The Hands

CHAPTER VI

THE HANDS

NO hands, as one authority on female beauty has
declared, "reveal every hidden secret of the
soul .... in their shape, texture and color" ? We
doubt it. But they reveal themselves quickly
enough as beautiful or the reverse. What is
beauty of hand ? It is not so much the shape, just
as in hair it is not the color, which counts here.
Texture, skin quality and skin tint, the manner
in which the hands are used, the nails, these deter-
mine their beauty.

CARE OF THE HANDS

Care is what produces beautiful hands. If you
are not your own manicurist then visit a professional
one every week. Protect your hands against water
by using gloves, rubber or canvas.
Always have a cut of lemon handy to the sink.
Whether you have a "psychic" or a merely plebeian hand, lemon
juice removes stains, whitens the skin and cleans
the nails. Vaseline, which keeps the nails from
growing brittle, also makes up for the drying effect
of hot dishwater. Dishwashing should always be
followed by a vaseline or cold cream application.
Always wear gloves when gardening, and use
vanishing cream on them before you expose them to
the bright sunshine or cold. A cold cream
application before retiring and cotton gloves should
accompany chapped hands into bed.

Red Hands.
—When red hands are not caused by some trouble
which calls for a doctor's care, use a good rich,
cream massage, for it will help cir culation if
bad circulation is the reason. A mere surface redness
may be treated by rubbing in some standard skin food,
after washing with hot water and soap, and leaving
it overnight. For sunburn and freckles the remedies
mentioned in connection with the complexion should be applied.

The Ideal Hand.
—The ideal hand has smooth, tapering fingers.
If you have square or knotty fingers give them
treatment for pressing out the ends.
A soft, white skin, a firm palm, firm and
supple wrists and well-kept nails and fingers are
all possible of attainment by manicuring, massage
and constant cleanliness. Hands should be neither
too fat nor too thin. Regular diet in the first
place, then massage and special exercises are
correctives. This applies as well to fat wrists.
Remember that, like the ideal face and figure, the
ideal hand is only relatively so. There is a
different style of hand for nearly every style of
being, and there are as many different hands as
there are face beauties.

Gloves.—Tight gloves will make your palms perspire,
give your hands a pudgy look, and, if you
wear them right along, will turn the hands red
and mottled. Red hands often result from continual
wearing of tight-fitting gloves.
And—if you do not chemically clean your gloves after each
wearing—your hands will grow dirty as soon as
you put them on. Gloves which are not perfectly
clean chap and coarsen the skin texture of the hand,
and at times cause infections.

ARE THESE YOURS?

A narrow palm is supposed to be a sign of a
feeble temperament, one lacking imagination.
A fairly generous palm shows imagination and a
nature capable of greatly enjoying physical pleasures.
Too large, broad and pronounced a palm
denotes egoism and sensuality. Hard, thick palms,
out of proportion to the rest of the hand, show
an animal nature, void of intelligence. Knotty
fingers mean originality, imagination and a
scientific trend. Smooth, tapering fingers hint at aptitude
in art and sentiment predominating over reason.
Square fingers mean a sense of method and order.
Spatulate fingers are a sign of ability, activity, tact
and knowledge.

THE NAILS

A woman's nails should have home attention,
but this should be supplemented by occasional visits
to the manicurist. Else it is impossible to keep
them in perfect condition. You may use an orange
stick or an ivory pusher to push back the cuticle
from the nails (after it has been softened by cold
cream or vaseline), but do not cut the cuticle your-
self. This had far better be left to the professional.
If you use the professional cutting tools you may
easily cut and scar the surface of the nail, and weeks
may elapse before the scar disappears. If the cuticle
be cut constantly the edges grow hard and thick.
Manicuring.—Always see to it that your orange
stick is well covered with absorbent cotton or a
bit of silk. When you have shaped the external
edge of the nails with a fine pair of scissors, finish
with emery or a steel nail file. And always, before
beginning to manicure your nails, soak them in hot
soap water and cleanse with the nail brush. When
you polish the nails, use paste first, and do not
apply the powder till afterward. As a buffer you
can use the palm of the other hand. A thorough
"home" manicuring should be undertaken at least
once a week.
There are many very satisfactory nail pastes and
polishes on the market. A liquid polish is usually
best for the nails, all the more if there is no paste
foundation. Carmine, which gives a pleasing pink
tint, should be the paste used. Never use the
liquid varnishes which produce a sheen without the
aid of the buffer. They have a deteriorating action
on the nails themselves. You brush your teeth every
night. It is just as easy to devote a few minutes
to your nail cuticles as well.

