you keep your eyes open you will easily learn the simplest and most effective movements.

The first thing to remember is that massage will both create and reduce flesh, according to the treatment given and the time devoted to it. Severe rubbing and rolling of the flesh between the fingers will gradually dissolve the fatty tissues. The flesh will then become soft and flabby, and the skin will be likely to fall into tiny lines unless an astringent wash, like weak alum water (used hot), is applied to tighten and harden it slightly, and so make the flesh firm. If the massage is continued, the flabby flesh will also be reduced, especially when the astringent wash is applied to help the hardening process. When the face is to be plumpened or wrinkles removed, then rub the skin very gently with a rotary motion, which is not a mere rubbing but a kneading as well, and follow with light tapping movements. Never roll the flesh between the fingers unless reduction is the object. Also, never massage oftener than once every twenty-four hours, and then only for fifteen or twenty minutes.

So much for the don'ts. Before beginning the massage have the face perfectly clean. Wash with tepid water and pure castile soap. Otherwise the dust and powder are kneaded into the pores and the result is frequently extremely irritating.

The reasons for massage are many. It facilitates and stimulates the skin in its continual effort to throw off the tiny flakes of dried, dead cuticle. It is exercise for the muscles, and at the same time it inspires a livelier circulation of the blood. It is easy to understand then why massage is so beneficial for the face, and why it makes a rosy, healthy complexion. Massage alone will remedy many a complexion ill, for when the muscles are sluggish and torpid, the tissues weak and flabby, the circulation as slow as the messenger boys in the funny papers, and the skin sallow and wrinkled, all in the world that is needed is a little gentle patting and coddling and rubbing into a less lifeless state.

Great care must be taken lest the skin become bruised and irritated. For this reason a cream or skin food is used. Let me suggest that this emollient be of the good, pure, home-made kind, not the cheap cosmetic which has mutton tallow or lard as a principal foundation. The orange flower skin food (formula appears in the chapter on the complexion) is the best formula for this purpose, as it will, by absorption, fatten and build up the impoverished tissues, and at the same time strengthen, whiten and soften the skin. Mineral oils must never be used. Glycerin not only makes the complexion darker and rather yellow, but it dries the secretions of the skin very rapidly, and a dry, harsh surface is the sure result. Vaseline--as we should know from its reputation as a hair tonic--will not prove a happiness to one.

The skin food should be rubbed in all over the face and far down upon the neck with a firm, circular movement. When the cream is partially absorbed begin the manipulations, starting at the forehead. Place the thumbs on the temples and in that way hold the skin firm and taut. With the tips of the first and second fingers of both hands rub the lines transversely. If there be wrinkles across the forehead, rub up and down, holding the skin tight at the top of the forehead with the first fingers and manipulating with the second and third.

Another movement which is excellent for wrinkles is to place the first finger of each hand crosswise of the wrinkles about half an inch apart. Then push up a little fold. As the left hand finger pushes its way along the wrinkle, let the right hand one rub up and down, always keeping the line up into a little hill.

In massaging the lines about the eyes the movement should begin by rubbing the eyelid from the nose outward half an inch beyond the end of the eye, then returning below the eye toward the nose. This will make the massage sweep back crosswise of the crow's feet. Another movement is to hold the skin taut and then knead the lines firmly with the first and second fingers of the right hand.

If the chin is fleshy and you wish to massage it down to smaller proportions, you must dissolve the fatty tissues by picking up the flesh between the thumb and forefinger and rolling and rubbing as much as you possibly can without injuring or breaking the skin. Then, in order to keep the flesh from getting flabby the rotund little chin must be bathed in cold water, in which is a small pinch of alum, a piece the size of a bean being plenty for a pint of water. This alum bath, remember, is only to be applied when you are reducing the carbon or fat.

The "kneading" movement is very beneficial. This is done very gently with the thumb and forefinger only--precisely the motion used in kneading bread. The smoothing manipulation for the wrinkles is probably better explained as an "ironing out" motion. All lines can stand these two movements. Whenever the skin seems particularly dull of color and generally lifeless, then the patting comes in excellent play. This is merely a gentle tattoo over the entire face. Electricity is an excellent accessory to massage--but that is another story.

After the massage, wet a wash cloth in water slightly chilled, and lay over the face. This will close the pores nicely. Dry and apply powder.

I trust that my beauty students will easily understand the foregoing--it is certainly a difficult topic to explain lucidly. As I said before, it is a wise plan to go to some one who thoroughly understands the art and let her teach you. While massage can be given at home, it is more satisfactory if done by a professional whose knowledge of anatomy will assist her toward the best results.

DRESS

"Be plain in dress, and sober in your diet;
In short, my deary, kiss me! and be quiet."