The Nail Bleach.
—A good and simple nail bleach
for use beneath the free edges of the nails is made
by mixing an ounce of hydrogen peroxide with a
quarter-ounce, respectively, of ammonia and lemon
juice. Before polishing the nails wash out the
bleach with hot water.
Keep your manicuring tools in good condition,
and throw away your orange stick as soon roughens.
For a buffer, if you do not care to use
your palm, buy a buffer frame and renew the
chamois skin.

Bruised Nails.
—A hot water dip, with an overnight
application of antiphlogiston, is good for
bruised nails. The white nail spots which often
result from a bruise will fade out slowly of them-
selves as a rule. Their departure can be hastened,
however, by application of refined pitch and myrrh
in equal parts.

Nail-Bite.
—The only real cure for nail biting is
not to bite the nails. The application of tincture of
myrrh is merely a reminder not to do so.

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The Feet

CHAPTER VII

THE FEET

TOO many women are inclined to forget that
they have feet until something happens to call
their attention to them. A beautifully formed foot
is as charming to the eye as a beautifully shaped
hand. Shoes, of course, have much to do with
preserving or distorting the natural foot outline,
and in this connection several practical facts should
be remembered.
First, that every woman's shoe should be broad
enough to let her toes rest flatly and naturally on
the sole. Second, that a low heel throws the weight
of the body on the instep. If you feel that broken
arches are a slight penalty to pay for tottering about
with the silly helplessness of a foot-bound Chinese
woman of the old type, by all means wear high-
heeled shoes. If you will have "French" heels—
and to the average man a woman looks ridiculous
in them, though politeness bid him disguise his
feelings—there is nothing more to be said.
Do not wear old shoes about the house. They
will make your feet shapeless. The dyes in cheap
stockings often run. If you have a slight skin
abrasion or a cut, you may get blood poisoning.
Hence pay more for your stockings (silk, lisle or
silk and wool) rather than risk infection.


FOOT MANICURING

Always cut your toenails straight across, using
a nail clip, or nail scissors. Ingrown nails always
result from cutting away the corners of the nail
which support its forward part. If you smooth the
nail edges with emery, a good deal of darning will
be saved.

FOOT AILMENTS

Calluses.—Calluses very often develop on the
sole of the foot. They also form on the toes,
where they turn into hard corns, or between
the toes, where they become soft ones, and are
capable of causing severe pain. Like bunions, flat
feet and fallen arches, calluses and corns are a
logical result of the wearing of tight or ill-fitting
shoes.
Good corn plasters give relief. There are also
good acid solutions for corns, but they must be
applied to the hard skin of the corn only. It is
best, however, to have a good chiropodist remove
corns, since he is able to take out their core. The
"vascular" corn (made up of small blood vessels),
which is less common, should always be taken out
by a chiropodist.

Bunions.—Bunions are beyond proper home
treatment. They are produced by pressure on the
big toe, causing inflammation of the second toe
joint. A preliminary callus turns into enlarge-
ment of the joint, and, in many cases, motives
much suffering, and inability to wear a shoe.
If the shoe pressure which causes the bunion be
removed, the callus will disappear, but not
necessarily the bunion. When bunions are long-standing
it is not always possible to cure them permanently.
A bunion should at once be referred to a chiropodist.

Ingrowing Nails.—Their origin has already been
mentioned. Treatment should consist in bathing
in hot water, then raising the injured portion of the
nail, and inserting pieces of lint or absorbent cotton
as an artificial support. Then scrape the nail
longitudinally. The lint or cotton support must
be renewed from time to time, until the nail has reverted
to normal. If a proud flesh condition has
developed it will be best to go at once to the
chiropodist, instead of attempting a cure yourself.