--_Lady W. Montague._

The world has its full share of silly women--more's the pity--but there is not one who can hold a candle to the girl who trots about in the cold, bleak days of winter clad in summery undergarments fit only for the warm atmosphere of a baker's oven in August. So long as these exhibitions of utter absurdity continue we cannot consistently harp upon woman's recently acquired good sense in dress. It seems more and more the fad for girls to boast that they have never worn a vulgar outfit of flannel undergarments, but it is quite observable that these same girls are the very ones who are eternally grunting and groaning and coughing and fussing. And how can they help it? You can't have good health if you keep yourself in a semi-refrigerated state. A sleeveless vest of silk is not sufficient to keep one's body warm, even though the prettiest bodice in Christendom and the swellest of "coaties" cover it. Skirts of white muslin, with pretty frills and lacey trimmings that fall in soft folds and ruffles around one's feet, are mighty dainty things for the summer girl--but is there a colder sound than that of a starched white petticoat in the dead of winter? Bur-r-rr! it gives one the cold chills to even think of it!

Who has not beheld the stunningly gowned girl stalking majestically around the shopping district in a little tailor-made jacket topped off with a fur collarette? She tells herself that she is perfectly warm and comfortable, but you and I know better, my dear, for we have seen her unhappy efforts to crawl up into this same collarette, and we have beheld her shivering misery as a good stiff gust of January wind sends her flying around a corner.

I am a firm believer in the tailor-made gown, and I am of the opinion that style often counts more than real beauty with women of stately carriage and pretty figure. But nevertheless, I believe first in keeping warm and in protecting one's health. The girl in the smart little jacket could well afford to wear a winter coat over it on the coldest days, and even then she would not swelter from the heat. Really, it is torture for a woman of common sense to go along the shopping district and see her poor, miserable sisters who let comfort fly to the four winds of heaven while they revel madly in appearances. It's all very well, my girls, to look your best. But don't make sacrifices that will injure your health. I'd rather see a woman in a last winter's coat with the seams shiny than look upon a foolish but radiant creature in a bit of a cape that would keep her about as warm as would two good-sized cobwebs stitched together. The first woman would have the advantage of displaying evidence of real brains on the inside of her head. And beauty without brains isn't real beauty at all, but a sad, shop-worn, tear-wringing imitation.

It is my opinion that in choosing underclothing for cold weather finely-woven cotton is the best of all. Silk is not durable, and wool, even of the finest quality, will often prove irritating. Besides, so many of us spend most of our time in steam-heated homes or offices that woolen garments keep one too warm. The cotton union suit makes a very desirable undergarment. This should be high-necked, long-sleeved, and made to come well down over the ankles. For the girl whose particular worry is a nose of flaming red, let me say that in fleece-lined stockings, calfskin boots and warm overshoes lies her only hope of a less flamboyant nasal appendage.

There is no need of fourteen petticoats, notwithstanding the fact that really nice old ladies insist upon wearing that number. One skirt of silk or moreen, together with a tiny short one of white muslin and a pair of sensible, warm, woolen equestrian tights will make one more comfortable and will allay that immense swelling about the hips which much be-petticoated old ladies have. The tights, however, should be worn only when one is out of doors. During really cold weather no woman with sense enough to fill a one-grain quinine capsule will venture out of the house without thus properly clothing her lower limbs. Let femininity come to the understanding that in proper dressing and rational eating she will find the first and best materials for building her house of beauty. It's all very well to wear pretty, fluffy, lace-trimmed undergarments, but if you think that a wan, white, pinched little face pays you for such extravagances in silliness, then you are a ninny. Wear the fluffy things if you will, but put on the warm ones, too. In making a choice between the raiments of a ballet dancer and those of an Eskimo lady, I'd point the finger of approval toward the latter--at least at those times when the thermometer is lounging around the zero point.

THE THIN GIRL

"Beauty gives
The features perfectness, and to the form
Its delicate proportions."

--_Willis._

Diogenes and his lantern had an easy, simple task. If they had started out together to turn their searchlight of discovery upon a woman who was neither too fat nor too thin, no doubt they'd been poking around in other people's affairs ever since. I once heard of a woman to whom the idea of gaining or reducing flesh had never occurred, but she died before I got a chance to look at her, so of course I am rather doubtful as to the truth of the story. To my mind she should have been made president of something or other or else been put on exhibition where the rest of suffering womankind could have gone and feasted their eyes upon such an impossible paragon. If there is not a general wail about over-weight or under-weight, then it's a thin neck, or big hips, or an inclination to too much "tum-tum," or skinny arms, or cheeks like miniature pumpkins--and goodness only knows what else. And by the time one particular horror is massaged out of existence another crops up like a spook in the closet of a "fraidy-cat" girl, and then the business is begun all over again.

Therefore, say I this: Don't worry yourself into your grave about too much flesh or a lack of it unless you find yourself taking on the extreme proportions of a skeleton lady, or a museum exhibit of unusual plumpness. A thin neck may be a bad thing--as all girls so afflicted can testify--but if that thin neck is rebellious, and pays absolutely no attention to tonics or massage or other coddling for which it should rightly be grateful, then merely say, "All right, if you insist!" And turn your attention to other things. What admirer of feminine beauty would not look upon a bright mind, quick, kindly wits, and sweet lovableness as a thousand times more acceptable than a neck as round and perfect as that of a Venus?