Flat and Fallen Arches.—Both these foot
troubles are beyond any home treatment. Fallen
arches, once they have definitely dropped, cannot
be completely cured. Both diseases, in most cases,
result from improper footwear, high heels, and
shoes wrongly balanced, and each and every case
usually needs individual treatment.

Chilblains.
—Chilblains, one of the most common
of foot disorders, can usually be cured at home. It
comes from cold or frost, and does not start in
feet which have a good blood circulation. Soaking
the feet in hot water, rubbing and massaging with
warm spirits of rosemary and turpentine, and exer-
cise are the remedies. Exercise, especially, restores
the circulation, and alleviates the redness, the burn-
ing feeling and the intolerable itching which are the
signs of the ailment

FOOT PERSPIRATION AND PERSPIRATION IN GENERAL

Foot Perspiration.
—Perspiration we associate
more directly and more perceptibly with the feet
than any other part of the body. There is a reason.
There are more perspiration glands in the feet than
anywhere else on the body, save in the palms of the
hands. Daily bathing, night and morning, is the
best preventive of excessive foot perspiration. It
is well, when you are thus troubled, to add a little
alum to the water (it should be warm), and after
drying to powder the feet with boracic powder. Or,
if you prefer, use a soothing lotion for "feet that
are weary" and perspiring, made up of equal parts
of alcohol and witch hazel. Hot water, however,
is a sovereign specific for all sweaty feet.

Perspiration in General.—We are perspiring all
the time. Our perspiration glands are constantly
throwing off the waste matter of the body, and
bathing serves the double purpose of keeping the
pores open so that this matter may be discharged,
and removing it in order that no disagreeable odors
result from its presence. The soles of the feet, the
armpits, at times the forehead, chest, and neck are
perspiration centers.
Perspiration is usually not excessive when a
woman is in good general health, or when it is not
a result of violent exercise or unusual temperature
conditions. But when it is habitual and unchecked
it robs a young woman or girl of all that charm
of daintiness and appeal which is her right and
privilege. There is no odor more immediately and
more resentfully noticed than that of dried per-
spiration. It clings not only to the body, but to
the clothes. Perfumes and scented powders do not
hide it, and it always awakens disgust.
Frequent bathing, frequent change of undergarments
and stockings, and a free use of talcum
powder or "odorono" are all indicated. Never
imagine that the use of talcum instead of soap and
water will do away with this unhappy scent. After
washing, always and invariably after washing, is
powder to be used. The poet has coined the phrase
"honest sweat." But there is no such thing as
"honest sweat" in feminine beauty's bright lexicon
of charm. Perspiration, especially at evening affairs,
dances, etc., steals away that natural freshness
and fragrance of aura which should surround woman.

OTHER ODORS

There are some natural feminine odors which
also need to be guarded against. When women
are troubled with certain disorders, there are apt
to be discharges. Those occasioned by leucorrhea,
for instance, often cause a slight yet perceptible
odor. Proper medical advice can easily recommend
a douche which will destroy any odor of this sort.
Menstruation, too, is often responsible for the giving
off of a somewhat strong odor. This can be
almost entirely obviated by frequent warm bathing,
repeated change of dressing (no girl can be too
particular in this respect!) and the use of good
deodorizing powders and disinfectants

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Beauty and Clothes

CHAPTER VIII

BEAUTY AND CLOTHES

OUR ideal of beauty, of living, actual beauty, is
no longer the nude human figure of the
ancient Greeks. Our beauty and our beauties are
clothed, in deference both to climatic and moral
grounds. Clothes, therefore, are an element and
an important one, in the physical beauty of modern
womanhood.
Since beauty of costume and headgear, in respect
to color and design, with reference to the human
form has already been exhaustively treated in another
volume of this series (see my "Color Harmony and Design in Dress"),
this chapter will confine itself to certain important
details not therein contained.

THE CORSET

Good corseting means the right type and fit of
corset used on the body for which it is intended.
Corsets should follow, never constrain the natural
figure lines. Of course, if the average woman
could and did exercise her bust muscles properly,
the corset would be unnecessary. For no corset is,
after all, the ideal thing. Yet a corset which does
not in any degree compress or cramp natural movement,
freedom of motion, and breathing, does much to set off
the figure to advantage.


BEAUTY AND CLOTHES

Kinds of Corsets.—Comfort is the corset test. If
your corset is comfortable it is a good one. If it is
uncomfortable, it is not. And, speaking generally, the
low corset is the one to be preferred. It gives real support,
both up and back, where support is called for,
and thus tends to obviate many "female weaknesses."
As for the large-busted, high-breasted woman,
she should never use a corset. What she needs is
a brassiere, a brassiere which must be fitted to her
very carefully, which must be a perfect individual fit,
so that her special bust requirements will 'be served.
Nor does the woman who has a girlish, slender figure
need a regulation corset. For her, in most cases,
a rubber belt, hung low and only lightly boned,
will answer every purpose. In certain more
violent forms of exercise, too, such as basketball,
athletics, riding or rowing, the combination brassiere
and belt should take the place of the corset.
All that is wanted in these cases is a support which
will sustain without interfering. Never put on a
corset without readjusting the laces.

FOOTWEAR

Like the corset, the best shoe is the one built
along the natural line. Too large a shoe is as
dangerous as one that is too small. Aching feet
cause wrinkles, and thus directly affect feminine
charm, and aching feet are the result of improper shoes.
The toe of the foot is not pointed
normally, and the pointed toe is in reality less
beautiful than the natural toe line of the natural
foot. There may be occasions when you may wish
to appear (at a costume affair or fancy-dress ball)
in sandals. Then, if your feet have been cramped
and made misshapen by tight, narrow shoes, you
are lost indeed. But a well-formed foot in a sandal
is beautiful to look upon. The healthier the feet the
better they look.

COSTUME ACCESSORIES

Jewels, furs, glasses, are all details of costume,
broadly speaking, which should be studied in relation
to a woman's natural physical charms. Small
hands should not wear many rings. Short fingers
should not wear long rings lest their width be
emphasized. Long, narrow hands, however, are
able to wear rings of any type. No stout, short
women can wear bead necklaces without seeming
shorter and stouter. Sallow necks and fat ones
are rendered sallower or fatter in appearance when.
"pointed out" by a necklace of snowy-white pearls.
Use bracelets, by all means, if your arms are
beautiful, but if not, do not wear them. And as
to glasses: Narrow faces look best in rimless or
gold-rimmed glasses; broad faces best in glasses
with dark rims. If you have a thin face and light-
colored eyelashes or eyebrows, gold-rimmed glas-
ses with a horizontal bridge will make your face
look shorter and broader. Let your glasses match
your hair, dark rims for dark hair, and light rims
for fair hair. All these details are subject to the
same laws of the line for the figure which have
been explained in "Color Harmony and Design in
Dress."

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The Plastic Surgeon as a Beautifier

CHAPTER IX

THE PLASTIC SURGEON AS A BEAUTIFIER

AS a rule the plastic surgeon is mainly called
- upon to operate on members of the theatrical
profession, women whose actual, visible beauty is
one of the greatest assets in their convincing
presentation of roles in which youth and loveliness
are a first requisite. Or, again, the plastic surgeon
comes to the aid of the grande dame, the ambitious
society woman who refuses to allow the passing
years to undermine her established reputation as a
beautiful woman of the world. Plastic surgery is
a very real, a very difficult development of
constructive surgery, and as such deserving of all
respect. But those among its exponents who have
a name charge large fees, and in general, any process
of constructive surgery is usually expensive in
money, time and suffering.

FACE-RAISING

One of the greatest actual triumphs of plastic
surgery is the "face-raising" or "face-lifting"
process, which does away with wrinkles, mouth and
eyelines and sagging cheeks by literally "lifting" off
part of the old face and replacing it. It is an infinitely
tiring and somewhat painful process as a rule.