On the other hand, let me say that, if you will merely look after your health--exercise every day, be out of doors, eat proper foods and take your daily sponge bath--you will keep your chest broad and full, and your waist trim and neat. Breathing exercises every morning are excellent for this happy condition of affairs. It is my firm belief that women could mold their bodies as they would if they only had patience and perseverance--not so much in flesh-gaining or flesh-losing, but in being wholesomely strong and healthy. This is most necessary, not only to prolong life and make it pleasanter and more livable in every way, but to be what God evidently intended--a robust, well-developed and perfectly formed woman.

Thin girls must be lazy and plump ones busy. If you work hard and have the usual load of worries that half the women lug about with them as they do their powder rags and their purses, then you may never hope to revel in a vast amount of fat. Fretters are invariably thin; they simply worry off the flesh faster than nature can create it.

When a woman is unusually slender it is her duty to get fat, not any more for the reason that she will look prettier with the angles filled out than for the reason that she will be stronger and healthier and in a better condition to resist illness and fatigue. She should have at least ten hours' sleep out of twenty-four, and this must be healthy sleep in a well-ventilated bedroom, on a hard mattress, and with no high pillows to make her stoop-shouldered and of ungainly figure. A nap during the day is a good thing if one can afford the time. Absolute freedom from care and anxiety are necessary, but--alas--we cannot always regulate the antics of fate or circumstances that deny us these sweet privileges. The diet must be of the most nourishing, and should consist mostly of food containing starch and sugar, such as good fresh butter, rich milk, cream, fruits both raw and cooked, macaroni, fish, corn, sweet potatoes, peas, beans, ice creams, desserts without pastries, and nourishing broths. Cereals, poultry, game, chocolate and sweet grapes are all excellent. Avoid all spiced, acid or very salty foods. While plenty of outdoor life is most essential, a great deal of exercise is not. If there is any internal disease, especially the slightest inclination to dyspepsia or liver trouble, one cannot possibly gain flesh until the cause of the extreme slenderness is removed. When the body is plump in one part and fails in another, either massage or a gymnastic course is advised. Dumb-bells and Indian clubs will develop the arms; massage with a fattening emollient, together with loose clothing, tepid baths and breathing exercises, will increase the size of the chest and bust, while swimming, moderate bicycling and walking are good for nearly all plaints of the thin lady.

But until these changes are brought about--and it will take lots of time--do not fret or worry. Merely wear your clothing very loose, substitute a comfortable little waist for stiff, unwieldy corsets, and see that your gowns are made full and dainty. In this last particular you will have an immense advantage over the woman who would sell the shoes off her feet to be thin and "willowy."

THE PLUMP GIRL

"What's female beauty but an air divine,
Through which the mind's all-gentle graces shine?
They, like the sun, irradiate all between;
The body charms, because the soul is seen."

--_Young._

If one had to choose between being too fat or too lean, the wise woman would certainly take the smaller allowance of flesh. Jack Sprat might incite pleasant ridicule, but Jack Sprat's wife--lo! there would be naught but pity and tears for her! It is better by far to be the butt of jokes concerning "walking shoestrings" or "perambulating umbrella cases" than to waddle through life burdened to death with an excessive amount of flesh. The thin sister can pad out the angles, put frills and puffy things over the bony places, but alas for the fat one! She gets into clothes that are skin-tight, and she draws in her corset string until it snaps and gives at every breath and sneeze, and even then she does not look graceful and pretty, for the fat--like secrets--will out, and it rolls over and around like the little bumps and humps in a pudding bag.

Yet, after all, there's more hope for her than for her sister in misery. While some thin girls might revel in cod liver oil and nearly convert themselves into a hospital storeroom of tonics and fattening foods, they can't get round and rotund--the Lord seems to will it that certain persons are to amble disconsolately through life minus the proper allotment of flesh. But with the overplump lady it all lies within herself as to whether she is to be stout and buxom or of more artistic and beautiful proportions. It is simply a matter of getting up and hustling, a condition of animation frequently foreign to her nature, but not at all impossible to even the most unwieldy.

While a certain careful routine of living is necessary for a speedy change for the better, the two main points to remember are diet and exercise. To the girl who says: "But I can't diet. I get hungry. I love sweets and goodies, and have to have them," I must reply: "Well, then, be fat." What is worth having is worth working for, and the woman who is too fat for her own comfort and personal appearance invariably has ahead of her the dreadful bogy of additional flesh as the years go on. And surely that should be enough to inspire her to mend her ways.

In beginning the change--that is, in starting out on a regular system of dieting and exercising--you should remember that the reform must be worked gradually. One must go slowly into the more healthful manner of living. The severe methods of flesh-reducing cannot be too greatly deplored, and many a woman has lost her life by these extreme measures. I do not mean that they have died at their exercisers or that they fell exhausted because they did not have enough to eat, but that in their mad efforts to become thin quickly they undermined their health and laid a good foundation for physical disorders. Good health, with too much plumpness, is preferable to beautiful proportions and the listlessness and pain of ill health. So you can follow my advice with the greatest safety, as health--to my way of thinking--is greater than beauty, for the last depends upon the first, invariably.