A cut some three inches long is made from the
temple to the ear. A triangular strip of skin is
removed. Then the skin of the face is drawn
together, and stitched carefully, so as to show no
scars. After three days have passed, the stitches
are taken out, and when the wound has healed
(usually within ten or twelve days) no trace of
them is to be seen.
The majority of women prefer and wisely so, "to
grow old gracefully," to rely on bathing, fresh food
and air, exercise and self-control to retain a living
charm of attractiveness and appeal, without the
more radical "skinning" processes of the plastic
surgeon.


OTHER PLASTIC SURGICAL ACCOMPLISHMENTS

The operation for harelip does not properly fall
within the province of the plastic surgeon. Any
good surgeon can perform this operation successfully.
But often, where a nose is shaped in such wise as
actually to disfigure the wearer, the plastic
surgeon can work wonders. Bone grafting has,
especially since the World War, reached a high
level of development. It is common for the plastic
surgeon to "rebuild" the nose—and he can make it
either Grecian or Roman to suit the wearer's fancy
—by removing part of the bone, and inserting a
piece better calculated to please. Malformation of
the mouth, ear disfigurements, scars of every kind
(these usually treated by skin graft) birthmarks,
crow's-feet and 6aggy eyes, all yield to the touch
of his scalpel.

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Beauty During Maternity

CHAPTER X

BEAUTY DURING MATERNITY

THE outward and visible bodily condition
which precedes maternity is the last thing of
which a woman should feel ashamed. It is indeed
the sign of a glorious responsibility and should be
revered as such. At the same time, it cannot be
denied that an unavoidable distortion of the body
is one of the results of pregnancy, especially as it
approaches its term. But the mother who has been
thus blessed, need not, necessarily, "point with
pride" to her condition. True pride is modest and
does not try to make itself conspicuous.

TACT IN DRESS

That rotundity of the abdomen which cannot
well be avoided, may largely be tempered by training,
moderate exercise, bathing, riding, golf,
decreasing month by month. And what training will not do,
ready tactfulness in dress may go far to dissemble.
The Empire waist, hung on tapes, is never an
unsightly costume, and is one which, because of its
looser folds, is especially well calculated to moderate
undue distention of the body for the eye. Since
at this time no mother-to-be would be apt to wear
corsets, there would be no unnatural emphasis laid
on the upper bodily protuberances, and the normal
curves would only appear to be slightly accented.
As the hips increase, month by month, the
shoulders and bust may be artfully made to appear
wider and broader. All that is called for is a little
ingenuity on the part of the dressmaker. Then,
the poise of the body sustained by general good
health, even the most critical eye will see nothing
repulsive in the general appearance of the form.

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Special Hints for Throat and Bust Development

CHAPTER XI

SPECIAL HINTS FOR THROAT AND
BUST DEVELOPMENT

THE throat and bust often call for development
because of a lack of natural fullness quite out
of keeping with what their natural lines should be.
There are two great bust and throat developers—
exercise and massage.

BUST DEVELOPMENT BY MASSAGE

If you are flat-busted, do not despair. A flat,
undeveloped condition of the bust—it is not a
natural one—may be remedied without great difficulty.
The best way to do so is by massage. To develop
atrophied bust or neck muscles in connection with massage,
pure olive oil or coconut butter is still the best food known.
Rubbed in with a rotary motion with an upward pressure and a firm
upward stroke, together with the application of hot and cold water
alternately before massaging, oil or butter will produce results.
Incidentally, remember to bathe the neck and bosom daily with clean,
cold water, and then produce friction by hard rubbing
with a moderately rough towel. (The towel should
not be too rough, lest it chap or irritate the skin.)
Then, even before the redness resulting from the friction
has vanished, rub olive oil into the skin
with the palm and fingers.

BUST DEVELOPMENT BY EXERCISE

In developing the bust by means of exercise take
care not to lame the muscles of the chest by overexerting.
A good bust-development exercise consists in raising and
lowering the arms, standing straight, then, pressing
in the waistline with spread fingers, tipping forward the elbows.
This exercise develops the muscles of the upper chest.
Rowing—a sport in which girls are rather unapt to indulge—
is also an excellent bust developing exercise.
Natural twisting and bending exercises will help develop flaccid neck muscles.

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